Canada in World War I: Part 2 - The Second Battle of Ypres

Ypres, for the Germans, was as difficult to take as it was to pronounce. The last major Belgian centre standing against the advancing German army, the city was a major spot of warfare due to its strategic importance. Immediately adjacent to ports critical to supplying the Western Front, it wasn't something that could be readily given up. The French, British and Belgian forces would fight tooth and nail to keep it. And fight tooth and nail they did.

"They're over there!"
"We know, Jim. Sit down."

I believe it's safe to assume pretty well any trench was going to be a tough place to be. Let's for a moment forget the fact that the place was getting bombed, shot at and showered with shrapnel. It was also cold, frequently muddy and wet (causing the oh-so-terrible "trench foot" ailment of which I strongly urge you to refrain from google image searching) and full of rats. Worse yet, those rats were gorging on the fallen; soldiers freshly (or worse yet, not so freshly) killed by artillery shells, gunfire or otherwise. All of this you can expect in the average trench, but when it's one of critical importance and a place of frequent battle, you can take all that and amp it up tenfold. The trenches at Ypres were of an unimaginable condition. One soldier described traversing the place: "we were walking on oozing bodies in the bottom of the trench. There'd be a hand or a foot sticking out of the trench in front of your face".


This is what the Canadian forces, yet to be truly tested, would be sent into. It would prove to be a great source of Canadian pride. Well, that is until we no stopped learning Canadian history properly.

Day 1: 

In the battle of Deadly Chlorine Gas vs. Thin Cloth I'd be
betting on the former, but apparently it helped.

On April 22nd the Germans changed the face of warfare to something much uglier than it already was. Considering just how awful the situation was in World War I, that's quite the feat. Defying Hague Conventions (the handy guide of the Do's and Do-Not Do's of World Wars) the Germans utilized, for the first time ever, gas as a weapon. They released 160 tonnes of chlorine gas (as I understand it was in a liquid form for transportation purposes, if you're wondering how they measured that) into the defending French line. It caused a large number of casualties, and those it didn't kill or wound were instantly forced to retreat. While a scummy tactic, it was wildly successful. Now, with a hole to fight through in the lines, the Germans would capture or close off a vast number of Canadian, British and French forces.

Out of desperation, the Canadian forces charged into the dissipating gas. If the haphazard, spur of the moment defense didn't hold, the French and British would be forced to blow up the bridges leading to the Ypres salient and effectively cutting off two French divisions and three Canadian ones.

The place to make the stand was at Kitcheners Wood, a spread of oak trees northeast of the city of Ypres. It was a spot of high ground over the other Canadian forces, which meant giving it up would allow the Germans to bombard the remaining army from above, a much more strategic and effective position. This would be the first major Canadian operation, made with low levels of intelligence (the intel kind, not stupidity). The plan was to storm the woods, charge in blindly, and force Fritz out of the trenches with bullets and bayonets. They would be doing this without knowing what was on the other end against an enemy that was properly dug in and prepared for an attack. The only hope for surprise was to attack at night, as the defenders were quite certain the assault was on its way.

Soon enough, 1,600 Canadian troops stalked towards the German lines. Stealth was of the utmost importance, as every second was critical. For every moment the defenders didn't know they were coming meant fewer shots fired by the time they got there. Staying quiet could literally mean life or death. That being said, it's darn near impossible to bring over a thousand men to another waiting army without them noticing (perhaps if they pretended to gift a gigantic horse?) and eventually flares illuminated the fields. Machine guns, artillery and small arms tore through the Canadian forces. Any form of command was left in shambles as officers as well as front line infantry were killed, meaning many of the pockets of soldiers fighting towards the trench were forced into finding new, temporary leadership under the most competent man who happened to be there at the time. With a lack of telephones or lights to help with cohesion, direction was difficult. However, they managed to retake the lost land as well as regaining some previously taken British artillery. It wasn't without cost, though - two thirds of those that stormed the trench ended up as casualties.

That number, two thirds, is really shockingly high. It's a testament to the change in quality of weaponry over the course of the century prior to the first World War. When writing on the War of 1812, the guns were so poor that in spite of occasionally fairly large battles (relatively, at least) not that many would be shot. But when you go from firing with a musket that shoots once every second fortnight to a machine gun that fires literally multiple times a second, warfare changes.

See? No doors. No anything, really, but also no doors.

In spite of the victory at the woods, there was another German assault coming at Mauser Ridge. If they succeeded, they would be knocking at the door of Ypres (although the consistent bombing probably left a precious few doors standing there, to be fair). The Canadians basically had to block the advance with whatever force they could muster. Due to inadequate command from the higher ups (which will be frustratingly common for the next several blog posts) they decided to attack over flat ground with inadequate artillery support instead of simply digging in and letting the Germans come to them, taking the defenders' advantage. In spite of a lack of coordination with the French who had seemingly just left without really telling the Canadians all that much about it (surprise, there were a lot of angry Germans) they managed to hold. With only twelve hours since the gas attack, the Canadians lost over 2,100 men. They did, however, earn the respect of both the Germans and the rest of the allied forces. One prisoner told the Canadians "you fellows fight like hell".
I bet the British said "jolly good show", or something.

Day 2:
The following day saw more fighting, finding limited reinforcements due to every reserve battalion now being sent to the front. Outnumbered, outgunned, and weakened by the constant fighting, the Canadians along with British forces managed to hang on. Many hadn't eaten or slept in two days, occasionally falling asleep standing up or face first in the dirt.

Day 3:
By the start of the third day the defenders were holding with twelve battalions plus their British allies against twenty-four German ones. With few reinforcements, they were left to fight on outnumbered against what they knew would be a monumental attack coming in short order. It was 4 a.m. when the second gas attack came, and to stay alive many men would urinate on cloths to hopefully prevent it from seeping into their lungs. The gas attack wasn't as powerful this time around, but it fell to the bottom of the trenches where, typically, the wounded were kept. The gas mostly killed the already weak, subjecting them to a much more painful and terrible death than they would already likely receive.

By 6:30, many attacking forces had broken through. A tenacious Canadian defense, however, managed to stay and defend to the last many times over. The Germans advanced cautiously and in groups, fearful of the remaining gas, and those that stayed cut their numbers down drastically due to their apprehension in following the cloud of poison. With little communication and few commanding officers, small groups of men would fight until out of ammunition or the crappy Ross rifles would inevitably jam, proving that not only were the Canadians a force to be reckoned with, but would keep fighting even if they were sure to be defeated.

Mostly.

Richard Turner, a brigadier, ordered his men to retreat to the safety of a trench further back in the line. He was the only one to do sure, meaning that he left the British and Canadians on his flank to be attacked on multiple fronts. Now, before we place blame, he had been gassed, shelled, and pushed to the point of exhaustion and told to keep him and his men in a meat grinder he didn't believe was winnable. He also wrongfully believed it was an order from command.

While Turner may not have won the
battle at Ypres, he sure had a
winning smile.

Meanwhile, one of those flanks was led by Arthur Currie. Desperately needing reinforcements, he raced back to a line further back and pleaded with the command to supply him with more men. This was really out of the ordinary, but his men had defended five frontal assaults that day, were low on ammunition, and were almost in sight of a number of British soldiers that were milling about instead of being ordered to support them. If he were to retreat, it would mean the British would be completely left open and sure to be annihilated. Regardless, the British general Douglas Haig (who had a strong feeling of resentment towards the Canadians whom he saw as weak) told Currie to return to the front without his men. However, sometime after he left he must have changed his mind as the British did support them a short time after.

Turner, on the other hand, initially refused to return for fear of the lives of his men. He was almost relieved of duty, but due to the fact that, first, there was no one to replace him, and second, it would be poor form to kick out a man who had previously earned a Victoria Cross, he stayed on. All told, the Canadians held but the wounded, captured or dead numbered in at 3,058.

Day 4:
No matter how valiant the British and Canadians fought, a retreat was inevitable. Having most of their groups blasted apart, small patches of men would form up and go together regardless of which battalion they belonged to. This would soon be a part of how much of the Canadian forces would fight over the next few years - damaged, but quickly responding by grouping together with whomever was around them.

Fortunately, the French and British forces finally arrived in full, supporting the retreat and ensuring that the salient was held. In a time that spanned a little over half a week, a massive total of men were killed. However, the Canadians had earned a great deal of respect as soldiers that would hold on strong regardless of the opposition against them. It was at the salient (but not this fight) that John McCrae would write "In Flanders Fields".