War Strategies of Sir Arthur Currie

War Strategies of Sir Arthur Currie

Sir Arthur Currie was not a man raised to become a great general, he had to start from the beginning and work his way to the top. He served his country by fighting and leading battles that made Canada a great independent nation, making him a figure of inspiration to many Canadians. In the many battles of World War One, including Amiens, Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge, and others, Arthur Currie devised well prepared, flexible, unique, and intelligent war strategies that led Canadian troops to victory.

Born on December 5th, 1875 in Napperton, Ontario, Arthur William Currie found his place in the world. Having been the third of seven children, Currie found his family to be very supportive of each other (Dancocks, 1985). At the age of 15, Currie's father died of a stroke, leaving the family in financial problems. University was not the path to go down at this point for Currie, in hopes of becoming a lawyer. Instead, he took a teaching course (Harris, 1988).

Later on in his developing career, Currie met with a woman named Lucy Charworth-Musters, who would one day be his wife. With a paying job as a teacher, he decided to enlist in the militia as a lowly gunner in the 5th Regiment at the Canadian Garrison Artillery. In 1901, Currie married Lucy and found a better-paying job at an insurance firm at Matson and Coles (Dancocks, 1985). With great devotion to his wife and two children, the militia was still one of Currie's priorities and he became a commander of the 5th Regiment of Artillery, winning the Governor-General's Cup for efficiency (Hyatt, 1987). On the 4th of August in 1914, the British ultimatum to Germany expired and Canada was now automatically at war (Hyatt, 1987).

With careful planning, co-operation, good leadership and courage, Currie managed to bring out the characteristics of a well thought out success at Vimy Ridge in April of 1917 (Dancocks, 1985). Sir Arthur Currie's responsibility was to command the 1st Canadian Division (Hyatt, 1987). He pushed his troops to undergo rigorous training and to prepare themselves by using a life-size course, with every trench marked by tape and a flag (Dancocks, 1985). Currie designed very accurate maps and he had a small-scale plasticine model built so that it could be studied by all soldiers. Arthur Currie insisted that his division's knowledge of the enemy was excellent (Dancocks, 1985). It was quite apparent that Currie had very well thought out and intelligent preparations for the battle of Vimy Ridge. Even Currie himself stated,

They had rehearsed the attack many times, and each and every man knew just exactly

where he was going in the attack, and what he was going to do when he got there.

Every feature of the German defence was studied, and definite plans made for the

overcome of every obstacle, in so far as it was humanly possible to make such plans

before and attack (Dancocks, 1985, p.94).

Currie's troops' readiness for battle led to remarkable success at Vimy Ridge, capturing nearly all the first objectives in the first 45 minutes (Hyatt, 1987). Not only did Currie lead his men to a significant victory, but the reputation of Canada had changed. As Field Marshal J.C. Smuts once wrote,