Called the "Thermopylae of Canada," the Second Battle of Ypres in April, 1915 - in Belgium – was the coming-of-age for Canada's fledgling army when a small force of the Canadian Expeditionary Force withstood two weeks of vicious onslaughts by a powerful and yet-unbeaten German army. To compound this David vs. Goliath story was the German use of poisonous gas, the first in modern warfare. This determined defence by the small Canadian force and their allies successfully prevented the collapse of the Western Front and the German domination of Europe. The protagonist, Private Charlie Kringle, meets the actual timeline in one of the greatest underdog stories in history.