Battles on the Western Front

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Battles on the Western Front

• World War I
• Social Studies 11

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Battles important in the Canadian effort

• Ypres
• Verdun
• The Somme
• Vimy Ridge
• Passchendaele

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The Battle of YpresApril 1915
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Ypres
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• The Battle of Ypres was the first time Canadians
  fought in the trenches during the war.
• French and Canadian troops were defending Ypres
  from the Germans.
• Ypres marked the first use of poisonous gas in
  history. The Germans used chlorine gas against
  the Allies.
• Without gas masks, the French and Algerians were
  forced to retreat, choking, gasping, and dying as
  the chlorine affected their lungs.
• 6000 Canadians died before reinforcements
  arrived.
• After a week of fierce fighting, the German
  advance was brought to a halt.
• The famous poem, In Flanders Fields by John
  McRae (from Guelph, Ontario) was written after
  this battle, in memory of a friend of his who had
  been killed

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The Ypres gas attack - photo taken from the air
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The Battle of VerdunFebruary 1916
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Verdun
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Canadians did not fight in the Battle of Verdun,
but

• This was one of the defining battles of World War
  I
• Germany attacked France at Verdun.
• The battle lasted 6 months and cost the French
  500,000 men.
• The battle was one intended as a battle of
  attrition that is, the German strategy was to
  wear down the French until they gave up this
  portion of the Western Front.
• Some say the French never did recover
  psychologically from this battle.

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A trench in the Battle of Verdun
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The Battle of the SommeJuly 1916
Horses carrying artillery shells at the Somme
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Somme
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• The Battle of the Somme was another (along with
  Verdun) of the defining battles of World War I.
• While Germany was busy at Verdun, Allied
  commanders tried to end trench warfare with a
  large attack on the German trenches at the Somme.
  
• This attack was not successful.

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• 20,000 Canadian soldiers died at the Somme.
• The Newfoundland Regiment suffered 90
  casualties, and every one of the regiments
  officers was killed or wounded.
• The battle lasted 5 months.
• By the end of the Battle of the Somme, the
  casualties for both sides had reached 1.25
  million.

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Why was the Battle of the Somme such a disaster?

• Allied shells were too weak to destroy German
  bunkers buried underground.
• Underground explosions did not dislodge the wire
  protecting German trenches Allied troops
  consequently became trapped.
• Allied troops had to carry too much gear - 25-60
  kilograms of it.
• Allies lost the element of surprise when a mine
  was detonated 10 minutes before the Allies were
  set to attack the Germans.
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• The attack occurred in broad daylight and was
  delayed.
• Despite heavy casualties, the attack was ordered
  to continue.
• 23 Canadian men were ordered shot at dawn
  because they could not or would not return to the
  front. Men who suffered from shell-shock faced
  court martial and then firing squad.

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An aerial view of the Battle of the Somme
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The Battle of Vimy RidgeApril 1917
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Vimy
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• Vimy Ridge had fallen into German hands in
  October 1914.
• The ridge was strategically important because it
  linked the Germans new Hindenburg Line to their
  main trench lines leading north from Hill 70 near
  Arras, France.
• For the next two years, Allied armies tried to
  regain the ridge.
• In April 1917 Canadian troops attacked the
  Germans at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, after
  150,000 British and French troops had already
  died trying to regain it.
• The Canadians achieved a magnificent victory,
  sweeping the Germans off the ridge.

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What was the significance of the Battle of Vimy
Ridge for Canada?

• It was the first time that Canadian units fought
  together as one, independent of British forces.
• The victory came to symbolize Canadas
  independence and nationhood.
• Canadians were soon recognized as among the best
  troops on the Western Front.
• In June 1917 Canadian General Arthur Currie
  replaced British General Byng as commander of the
  Canadians troops.

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• Canadians prepared thoroughly for the attack and
  practised over and over.
• 3500 Canadians were killed and 7000 injured.
• Canadians successfully captured Vimy Ridge,
  making this a turning point in the war.

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Shell holes at Vimy
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The Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge
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An artists perspective on the Battle at Vimy
Ridge
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The Battle of PasschendaeleOctober 1917
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• In October 1917 Canadian troops were asked to
  attack the Germans at Passchendaele in Belgium.
  General Currie advised that the town could not be
  taken because troops could not move through the
  mud.
• General Currie was overruled, and the Canadians
  were sent in.

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• Canadians were successful in taking the town of
  Passchendaele from the Germans and in holding it
  until reinforcements came.
• 16,000 Canadians died in this battle, 1 in every
  5.
• 9 Victoria Crosses were awarded to Canadians
  after the battle.
• The battle gained only 5 kilometers of mud that
  the Germans soon won back.

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A trench system at Passchendaele
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British artist John Nash painted this painting,
called Over the Top, in 1918