The Royal Canadian Legion marks the Second Battle of Ypres on 25 May 1915. The most famous moment of the battle began more than a month earlier, on 22 April 1915, when German forces released chlorine gas against Allied troops near Ypres, Belgium. The fighting continued until 25 May 1915.

For Canada, Second Ypres was one of the first great trials of the First World War. Canadian troops had only recently arrived on the Western Front when they were drawn into a crisis unlike anything they had seen before. The gas attack opened a dangerous gap in the Allied line, and Canadian soldiers helped hold the position under shellfire, confusion, and choking gas.

The cost was enormous. In the first days of the battle, the 1st Canadian Division suffered roughly 6,000 casualties. Second Ypres became a symbol of Canadian endurance, but also a warning of the terrible kind of war that was unfolding. For St. Marys and the surrounding area, Ypres was not just a place on a map. It was connected to local men who had lived, worked, trained, or passed through this community before going overseas and found themselves in the middle of this fight.

The following honorees are among those connected to the Second Battle of Ypres through the records and remembrance pages researched on our site to date:

Private William Joseph Hannaberry was born west of St. Marys and was among the first local men to volunteer in 1914. He served with the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion and came through Second Ypres. Only weeks later, he was reported missing after the attack near Givenchy on 15 June 1915 and was later presumed dead. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

Private Frank Finnie was born in St. Marys and served with the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion. His remembrance page notes that he rejoined the battalion in France on 30 April 1915, as it was recovering from the losses of Second Ypres. Like Hannaberry, he was later reported missing after the fighting at Givenchy on 15 June 1915. He is remembered on the Canadian Memorial to the Missing at Vimy Ridge and on the St. Marys cenotaph.

Private Roy Robin Coleman was among the early Canadian volunteers of 1914. His service record connects him with the Second Battle of Ypres and the first year of Canadian fighting on the Western Front. Unlike Hannaberry and Finnie, Coleman survived the war and was later discharged from service. His story reminds us that remembrance includes both those who died and those who returned carrying the war with them.

Second Ypres was only the beginning of Canada’s long connection to the Ypres Salient. Canadian soldiers would return to this area again and again, including during the fighting around Mount Sorrel, Sanctuary Wood, and Hill 60 in 1916, and at Passchendaele in 1917. Many more of our remembered servicemen belong to those later chapters, which deserve their own articles.

Between 22 April and 25 May 1915, Canadian soldiers faced poison gas, artillery, machine guns, and heavy casualties in one of their first major battles of the war. For families at home, including families in communities like St. Marys, it marked the start of a long and painful connection to the battlefields of Europe.

More than a century later, as we move through this anniversary year, we remain committed to ensuring that our local connection to historic events like Second Ypres remains part of both Canadian history and local remembrance. Through men such as William Hannaberry, Frank Finnie, and Roy Robin Coleman, we are reminded that the great battles of the First World War were lived by individuals for our families, in communities like our own.

We remember them.