To the Canadians fell the honors of breaking through the first Hindenburg line by the capture of Cambrai, on October 1st to 9th. They also took Douai on October 19th, and Dena on October 20th. On October 26th to November 2d they had the signal honor of capturing Valenciennes thereby being the first troops to break through the fourth and last Hindenburg line. It surely was a curious coincidence that Mons, from which the original British army--the best trained, it is said, that has taken the field since the time of Caesar--began its retreat in 1914, should have been the town which Canadian civilians were destined to recapture. The war began for the professional British army--the Contemptibles--when it began its retreat from Mons in 1914; the war ended for the British army at the very same town four years and three months later, when on the day the armistice was signed the men from Canada re-entered it. Was it coincidence, or was it fate? During the war Canadian troops had sustained 211,000 casualties, 152,000 had been wounded and more than 50,000 had made the supreme sacrifice. Put into different language this means that the number of Canadians killed was just a little greater than the total number of infantrymen in their corps of four divisions. The extent of the work involved in the care of the wounded and sick of the Canadians overseas may be gathered from the fact that Canada equipped and sent across the Atlantic, 7 general hospitals, 10 stationary hospitals, 16 field ambulances, 3 sanitary sections, 4 casualty clearing stations and advanced and base depots of medical stores: The personnel of these medical units consisted of 1,612 officers, 1,994 nursing sisters and 12,382 of other ranks, or a total of about 16,000. This will give some conception of the importance of the task involved in the caring for the sick and wounded of about 90,000 fighting troops, some 60,000 auxiliary troops behind the lines and the reserve depots in England. [Illustration: FROM THE VOSGES MOUNTAINS TO YPRES Map showing the Northeastern frontiers of France, and neutral Belgium through which the German armies poured in 1914. The battle line held straight from Belfort to Verdun, with the exception of the St. Mihiel salient. Above Verdun the line veered to the west, north of Rheims, making a wide curve toward St. Quentin and Arras and bending back to Ypres, held by the Canadians throughout the war.]