Second battle of Ypres (1915)

During the First World War the second battle of Ypres (Ieper) was fought in the spring of 1915. The Germans were attempting to capture the Flemish village and the surrounding countryside, which jutted into their lines. On 22 April they attacked, and for the first time in the war, they resorted to poison gas. In this, their first large-scale engagement, Canadians, shelled and gassed, suffered heavy losses: more than 6,000 men wounded or killed.