Gassed!
Allied soldiers help each other to the infirmary after suffering the blinding effects of chlorine gas.
Bomb craters
mark the terrain. The continuous freezing rain and snow of winter result in a muddy soup that was hard enough to walk through, let alone fight in.
Trench Foot.
Standing for days on end in wet, cold, muddy trenches caused the feet to rot away.
Vimy from the air.
Note the meandering trench lines.
Fort at Verdun
before the relentless bombing. The battle for Verdun resulted in over a million casualties, including some estimates of 50,000 the first day.
After
the bombing. The faint, battered outlines define the fort. Massive destruction is evident.
Over the Top!
The cry goes out signaling the attack. Here Canadian soldiers attack at Vimy Ridge - the battle that truly made Canada a nation. Allied losses at Vimy prior to Canada's victory were estimated to be over 150,000.
The body
of a German soldier surfaces with the spring thaw. The human carnage was so great that bodies were often buried many times only to be blown back out by constant bombardment.
The body
of an allied soldier lies in the road. Rats and other vermin quickly devoured any exposed flesh.
Windmill British Military Cemetery.
Canadian and other allied soldiers were often buried in the British cemeteries as well as their own. Here graves are prepared for burying the casualties of another day of war. Later, dedicated work by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission would re-intern over 385,000 dead in many small and large cemeteries throughout Europe.Back to Remembrance Day