| The Battle of Ypres was known for its bad conditions. The rain was so bad that people drowned in the mud. |
| There were five Battles of Ypres during World War I: First Battle of Ypres (October 19 – November 22, 1914) Second Battle of Ypres (April 22 – May 15, 1915) Third Battle of Ypres (July 31 – November 6, 1917) (also known as Passchendaele) Battle of the Lys 9 - 29 April 1918, also called the Battle of Estaires and informally the Fourth Battle of Ypres Fifth Battle of Ypres (September 28 – October 2, 1918) was the informal name given to the Battle of Ypres 1918 |
Ypres History
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| In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. ~John McCrae, 1915 |
| About the Battle of Ypres 1915: In 1915, the second Battle of Ypres established the reputation of the Canadians as a fighting force. The 1st Canadian Division had just arrived on the Western Front when they won recognition by holding their ground against a new weapon of modern warfare - chlorine gas. It was also in the trenches at the second Battle of Ypres that John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields" when a close friend was killed, one of 6000 Canadian casualties in just 48 hours. |