Over the Top: Canada and the First World War

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Over the Top: Canada and the First World War

July 2024 to August 2025

We opened our new WW1 temporary exhibit, marking the 110th anniversary of the start of the First World War. In 1914, Canada demonstrated its dedication to the British Empire and willingness to support the Allied cause by mobilizing the First Contingent of 30,000 soldiers for overseas duty.
Canada established training camps, such as Camp Sewell in Manitoba, to prepare Canadian soldiers for overseas service. Canadians adapted quickly to trench warfare, particularly during battles like the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. The Canadian Artillery provided vital fire support. They helped break enemy defences, supported infantry advances, and repelled German attacks.
Notable themes in the exhibit include War Comes to Canada, the First Contingent, Training Camps, the Salisbury Plain, the Canadian Artillery in 1915, Forage Caps and Brodie Helmets, Ross & Lee-Enfield Rifles, Trench Warfare, the Second Battle of Ypres, Machine Guns, and Gas Attacks. The main feature of the exhibit is a trench wall. Staff started work on the trench months in advance and forklifted it into place. Above the trench, we included a video of Allied soldiers in the trenches and no-mans-land.
Featured artifacts include an 18-pounder field gun, a German 7.7cm Feldkanone NA 96, and a 17cm Minenwerfer. We added two machine gun pits – an Allied pit with a Lewis Gun and Vickers Machine Gun and a German pit with an MG08 and MG08/15. Other artifacts include bayonets, caps, fuses, gas masks, grenades, helmets, journals, manuals, pins, photographs, postcards, rifles, shells, souvenirs, swords, tins, and miscellaneous items.