'"Highly Secret": Abandon Ottawa to the Yanks!'

[MarkOttawa]

Conclusion of a Torch post:
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2009/11/highly-secret-abandon-ottawa-to-yanks.html

...
A gem at the Archives: (RG 24, volume 2925, file HQS 3496) relating to Defence Scheme No.1.

Alas the actual plan was not there, just a lot of 1922 dated letters from Military Districts acknowledging its receipt and an equal number ten years later confirming its destruction (all labelled "Highly Secret"). There were quite a few maps though, i.e. the disposition of regular and National Guard divisions in the USA, notes about how many troops could be mobilized in places like Maine, and, most interestingly, comments relating to likely USA objectives and the threat in different sectors.

For example, in Alberta it was noted that much of the population around Lethbridge came from the USA and their loyalty could not be taken for granted. The 3rd Division sector (covering southern Ontatio and Quebec) was happy to write off Windsor and London, accepted that the loss of Toronto and Hamilton would have grave economic effects, but deemed the defence of Kingston, Montreal and Quebec essential. It also had this gem about our fair city:

"OTTAWA, the capital of Canada, lies behind this sector [essentially the Windsor/Quebec corridor]. As, however, we do not possess a highly centralized form of government the capture of our capital is of no military or economic importance. In the minds of politicians and civilians, however, the importance of OTTAWA may be greatly exaggerated and this should not be overlooked, as efforts may be made to concentrate forces for its defence, which from a military point of view might be more usefully employed elsewhere."

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Old Sweat]

About 20 years ago I read a copy of Defence Scheme Number 1. The concept of operations was to delay the American forces until reinforcements could arrive from the rest of the Empire. Thus the key terrain was the post of Quebec in the east and Prince Rupert in the west, with Quebec being the more important. While logically developed and based on an appreciation of the ground and the strategic situation, the plan was doomed by two major factors:

a. Troops Available. The plan was based on the 13 (or 11) militia divisions on paper, but there was only enough modern equipment for the four infantry division and one cavalry brigade provided by the British to make up for the equipment left in Europe by the CEF.

b. The Naval Situation. The naval treaties in the 1920s effectively ceded naval superiority in the Western Atlantic to the USN.

To address the Torch post, from the point of view of the author, Ottawa was indeed expendable.

 

[Journeyman]

...the capture of our capital is of no military or economic importance

Potentially removing several layers of military bureaucracy on the one hand, while reducing government interference in a market economy on the other? Win-win.  ;D

As for the defence of Kingston, I'll hold the Brew Pub  :camo: :cheers:

 

[observor 69]

Guess where the "new" capital would be with all it's attendant bureaucracy ?  ;D

Kingston: Winning, Losing And Winning Again

When the United Province of Canada came into existence in February, 1841 and Kingston was named its capital, the city became the centrepiece of an immense and important British colony. The other major cities in the new Canada were Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton.


Hmm it appears I have attached a photo of the Brew Pub as well as the new capital. 


LINK

 

[Shec]

Abandoning Ottawa to any enemy is a sound strategy.  Any invading army is bound to get hopelessly bogged down in the confusion, mixed messaging, knee-jerk anxieties, and overly uptight political correctness that is  all-pervasive in this 50 square miles surrounded by reality that once was Bytown.  It'll make Stalingrad look like a walk in the park.

Heck, give 'em all free passes on OC Transpo I say !!  >

 

[MarkOttawa]

David Warren of the Ottawa Citizen notices the Torch post:

With friends like these...
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/With+friends+like+these/2277191/story.html

Perhaps it’s time we dusted off the plans for defending Canada from the United States. Perhaps we are already doing so — as I’ve learned from Mark Collins, who has been reviewing “highly secret” Canadian defence documents on his blog, The Torch.

The documents are from 1922. That may seem a long time ago, but as I am not aware of any later strategic thinking, on the threat of an American invasion, we will have to take them as “most current available.” As a writer of United Empire Loyalist ancestry, the invasion of 1812 remains fresh in memory, to say nothing of the Fenian raids, that contributed such urgency to our Confederation. And as a former boy scout, I think, “Be prepared.”

Here I am referring to “D.S. No. 1” from “NDHQ” — distributed in 1922 and withdrawn around 1932, with instructions to all military districts to destroy it...

And a correction at The Torch:
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2009/11/buster-brown-goes-on-and-on-and-on.html

...
Thanks very much, Mr Warren; I must however point out that this a group blog, founded by Damian Brooks. And that the documents in question were reviewed at the archives by a friend who does considerable research there, not by me....

Mark
Ottawa