Ypres
April - May 1914
WW1 - Second Battle of Ypres
On the evening of 22nd April 1915 the Germans launched the first poison gas attack on the Western Front. The chlorine gas used had been trialled on the Eastern Front, by this really was the birth of chemical warfare.
The Facts
- Date: 22 April – 25 May 1915
- Location: Ypres, Belgium
| Countries Involved | |
|---|---|
| British Empire France Belgium |
German Empire |
| Countries Commanders | |
| Horace Smith-Dorrien Herbert Plumer Arthur Currie Henri Gabriel Putz Théophile Figeys Armand De Ceuninck |
Albrecht of Württemberg |
| Number of Casualties | |
| Over 87,000 | Around 35,000 |
Battle result: Indecisive
Thousands became casualties in the attack and the Germans pushed the Allies back in Flanders. They did not achieve a breakthrough but captured all the high ground around the city of Ypres, totally dominating the landscape and the battlefield for the next two years. Gas would remain in use for the rest of the war, by 1916 often on a daily basis.
Belgian troops wearing gas masks
Ruins of Ypres
Francis Scrimger, VC - Worked with 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance
