The Poppy Street Project in Duncan and North Cowichan

Ypres Street

Ypres, a town in Belgium, was bombarded repeatedly during the First World War. The

allies needed to hold the area to protect French ports on the English channel. Hundreds of

thousands were killed in the battles nearby, including men from the Cowichan Valley.

St. Julien Street

Soldiers from the Cowichan Valley died near St. Julien, a village in Belgium and one of the

locations of the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. That was the first time poisonous gas

was used against Canadian soldiers.

Festubert Street

The Battle of Festubert, a village in France, occurred in May 1915. The Canadians were

poorly prepared and took heavy casualties. They made little progress; typical in trench

warfare where advances were measured in metres.

Cavell Street

Edith Cavell was a British nurse in the First World War who helped soldiers and civilians

escape German-occupied Belgium. Her capture and execution in October 1915 horrified

people in the allied countries and solidified support for the allied cause in North America.

Vimy Road

The Battle of Vimy Ridge, April 9 - 12, 1917 , was a defining moment for Canada. For the

first time, all four Canadian divisions fought together and took the high point on a ridge in

France that other allied soldiers had failed to capture.

Cambrai Road

The capture of Cambrai, in northern France, near the end of the war in October 1918, is

considered a great victory for the Canadians. It had been a key transportation hub for the

German army. But the cost was high - thirty-thousand Canadians were killed or wounded

in the Battle of Cambrai.

Churchill Road

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has often been described as the greatest Briton

of the 20th century for leading the country through the Second World War.

‘We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields

and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

’

Agira Road

In July 1943 in Agira, a town in Sicily, Canadians fought their biggest battle in the allied

invasion of the island. Italy surrendered a month later, though German forces continued to

fight.

Ortona Road

The fighting to capture the town of Ortona, Italy in December 1943 is considered one of the

most brutal battles of the war. It wasn’t safe to be on the streets so the Canadians

developed a tactic called 'mouse holing' - using explosives and pickaxes to break down walls between the houses so they could advance.

Anzio Road

The Battle of Anzio is named for the Italian seaside town where allied forces landed in

January 1944. Fighting raged in the area for several months. After a lengthy stalemate the

allies broke through enemy lines and went on to capture Rome.

Cassino Road

In May 1944 Canadians were still fighting alongside allied soldiers to push the Germans

out of Italy. Cassino, infamous for its mountain top abbey that gave the soldiers who held it

the high ground, was the scene of numerous battles.

Normandy Road

On June 6, 1944, 150,000 allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. 14,000

Canadians were among them. This was the beginning of the battle to liberate Western

Europe from the Nazis.

Caen Road

Capturing the city of Caen, France was a crucial objective after the troops landed in

Normandy. It was a transportation hub with roads, a river and canal. The fields nearby

were needed for an air base. It took weeks to liberate the city and cost thousands of lives.

Falaise Road

The end of the Normandy campaign came at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August

1944. The German forces west of the River Seine were almost completely destroyed. Paris

was liberated a few days later.

Calais Road

The city of Calais was liberated by Canadian soldiers in October 1944 after heavy

bombardment and ground assaults. That opened this French port for shipping supplies to

the allies advancing east.

Arnhem Road

Canadian forces helped liberate the Dutch city of Arnhem in April 1945 after two days of

desperate house-to-house fighting. Days later they liberated much of the western

Netherlands.