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85th Nova Scotia Highlanders
The 85th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders), CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War. The 85th Battalion was authorized on 14 September 1915 and embarked for Great Britain on 12 October 1916. Disembarking in France in February 1917, it fought as part of the 12th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. The battalion is most famous for capturing Hill 145 in their first battle. Today, the Vimy Memorial stands on Hill 145. History The 85th Battalion was raised in Halifax on 14 September 1915 and it recruited throughout Nova Scotia. The battalion embarked for Great Britain on 12 October 1916, and landed in France on 10 February 1917. Before the attack on Vimy Ridge the battalion had been used as a labour battalion and had not seen combat. They were the last remaining reserve battalion in the 12th Brigade when all of the ridge had been taken except for the highpoint Hill 145. Since thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, second-largest country by total area, with the List of countries by length of coastline, world's longest coastline. Its Canada–United States border, border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both Temperature in Canada, meteorologic and Geography of Canada, geological regions. With Population of Canada, a population of over 41million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in List of the largest population centres in Canada, urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is Ottawa and List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Ralston
James Layton Ralston (September 27, 1881 – May 22, 1948) was a Canadian lawyer, soldier, and politician. A Nova Scotian and a lawyer by training, Ralston fought with distinction during the First World War and pursued a career in the Canadian Army, before becoming a Liberal Member of Parliament. During the Second World War, he served as Minister of National Defence from 1940 to 1944, when he was forced to resign by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King because of his support for the introduction of conscription. Early life and provincial politics Ralston was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, the eldest son (he had three brothers) of Burnett William Ralston, a prominent local businessman who served a term as the town's mayor. Known as Layton within the family, Ralston was educated at Amherst Academy and the law school at Dalhousie University. He then became a partner in his uncle's law firm in 1903 and practised law in Amherst. Ralston was the Liberal candidate for Cum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although the island is physically separated from the Nova Scotia peninsula by the Strait of Canso, the long Canso Causeway connects it to mainland Nova Scotia. The island is east-northeast of the mainland with its northern and western coasts fronting on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with its western coast forming the eastern limits of the Northumberland Strait. The eastern and southern coasts front the Atlantic Ocean with its eastern coast also forming the western limits of the Cabot Strait. Its landmass slopes upward from south to north, culminating in the highlands of its northern cape. A large body of saltwater, the ("Golden Arm" in French), dominates the island's centre. The total population at the 2016 census numbered 132,010 Cape Bretone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadian Gaelic
Canadian Gaelic or Cape Breton Gaelic (, or ), often known in Canadian English simply as Gaelic, is a collective term for the dialects of Scottish Gaelic spoken in Atlantic Canada. Scottish Gaels were settled in Nova Scotia from 1773, with the arrival of the ship ''Hector (immigration ship), Hector'' and continuing until the 1850s. Gaelic has been spoken since then in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island and on the northeastern mainland of the province. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages and the Canadian dialects have their origins in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The parent language developed out of Middle Irish and is closely related to modern Irish. The Canadian branch is a close cousin of the Irish language in Newfoundland. At its peak in the mid-19th century, there were as many as 200,000 speakers of Scottish Gaelic and Newfoundland Irish together, making it the third-most-spoken European language in Canada a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Front (World War I)
The Western Front was one of the main Theatre (warfare), theatres of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the Imperial German Army, German Army opened the Western Front by German invasion of Belgium (1914), invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in Third Republic of France, France. The German advance was halted with the First Battle of the Marne, Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trench warfare, trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, the position of which changed little except during early 1917 and again in 1918. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several offensives along this Front (military), front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. Entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Sambre (1918)
The Second Battle of the Sambre (4 November 1918) (which included the Second Battle of Guise () and the Battle of Thiérache () was part of the final European Allied offensives of World War I. Background At the front, German resistance was falling away. Unprecedented numbers of prisoners were taken in the Battle of the Selle, and a new attack was quickly prepared. The French First Army and the British First, Third, and Fourth Armies were tasked with advancing from south of the Condé Canal along a front toward Maubeuge-Mons, threatening Namur. Together with the American forces breaking out of the forests of Argonne, this would, if successful, disrupt the German efforts to reform a shortened defensive line along the Meuse. At dawn on 4 November, 17 British divisions (including the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions of the Canadian Corps assigned to the British First Army) and 11 French divisions headed the attack. The Tank Corps, its resources badly stretched, could provide o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pursuit To The Selle
The Battle of the Selle (17–25 October 1918) took place between Allied forces and the German Army, fought during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. Prelude After the Second Battle of Cambrai, the Allies advanced almost and liberated the French towns of Naves and Thun-Saint-Martin. Although the capture of Cambrai was achieved much sooner than expected and with moderately low casualties, German resistance northeast of the town stiffened along the German Army's temporary defensive structures, the 'Hermann Stellung Line I and II'. By 11 October, the Fourth Army had closed in on the retreating Germans near Le Cateau, with the Germans taking up a new position, immediately to the east of the Selle River. General Henry Rawlinson was faced with three problems: crossing the river, the railway embankment on the far side and the ridge above the embankment. The decision was made to commence the assault at night, and as the river was not very wide at this point, planks woul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Canal Du Nord
The Battle of Canal du Nord was part of the Hundred Days Offensive of the First World War by the Allies against German positions on the Western Front. The battle took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, along an incomplete portion of the Canal du Nord and on the outskirts of Cambrai between 27 September and 1 October 1918. To prevent the Germans from sending reinforcements against one attack, the assault along the Canal du Nord was part of a sequence of Allied attacks at along the Western Front. The attack began the day after the Meuse-Argonne Offensive commenced, a day before an offensive in Belgian Flanders and two days before the Battle of St. Quentin Canal. The attack took place along the boundary between the British First Army and Third Army, which were to continue the advance started with the Battle of the Drocourt-Quéant Line, Battle of Havrincourt and Battle of Epehy. The First Army was to lead the crossing of the Canal du Nord and secure the no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindenburg Line
The Hindenburg Line (, Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne River, Aisne. In 1916, the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme left the German western armies () exhausted and on the Eastern Front (World War I), Eastern Front, the Brusilov Offensive had inflicted huge losses on the Austro-Hungarian armies and forced the Germans to take over more of the front. The declaration of war by Romania during World War I, Romania had placed additional strain on the German army and war economy. The Hindenburg Line, built behind the Noyon Salient (territory), Salient, was to replace the old front line as a precaution against a resumption of the Battle of the Somme in 1917. By devastating the intervening ground, the Germans could delay a spring offensive in 1917. A shorte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Scarpe (1918)
The Battle of the Scarpe was a World War I battle that took place during the Hundred Days Offensive between 26 and 30 August 1918. 26 August The Canadian Corps advanced over 5 kilometres and captured the towns of Monchy-le-Preux and Wancourt. Lieutenant Charles Smith Rutherford VC MC MM from the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division performed actions that earned him the Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British .... He captured a German party of 45, including two officers and three machine-guns, then captured another pillbox along with another 35 prisoners and their guns. 27 August Heavy rains during the night resulted in slippery ground, difficulties in assembling troops and late starts for the assaults. Stiff resistance from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Vimy Ridge
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of the German 6th Army. The battle occurred from 9 to 12 April 1917, marking the commencement of the Battle of Arras and serving as the inaugural assault of the Nivelle Offensive. The objective was to draw German reserves away from the French forces, preparing for a crucial offensive along the Aisne and the Chemin des Dames ridge several days later. The Canadian Corps was to capture the German-held high ground of Vimy Ridge, an escarpment on the northern flank of the Arras front. This would protect the First Army and the Third Army farther south from German enfilade fire. Supported by a creeping barrage, the Canadian Corps captured most of the ridge during the first day. The village of Thélus fell during the second day, as did the cre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
