Canada

The Canadians won high praise as courageous fighters of this war.
             On the third battle of Ypres, the British and French high command had decided that a "three prong" attack on the German lines was needed to break the stalement that had ensued since the end of 1914. It was finally decided that the British forces would attack at the Ypres front as part of the three phase attack. .
             On July 18, the British and French artillery started a massive barrage on the German lines. On July 31, an attack was planned to take place. The battle itself was focused on the small town of Passchendale. The ground on which the troops had to fight was getting very muddy due to the artillery's destruction in the ancient drainage systems which kept the land dry. Soon, no man's land was like a giant mud puddle and in some places, it was so deep that men would vanish into it without a trace. However, the British high command was still insisting that the artillery had to be used in full scale barrage before the infantry could attack. They had learned nothing from the previous disasters at Ypres, and once again, the artillery would play a large role in the failure of the offensive. Early on the morning of the 31st, the infantry began its advance. Despite massive German counterattacks, the British managed to creep forward 2 miles. The battle was going well until the eve of August 1, when heavy rains began and flooded over the area even worse than before. The rain continued without stop for two weeks and the British army was heavily weighed down. However, they continued to press against the German lines. The Germans were also heavily weighed down which kept them from counterattacking but they still held a stubborn resistance. They hit the British with chlorine gas and heavy machinegun fire, but the British still attacked uncontrollably.
             After a long, hard struggle, the Canadians took Passchendale in early October. They then managed to push into Ghent bringing the offensive to an overall cost of 250,000 casualties.