The First Battle of Ypres was the last major battle of the first year (1914) of WWI.
The Battle of Ypres and the Battle of the Yser marked the end of the Race to the Sea where the Germans tried to reach the French Channel ports of Calais and Dunkerque, which were the main supply routes for the British Expeditionary Force. Major German advances would not resume until the Spring Offensive of 1918.
Outnumbered and exhausted, the British Expeditionary Force, under the command of General Sir John French, raced north from the mobile fighting of the first two months of the war to join two divisions of reinforcements recently landed in Belgium. They advanced east from St Omer, met and halted the German army at the Passchendaele Ridge to the east of the Belgian town of Ypres. Both sides dug in for trench warfare. The town of Ypres was rapidly demolished by artillery and air attack during the Battle of Ypres.
The Germans called the Battle of Ypres "The Massacre of the Innocents" (German "kindermorden"). Many of the German units conisted of enthusiastic students. Their offensive had been stopped by a British force, which although outnumbered was highly professional having learned many lessons from the Boer War. The BEF was supported for the first time by battalions from the Army of India and the British Territorials without whose support the Germans would surely have broken through. With tenacity and some good luck the ragged British line held on. The BEF was effectively destroyed at the Battle of Ypres but bought the British valuable time to reinforce the lines.
| First Battle of Ypres |
|
| Conflict |
World War I |
| Date |
October 19 - November 22, 1914 |
| Place |
Ypres, Belgium |
| Result |
British victory |
| Combatants |
|
| Britain |
Germany |
| Commanders |
|
| Gen. Sir John French |
Gen. Erich von Falkenhayn |
| Strength |
|
| 4 infantry div. |
|
| 1 cavalry div. |
|
| Casualties |
|
| 54100 |
|
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used chemical weapons on a large scale on the Western Front in WWI.
The Second Battle of Ypres consisted of four separate battles:
The Battle of Gravenstafel - 22nd to 23rd April 1915
The Battle of St Julien - 24th April to 4th May 1915
The Battle of Frezenburg - 8th to 13th May 1915
The Battle of Bellewaarde - 24th to 25th May 1915
168 tons of chlorine gas were released on 22 April over a four mile front. Around 5,000 troops died within ten minutes by asphyxiation. The gas affected the lungs and the eyes causing respiration problems and blindness. Being denser than air it flowed downwards forcing the troops to climb out of trenches.
Initially French Colonial and Algerian troops were attacked with gas during the Battle of Ypres. They died there or abandoned their positions, leaving a 4 mile gap in the front line. However, the German High Command had not foreseen the effectiveness of their new weapon, and so had not sent any reinforcements to the area. German forces were unable to take advantage of this gap, and the 1st Canadian Division reinforced the gap and held that part of the line against further gas attacks until 3rd May.
The winds were blowing in favour of the Germans; this meant that anything short of a full retreat would leave Allied forces in contaminated areas. The Canadians, initially held in reserve, realized the only place with fresh air would be near the German lines, as the winds would blow the gas away from there, (following the basic principles of gas warfare: infantry can only quickly occupy clean areas; therefore, the occupied areas would have to be uncontaminated.) The Canadians fought through using urine-soaked handkerchiefs as primitive gas masks during the Battle of Ypres, (for the ammonia in the urine would react with the chlorine, neutralizing it and allowing the soldiers to breathe.) Although the battle was a considered a stalemate, the act of reestablishing the front lines in such harsh conditions earned the respective Canadian regiments some of the highest battle honors ever awarded. In addition, this was the first time colonial forces (Canadian Expeditionary Forces, CEF) forced back a major European power, (the Germans) on European soil. This occurred in the battle of St. Juliaan-Kitchener's Wood.
The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) (C Scot R) 16th Battalion CEF received a distinctive shoulder flash for their actions in St. Juliaan-Kitchener's Woods. The shoulder title consists of a brass acorn in an oak leaf over a red felt backing with the name Canadian Scottish (the typical shoulder flash is strictly limited to the unit's name in brass.) The acorn and oak leaf are based off the heavy oak forests of Kitchener's Wood, a very difficult environment to fight through under ordinary conditions.
| Second Battle of Ypres |
|
| Conflict |
World War I |
| Date |
April 22 - May 25, 1915 |
| Place |
Ypres, Belgium |
| Result |
Stalemate |
| Combatants |
|
| France, Britain/Canada |
Germany |
| Commanders |
|
| Gen. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien |
Duke Albrecht of Württemberg |
| Strength |
|
| Britain,Canada,India 6 infantry div. |
Germany 7 infantry div. |
| France 2 infantry div. |
|
| Casualties |
|
| Britain,Canada,India 58,000 |
Germany 35,000 |
| France 10,000 |
|
The third Battle of Ypres was known as Battle of Passchendaele.
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