The Major Battles of

World War I
Ypres
The Somme
Vimy Ridge
Passchendaele

Ypres
April May, 1915
Ypres, Belgium
Germans released 5 730

cylinders of chlorine gas

Unprepared, the French
division fled, leaving the
Canadians to fight.
Despite many Canadian
casualties, the Allies
saved the situation

2 days later, the Germans released gas on the

Canadians. Those in St. Julien were overrun;
the Candians in Ypres held on

Fighting continued for 3 weeks.

In the attempt to hold off the enemy attack,

over
59 000 were lost for the sake of
positions that had little strategic value.

It was after this battle that Lieutenant-Colonel

John McCrae composed In Flanders Fields

The Somme
July November, 1916
Somme, France
The plan was for a joint

British-French assault on the

Somme (Western Front)
Many French were killed
protecting the French
fortress of Verdun in
February, making it difficult
to participate in the Somme
offensive
The British went ahead with
their Big Push

The Germans were waiting as 100 000 British

troops advanced from the trenches in full
daylight.

In one day, almost 58 000 were killed,

wounded or missing. It was the biggest
disaster in British military history.

Troops came to help

from the First

Newfoundland
Regiment, and
soldiered on bravely.
The Canadians
entered the
bloodbath in
September, fighting
through many
German defensive
lines

The Canadians finally managed to capture

Regina Trench on November 11, despite the
mud and deaths in the thousands.

Vimy Ridge
April 9-12, 1917
Douai Plains, Nord-Pas-

de-Calais region, France

Strategic place for

Germans, had fortified

it for 3 years

The battle began at 5:28am on Easter Monday,

April 9.

The Canadians took one objective after

another, in spite of heavy machine gun fire

The Canadians took over 4 000 prisoners and

achieved one of the greatest victories in the
war up to that time

It is said that Vimy was where Canada

was born as an independent nation.

Passchendaele
Oct Nov, 1917
Passchedaele, near

Ypres, Belgium

The objective was to capture German

submarine bases on the Belgian coast.

The Germans position was firm, and the

British suffered appalling casualties.

The Canadians were called to lead one more

attack.

The battlefield was a

muddy bog, and

brought back memories
of Ypres.
Attempts to rebuild
roads , gun platforms,
etc. were slowed by
German aircraft bombs.
At 5:40am on Oct. 26,
the Canadians
attacked, but could not
secure the area.

Attacks during late October and early

November brought much suffering, but led to
the Canadians securing many German strong
points.

Once again the Canadians had shown

that, even in impossible conditions, they
could do the job when called upon.