1. The Major Battles of WWI

2. Ypres

3. Somme

4. Passchendaele

5. Vimy

6. The Battles of Ypres

7. The Battle of Ypres, 1915 First use of Chemical Warfare (chlorine gas)
Canadian soldiers used urine soaked cloths as gas masks
Canadians suffered 6000 casualties, but Ypres did not fall
In Flander’s Field
Ypres like EEP, the sound you make when you’re scared
Belgium 1915 (Flander’s Region), first use of poison chlorine gas (by the Germans), Canadians had no gas masks and instead urinated into their handkerchiefs (the amonia neutralized the effects of the gas). Canadians held the Allied line and lost 6000 troops

8. Gas technique worked well, especially because the wind helped the spread it

9. The Battle of the Somme

10. The Battle of the Somme, 1916
Designed as the “big push” that would destroy the German lines and bring an end to the war
Ended instead with over 600,000 Allied casualties and over 660,000 German casualties
Germans call it The Bloodbath
First use of tanks in warfare
Deadliest first day for the British army- 60,000 casualties
1st Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont Hamel, mowed down by Machine Guns
Almost 8,000 Canadian deaths total
fought over 4 months in France, characterized by heavy artillery, rifles and machine guns
one day record for troops lost in battle, symbolizes the horror of warfare
Canadians at the mini-battle of Beaumont Hamel (battle within the battle)
No real winner, basically a stale-mate

13. Passchendaele

14. Passchendaele, 1917 AKA The Third Battle of Ypres “Battle of the Mud”
A destroyed drainage system and torrential rains left the Canadian Corps fighting in a sea of mud
Canadians captured the land from the Germans, but suffered 16,000 casualties (and 4,000 killed)
Almost half a million total casualties
Belgium, a battlefield to a vast bog of bodies, water-filled shell craters, and mud in which the attack ground to a halt.
Drainage system destroyed by bombardment
The mud slowed all movements to a crawl, leaving troops more vulnerable to enemy attacks
Mud so thick so that some soldiers drowned

15. Before and after

17. Vimy Ridge

18. Vimy Ridge, 1917 The birth of the nation
Developed a new strategy of underground tunnels
The Germans calls it “the week of suffering”
The “Creeping Barrage”
The price of victory? 3600 Canadian deaths
Did not want to repeat the carnage of the Somme, learned that just sending poorly trained troops “over the top” to be massacred was not a good strategy. Instead built secret underground tunnels to safely move the troops. Canadian troops bombarded the enemy with great accuracy (aided by aerial recon).
Previous attacks had been made at the bridge by the British and the French - now Canada’s turn to try and capture the German held high ground
Creeping barrage: continue to fire at the enemy as the troops left the trenches, forcing the enemy to stay in their dugouts. The Canadians would be on top of them before they even realized.

20. Memorial in France

21. Major Battles - what were they known for?
Ypres - Chemical Warfare
Somme - High Casualties and Tanks
Passchendaele - Mud
Vimy Ridge - A Victory for Canada