Battle OrganizerThe Answers

Name of Battle Ypres

Date (month and year)

April 1915

Location (place and Country)

Ancient city of Ypres in Belgium

Main Events - Task was to hold about 3.5km of the line in the face of heavy German attack

- During the attack French-African troops positioned beside the Canadians broke ranks and fled from poisonous gas

- Germans came pouring through the hole in the line- The Canadians, with makeshift masks made by urinating on

handkerchiefs, managed to hold their position and eventually closed the gap

New Technology Used

Chlorine gas – a deadly poison that burned the throat, eyes and destroyed the lungs

# of CDN troops involved

20 000

# of CDN casualties 5 200

Importance of the CDNs

Used makeshift gas masks to hold their position and eventually closed the gap in the line

Results of the Battle German attack was stopped

Name of Battle Somme

Date (month and year)

July 1916

Location (place and Country)

Somme River in France

Main Events - CDNs fought with British under General Douglas Haig- By nightfall on the first day of the attack, British and Canadian

casualties totaled 57 470 – the heaviest ever in warfare for one day’s fighting

- 90% of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment were killed or wounded that day

- Despite the death toll, the battle continued for 141 days- People at home were horrified and disillusioned by this massacre

New Technology Used

Tanks – huge armed “land ships” weighing over 25 tons lumbered along at approximately 5 km/hr

# of CDN troops involved

90 000

# of CDN casualties 24 000

Importance of the CDNs

Fought so heroically that they were marked as storm troopers – in the future, they were often brought in to lead an attack

Results of the Battle Both sides were exhausted and casualties reached 1.25 million each. British advanced only 11km through the rubble

Name of Battle Vimy Ridge

Date (month and year)

April 1917

Location (place and Country)

An escarpment in France

Main Events - First time all 4 CDN divisions fought together under the leadership of General Currie

- Canada won its greatest victory by dislodging the Germans from the top of a high ridge after both British and French failed to do so

- Four CDNs won the Victoria Cross (the most prestigious award given to war heroes)

- Currie was granted a knighthood from King George VNew Technology Used

Creeping Barrage – a curtain of fire that would advance 100 yards every three minutes

# of CDN troops involved

100 000

# of CDN casualties 11 000

Importance of the CDNs

Captured more ground, guns and prisoners than any Allied offensive on the Western Front in the first 2 ½ years of the war

Results of the Battle It was a magnificent victory for Canadians and the Allied troops. Some said that Canada became a nation at Vimy Ridge.

Name of Battle Passchendaele

Date (month and year)

July 1917

Location (place and Country)

Land in Belgium that had once been under the North Sea. Shelling destroyed drainage ditches and that land became waterlogged.

Main Events - One of the most bitter disasters for CNDs as they were condemned to advance into a sea of mud

- Soldiers sometimes wept with sheer frustration of trying to advance through the mud

- Narrow duckboards were placed as pathways over the mud but 1000s of soldiers slipped in and were sucked I and drowned

- A British official, seeing the battlefield for the first time said, “Good God! Did we really send men to fight in that?”

New Technology Used

No new technology was used

# of CDN troops involved

100 000

# of CDN casualties 16 000

Importance of the CDNs

So many lives senselessly sacrificed

Results of the Battle Gained 7 km of mud which the Germans soon won back again