Social Studies 10 Lessons

By: Gen L

Lesson 6: Key Battles of WWI

Second Battle of Ypres

• 22 April - 25 May, 1915: Belgium
• Canada's First Division subject to first Chlorine Gas attack
• Troops burned and blinded
• Casualties
• No clear winner

Battle of The Somme

• July - Nov, 1916 - Best example of war of attrition
• Fought over low ridges near Somme River, France
• In the First Day, british casualties numbered , of which were fatalities.
• Canadians suffered casualties.
• Both sides suffered heavy casualties
• British only gained of land. Considered a defeat.

Battle of Vimy Ridge

• 9 April, 1917: Northern France
• French attempted three times unsuccessfully to take the ridge
• Canadians took the ridge after careful planning, supervised by General Byng.
• Major Canadian Victory: Won more ground, took more prisoners, captured more artillery & suffered less losses than any previous British operation
• Casualties, dead.

Passchendaele

• Nov 1917: Belgium
• Canadians ordered to attack German position, which had little value
• British soldiers had died trying to take Passchendaele
• Victory, at a cost of Canadian Deaths

Canada's 100 Days

• Aug 1918 - 11 Nov, 1918: A series of rapid allied victories.
• Final allied offensive spearheaded by Canada
• Canadian troops broke through Germany's "Hindenburg Line"
• Germans forced to abandon significant amounts of materials as they were slowly pushed back
• 11 Nov, 1918: Germany surrenders, signing the Armistice in a railcar.

Next Unit