 |
Significance and Losses
The Second Battle of Ypres cost the Canadian Division 5,828 men and 208
officers. That was a significant part of the 69,000 Allied troops deaths (59,000
British, 10,000 French). The Germans lost 35,000 soldiers.
But it was also the battle where Canadians showed their tenacity and elan. They
were a young fighting force and mistakes were made, but they fought more valiantly
and vigorously than any of the combatants, Allied or enemy, could have imagined.
They would gain the reputation among even the Germans as serious soldiers not
to be trifled with. And it was at this battle that Arthur Currie demonstrated
the quick, tactical thinking that would make him the hero of Vimy Ridge and Canada's
military genius. Finally, it was during this battle that Lieutenant Colonel John
McCrae M.D. of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, wrote "In Flanders Fields," a
lament and call to action by the dead he saw all around him. |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Lt. Col. John McCrae
During The Second Battle of Ypres Lt. Col. John McCrae
(seen here with his dog, Bonneau) wrote the haunting poem In Flanders Fields".
The poem was originally published in the British Punch magazine and was taken
by Allied soldiers as the poem that captured their reason for fighting against
all odds. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
