Hi I’m Kevin Hicks and welcome to my YouTube channel the History Squad. Now, I’m dressed like a
Canadian First World War soldier, we're going to cover the subject of the first gas attack
on the second battle of Ypres 22nd of April 1915. A terrible event Canadians fought through it
but there's more to it than that so Ypres small market town beautiful place with the clock hall
in Belgium yeah and outside of it the British then on their left the Canadian forces and then
on their left two battalions of French mainly so I understand Moroccan and Algerian colonial troops
in front of the French the Germans have been amassing canisters of chlorine gas
the French intelligence knew they were there but they did nothing about him on the 22nd
of April 1915 they launched their attack 160 tons of chlorine gas was released and it took about
four hours and this cloud of gas came rolling over the poor colonial troops they never stood a chance
and a British soldier witnessed what happened he said they were running wildly clutching at their
throats their face purple choking now remember this is the first time this has ever happened
so the Germans now they're going to punch through that's their plan except it goes slightly wrong
because the German soldiers themselves as they go towards the French lines they see the horror
and carnage that this gas is causing literally men coughing up their lungs but the Canadians
who are part of this defensive force part of the attack have been tipped off there are men amongst
them who are chemists and that kind of thing worked with chemicals back in Canada and they said
urinate on a sock tie it round your face so urinate on your army sock tie it round your face
look what's coming yeah if you can't simply wet a handkerchief do what you can so the Germans
attacked the Canadians but they held their ground it opened up a six and a half kilometer wide
gap in the in the front line and the Germans should have poured through but they didn't
yeah they hadn't sent enough men there were lots of complications going on with this attack but the
Canadians with the British eventually held their line the Canadians had over 6 000 casualties um
2 000 of them died now I’ve personally witnessed a man who passed away from mustard gas. It's the
most unpleasant thing you could imagine he was a First World War veteran, I was in hospital
next to him and poor Mr Lumley, I listened to him all night as he coughed up his last.
Consequently things are going to change now in warfare the British scientists, chemists are
now going to go to work and they're going to try and find an answer to this both with the gas mask
and of course offensive gas but as a result of the attack on the Canadians there is a memorial
at Saint Julian uh it's at Vancouver corner they call it. And it's the most amazing thing, it's
a brooding Canadian soldier, he's got his rifle reversed his head’s forward and his steel helmet,
the rim comes round. And if you go there when it's raining the rain runs underneath
the rim and fills the eye sockets of this statue of this soldier and he appears to cry
because the effects of chlorine gas makes you cry, makes your nose run, makes you choke.
In fact the first gas, if you had a good lungful of it, it was fatal. Well I hope you found that
interesting, definitely not entertaining is it, but interesting, and if you did
thumbs up you know the drill. And let us know in the comments section what you thought.
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