Passionate about Passchendaele

One of the most important battles in Canada's military history is about to hit the silver screen.

Passchendaele opens Friday but you have to wonder if most Canadians will even know what it's about.

In 1917, the allies were stonewalled in their fight against the Germans at the Belgian village of Passchendaele. The French had deserted, and the British, Australian and New Zealand forces, were exhausted by their failure to capture the village.

The Allies' high command called on the Canadians who exhibited extraordinary courage and ability on the battlefied.

But a new poll shows that less than four in ten Canadians have even heard of the battle of Passchendaele, and young Canadians' knowledge of the events of the great war, sadly, is even worse.

Other findings:

– only 46% of Canadians knew that Remembrance Day marks the end of the First World War.

– just 16% of respondents could identify both Germany and Austria from a list of five as countries against which we fought.

– one in five Canadians (22%) were unable to identify Germany as one of Canada's opponents.

– nearly four in ten Canadians (37%) think that the United States entered the First World War ahead of Canada.

Source: Dominion Institute