Attacking in the evening of the 21st, the two French divisions found themselves ill-prepared to cope with the chlorine gas and promptly broke, leaving a gap in the line six kilometres wide.

At Kitcheners' Wood, the 10th Battalion, CEF of the 2nd Canadian Brigade was ordered to counter-attack into the gap created by the gas attack; they formed up after 11:00 pm on the night of 22 April.

The leading waves of the 10th Battalion covered half the distance from the start line to the Wood, running into a strong hedge interlaced with wire.

No reconnaissance had been done prior and the battalion was forced to break through the obstacle with rifle butts, while taking fire from German machine guns about 180 meters away.

Gen. Turner made a sudden and unilateral decision to withdraw his brigade back to the General Headquarters (GHQ) line, several miles to the rear.

After the war, Second Ypres and St. Julien were granted as battle honours to British and Canadian regiments, but to the dismay of the units that fought there, Kitcheners' Wood was not.

"St. Julien's Day", as it is known, usually involves an all-ranks reunion dinner, an officers' mess function, a freedom of the city parade, and a church service.

In Belgium, the Vrije Basisschool (elementary school) of the current day St-Juliaan displays an oak leaf memorial in honour of the event.

A service of remembrance was conducted at sunset at the oak leaf memorial, and soldiers, veterans and family members of both regiments were hosted to a dinner on the site of the former battlefield.