Second Battle of Ypres

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Second Battle of Ypres
Part of the Western Front of World War I
The Second Battle of Ypres by Richard Jack, 146 x 234½ in., at the Canadian War Museum.
Date Thursday 22 April - 25 May 1915 Location Ypres, Belgium Result Indecisive
Belligerents
Belgium  Canada France Colonial forces United Kingdom British India	German Empire
Commanders
Horace Smith-Dorrien[1] Henri Gabriel Putz[2] A.-L.-T. de Ceuninck[3]	Albrecht of Württemberg[4]
Strength
8 infantry divisions[5]	7 infantry divisions
Casualties and losses
70,000 dead, wounded, or missing	35,000 dead, wounded, or missing

The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in World War I and the first time a former colonial force (Canadians) pushed back a major European power (Germans) on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St. Julien-Kitcheners' Wood.

The Second Battle of Ypres consisted of four separate engagements:

• The Battle of Gravenstafel: Thursday 22 April – Friday 23 April 1915
• The Battle of St Julien: Saturday 24 April – 4 May 1915
• The Battle of Frezenberg: 8 May – 13 May 1915
• The Battle of Bellewaarde: 24 May – 25 May 1915

The scene of the battles was the Ypres salient where the Allied line which followed the canal bulged eastward around the town of Ypres, Belgium. North of the salient were the Belgians; covering the northern part of the salient itself were two French divisions (one Metropolitan and one Algerian) The eastern part of the salient was defended by one Canadian division and two UK divisions.

In total during the battles, the British Commonwealth forces were the II and V Corps of the Second Army made up of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cavalry divisions, and the 4th, 27th, 28th, 50th, Lahore and 1st Canadian Divisions.^[6]

[edit] The Battle of Gravenstafel (22nd - 23rd April 1915)

[edit] Gas attack on Gravenstafel

At around 17:00 (5:00 pm) on 22 April 1915, the German Army released one hundred and sixty eight tons of chlorine gas over a 6.5 km (4 mile) front on the part of the line held by French Territorial and colonial Moroccan and Algerian troops of the French 45th and 78th divisions.^[7][8] Contrary to popular belief this was not the first use of chemical warfare, the first was at the Battle of Bolimov 3 months earlier with only a few hundred killed. Approximately 6,000 French and colonial troops died within ten minutes at Ypres, primarily from asphyxiation and subsequent to tissue damage in the lungs. Many more were blinded.^[9] The chlorine gas, being denser than air, quickly filled the trenches, forcing the troops to climb out into heavy enemy fire.

With the survivors abandoning their positions en masse,^[10] a 4-mile (6.4 km) gap was left in the front line. However, the German High Command had not foreseen the effectiveness of their new weapon, and so had not put any reserves ready in the area.^[11] German troops started to enter the gap at 5:00PM in some numbers, but with the coming of darkness and the lack of follow up troops the German forces did not exploit the gap, and British and Canadian troops were able to put in a hasty defence that held that part of the line against further attacks until 3 May 1915 at a cost of 6000 wounded or dead. Casualties were especially heavy for the 13th Battalion CEF, which was enveloped on three sides and over-extended by the demands of security its left flank once the Algerian Division had broken.

One thousand of these "original" troops were killed and 4,975 were wounded from an initial strength of 10,000.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Kitcheners' Wood

The name of this oak plantation derived from the French name, Bois-de-Cuisinères, a reference to the fact that French soldiers housed their field kitchens there, and not in reference as is sometimes thought to the British general officer of the same name. (Thus the name of the feature is "Kitcheners' " with the apostrophe after the "s", indicating the plural possessive.)

At Kitcheners' Wood, the 10^th Battalion (Calgary Highlanders) of the 2^nd Canadian Brigade Group (CBG) was ordered to counter-attack into the gap created by the gas attack; they formed up after 23:00 (11pm) on the night of 22 April. The 16^th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) of the 3^rd CBG arrived as they were forming, tasked to support the advance. Both battalions had over 800 men at the start line (today called a "line of departure") and formed up in waves of two companies each. The order to advance was given at 23:46 (11:46pm). The leading waves of the 10^th Bn 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, bringing down fire from alerted German machinegunners about 200 yards distant. Both battalions charged the last 200 yards to the wood, throwing the Germans out, and suffering more than 75 percent casualties.

After the war, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Allied Supreme Commander, remarked that the "greatest act of the war" had been the assault on Kitcheners' Wood by the 10^th and 16^th Battalions.^[12]

[edit] The Battle of St Julien (24th April - 4th May)

The village of St. Julien had been comfortably in the rear of the 1st Canadian Division until the poison gas attack of 22nd April, whereupon it became the front line. Some of the first fighting in the village involved a hasty defence, which included the gallant stand of Lance Corporal Fred Fisher of the 13th Battalion CEF's machine-gun detachment; who twice went out with a handful of men and a Colt Machine-gun and prevented advancing German troops from passing through St. Julien into the rear of the the Canadian front line. Fisher won the VC for his actions on the 22nd, but was killed when he attempted to repeat his actions on the 23; this was the first of 70 Canadian VCs won in the First World War.

On the morning of 24 April 1915 the Germans released another cloud of chlorine gas, this time directly towards the re-formed Canadian lines just west of the village of St. Julien. On seeing the approach of the greenish-grey gas cloud, word was passed among the Canadian troops to urinate on their handkerchiefs and place these over their noses and mouths.^{[13] [14]}

Francis Alexander Carron Scrimger, V.C., M.D. Capt. Scrimger, with the 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance, may have passed the order to use urine to counteract the gas, but there is some doubt (see note 10). Capt. Scrimger won a Victoria Cross for other actions on 25 April.^{[15] [16]}

However, the countermeasures were ineffective and the Canadian lines broke as a result of the attack, allowing German troops to take the village.

The following day the York and Durham Brigade units of the Northumberland Division counterattacked failing to secure their objectives but establishing a new line close to the village. The third day the Northumberland Brigade attacked again, briefly taking part of the village but forced back with the loss of more than 1,900 men and 40 officers - two thirds of its strength.^[17]

The 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers Battalion suffered heavily, incurring hundreds of casualties and with no respite took part in the next two subsidiary battles at Frezenberg and Bellewaarde. On 24 May the battalion was subject to a German chlorine gas attack near Saint-Julien and effectively disintegrated as a fighting unit.

[edit] The Battle of Frezenberg (8th - 13th May)

The battle began the 8th of May when German forces attempted to break Allied lines held by the 27th and 28th divisions. On the 10th of May the Germans released another gas cloud but made little progress. The battle ended after six days of fighting with a German advance of 1000 yards.

[edit] The Battle of Bellewaarde (24th - 25th May)

On the 24th of May the Germans released a gas attack on a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) front. British troops were able to defend against initial German attacks but eventually they were forced to retreat to the north and south. Failed British counterattacks forced a British retreat 1000 yards northwards. Upon the end of the battle the Ypres salient was 3 miles (4.8 km) deep.

[edit] Aftermath

By the end of the battle the size of the Ypres Salient had been reduced such that Ypres itself was closer to the line. In time it would be reduced by shelling until virtually nothing would remain standing.

Ruins of Ypres market square.

The surprise use of poison gas was not a historical first (poison gas had already been used on the Eastern Front) but did come as a tactical surprise to the Allies. After Second Ypres, both sides developed more sophisticated gas weapons, and countermeasures, and never again was the use of gas either a surprise, nor especially effective. The British quickly developed their own gas attacks using them for the first time at the Battle of Loos in late September. Development of gas protection was instituted and the first examples of the PH helmet issued in July 1915.

The Canadian Division was forced to absorb several thousand replacements shortly afterwards, but had presented a most favourable image to their allies and the world. Another Canadian Division would take to the field in late 1915, joined eventually by a third and fourth. The battle also blooded many commanders, singling out some for praise, such as brigade commander Arthur Currie, and others for criticism, such as Garnet Hughes.

The inadequacies of training and doctrine in the early CEF was made obvious by the antique tactics used at Kitcheners' Wood and St. Julien, though tactics in the British Colonial armies would be slow to evolve. At Second Ypres, the smallest tactical unit in the infantry was a company; by 1917 it would be the section. The Canadians would be employed offensively later in 1915, but not successfully.

A Third Battle of Ypres, more commonly known as Passchendaele was fought in the autumn of 1917. The battle would be marked by Canadian tactical successes as a result of many innovations in organization, training and tactics in both the infantry and artillery.

[edit] Canadian honour

After the war, Second Ypres and St. Julien were granted as Battle Honours, but to the dismay of the units that fought there, Kitcheners' Wood was not.

The commanding officer of the Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) which perpetuate the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) CEF, organized a lobby to have a dress distinction awarded for the part the 10th and 16th Battalions played at Kitcheners' Wood, which was never recognized with a Battle Honour. In the 1930s a distinctive brass shoulder title was awarded. In the case of the Canadian Scottish, the title consisted of a brass acorn and oak leaf over a red felt backing surrounded by the title CANADIAN SCOTTISH. The Calgary Highlanders and Winnipeg Light Infantry, both of whom perpetuated the 10th Battalion (Canadians) CEF, were also awarded distinctive shoulder badges, though their pattern consisted only of a brass badge with the initials of the regiment directly on the oakleaf. The WLI were absorbed into the Royal Winnipeg Rifles in 1955 and the WLI badge fell out of use. The acorn and oak leaf are symbolic of the heavy oak trees of Kitcheners' Wood which were a significant obstacle to infantrymen in 1915. Photos taken two years later showed that the forest was eventually obliterated during the fighting. Tradition in the Canadian Army has been that metal shoulder badges consist only of letters or numerals, with only a few exceptions. The use of honorary distinctions is common, however, in the British Army, such as the addition of the Sphinx to regimental badges.

It was during the Second Battle of Ypres that Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae M.D. of Guelph, Ontario, Canada wrote the memorable poem In Flanders Fields in the voice of those who perished in the war. Published in Punch Magazine 8 December 1918, it is still recited today, especially on Remembrance Day and Memorial Day. ^[18][19]

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Category:Second Battle of Ypres

World War I Portal

• First Battle of Ypres
• Use of poison gas in World War I
• Saint Julien Memorial
• Third Battle of Ypres

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Chattaway, F.D. (1908). The Action of Chlorine upon Urea Whereby a Dichloro Urea is Produced. Proc. Roy. Soc. London. Ser. A, 81:381-388.[6]

• — (1916). Captain F.A.C. Scrimger, V.C., M.D. Can. Med. Assoc. J., 6:334-336.[7]

• Howell, W.B. (1938). Colonel F.A.C. Scrimger, V.C. Can. Med. Assoc. J. 38: 279–281.[8]

• Legion Magazine online.[9]

• Love, D. (1996). The Second Battle of Ypres, Apr-1915. Sabretasche (Vol 26, No 4).[10]

• Nasmith, G.G. (1917). On the Fringe of the Great Fight. McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart, Toronto.[11]

• Scott, F.G. (1922). The Great War as I Saw It. Goodchild Publishers, Toronto.[12]

[edit] External links

• Kitchener's Wood Memorial
• http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~cjmorton/service/ww1/ypres/overview.htm