07-02-2009, 12:56 AM
Off topic but ham enjoys a good "quirks of history" story.
Nathan M. Greenfield wrote a book called "Baptism of Fire" about Canadian participation at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. It recounts the story of how French troops broke under a German gas attack and the 1st Canadian Division plugged the gap and saved the free world. It is essentially the story from school history books that usually employs moral indignation against the Wicked Hun for using gas. Note that Greenfield is a historian, not a moralizer.
In an appendix Greenfield expounds on Canadian use of gas. While history books mention the lopsided victories of Canadian troops, they usually fail to mention that Canada was the biggest user of gas in WWI. In the "Hundred Days" that sealed the victory 4 Canadian divisions destroyed 47 German divisions and advanced 87 miles with use of massive amounts of gas. Holy crap.
The victory at Vimy Ridge was one that did not use gas, probably because we were fighting uphill and gas flows downhill and the extent of the planned advance was short ie. to the top of the hill.
Nathan M. Greenfield wrote a book called "Baptism of Fire" about Canadian participation at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. It recounts the story of how French troops broke under a German gas attack and the 1st Canadian Division plugged the gap and saved the free world. It is essentially the story from school history books that usually employs moral indignation against the Wicked Hun for using gas. Note that Greenfield is a historian, not a moralizer.
In an appendix Greenfield expounds on Canadian use of gas. While history books mention the lopsided victories of Canadian troops, they usually fail to mention that Canada was the biggest user of gas in WWI. In the "Hundred Days" that sealed the victory 4 Canadian divisions destroyed 47 German divisions and advanced 87 miles with use of massive amounts of gas. Holy crap.
The victory at Vimy Ridge was one that did not use gas, probably because we were fighting uphill and gas flows downhill and the extent of the planned advance was short ie. to the top of the hill.