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Second Battle of Ypres, April 1915

Research Notes

Resource #1 (book)
Christie, Norm M. Gas Attack! CEF BOOKS, 1998. Printed in Canada.

o The 19th century was a time of great technological advances, and nowhere was this
more evident than on the battlefields of World War One

o Artillery became more powerful and deadly. The machine gun, at first unknown,
quickly won the support of Generals. A cruel ‘uncivilised’ warfare was first
introduced: poisonous gases. The first use of this gas was on April 22nd, 1915 by the
Germans.

o The Army: British Forces on Western Front divided in to 4-5 Armies. British Army
in the field was commanded by Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig. Throughout the war
the British Army employed about 4,000,000 soldiers in the field. Canadian Corps
belonged to the 1st British Army

o The Army Corps: Consisted of a number of Infantry Divisions and was commanded
by a Lieutenant-General. Usually put as many as 120,000 men in the field. Made up of
4 Divisions, all Canadian, but British Divisions were attached for special attacks.

o The Division: Composed of 3 Infantry Brigades and had 20,000 soldiers.

Commanded by a Major-General. Make-up of the division included 12,000 infantry,
3,500 artillerymen, 750 in a medical section, and 2,000 engineers and pioneers.

o The Brigade: Infantry Brigade was commanded by a Brigadier-General and

consisted of 4 Battalions (4000 infantrymen). Each had engineers, signals, a field
ambulance, trench mortar unit, machine gun unit.

o The Battalion: Infantry Battalion consisted of 1000 men. After headquarters staff,
illness, wounded, etc were deducted, a Battalion would normally put 650 rifles into the
line. Commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel. Each Battalion made-up of 4 companies
(200 men), commanded by a Major or Captain. Company was broken into 4 platoons
commanded by a Lieutenant and each platoon into 4 sections commanded by a
sergeant.

Preparations:
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o After training at Valcartier on the Salisbury Plain in England, the 1st Canadian
Division received embarkation orders for France

o In April the 1st Canadian Division received orders to move into the trench-line
northeast of the Ancient Belgian City of Ypres from Fleurbaix on the French-Belgian
border

o A bulge in the British line north-east of Ypres created by the desperate fighting in
1914 protruded 5 miles into German territory

o One of the most dangerous places on the Western Front, since Germans could
attack from either the north or south, and attempt to pinch-off any troops in the bulge

o Germans controlled all of the main ridges near Ypres, which allowed them to view
their opponent’s movements and direct artillery fire very accurately

o The defences that the Canadians took over from the French were in bad shape. The
French had not dug the trenches deep enough and they were not connected. There was
limited protection from sandbags and almost no barbed wire out in front.

o A German deserter had revealed how when the wind was blowing the right way
thousands of cylinders of gas would be opened, a huge cloud would float towards the
Canadian lines, then the Germans would go over the top to attack and capture Ypres.

o The General Staff and other high-ranking officers did not take the warnings
seriously enough; did not know how to prepare

o Gravenstafel Ridge, a small rise that ran just behind the Canadian lines, was
fortified with defences as a secondary position should the frontline fall. This was
critical to the outcome of the battle.

First Day of Battle:

o April 22nd: Canadians held a three and a half km sector of the salient northwest of
Ypres. To their left were troops from France’s African colonies; to their right were
British soldiers.

o At 5 pm German shelling intensified and 5,500 gas valves were opened

o Two large, yellow clouds floated towards the French Colonials who deserted their
positions and ran towards Ypres, leaving a 12 km wide gap on the left flank. The
Canadians were not in immediate danger since the gas was north of their positions.

o At 6 pm, units of the Canadian infantry were commanded to move into the open
flank and attempt to close it. The German infantry left their trenches at about this time.
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o Machine-gunner Fred Fisher led sixty men to aid the Canadian artillerymen. Fisher
set up his machine-gun in front of the Canadian guns and drove back several German
efforts to capture them. All sixty men with Fisher were killed, but he continued to
shoot down the enemy until all the guns were safely away.

o There was little time to spare, since if the Germans acted quickly they could
surround the bulge and trap Canadian soldiers inside

o Reserve battalions made up of men from Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa confronted
the enemy immediately north of St. Julien.

o By nightfall of the first day of battle St. Julien and Ypres were still in Canada’s
hands, however the Germans had occupied considerable territory, such as Kitchener’s
Wood, a heavily forested area just west of St. Julien. From here the Germans could
easily break through Canadian lines and capture the village and march on to Ypres.

o Kitchener’s Wood would have to be retaken as soon as possible

Resource #2 (book)
Lloyd, Alan. The War in the Trenches. Granada Publishing Limited, 1976.
Printed in Britain.

o In fear of a dawn attack the men had to man the fire-step. This procedure was
known as ‘stand-to’.

o Small, repetitive breakfast was cooked on coke fires and eaten; troops washed and
shaved as well as possible, then performed minor chores.

o At dusk there was another ‘stand-to’, and hot food was brought from the field
kitchens.

o Night was a time of major activity, when troops and supplies where moved to and
from the trenches, dugouts were repaired, sandbagging, (one private wrote that he had
enlisted to save France, not to shovel it into sacks,) wire entanglement’s, etc.

o When the clouds burst, trenches became dykes, and icy water rose up to thigh level.
After long periods of immersion feet would begin to swell until it was painful to keep
one’s boots own. However taking them off would cause the flesh to rot (trench foot).

o Thousands suffered before gumboots were issued

o Patrols and spying sorties stealthily travelled across No Man’s Land to the enemy
trenches looking for weaknesses in their defences
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o These were high risk missions since the Germans sent up flares every so often that
lit up No Man’s Land so machine guns could scan the battlefield. Those who
successfully completed the mission would be rewarded.

o The German sniper was feared by all, since they operated at all times in one
location, learning all about the targeted British trench. With the ability to see large
distances he began easily picking off careless or risk-taking soldiers.

o Lookouts peered cautiously through sandbags but so many lookouts were shot
through the head that periscopes were either made or purchased. In time surveillance
devices were officially issued.

o Grenades were another problem where lines were close to each other, since a
powerful arm could throw a German grenade pretty far

o Minnenwerfer: a German mortar projecting a large explosive canister packed with

metal fragments (shrapnel). These were much more devastating than grenades.

o Random artillery bombardments were the most feared; no option but to pray.
Jack Johnson: a large German shell named after the famous Heavyweight Champion

o Triple Alliance – Italy, Germany, Austria-Hugary

o Triple Entente – Britain, France, Russia

o Schlieffen Plan - A German plan to avoid a two-front war (France + Russia) by

going through Belgium, eliminating Paris, and then focussing on Russia. This failed
because they encountered resistance in Belgium, and Russia mobilized its army faster
than expected

o Trench Warfare - War conducted from a permanent battle front of dug-out trenches,
first main use in WWI

o Victory Bonds - government bonds sold to civilians in order to finance the war
effort. They were needed because the war cost about $1 million a day. If one was to
buy a victory bond, they would get a return of 5.5%

Resource #3 (book)
Greenfield, Nathan M. Baptism of Fire. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 2007.
Printed in the United States.

Preparations:
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o Between 14 and 17 April 1915, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigades
relieved the French 11th Division, then holding four thousand yards of the Allied lines
immediately to the left of the British, on the north-east side of the Ypres salient

o Soldiers were made heavy by the weight of their heavy greatcoats, their sixty-
pound packs, their fourteen-pound Ross rifles, and the ammunition crates or machine-
gun parts they carried

o The stench from the trenches was great, the smells of trenches that were used as
latrines by the French for the last six months, unburied bodies that were decaying in
the sun, and the sweet spring were mixed together

o Bodies were buried close to the surface of the ground if buried at all, living quarters
were lice-infested, trenches were not connected, few had adequate parapets, there was
little barbed wire out in front, and the French machine-gun emplacements and artillery
positions were not properly placed or protected.

o The Canadians were left to prepare the trenches correctly

Gas:

o Chlorine’s outer shell is incomplete (has 7 electrons in a ring that can contain 18),
therefore the element is a powerful oxidizing agent
o Inhaled chlorine combines with water vapour and other bodily fluids to form
hydrochloric acid – which because of its reactivity, burns lungs and other tissues
o The body’s immediate response of secretion of more fluids is deadly, since these
fluids meant to defend the body are turned into more hydrochloric acid
o The fluids not so affected fill the lungs, causing drowning

Kitcheners Wood: April 22nd, late at night

o The Generals decided that two of the four battalions held in reserve near Ypres
would capture Kitchener’s Wood

o The 16th battalion (kilted), made up of soldiers from British Columbia and Manitoba,
and the 10th battalion, made up of Albertans, were ordered lead the attack

o These soldiers had no experience in battle, had to fight in complete darkness, and
against a position they had never seen; almost asking the impossible

o At 11:57 pm about 1600 men arrived at their jump-off point. They moved forward
into the darkness of the wood, unsure of the exact location of their enemy. The final
command from Garnett Hughes was “follow the North Star.”
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o Fixed 17-inch bayonets to their Ross rifles. They left their packs and overcoats
behind.

o Everything was going smoothly until the lead platoons of the 10th battalion
encountered a hedge interlaced by a wire fence, about a 200 yards from the Germans,
who were already expecting an attack.

o The Canadians were heard, so the Germans fired a flare which made the onrushing
Canadians visible under a harsh glow

o German machine guns opened fire and Canadian soldiers were dropping
everywhere and the dead began to form heaps

o The German patrols reached their trenches just ahead of the Canadians. Fast work
with bayonets and butts earned them the trench very quickly.

o After three hours of terrible fighting, the Canadians had managed to capture most
of the wood and had even managed push out beyond it. However, pockets of German
resistance remained and throughout the night many Canadians who had survived the
initial charge were killed or injured.

o Russ Boyle, Commander of the 10th Battalion was among the wounded, having
been shot 5 times in the groin, he was taken for medical treatment.

o Kitchener’s Wood was a costly battle (75% casualties) with hundreds of men killed
or wounded. Reportedly only about 60 men reported for duty the next morning.

o The Canadians realized that the land they had won at such a great cost was too
exposed to a German counter-attack, so they dug defensive positions just south of
Kitchener’s Wood.

o Later in the morning (of April 23rd), they linked up with the Canadians at St. Julien

o The attack on Kitchener’s Wood had been poorly planned but bravely executed in
order to secure another piece of the open flank

Mauser Ridge: Friday, April 23rd

o Soldiers from Winnipeg (8th Battalion), Saskatchewan (5th Battalion), and Toronto
(3rd Battalion), still held their original lines and were yet to be attacked; they
nervously waited behind their defences

o Their Commander, Arthur Currie wisely deducted the importance of the role the
Gravenstafel Ridge would play in the upcoming battle. Just behind his lines, a bump
known as ‘Locality C’ was the high point on the ridge. He ordered Locality C
transformed into a strong defensive position.
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o Closer to Ypres, the open flank created by the fleeing French troops still had to be
closed. The last two Canadian reserve battalions (1st and 4th from Central and
Western Ontario), were instructed to attack a strong German position on Mauser
Ridge, just south of the village of Pilkem.

o The order for attack was similar to that given at Kitchener’s Wood, except the
attack would be over open ground and in daylight. The 1600 men who were to secure
the ridge could not have been pleased.

o At 5:25 am the advance started. At first, the attack went well, but once they reached
the depression at the foot of Mauser Ridge the Germans pelted them with machine-gun
and rifle fire. They had no choice but to entrench. Artillery shelling was heavy. The
attack had failed.

o At 4:25 pm they tried again with the help of British reinforcements. But the
Germans retained control over the strategic ridge. Of the 1600 men who had attacked
Mauser Ridge since morning, more than 850 were dead, wounded or captured by the
evening.

o Commander of the 4th Battalion, Arthur Birchall, was one of the dead. Once again,
inexperienced Canadian battalions had suffered terribly.

o The Germans began carefully massing their troops in anticipation for the gas attack
on the morning of the 24th.

German Breakthrough:

o 13th Battalion (soldiers from Montreal), 15th Battalion (soldiers from Toronto),
and the 8th Battalion (soldiers from Winnipeg), totalling some 2400 men, held an
extremely vulnerable position known as the ‘Apex’.

o The Apex was dangerous because it was exposed to attack from two directions. If
the Germans broke through the Apex, they would be able to surround the other
Canadian Battalions.

o There was some good news. Canadian Medical Officers had developed a few
defences against the gas, such as wetting or urinating on a handkerchief to hold over
their mouths and noses, hugging the ground to reduce exposure since chlorine is
lighter than air, and to stay still and let the cloud of gas to pass over them. This
reduces the physical intake of gas.

o At 4 am the attack on the Apex began with a massive artillery barrage bombarding
the Canadian front and a huge cloud of chlorine gas being released onto the 15th and
8th Battalions. The soldiers followed the procedures taught, but the gas incapacitated
the Canadians long enough for the German infantry, equipped with gas masks, to
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sweep across No Man’s Land behind the vapour cloud and reach the Canadian lines
with minimal casualties.

o By 10 am the 15th Battalion was overwhelmed and routed, leaving a large gap in
the centre of the Canadian lines. As the German infantry poured through many
Canadian positions along the Apex began to collapse. There was no choice but to
retreat to St. Julien.

o The advancing German infantry then split and attacked two directions: one group
pursuing the retreated Canadians as they fell back on St. Julien and the other turned
around and slammed into the defences of the vital Gravenstafel Ridge.

o St. Julien was completely overwhelmed when another powerful German force
pushed out from Mauser Ridge on the other side of the village and completed the
encircling of the retreating Canadians.

o Some escaped back to the Canadian lines, but by the end of the day, most were
dead or had been captured.

o The fate of the entire Canadian position in the Ypres salient now hinged on
preventing the enemy from occupying Gravenstafel Ridge

o At the foot of Gravenstafel Ridge the 7th Battalion from British Columbia fought to
the last bullet until they had to surrender; allowed time for reinforcements to arrive

o Germans attacked Locality C next, which Currie had wisely fortified the previous
day. Men from several battalions attempted to repel the attackers.

o When it was captured they simply moved their defences to a farm 100 metres away,
where the line held and the Germans were denied complete control of Gravenstafel
Ridge.

o The day had gone poorly for Canada. Five Canadian battalions; one from British
Columbia, two from Toronto, and two from Montreal had been decimated. Roughly
half of the soldiers in these battalions were killed or captured.

o The Canadians had suffered terrible losses, but had given time for the British to
bring up reinforcements.

Sunday April 25th

o Following the gas attack, loss of St. Julien and part of Gravenstafel Ridge, British
reinforcements arrived.
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o The German advance of the previous day had left the 8th Battalion from Winnipeg
and the 5th from Saskatchewan dangerously exposed. Roughly 1000 Canadian soldiers
were still on the plain about one kilometre in front of Gravenstafel Ridge. The enemy
was in front, beside, and partially behind them.

o Germans renewed their attack on the Ridge but were unable to push much further

o In front of the Ridge the men from Winnipeg and Saskatchewan were anticipating a
German attack from behind, but by mid-afternoon were ordered to retreat. However
when the withdrawal began at 6 pm the soldiers were forced to cross a kilometre of
open ground to reach safety of friendly trenches during which German artillery
mercilessly shelled the men as they withdrew and there were many casualties. The
withdrawal was complete only by the morning.

o Although both battalions had managed the retreat very well and most of the men
were saved from being trapped by the Germans, the Canadians still suffered many
dead, wounded, and captured men.

o The 1st Canadian Division was then finally taken out of the front lines and replaced
by fresh British troops

Aftermath:

o The Second Battle of Ypres continued until the end of May 1915
o Gas was used again but by then gas masks were already being issued
o Gas had therefore lost its strategic value
o Never again would the use of gas present an opportunity like it did at Ypres
o By the end of the battle, the British Army, including the Canadians counted more
than 59000 dead, wounded, or captured. Of that number 6000 were Canadians,
roughly half of the Canadian infantrymen that fought in the battle.

Resource #4 (book)
Hughes, Matthew and Philpott, William J. The Palgrave Concise Historical
Atlas Of The First World War. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Printed in
Britain.

o A new weapon supplemented the usual artillery bombardment – chlorine gas

released from cylinders to float across the enemy’s trenches

o Not the first use of gas since both the French and German armies had previously
used tear-gas shells, with limited effect
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o The Ypres attack was the first occasion in which poison gas had a real tactical
impact on the battlefield

o Although they had received warnings of an impending chemical attack, the French
generals had been dismissive and were taken completely by surprise

o The gas ended up being too successful. The Germans had not expected such a
complete breach of the enemy’s defences, and had no fresh reserves to take advantage
of this. Also the German troops hung back through fear of their own gas.

o The German use of gas was seen to mark the end of the era of ‘civilized’ warfare in
the First World War.

o The use of poison gas on the battlefield had been specifically banned by the 1899
Hague Convention governing the conduct of war

o Germany’s violation of international law was another to add to the catalogue of

‘atrocities’ on which the allies founded their anti-German propaganda effort

o By the end of 1915 both French and British armies had made their own chlorine gas
attacks

o As the was progressed the chemical industries of both sides were tasked with
developing more effective chemical agents for use at the front

o While not particularly lethal – only 3% of gas casualties died – it neutralised

defenders (demoralised by its presence and encumbered by anti-gas respirators) more
effectively than high-explosive shells in the initial stages of an attack

Resource #5 (website)
Brenchley, Eric. “WWW Sites (World Wide Web).” Veterans Affairs
Canada: The Second Battle of Ypres, 1915. October, 2006.
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?
source=feature/bh_somme2006/bh_youthoverseas/ericbrenchley

o The Second Battle of Ypres was the only major attack launched by the German
forces on the Western Front in 1915

o The Second Battle of Ypres is known for the first use of gas warfare on the Western
front. Gas was first introduced on the Eastern Front earlier in the war, but with little
effect.
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o On April 22, 5700 canisters containing 168 tons of chlorine gas were released at
sunset against French Algerian and territorial division troops following a brief
bombardment

o Covering six km of Allied trenches, the greenish-yellow gas cloud affected some
10,000 troops, half of whom died within ten minutes of the gas reaching the front line.

o Death was caused by suffocation; those who lived were temporarily blinded and
stumbled in confusion, coughing heavily
o The German command considered it inconceivable that a major breakthrough could
be achieved, so reserves were though unnecessary, therefore the actual breakthrough
was not exploited to its full potential

o The 1st Canadian Division fought all night to plug the gap in their left flank which
the French had fled from

o On the first night of the offensive, the Canadian troops launched a counterattack to
drive the Germans out of Kitchener’s Wood

o The 10th Battalion of the 1st Canadian Brigade was ordered to attack while the
16th Battalion supported the advance. The mission began at 11:46 pm. No
reconnaissance had been done prior.

o After the war, Marsha Ferdinand Foch, the Allied Supreme commander remarked
that the “greatest act of war” had been the assault on Kitchener’s Wood by the 10th
and 16th Battalions

o The Germans released a second batch of chlorine gas two days later, on April 24th,
this time directed against Canadian troops situated north-east of Ypres

o The winds were blowing in favour of the Germans; meaning that anything short of
a full retreat would leave Allied forces in contaminated areas

o The Canadians realized that the only place with fresh air would by near the German
lines

o Although the battle was considered a stalemate, the act of re-establishing the front
lines in such harsh conditions earned the Canadians much respect

o The inadequacies of training, doctrine, and equipment were made obvious by the
antique tactics used at Kitchener’s Wood and Mauser Ridge

o The Second Battle of Ypres eventually concluded in failure in May. The German
army gave up its’ attempts to take the town, choosing instead to demolish it by
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constant bombardment. By the end of the war, Ypres had been reduced to piles of
rubble.

Resource #6 (website)
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. “WWW Sites (World Wide
Web).” War Museum: First World War Land Battles - Second Ypres.

o The Second Battle of Ypres marked the Canadians’ first major war experience

o In 1915, the Germans were attacking Russia in the east

o On the Western Front, Germans were mostly on the defensive, though they
continued to mount local attacks if conditions were favourable

o To probe Allied defences, and to cover the movement of troops on the Eastern
Front, and to test their new weapon, chlorine gas, the Germans prepared for a limited
offensive in Belgium in spring 1915 against the Ypres salient

o The last major Belgian town in Allied hands, Ypres provided a defensive position
from which to protect French ports on the English Channel. It had to be held at all
costs.

o On 22 April 1915, two Canadian brigades were in the front lines, with a third in
reserve near Ypres

o At 5 pm, the Germans released gas against the French 45th (Algerian) Division to
the Canadians’ left

o An enormous green-yellow cloud drifted towards the French lines

o When the gas blew over their positions, French troops either suffocated or fled,
their eyes and throats burning from chlorine

o Most of the gas missed the Canadians, but the French retreat had exposed the
Canadian’s left flank and threatened the destruction of the whole Allied position in
the salient

o General Alderson’s units shifted positions to cover the gap, but the German gas
attack had torn a huge hole, several kilometres wide

o From 22 April to 25 April, the Canadians fought with great courage to defend the
exposed position

o Outnumbered, outgunned, and outflanked, on the 24th of April they faced a

second, this time direct, chlorine gas attack
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o The Canadians counterattacked to stall the German advance, and then slowly gave
ground, buying precious time for British troops to be rushed forward

o The valour and sacrifice shown by the 1st Canadian Division at Ypres earned them
a reputation as tough and dependable troops, who never gave up. To earn that
reputation, they paid a high price: some 6000 casualties over the four-day battle
(April 22-25).