Century marked since Second Battle of Ypres
It’s been one century since the Second Battle of Ypres, where Canada’s troops first tasted war.
They were also attacked with poisonous gas for the first time.
Canadian soldiers masked their faces with urinesoaked cloth to neutralize the chemical used by the Germans in the First World War. Chlorine gas acidifies when it contacts moisture, causing horrific pain for the eyes, mouth, nose, and lungs.
The French Algerian soldiers ran or succumbed to the gas after receiving the largest dose of all allies. Some Canadians ran, but the majority stayed to hold the gaping front lines.
More than 6,500 Canadians lost their lives or were injured on Belgian soil.
Archives technician Patrick Hayes created a website for the University of Saskatchewan’s Great War Commemoration Committee (GWCC) filled with archival information about the First World War. The GWCC has also developed a self-guided tour of war-related sites in collaboration with the City of Saskatoon.
“The university and the city were greatly involved in the First World War,” Hayes said. “It really bridged the old world and the new world. The way we think and function in the new world is largely based on the First World War.”
The Canadian war efforts hit close to home. About 75 per cent of U of S faculty and students left campus for the war.
“The first history professor at the U of S went to war. He created the University of Vimy Ridge. He gave them an opportunity to develop their minds,” said U of S history professor Keith Carlson, a member of the GWCC.
Although Carlson specializes in aboriginal history, the history of the First World War has family ties for him — his grandfather took part.
Carlson describes his grandfather as a postwar pacifist who wouldn’t tolerate corporal punishment or racism because of what he had seen.
“I needed to know about this event that had such a profound effect on my grandfather,” Carlson said.
“It’s important to think back and remember what pulls people into war and what the outcomes are. Looking back at the First World War, we were so focused on being on the right side, the side of goodness, and that the Germans were evil and barbarous.
“We won the war, but at what cost? When we won that war we sowed the seeds for fascism and Nazism. It’s an important event in history to know about.”
The GWCC has planned multiple events on campus spanning the years between 2014 and 2018 to encourage remembrance, awareness, and education about the war.
“If you just bring people into the archives and present documents and tell stories about real people, if you can show a personality with a real life, people can start to relate,” Hayes said.
GWCC events include public lectures and archival displays. Other events are still in the planning stages.
“WE WON THE WAR, BUT AT WHAT COST? WHEN WE WON THAT WAR WE SOWED THE SEEDS FOR FASCISM AND NAZISM. IT’S AN IMPORTANT EVENT IN HISTORY TO KNOW ABOUT.” KEITH CARLSON