Second Battle of Ypres

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The Second Battle of Ypres by Richard Jack, 146 x 234 1/2 in., at the Canadian War Museum.

Date	22 April - 25 May 1915
Location	Ypres, Belgium
Result	Indecisive

Combatants

France

United Kingdom

Australia

Canada

Newfoundland

German Empire

Commanders

Horace Smith-Dorrien

Albrecht of Württemberg

Strength

8 infantry divisions^[1]

7 infantry divisions

Casualties

70,000 dead, wounded, or missing

35,000 dead, wounded, or missing

Western Front
Frontiers – Liège – Antwerp – Great Retreat – Race to the Sea – Neuve Chapelle – 2nd Ypres – 2nd Artois – Hill 70 – 3rd Artois – Loos – Verdun – Hulluch – Somme – Arras – Vimy Ridge – 2nd Aisne – Messines – Passchendaele – Cambrai – Michael – Lys – 3rd Aisne – Belleau Wood – 2nd Marne – Château-Thierry – Hamel – Hundred Days

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

The Second Battle of Ypres consisted of four separate battles:

The Battle of Gravenstafel - 22 to 23 April 1915
The Battle of St Julien - 24 April to 4 May 1915
The Battle of Frezenberg - 8 to 13 May 1915
The Battle of Bellewaarde - 24 to 25 May 1915

1 Gas attack at Gravenstafel
2 Kitcheners' Wood
3 Aftermath
4 See also
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Gas attack at Gravenstafel

168 tons of chlorine gas were released on 22 April over a four mile front. Around 6,000 troops died within ten minutes from 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 Forces and Zouaves of the 45th and 78th French Divisions were attacked with gas; the survivors abandoning their positions en masse, 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 Canadian Division reinforced the gap and held that part of the line against further gas attacks until 3 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 (it was discovered by a Canadian soldier that the ammonia in the urine would react with the chlorine, neutralizing it, and that the water would dissolve the chlorine, allowing the soldiers to breathe). 1,000 of these "originals" were killed and 4,975 were wounded from an initial strength of 10,000.

[edit] Kitcheners' Wood

The name of this oak plantation derived from the French name, Bois-de-Cuisineres, 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 of Kitchener.)

At Kitcheners' Wood, the 10th Battalion (Canadians) of the 2nd Canadian Brigade Group (CBG) was ordered to counter-attack; they formed up after 11pm on the night of 22 April. The 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) of the 3rd 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 11:46pm. The leading waves of the Tenth 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. The commander of the 10th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel R.L. Boyle, was mortally wounded in the opening moments of the firefight, being hit five times in the groin by a German machine gun.

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.

Image:Oakleafmet.jpg

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.

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 10th and 16th Battalions.

[edit] Aftermath

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 Canadian Division was forced to absorb several thousand replacements shortly afterwards, but had presented a mostly 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.