The Canadians at Cambrai and the Canal Du Nord, September-October, 1918: A Social History and Battlefield Tour The Battle of Cambrai and the Canal du Nord, 1918 was the last major battle fought by the Canadians in the First World War. It was the battle in which the Canadian Corps chose to make its most complex and difficult attack. At 5:20 am on September 27th, 1918, 45,000 Canadian soldiers poured across a dry gap in the Canal du Nord, only 2300 metres wide. The soldiers then fanned out to attack German positions stretching 13,000 metres in front of them. Over the next 4 days they capture the Marquion and Marcoing trench systems and drove to capture the vital transport centre of Cambrai. Four days of fighting had cost the Canadians more than 18,000 killed, wounded and missing. |
