"General Plumer takes the salute on the bridge at Cologne where 1st Canadian Division crossed the Rhine [River]", December 13th, 1918. Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson, C.D., Army Historical Section CHAPTER XVII AFTER THE ARMISTICE - The March to the Rhine Although the signing of the Armistice brought an end of fighting for most Canadians, new duties lay ahead. Several months were to elapse before the majority of Canada's overseas forces returned to their homeland. For some, indeed, there were tasks which would engage them in operations in more remote fields than any where Canadians had previously served during the war. Immediately after the conclusion of hostilities steps were taken to concentrate the formations of the Canadian Corps as far forward as possible in preparation for the forthcoming march to the Rhine. The 3rd Division was centred in Mons; the 2nd was on its right, east of Frameries; and the 1st and 4th were in the rear about Jemappes and Paturages, west and south-west of Mons respectively. The sector thus held by the Canadians was about five miles wide.1 In accordance with the terms of the Armistice the leading troops stood fast on the final cease-fire line, and examining posts were placed on all roads to restrict the east-west movements of civilians. No fraternization or other intercourse with the enemy was allowed, nor were the Germans permitted to approach the Canadian lines. "I ordered commanders to pay the strictest attention to discipline and smartness", wrote General Currie, "and especially the well-being of their men." The Armistice had provided that Allied troops would advance to the left bank of the Rhine and occupy a series of bridgeheads on the right bank at the principal crossing-places, each bridgehead having a radius of thirty kilometres. British forces were allotted a bridgehead which centred upon Cologne, and extended along the river from Düsseldorf to south-east of Bonn. Under the plan which was originally approved the Second and Fourth Armies would occupy the British bridgehead. The Canadian Corps on the right and the 2nd British Corps on the left would lead the Second Army's advance. The selection of their Corps to take part in the occupation was a distinction that the Canadians prized highly. The 1st and 2nd Divisions (the senior formations of the Corps) would be in the Canadian van, followed later by the 3rd and 4th Division. On Sunday, 17 November, a day of thanksgiving, representatives of Canadian units attended special services in the Mons churches. In honour of the liberating troops the city's carillon played "O Canada". At nine o'clock on the following morning, leading units of the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions crossed the outpost lines and commenced the march to the Rhine. Each division proceeded in three brigade columns, on separate routes. Those of the 1st Division on the left, had Cologne as the destination; the 2nd Division on the right headed towards Bonn. A cavalry screen advanced one day's march ahead of the leading infantry, and each column provided its own close protection, in which it was assisted by cavalry and cyclists attached from Corps Troops. The whole 250-mile march was conducted under operational conditions, and all military precautions were taken against surprise. To ensure a smooth take- over from the enemy the country had been divided into zones. The Germans had orders to deposit war material at selected places in each zone and to withdraw from the area the day before the Allies entered it.6 Before the 3rd and 4th Divisions could set out, however, supply difficulties necessitated a change in the general plan for the advance. The almost complete destruction of all railways and roads in the old battle areas made it impossible to maintain two armies on the move and at the same time provide for the Belgian civilian population. Accordingly the Second Army now went forward alone. The Canadian occupation force was reduced to the 1st and 2nd Divisions, together with Corps Headquarters and some Corps Troops already on the march. The 3rd and 4th Divisions, with the 8th Army Brigade Canadian Field Artillery and the 1st and 3rd Brigades Canadian Garrison Artillery, were transferred to the 4th Corps, of the Fourth Army. They remained billeted in Belgium until moving back to England, on the way to demobilization. Nevertheless despite rain, the hilly country, and short rations, the men's spirits remained remarkably high. A Special Order of the Day issued by General Currie called on the troops to remain "a close-knitted army in grim, deadly earnest", and to give German agents scattered through the country no opportunity of reporting any weakness or "evidence of disintegration of your fighting power". To that end the highest standard of discipline was insisted on, whether on the march or at the halt. "In short", the order continued, "you must continue to be, and appear to be, that powerful hitting force which has won the fear and respect of your foes and the admiration of the world." Magnificently the Canadians responded. With bayonets fixed and flags flying the leading troops crossed the German frontier at nine o'clock on the morning of 4 December, the 1st Division at Petit Thier and the 2nd at Beho. During the following days the other units entered Germany, the pipes of the Highland battalions appropriately skirling "Blue Bonnets over the Border". The morning of the 13th dawned dark and wet, and a steady rain poured down throughout the day. The 1st Division crossed the Rhine* by South Bridge at Cologne, marching past the G.O.C. Second Army, General Sir Herbert Plumer, while crowds of Germans lining the streets of the city silently watched the steel-helmeted Canadians swing by in full battle order. At the bridge at Bonn, General Currie, "after a very comfortable night in His Majesty's bed",** witnessed the crossing and took the salute of the 2nd Division, which marched past in an impressive column that extended for eighteen miles. Here the civilian spectators were fewer in numbers, and equally undemonstrative. What was a memorable day for the Canadians could only be one of humiliation for the people whose armies they had helped to vanquish. Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer of Messines, GCB GCMG GCVO GBE (13 March 1857 – 16 July 1932) was a senior British Army officer of the First World War. After commanding V Corps at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, he took command of the Second Army in May 1915 and in June 1917 won an overwhelming victory over the German Army at the Battle of Messines, which started with what was described as the loudest explosion in human history, created by the simultaneous explosion of nineteen mines by the Royal Engineers' tunnelling companies. He later served as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine and then as Governor of Malta before becoming High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1925 and retiring in 1928.