Canadian Battles of World War I

Canadian History 11

D. Denike

The Main Canadian Battle Sites•Ypres (1915) Belgium•St-Eloi, France (1916) •Mount Sorel, France(1916)•Battle of the Somme, France (1916) -Beaumont Hamel France (1916) •Vimy Ridge, France (1917)•Passchendaele, France (1917)

YpresCanadian First Division, 20 000 soldiers

Faced poison gas attacks from Germans

More than 5200 Canadian troops died

Canadians held their position

Battle of the Somme

141 days of battle

Canadians fought with British troops

The first day of battle was disatrous: 57 470 casualties

Battle of the Somme

Canadians fought heroically

Casualties for both sides had reached 1.25 million

24 000 Canadian soldiers died

Battle of the Somme

Troops from Newfoundland and Labrador played a major part

They advanced across “no-man’s land” at Beaumont Hamel against heavy machine gun fire from the Germans

Only 68 of the 790 soldiers of the Newfoundland regiment survived

Battle of the Somme

After 5 months of battle, the British had only advanced 11 km

People at home were horrified by the massacre

Tanks, a British invention, were used for the first time at the Somme

Tanks would eventually help with the war

Vimy Ridge

For the first time all 4 Canadian divisions fought together on April 1917

100 000 Canadians launched the attack

“We went up Vimy Ridge as Albertans and Nova Scotians. We came down as Canadians”

Vimy Ridge

“From the dugouts, shell holes, and trenches, men sprang into action…and advanced to the ridge…Every division of the Canadian Corps moved forward together. It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade…In those few moments I witnessed the birth of a nation.”

Brigadier-General Alex Ross, describing the attack at Vimy Ridge

Vimy Ridge

Canadian soldiers captured the ridge

On that day, more ground, more guns, and more German prisoners were taken than in the first two-and-a half years of war

It was a crucial victory and step toward Allied victory in WWI

Vimy Ridge

Four Canadians won the Victoria Cross at Vimy

There were 10 602 casualties at Vimy Ridge

3598 Canadian soldiers died in battle

Destroyed Tank at the Battle of Vimy Ridge

Trenches at Vimy

Vimy Ridge Memorial

April 9 1917: Canada won its most celebrated battle of WWI

Early gas mask

Germans soldiers firing guns

Wounded soldiers in a trench

Present day trench Vimy Ridge

Battle field at Vimy Ridge

A view from the trenches

Inside the Vimy Memorial

174 623 Canadian soldiers were wounded during the First

World War.