Forgotten Warrior

Arthur Currie’s funeral on December 4, 1933, had 250,000 people standing in the cold and wet streets of Montreal, more than had paid their respects to Sir John A. MacDonald or Wilfrid Laurier. Today, he is not accorded the standing that his contribution to the Great War effort merits. Who was this man and what were his accomplishments?

Most World War One biographers and historians have worked with Canadian and British sources, Robert Linnell has mined the files of German archives and discovered dispatches in which comments about Canadian forces have been made – and these documents show that the Canadian forces under Currie’s command were amongst the most feared.

When nearing the war’s end, Foch required two specific battles to win the entire war, he said, “I need Currie for this.”