THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



301 



fered heavily. Up to June 30 of this 

 year we nad : 



Killed in action 27,040 



Died of wounds 9,280 



Died of disease 2,257 



Presumed dead 4*34 2 



Missing — probably dead 384 



Total deaths 43.303 



In other words, of the total number 

 who had gone overseas up to June 30 last, 

 1 1.3 per cent were already dead. 



In addition there were — 



Wounded ....... 0 „ 1 13,007 



Prisoners , 2,774 



H5,78i 



so that in addition to the deaths, 30.2 per 

 cent had been wounded or made prison- 

 ers. It is a comfort to know that between 

 30,000 and 40,000 of the wounded were 

 ultimately able to return to the firing line. 



The total casualties were 41.5 per cent 

 of the number who had gone overseas. 

 But even this does not tell the full story. 

 Most of those who had but recently gone 

 across had, of course, not been long ex- 

 posed, and the casualties were chiefly 

 among those who had gone over early. 

 Among them the casualties were tremen- 

 dous. Those noble fellows paid a terri- 

 ble price, and I can assure you that among 

 them were many who were the very 

 cream of the Canadian nation.* 



WHEN GERMANY LAUNCHED HER FIRST 

 GAS ATTACK 



When I think of those early days, my 

 mind goes back to April and May, 19 1 5, 

 to the second battle of Ypres. It was 

 then that the Germans made their drive 

 for Calais and the Channel ports. 



Alongside our Canadian boys were 

 French troops from Morocco, and against 

 them the Germans first used their devilish 

 gas. The Moroccans broke and fled, and 

 small wonder. Nothing remained but our 

 Canadian boys between the Germans and 

 Calais, and they were many times out- 

 numbered by troops that were supported 

 by efficient artillery. 



* According to official figures issued from 

 Ottawa on November 12, Canadian casualties, 

 up to eleven days before the signing of the 

 armistice, totaled 34,877 killed in action; 15,457 

 dead of wounds or disease; 152,779 wounded, 

 and 8,245 presumed dead, missing in action, 

 and prisoners of war — a total of 211,358. 



Our lads spread out to cover the extra 

 ground, but were driven back. Some of 

 the Canadian guns were captured, and 

 our Montreal Highlanders and others 

 were determined that no Canadian guns 

 should fall into the enemy's hands, and 

 charged through a wood and retook 

 them. The Germans thought that we 

 must have heavy reserves or we would 

 never attack in such a way, and instead 

 of pushing through they entrenched 

 themselves as did our boys also, and 

 time was gained. 



In the next few days reserves were 

 brought up and Calais was saved. It is 

 said that a German major was taken 

 prisoner, and as he was being led back 

 to the rear and saw nothing where he ex- 

 pected to find masses of troops, he was 

 distracted, and again and again cried, 

 "Let me go for half an hour and Calais 

 will be ours." But Calais was saved, and 

 the course of the war has been different 

 because of what our Canadian boys did 

 that day. 



Many of those who took part in that 

 terrible struggle I knew personally. Be- 

 fore my eyes there rises the picture of 

 Major Norsworthy. In his early thir- 

 ties, handsome and vigorous, he had 

 brains, sound judgment, self - reliance, 

 and energy such as few possess, and had 

 he lived he would certainly have been one 

 of the most prominent financial men of 

 Canada. 



And Captain Guy* Drummond, aged 

 about 28, son of Sir George Drummond, 

 inheritor of w r ealth and honored name, 

 tall, refined, the very finest type of the 

 high-principled gentleman. When last 

 seen he was using his knowledge of 

 French, trying to rally the flying Moroc- 

 cans. But they, poor fellows, were past 

 being rallied, as they fled, gasping for air, 

 their faces blue, and with death already 

 fastened upon them, for of those who 

 fully inhaled that devilish poison few 

 would survive a year of agony, and the 

 rest would be invalids for the remainder 

 of their lives. 



But perhaps the story as told by a fine 

 young fellow, a private, Billy Maclagan, 

 who has often been in my own house, 

 may bring the details home to us more 

 closely. Billy went over with the first 

 contingent, and is one of the few, the 

 very, very few, who have gone through 



