experience and success in battle from the Second Battle of Ypres, through the Somme and particularly in the Battle of Arras at Vimy Ridge in April 1917, and Passchendaele the Canadian Corps came to be regarded as an exceptional force by both Allied and German military commanders. Since they were mostly unmolested by the German army's offensive manoeuvres in the spring of 1918, the Canadians were ordered to spearhead the last campaigns of the War from the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918, which ended in a tacit victory for the Allies when the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. In the later stages of the European war, particularly after their success at Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele, the Canadian Corps was regarded by friend and foe alike as one of the most effective Allied military formations on the Western Front. In August 1918, the Canadian Expeditionary Force's Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force travelled to revolution-torn Russia. It reinforced a garrison resisting Lenin's Bolshevik forces in Vladivostok during the winter of 1918–19. At this time, another force of Canadian soldiers were placed in Archangel, where they fought against Bolsheviks. The Canadian Expeditionary Force lost 60,661 men killed or died during the war, representing 9.28% of the 619,636 who enlisted. Equipment During the war the equipment used changed as tactics evolved. The standard issued rifle was, at the beginning of the war, the Ross Rifle, which was later replaced by the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mark III (SMLE). This was due to problems of the Ross Rifle in comparison to the reliability of the SMLE, with unofficial replacement already occurring until the switchover in 1916. The service pistols issued were the Colt New Service, M1911 pistol, and the Smith & Wesson Triple Lock. Approved private purchase and secondary side-arms were the Webley Mark VI, and the Enfield revolver. Infantrymen were issued with the Ross bayonet, and later the Pattern 1907 bayonet. Machine-guns initially included the Colt and Vickers machine-guns, with the Vickers line continually expanded during the war, and which were complemented by the Lewis machine gun. Officially an infantry division would be classified at full animal strength at 5,241 horses and mules; 60.7 percent or 3,182 of these animals were part of the infantry division's artillery branch. Besides mounted and cavalry units, the Canadian Expeditionary Force used horses, mules, donkeys and cattle to transport gun pieces on the battle front, as