It really doesn’t seem like five minutes since I was attending WWI centenary events between 2014 and 2018. All of a sudden the commemorations are now for 110 years and as 1915 was a seminal year for the BEF on the Western Front as it attempted to learn the necessary lessons to fight a modern industrial war, the next few months will see the anniversary dates come thick and fast starting with Aubers Ridge and Festubert in May and culminating in the Battle of Loos in September and October.
However, this week in April is especially remembered for two main and very key events. On the 22nd Apri 1915, the Germans opened their offensive north east of Ypres with the first use of poison gas in 20th century warfare.
The gas cloud initially fell upon French colonial troops who broke and ran for their lives. Only a lack of impetus from the Germans stopped a major breakthrough and the capture of Ypres. The newly arrived Canadian Corps plugged the gap and with many acts of selfless gallantry the fighting continued into the early summer, and today, we know this as the 2nd Battle of Ypres.
Gas released from cannisters on the Western Front.
On a completely different front, the first Allied landings of British, French and Australian troops took place on Gallipoli on the 25th April 1915 after a failed Naval offensive. This opening day would herald nine months of bloody and attritional stalemate against the well drilled and well officered Ottoman forces and would eventually lead to an ignominious defeat for the attacking force and the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsular in December 1915 and January 1916.
