Canada's first major battle in World War One near the city of Ypres in Belgium. Essay

Canada's first major battle in World War One took place near the city of Ypres in Belgium. At this battle, the Canadian troops were surprised with the new form of deadly biological warfare that the Germans were using. This mechanism was called poison gas and was dated to be used for the first time in a war on April 22nd, 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres. The use of gas resulted in a very catastrophic beginning for the Canadians in battle as they were not expecting this type of attack from the Germans. Poisonous gas was released from canisters into the trenches in the form of gas clouds which resulted in injury, depression and death. This new use of chemical technology caused many troops to change the way they fought at war. The soldiers were forced to fight smarter than harder instead of using the strongest and largest machines. They started to use more intelligence and tactical striking in their war strategy. Many war strategists valued the used of gas during war because it was hardest to detect as it came in the form of clouds. The two most popular forms of chemicals were chlorine and mustard gas. Chlorine gas could burn the eyes and throat of a soldier, while destroying their lungs. If breathed in, the gas could do very bad damage causing the soldier to choke, gag, gasp, cough, and end up dying from this deadly gas. Another poison gas was introduced to the battlefield and was much deadlier than chlorine gas. Mustard gas had the ability to burn a soldier's skin and respiratory tract while causing blindness.
Poisonous gas ended up becoming the most feared of all weapons in World War One. This gas caused the death of 6000 soldiers during the battle at Ypres and caused many more casualties as the war progressed. However, it was the physiological distress that it caused to soldiers which was more damaging. Gas was a silent killer which was developed so that even when there was no attack going on, it could still be used on soldiers while they were living in the trenches and they wouldn't necessarily see it coming. For example, during World War One, tanks, airplanes, flamethrowers, machine guns, submarines were very easy to spot out and plan a counterattack on. Poisonous gas was furtively secreted into enemy trenches. If it was not recognized early on, the soldiers could not fight back and their future would be already determined. Eventually, a Canadian medical doctor realized that this new gas was causing too many upsets for our army and found a way to lower the casualties caused by the poison gas. The men would soak their handkerchiefs in urine and hold them over their face. This approach was extremely unsanitary yet was Canada's only defence against it at the time. Ultimately they were able to create a mask that would protect them but the masks were extremely expensive to manufacturer causing many soldiers to go without them.