World War Two
Canadas participation in the Battles of Ypres:
During the first battle of Ypres, starting in April of 1915, the newly put together Canadian army was a force to be reckoned with. During the first battle of Ypres the Canadian army had to deal with such horrors as the introduction of the silent killer that was chlorine gas. Although Canadian troops were not the first allied force to come across this horrible gas they were still horribly wounded by its effects. During the first battle of Ypres, about every one in three Canadian soldiers would die, and many more wounded. And if the chlorine gas didnt kill the men who covered their mouths with urine soaked handkerchiefs in an attempt save their lungs, many men would leave first Ypres with no sight. Although the Canadians did lose many of their troops, first Ypres was said to be a very big example of the bravery and courage of the Canadians in WWI. During all battles of Ypres, Canada showed herself as a valiant fighting force and would show their strength to the enemy, their allies, and especially the world. All through out the battles of Ypres many different military tactics were introduced or used, either with the Canadians premiering them, or defending them. During the battles of Ypres where chemical chlorine gas came into play the Germans barraged the Allies and the Canadians with the tactic known as Preliminary Artillery Bombardment to weaken the lines and then kill them with the gas. Although this was a good plan, the strong allied forces took the bombardments and used there defense of urine soaked handkerchiefs to protect themselves from the chlorine gases that soon followed the artillery bombardments. During Ypres, Canada also fought with other allies, not just as a single unit, they fought with allies such as, Britain, France, America and Russia. Most countries involved with the war fought in Ypres. All battles of Ypres (First, Second and Passchendale) took place just outside of Belgium, all on the same grounds. The battles of Ypres took place roughly during, October to November of 1914, April to May of 1915 and July to November of 1917 respectively. The third battle of Ypres is most commonly known as Passchendale. During second Ypres, the allies and Canada used the relative quietness of the winter to regroup after first Ypres and get ready for an other battle with the Germans. During second Ypres, many aspects of warfare were used. First there was gas that officially commenced the start of second Ypres, and then there were flamethrowers sometimes referred to as liquid fire. The allies were affected greatly when the Germans released thousands of chlorine gas canisters, although of the allies, the French were the most effected by this particular attack. Fortunately for the allies, the Germans did not take advantage of the gap in the line that their gas attacks had created and allied forces were soon able to defend and close the gap. Battles continued on for months longer during second Ypres, and for a while the town did not fall. This was until in April the Germans launched the Hate Shoot campaign and reduced the town to rubble. While holding the line, Allied forces lost some 60,000 men. Before the third battle of Ypres (passchendale) commenced the battle of Messines was fought. It was very important in the third Ypres for the allies because the gained a pivotal ridge from the Germans, that helped them out immensely during third Ypres. During Passchendale, the allies and Canada suffered many casualties, approximately 270,000 by the end of November 1917. Most of the battle was fought during the wettest August to November ever recorded and these wet conditions did play a role in the Allied campaign. The first day saw most of the Allied objectives completed but at a high cost, many men died during the first day of the battle, and the casualties werent stopping there, although the allies and Canada proved themselves as a valiant force during Ypres, many, many allied and Canadian men died, especially during Passchendale. Passchendale was finally captured by the allies in November of 1917 but still, at a massive cost of life, which should have been avoided by lessons learned at earlier battles such as Somme the previous year. In the end though, Canada did show itself as a real force to be reckoned with during Ypres, they showed that they wouldnt back down even if the odd were against them and casualties were high. They showed real courage and bravery, something that could never be trained or taught to a person. Canada showed that they had heart.
