Back in 2005 the City of Windsor added poppies to a number of streets that were named for battles in which Canadians fought during World Wars One and Two.
Lets take a look at these streets and their history.
Dieppe street in East Windsor is named after the well known Battle of Dieppe during WWII. Dieppe was commanded by Canadian Major General John Hamilton Roberts; over 900 Canadians sacrificed their lives during this battle.
Vimy road, one of many other streets in South Walkerville running parallel to Memorial Drive, is named after the WWI “Battle of Vimy Ridge”. Many of these South Walkerville streets were drawn up as part of the McLaughlin Park subdivision following World War One.
Today, a few of these streets continue out of South Walkerville to the east and west, passing Central Avenue.
Thirty-five hundred soldiers lost their lives in Vimy, France, most of them Canadian.
Somme street, also in South Walkerville, is named after the Battle of the Somme, a multiple-month battle in Somme France in WWI where over 24,000 Canadians perished out of more that 620,000 allied troops.
Lens street, in South Walkerville, is named after the Battle of Hill 70 during WWI in Lens, France. This battle was fought directly between Canadian Troops and the Germans. Over 9,000 Canadians were killed in Lens.
Ypres road (pronounced “eep” and not “ee-pray-s”), which runs from Walker to nearly Howard in South Walkerville, is named after the Second Battle of Ypres, France during WWI. Six-thousand Canadians sacrificed their lives. Interestingly enough, during this battle, Canadian Soldier John McCrae wrote “In Flanders Fields”.
Alsace (the first image in this post) and Lorraine streets, in South Walkerville, were named after a contested region between France and Germany (Alsace-Lorraine) that was liberated in 1918 by allied troops, including Canadians.
Verdun street in South Walkerville is named after the WWI Battle of Verdun between the French and the Germans. The Canadian-fought Battle of Somme was launched to relieve pressure from French troops during Verdun.
Amiens street, also in South Walkerville, is named after the WWI Battle of Amiens in which 22,000 allied troops died – many of them Canadian soldiers.
Arras street in South Walkerville is named after the British military campaign, the WWI Battle of Arras. Arras included the Vimy and Lens offenses in which Canadian soldiers perished.
St Julien road is named after the Battle of St Julien during WWI, part of the Second Battle of Ypres offensive in which Canadian soldiers fought.
More than 110,000 Canadians lost their lives during WWI and WWII combined.
Many war memorials around Windsor honour our fallen soldiers, but nothing quite speaks to the history of the individual battles like these streets do.
If I’ve left out any poppy-streets, please do let me know!
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