Second Battle of Ypres

“ The Second Battle of Ypres, on the other hand, belongs not to Canada and the Empire alone, but to the world. It must rank among those few outstanding achievements of uncalculated and self-sacrificing heroism which serve as an incentive to noble spirits for all time. ”

“ On the right of the Ypres-Roulers Road, the British encountered a very strong resistance. The ground, more broken than that on the other part of the battle-front, and also intersected with woods, enabled the Germans to keep several points d'appui. Despite the fiercest fighting, it was impossible to drive them out of part of the second position on the right wing. Nevertheless, an advance of about a mile in depth was made in this sector, and the village of Hooge and Sanctuary Wood were captured. ”

“ Since the last summary there has been a sudden development in the situation on our front, and very heavy fighting has taken place to the north and northeast of Ypres, which can be said to have assumed the importance of a second battle for that town. With the aid of a method of warfare up to now never employed by nations sufficiently civilized to consider themselves bound by international agreements solemnly ratified by themselves, and favored by the atmospheric conditions, the Germans have put into effect an attack which they have evidently contemplated and prepared for some time. ”

“ Germans face to face with the challenge: "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther."
What this meant to them is proved by the desperate but abortive attempts they made to break through in the second phase of the battle. (Back to Content)
CHAPTER XI (p. 237) THE BATTLE OF YPRES Second Phase, October 27th to October 31st
I regard the operations which were carried on by the British Forces in France during the days of which this chapter treats, as more momentous and fateful than any others which I directed during my period of service as Commander-in-Chief in the field. ”

“ The Third Battle of Ypres was in many ways the sternest battle ever fought by British troops. It was not a defence, like the two other actions fought at Ypres, but an attack. It was an attack against the success of which the very stars in their courses seemed to fight. Everything—weather, landscape, events elsewhere on the front—conspired to frustrate its purpose. ”

“ Whatever history may record of the Third Battle of Ypres, one fact certainly will not be overlooked or forgotten, namely: that men who could continue for three months to attack under the conditions which characterised this most terrible battle of the war must indeed belong to an invincible stock. ”

“ The First Battle of Ypres was not only remarkable for its long duration, but also for the mighty armies that were arrayed against each other. Never before in the history of the world have such huge forces struggled for victory. During the battles of the Seven Years' War the combatants on both sides did not exceed 120,000, and in the Napoleonic wars the opposing armies at no time reached a total of 450,000. ”

“ Two days before the battle the bombardment of Ypres re-began--a bombardment which did not cease until the picturesque little city was a shapeless heap of ruins. While the shells rained upon Ypres, the Germans let loose the hideous fumes of poison gas upon the French trenches, causing a four mile breach in the line, into which the foe came pouring.
But the Canadians, staggering under the crushing weight of the artillery assault, held firm. Although the losses of the British were appalling, and the Salient was blunted a little, the path to Calais through Ypres was still barred. ”

“ It recalled the freshness and abandon of German volunteers in the first battle of Ypres. Our infantry, already in line to advance over the same ground as the counter-attack, received it with a merciless fire which its ranks kept breasting in fruitless sacrifice. Our tanks, waiting to move forward with our infantry at the moment set for our own attack, carried out their program and literally rolled over many of the survivors of the charge in which our youth had learned some respect for age. ”

“ A light breeze from the north-east wafted this cloud towards the French, who, a few moments later, fell gasping for breath in terrible agony. Terror spread through the ranks, especially among the African troops. A panic inevitably followed, which quickly spread from the front to the rear lines.
Behind that cloud of gas the German troops advanced, protected by a heavy barrage and intense machine-gun fire.
The French Colonial troops fell back several miles towards Ypres, and the Germans took Steenstraat, Het Sas and Pilkem, together with many prisoners. ”

“ The moral of the battle, brought home to every man that took part in it, was that the ultimate victory in this war will lie with the nation that best organizes itself to provide its armies with the sinews of war. If at Neuve Chapelle we bitterly felt our shortage of shells, at Ypres we realized even more intensely the enormous advantage which the enemy’s superiority in artillery and high-explosive ammunition gave him. ”

“ Men who fought at Ypres will say that they noticed no loss of moral in the enemy, and with this we agree; we only wish to insist that there were indications which had not escaped the eyes of the German Command. As to the hard, heart-breaking fighting of the Battles of Ypres, 1917, it is only just to the gallant French and British troops to point out once more the many advantages that lay with their enemies. ”

“ The renewed struggle for Ypres, however, had drawn heavily on the scanty British reserves of ammunition, and the preliminary bombardment of forty minutes proved wholly inadequate to crush the resistance offered by the enemy's numerous fortified posts when the First Army advanced to the attack. This disastrous engagement, in which the greatest bravery was displayed against overwhelming odds, cost over 12,000 casualties. ”

“ The putting into effect of Sir Douglas Haig's major plan, after the preliminary step of the capture of the Messines Ridge had been taken, did not operate till 31st July, when the 'Third Battle of Ypres' began, with a combined British and French attack on a 15-mile front beyond Boesinghe, on the Yser-Ypres Canal, to Zillebeke. The attack was conducted by the First French Army (General Anthoine) ; the bulk of the fighting fell on the Fifth British Army (General Gough) . Twelve villages were taken and 5000 prisoners. ”

“ Not only must we hasten because we faced an enemy whose strength would be increasing daily, but because we were to attack in Flanders, and the summer would be far spent before we could complete our preparations.
The enemy’s lines lay on the slopes of the semicircle of low hills that overlook Ypres. Behind him lay another swampy valley, which rose again to another slightly higher crescent of hills.
In the inner arena lay the ruins of Ypres, and, set in the marshy levels and immediately overlooked by the first semicircle of hillocks and more distantly by the second, lay our lines. ”

“ The offensive in the west has arrived at a deadlock. The enemy is much stronger than our supreme command assumed. The region before Ypres is a great lake, and therefore impassable. The whole country between our Amiens front and Paris is mined and will be blown up should we attempt to pass."
The preliminary bombardment southwest of Ypres April 29 started in the early morning and took in the ten-mile front from Meteren, west of Bailleul, to Voormezeele, two miles south of Ypres. Infantry attacks in this area followed with great fury, and sanguinary fighting continued all day. ”

“ We were more than ever convinced that we could believe nothing that we heard and must necessarily see for ourselves. [Pg 113] Besides, the guns which we had only heard feebly in the distance, on our arrival at Poperinghe, could certainly be heard far more distinctly now; were we going to be bombarded a second time? It really seemed probable, for German aeroplanes appeared in sight, apparently scrutinising the movements of the Allies, and had not that been the beginning of the hostilities at Ypres? ”

“ On the way to Ypres—crown and climax of the tour—the car passed Lillers and Hazebrouck, places never to be forgotten by hearts that beat in the battles of Flanders. [Pg 331] Then came the frontier at Steenwoorde; and they were actually in Belgium, passing Poperinghe to Ypres, the most famous British battleground of the war.
When Brian was fighting, and when you were on earth, Padre, everyone talked about the "Ypres Salient." Now, though for soldiers Ypres will always be the "salient" since the battle of Wytschaete Ridge, the material salient has vanished. ”

“ Our car had been stopped during this one-sided battle, but now that it was over we started on again. The cobblestone road had been torn up by shell fire in many places, and driving was rough and difficult. We passed batteries of artillery and long lines of army service waggons, wending their way Ypres-ward. There was no further firing for the present and we crossed the bridge over the Yser and entered the town without mishap. From the distance there was little change to be noticed in Ypres; but now that we entered the streets we soon saw the effects of the bombardment. ”

“ Outside, the noise grew ever louder. [Pg 36] The roar of the cannon, the rolling of the carriages, Paris omnibuses, provision and ambulance cars, the continual passage of cavalry and foot soldiers, and the motor-cars passing with lightning-like speed, made the quiet, sleepy little town of Ypres as animated as London’s busiest streets. At night even the Allied regiments poured in, profiting by the obscurity to hide their movements from the Germans ”

“ As to the probability of German success around Ypres, it seems to grow less as time passes. After the first rush was over and the British lines had time to re-form Germany has accomplished nothing. Moreover, it is certain that in back of the short twenty-five miles of line held by the British troops there is a reserve of almost a half million men. No other portion of the battle line in either theatre has such great latent strength ready to be thrown in when the critical moment comes. ”

“ The battle extended northwards and the IVth Army (Von Arnim) attacked between Armentières and Ploegsteert with the Eberhardt, Marschall and Sieger Corps.
The push continued on the 11th, and Armentières, outflanked on the north and south, smashed by the shells and drenched with gas, had to be evacuated.
On their left, the Germans, after crossing the Lawe, north of Locon, two miles from Béthune, captured Neuf-Berquin and Merville. ”

“ Germans make progress in the Argonne; German General Staff in Belgium admits a loss of 12,000 dead in the battle of Ypres.
May 3—Germans renew assaults near Ypres, the British lines being pounded north and south of that place, and Germans gain ground southeast of St. Julien; Germans damage French positions in Champagne at Ourchen, Sopain, and Perthes; French repulse an attack in the Forest of Le Prêtre. ”

“ We left [Pg 189] Ypres soon afterwards and went into rest billets at Millain and then training billets at Westbecourt. Hunter-Weston's VIII Corps became a reserve corps behind the line and we, Jeudwine's 55th Division, were transferred to Watts's XIX Corps which became part of Gough's Fifth Army—that famous general having arrived in Flanders. While at Westbecourt we—Stockwell's 164 Brigade—practised the Third Battle of Ypres in the open cornfields and amongst the numerous vegetable crops between Cormette and Boisdinghem. ”

“ The race for the coast had been a draw, and the First Battle of Ypres had ended open warfare on the Western Front.
10“Quick-firing field guns and the machine-guns used defensively, proved too strong for the endurance of the54 attackers, who were forced to seek safety by means of their spades rather than through their rifles. Whole fronts were entrenched, and, except for a few small breaks, a man could have walked by trench, had he wished to, from Nieuport almost into Switzerland.” ”

“ ON APRIL 9—20, 1918, THE GERMANS BROKE THROUGH THE ALLIES' FRONT, SOUTH OF YPRES, AND ADVANCED TO NIEPPE FOREST AND THE CHAIN OF THE FLANDERS HILLS THE BATTLE OF THE FLANDERS HILLS The Break-Through
(April 9, 1918.)
The Germans began the attack on the morning of April 9, after an intense bombardment with gas shells, and under cover of a dense fog reached the first machine-guns. The sector was held by Portuguese troops, wedged in between the British, from Bois-Grenier to Neuve-Chapelle. ”

“ The French were able to retake some of the ground they had lost, although the enemy still held on to Dixmude.
From November 12th onwards, the chief anxiety I had was to get relief and rest for the troops which had been fighting so desperately in the Ypres salient, particularly the 1st Corps. I had long interviews with Foch, and represented to him the necessity for French troops to take over the whole of the ground there, at any rate for a time. ”

“ Germany is still out for grab. Therefore she is far from beaten. Ipso facto, [Pg 142] peace is out of the question. The end is not yet in sight. There is still a long struggle before us. I think the forthcoming battle here will be the semi-final: the final will be fought in the East about Christmas or the New Year. Constantinople still remains the key to victory, if victory is to be won by fighting."
My diary of July 13 concludes with the statement: "Captain Briggs's A Company—the remains of it—are coming to these billets to join with us. Gas casualties in Ypres (latest) over 3,000." ”