Robert Ross was a fictional character, but one who could be viewed a representative of how seriously the horrors of World War One affected impressionable young Canadian soldiers. Canada's involvement in the First World War was one of immense proportions. However, this tremendous commitment introduced many battle-unsullied Canadians to the horrors of war. The Dominion of Canada sent over 625,000 men and several thousand women to the front from the years 1914-1918. " This was the beginning of the second phase of a battle that the Canadians had thought was already over In it 30,000 men would die and not a inch of ground would be won." (1) This was an enormous contribution for a country with a total population of only 8 million. Of all the Canadians that went to fight in the Great War, 1 out of every 10 died, and many of those who returned home were maimed either mentally or physically. During the war effort, Canadian solders gained fame for their assault capabilities on the Western front. For this reason, Canadian soldiers were often the ones that had to face the brunt of many battles in which they were pitted against huge odds, introduced to chemical warfare, and expected all the time to deal with the horrors of trench warfare. "Raid this morning. Two waves of gas at 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. Our guns took part in barrage to cover infantry. Fired for 10 minutes. No.4 gun hit direct and Sergeant Knox, Welsh and Naffis (?) killed. Retaliation heavy and gas not a success and raiders suffered pretty heavily. Fritz seemed to be ready. Rest of day fairly quiet. During night enemy made a direct hit on our Head Quarters with high explosive. No one hurt."(2)Many of the names, places, people and events that Findley refers to in "The Wars", have actual historical significance. The Ypres Salient (3) "These two thousand men, armed with rifles, were thrust into the gap between the British and French, along with the last regular reinforcements, two...
