The Germans mounted furious attacks and 21 to 23 October 1914 saw the First Battle of Langemarck, and the so-called "Massacre of the Innocents", when, in a desperate attempt to make a breakthrough, the Germans had thrown their Reserve Corps into the front line. This Reserve Corps was inexperienced and included many young students, some unarmed and lacking basic equipment, who were no match for the professional British and French soldiers. The young reservists died in their hundreds and the Germans failed to take Langemarck. "On 23rd October 1914 they (the reservists) were practically annihilated in the fields in front of Langemarck and Bixschoote by Haig's cool and skilled fifteen-rounds-per-minute professionals, This was the First Battle of Langemarck, 21–23 October 1914."^[13]

The next phase was the Battle of Gheluvelt, which ran from 29 to 31 October 1914. Now the Germans were to take Zandvoorde and Hollebeke and on 30 October 1914, Gheluvelt (Geluveld) fell to the Germans, was retaken and then fell back into German hands along with Mesen and Wytschaete. St Eloi was the next village to fall and between 10 and 11 November 1914 the 2nd Battle of Langemarck was fought although again the Germans failed to take Langemarck.

The Germans stepped up their attacks on 31 October 1914 and German cavalry drove the British cavalry from the Messines Ridge and on 11 November, two premier German divisions (The Prussian Guards Division) attempted to break the British lines at Nun's Wood just north of the Menin Road. The German attacks were held but at a great loss of life.

Fighting was to continue until 22 November 1914, when the onset of winter halted fighting. The heavy winter rains began to fall and "the rifle was substituted by the spade". Ypres was to become a name embodied in the English psyche.

Thus the first phase of fighting ended, this being known as "First Ypres", and many historians have concluded that this period saw the death of the old British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The fighting had been fierce and the BEF's numbers decimated. Now Britain needed to rebuild her army.

By April 1915, the Salient front line was manned by troops from Belgium, from France, from the French Colonies, from Canada and Great Britain. From Steenstrate to the North Sea coast the line was held by the Belgian 6th Division, from Steenstrate to north of Langemarck it was held by the French 87th Territorial Division, and from there to the Ypres to Bruges road south of Poelkapelle it was held by the 45th Algerian Division. From the 45th Algerian up to the "Berlin Wood" near Gravenstafel the line was held by the Canadian 1st Division and from Berlin Wood the line was held by three British Divisions, the 5th, 27th and 28th.

On 22 April 1915, the Germans launched another offensive and after a brief preliminary artillery bombardment they used Chlorine gas against the French and Algerian troops defending the line north of the town of Langemarck (the French 87th Territorial and 45th Algerian divisions); the Germans used 168 tons of Chlorine Gas and some 5,000 men were to die of asphyxiation.

The troops fled in terror leaving a 7 kilometre gap in the line and the Germans advanced through this gap and captured Langemarck. They then halted and dug in and the allies, in particular the Canadians,^[15] were able to close and reinforce the gap. However whilst the German advance was checked they had gained possession of the high ground north of Ypres and in the Salient, as along most of the Western front, it was always a tremendous advantage to hold the high ground.

Heavy fighting and further gas attacks continued until 25 May. The Allies held their line but the German 4th Army was now able to use the newly acquired high ground to bomb Ypres with heavy artillery.

This period was known as "Second Ypres" and saw very heavy Allied losses and in the subsequent German artillery fire the town of Ypres was practically demolished. British losses were estimated at 59,000, the French lost 10,000 and the Germans 35,000 men.

When referring to the Second Battle of Ypres, we include the Battle of Gravenstafel fought from 22 to 23 April, the Battle of St. Julian fought from 22 April to 4 May, the Battle of Frenzenburg fought from 8 to 13 May and the Battle of Bellewaarde fought on 24 and 25 May.

The Second Battle of Ypres had then seen the use of gas for the first time, had resulted in an enormous loss of life and had allowed the German Army access to higher ground which their artillery were to use to devastating effect. In Peter Barton's book he writes "The British were left in the uncomfortable position of looking up towards their enemy almost everywhere in the Salient".

There was much bravery exhibited but it was the Canadians, and the Canadian Scottish Regiment 16th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force in particular, who saved the day in the Battle of St. Julian at Kitchener's Wood.

After May 1915 Ypres was not to see a major battle until 1917. In the meantime there were to be some major distractions in 1916, at Arras. on the Somme and at Verdun. During this time both sides were to concentrate their efforts in the Salient carrying out improvements to their trench systems and defences. Until 1917 what the Salient was to experience was "the war of the guns": the constant use of artillery.^[13] The constant sound of the guns was of course terrifying but at least for the time-being the Ypres death-toll was reduced.

Third Ypres encompasses the Battle of Pilckem Ridge 31 July to 2 August 1917, the Battle of Langemark from 16 to 18 August 1917, the Battle of Menin Road from 20 August to 25 September 1917, the Battle of Polygon Wood from 26 September to 3 October 1917, the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917, the Battle of Poelkapelle on 9 October 1917, and the two Battles of Passchendaele, the first on 12 October 1917 and the second from 26 October to 10 November 1917.

Dreadful weather had dogged the campaign; the period from August to November 1917 was the wettest on record for the area and after 270,000 casualties and little gain of territory, the battle petered out by 10 November. The name of Passchendaele had been added to our "lexicon of horror".

The Germans were now able to use troops released from fighting in the east, following the end of the war on the Eastern Front. The Germans aimed to crush the Allies before the Americans, who had now entered the war, could swing the numerical superiority back to the Allies. The action started in the Somme area and then moved to the Ypres sector. Ypres was almost lost but the Allies were able to regroup after the Germans called a temporary halt in their advance.

During this battle the British conceded the ground they had conquered in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, including the Passchendaele salient.

The final Battle in the Salient ran from 28 September to 2 October 1918 and the Battle of Kortrijk from 14 to 19 October 1918. A breakthrough was achieved and by 11 November 1918, when peace was declared, the Allies were 51 miles east of the salient. In a short time the whole salient was reconquered. Langemarck and Poelkapelle were taken by the Belgian 9th Infantry Division, Passchendaele taken by Belgian Karabiniers and Grenadiers (6th and 12th Infantry Division), Zonnebeke and Broodseinde taken by the 17th Belgian Linie, Beselare by Scots from the British 29th Division and Geluveldt by troops of the Worcestershire Regiment, also part of the British 29th Division. By 11 November the Allied line stretched from Terneuzen over Ghent to Mons and further on towards Mezieres and Sedan! At last the war was over but at a terrible cost and no more so than in the Ypres sector.

After the war there was talk of keeping the ruins of Ypres as they were to serve as a permanent war memorial. Winston Churchill in particular was a strong advocate of this. In files WO 32/5569 and WO 32/5853 held at The National Archives we can follow the discussions concerning this proposal. As it was perhaps never a really practical idea it was eventually dropped but it does show how emotional people were about the Ypres area in the immediate years after the war had ended. So many lives had been lost there and our soldiers had fought in conditions so awful that no words can describe them.

^[17]