Tom Slater & Tom St. Amand

German First World War veteran Erich Maria Remarque wrote in ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ he’d seen men “unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.”

He could have been describing the final days of The Great War, when the march to The Armistice on Nov. 11 saw soldiers on both sides die before the clock struck 11 a.m.

Twenty-one Sarnians were among the thousands killed during Allied victories at Arras, Amiens, and Canal-du-Nord and Cambrai, and 12 more local men would fall in Canada’s

Final 100 days of the war.

By early October, German positions had been broken all along the Western Front with heavy front line losses.

Morale among the Germans was understandably low. Three allies—Bulgaria, Turkey, and Austria—had surrendered by early November and the devastating effects of the Spanish flu were weakening and killing thousands. 

The Germans were retreating, but they never quit. So, when the Canadians were ordered to pursue and to hound them, the Germans inflicted as much damage as possible.

Take the Battle of Valenciennes waged on Nov. 1 and 2. Valenciennes was the last major French city held by the Germans and gave every strategic advantage to its captors, who outnumbered the Allies three to one.

The Germans lost Valenciennes, but not before killing 121 Canadian men and inflicting 501 casualties. Though Valenciennes would be the last pre-arranged assault by the Canadian Corps, the fighting never stopped.

As Canadian troops advanced east, usually through mud and heavy rain, enemy snipers and machine gunners made pursuit hazardous. The countryside was dotted with farms, hedges and sunken roads, all of which provided perfect spots for ambushes. The Germans also destroyed most of the roads, bridges, and railways. They planted landmines and booby-trapped trenches and their aircraft attacked concentrated groups of Allied soldiers.

A dozen of those killed in the final days came from Sarnia.

Private Charles Barnes would die of acute pneumonia.

Lieutenant Thomas Hazen and Private Daniel Thomson both died in action, with no details available.

Sapper George Johnston, Private James Steele, Private Herbert Stott, Corporal Edward Timpson, and Gunner George Jones all died from gunshot or shrapnel wounds.

Private Albert Potter and Private Albert Rodber were killed from shell blasts.    

On Nov. 6, Private John Howarth was killed by enemy shellfire.

On Nov. 9, Lance Corporal Thomas Wright died from influenza and pneumonia.

Four days before the Armistice, the Canadians crossed into Belgium and by Nov. 10 had progressed to the outskirts of Mons, a key coal-mining centre. Throughout the night and into the early morning of Nov. 11, the Canadians engaged in running gun battles to take Mons from the Germans.

The number of deaths as the Armistice approached was staggering. The fighting from Nov. 7 to 10 killed or wounded 645 Canadians.

Liberating Mons came at the sacrifice of an additional 280 Canadians.

The good news that the Armistice would be signed at 11 a.m. came at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 11; about the time German defenders had surrendered or were dying in Mons.

A few days after the Armistice, Canadian Commander Arthur Currie wrote to Prime Minister Borden that he wished for a decisive peace. After all, Currie said, “We do not want to have to do this thing all over again in another fifteen or twenty years.”