St Juliaan

The Canadian Memorial

There are only two major Canadian Memorials on the Western Front that at Vimy Ridge in France and this one in St Juliaan (St Julien) to the north of Ieper.

It can easily be reached by taking the main road from Ieper to Brugge.

It was designed by the Canadian sculptor Frederick Clemesha and was unveiled by the Duke of Connaught on 8 July 1923. The surrounding cedar trees are trimmed to the shape of shells.

The Allied Supreme Commander Marshal Foch was present and spoke highly of the Canadian soldiers first major action in the war.

Gas Attack

Ypres had been desperately fought over in October and November 1914 during the race for the sea. Once trench war fare became the way of life on the western front each side endeavoured to find some way to break through.

On 22 April 1915 the Germans bombarded the French lines to the north of Ypres in the first phase of the 2nd Battle of Ypres.

This bombardment was followed by the release of 135 tonnes of chlorine gas. A green mist that gently floated on a light breeze into the French Lines.

The gas attacked the lungs of the soldiers and soon they were choking - literally drowning as their lungs filled with fluid. The French Line collapsed leaving the Canadians to their right badly exposed.

The breach in the allied line was far greater than the Germans had been expecting and they were not able to fully exploit it.

Canadian and British troops were flung into the gap to prevent a total collapse and the loss of Ypres.

The German pressure started to mount again and on 24 April they launched another gas attack this time against the Canadian troops defending St Julien (Sint Juliaan). Gas masks had yet to be invented and the soldiers had to fight with soaked handkerchiefs as their only protection.

The Canadians managed to hold on until they were relieved, but ultimately they and the British were forced back closer to Ypres.

In their first major engagement of the war the Canadians suffered 6,035 casualties. As the memorial points out 2,000 of them lie in the cemeteries nearby.

Gas masks were introduced, but the men still only had moments to fit them properly before they would be overcome. Wilfred Owen describes an attack in one of his poems.