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The Great War
WW1 was the largest war in history, to that point. The war lasted 1564 days and there were over 37 Million casualties, with over 8 million deaths. (Royde-Smith, John Graham). The two main groups involved were the Allies, which included France, Britain, Russia, Italy and the US, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria. The war was fought mainly in Europe. The Western Front was where many of the battles between Germany and the Allies took place, bordering France and Belgium. -
First Gas Attack (Ypres)
The was the first poison gas attack that took place in history. The Germans released 160 tons of chlorine gas on the French-Algerian and Canadian troops. It hit the French-Algerian trench lines first killing many on impact, and forcing others to flee. This left the Canadians to defend a 6km gap in the trenchline. After much fighting that day they were able to delay the Germans from invading Ypres. -
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2nd Battle of Ypres
This was the first battle where Canadian soldiers played a significant role. This battle was took place outside of a city called Ypres, in Belgium. It was the first battle in WWI where poison gas was used. The battle lasted almost a month, with the first four days the most crucial. In the end, the allies were able to defend their territory, despite many attacks by the Germans, and so no territory was gained or lost by either side. -
Second Gas Attack (Ypres)
After a few days of gruesome fighting the German troops sent a second chlorine gas attack, which hit the Canadian troops directly. Some soldiers were killed, injured, or fled however some survived the deadly gas attack by pressing fabric soaked in urine over their faces. However, the Canadian troops were able to defend Ypres until many replacement British troops could be send in. -
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Battle of the Somme
This battle lasted almost 5 months and produced over 1.2 million casualties. It is arguably the bloodiest battle in history. The Allies launched a major attack, in France, in hopes to break the stalemate. Canadian troops entered the fighting on August 30, 1916 and were apart of many attacks, including the first with tanks. The battle ended because of rain and snow which made living conditions unbearable, very little territory was gained by the Allies however both sides suffered many casualties. -
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Vimy Ridge
This was the most significant battle for Canadian troops in WW1. Canadians fought to secure Vimy Ridge, a French town located near the Battle of Arras which was where the British troops were fighting. The Canadian troops spent many nights preparing for this attack, they secretly constructed 11 tunnels underneath no man's land, which were designed to safely bring back Canadians from the Germans bases. On April 9, the Canadians launched their attack securing Vimy Ridge on April 12. -
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Passchendaele
Passchendaele was also called the third battle of Ypres, as it was fought in the same area, in Belgium. The terrain was extremely rough, loitered with many dead bodies from the previous battles, and muddy due to many craters filled with water. The Canadians entered the battle in October where they launched 4 attacks securing the German trenches and the village of Passchendaele. However there were over 500 000 casualties and the land the Allies gained was abandoned just a year later.