THE ROAD to PASSCHENDAELE Baluchis Marching to the Trenches, the First Battle of Ypres, 1914 © IWM

Men of the 129th THE ROAD TO PASSCHENDAELE Baluchis marching to the trenches, The First Battle of Ypres, 1914 © IWM I suppose no name in history has ever constructed around the city in the had so dreadful a significance for so many 17th Century. In the Middle Ages it human beings as the name of Ypres… Every was a thriving agricultural centre owing yard of that featureless slab of landscape much of its wealth to the cloth and held the menace of death… After the wool trade. Close to the coast, and nightmare of Passchendaele there is no situated on many trade routes, Ypres had conceivable cataclysm of war or nature developed long-standing commercial which civilised man might not endure. and cultural links with Britain. Although A.J. Cummings, 1928 its wealth and population had dwindled considerably by the late 19th Century, The city of Ypres (Ieper) had experienced the city’s famous Cloth Hall was an conflict long before 1914. Flanders architectural inspiration to George was known as ‘the cockpit of Europe’, Gilbert Scott when he came to design The Cloth Hall, Ypres, 1912 such was its reputation as a battleground, the iconic Midland Hotel at St Pancras © IWM and defences and ramparts had been in London. At the outbreak of war, the vital strategic In early October, the British Expeditionary importance of Ypres was evident. At the Force (BEF) moved into Flanders. To the edge of the coastal plain, it was a gateway north, German attacks along the Belgian to the Channel ports of Dunkirk, Calais coastal plain were held back by the and Boulogne. For the forces of the British remnants of the Belgian Army, supported Empire, the fate of the city was critical. by French Marines, in a series of actions The fighting at Ypres would define the known as the Battle of the Yser. Albert I, war for many servicemen, and its defence King of the Belgians, sanctioned the came to symbolise their efforts. In the opening of the sea defences at Nieuport words of the war artist Paul Nash, Ypres (Nieuwpoort), which flooded the battle became ‘a monument to doggedness’. area and forced the German Army further south in its attempt to reach the THE FIRST BATTLE OF YPRES Channel ports. 19 OCTOBER – 22 NOVEMBER 1914 Around Ypres, strong German forces The German Army’s attempt to secure a moving west clashed with the BEF and quick and decisive defeat of France ended French units, in a series of confusing but in failure at the Battle of the Marne in fierce encounters between 19 October September 1914. French and British attacks and 22 November, from Langemarck in the were unable to breach the German lines north-east, through Zonnebeke, Gheluvelt, along the River Aisne, and the opposing Zandvoorde, Wytschaete and Messines in forces began to move northwards, the south. Among the British Empire troops attempting to outflank each other. engaged in the desperate fighting were 22 23 Men of the According to the British Official History, towards the trenches between Langemarck Oxford and Buckinghamshire the ridge was akin to ‘the rim of a saucer’, and the Yser canal, manned by the two Light Infantry meaning that ‘those inside felt that they remaining French Divisions in the Ypres sheltering from could do nothing without being observed.’ sector. The French were forced to retreat, shrapnel at Ypres, 1914 © IWM The higher ground gave the Germans a leaving a gap of over four miles on the left perfect vantage point from which to direct flank of the nearest British Army forces – artillery fire, enabled them to screen their the Canadian Division. artillery batteries from British attention, and bring up reinforcements and supplies During the night, Canadian units unseen. The Allies, meanwhile, were improvised a series of scattered outposts vulnerable to attacks and fire from every across the breach, before the Germans side. Holding the line here meant being renewed their assault on Canadian lines under constant threat and regular shelling, at dawn on 24 April, again using gas. with the disorienting trench lines often By the afternoon, they had advanced illuminated at night by signal rockets and beyond St Julien. Fighting continued observation flares. over the following days, before Allied forces withdrew to a new line, barely THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES three miles from Ypres. Heavy fighting 22 APRIL – 25 MAY 1915 continued in early May on the Frezenberg Ridge, before the largest A British signaller in a dugout with In the late afternoon of 22 April 1915, German gas attack yet seen led to the the first issue of German forces attacked Allied lines in the capture of ground at Bellewaarde Lake. respirator at the north of the Salient, attempting to seize Second Battle of Ypres, 1915 the high ground around Pilckem and After 33 days of fighting, there was no © IWM Langemarck. They discharged poison gas decisive German breakthrough, but the units of the Indian Army, recently arrived period, in the fighting between the in Europe and put straight into action. French border and the sea, are estimated to have been over 120,000. Between 21 and 24 October, British forces to the north-east of Ypres collided THE YPRES SALIENT with strong advancing concentrations of German troops around Langemarck. The German drive to the Channel ports A series of determined defensive had failed and, as the fighting of the actions prevented a breakthrough, with autumn came to an end, soldiers British rifle fire wreaking havoc against consolidated their improvised trenches repeated German mass infantry attacks. and defensive positions. While German Subsequently mythologised as the forces held the high ground, British and ‘Kindermord’, the German losses would Allied lines now formed a Salient – become infamous. extending into German-held territory, and effectively surrounded on three sides. Fighting along the entire front continued The landscape within the Salient was in deteriorating weather conditions, until low-lying, and water was managed by further German attacks were called off. a complex system of ditches and drains The cost in casualties of the fighting had feeding small streams, known as bekes. been enormous. Between 14 October The gentle hills surrounding the city and 30 November 1914, the BEF suffered rose towards the Passchendaele Ridge, more than 58,000 killed, wounded and named after the village which stood at missing. German losses over a similar its highest point. 24 25 Salient was now much smaller, and famous examples was the trench Clayton to run the establishment and serve too close to the front line. One Casualty even more vulnerable to German artillery newspaper ‘The Wipers Times’, edited as house chaplain. It was named after Clearing Station at Brandhoek, between bombardment. Between 22 April and by Captain Fred Roberts and Lieutenant Neville’s younger brother, Gilbert Talbot, Poperinghe and Ypres, was shelled in 31 May 1915, British Empire casualties Jack Pearson. Taking its name from the who had been killed in action in the August 1917, resulting in the evacuation amounted to over 59,000 men killed, slang word for ‘Ypres’ used by British summer of 1915, and soon became known of all patients and staff. Under such wounded or missing. soldiers, it was a satirical publication by its signaller’s abbreviation ‘Toc H’. circumstances, male doctors and female printed on presses reclaimed from the nurses faced equal danger. Staff Nurse For the next two years, trench raids, ruins around the city. From 1916 until A sign outside declared it to be Nellie Spindler was wounded while sniping and artillery fire continued every 1918, it used satire to make light of the ‘Everyman’s House’, and its guiding sleeping off-duty at Brandhoek, and day, as British Empire servicemen fought everyday struggle of the ‘PBI’ – or ‘Poor principle was egalitarian fellowship, died within 15 minutes. A member of to hold their ground and German troops Bloody Infantry’. devoid of rank or social distinction. It the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military strove to drive them from it. Tunnellers provided refuge for visitors seeking respite, Nursing Service, she was buried with full began a subterranean war, attempting With frontline conditions so challenging, friendship, food and accommodation, and honours on 22 August, at the cemetery to undermine enemy positions, and the areas behind the lines took on even was the scene of regular social functions near Remy Siding. sometimes leading to confrontations greater importance to the physical and for servicemen and the local community. such as at the infamous Hill 60, to the psychological health of soldiers. The town The attic was converted into a modest THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES south-east of Ypres. By 1917, British of Poperinghe (Poperinge) lay some ten chapel, and as many as 100,000 men were Empire forces were suffering thousands kilometres to the west of Ypres. Known estimated to have attended prayer services After the gruelling battles of attrition on the of casualties – wounded, missing and before the war for hop production and there over the course of the war. Western Front in 1916 – at Verdun and the killed – every month. brewing, from the autumn of 1914 it Somme – the Allies launched co-ordinated became an important transport hub for After the early, chaotic, weeks of fighting attacks on German forces in the spring of LIFE BEHIND THE LINES supplies and troops destined for the in the autumn of 1914, an organised and 1917. Devised by French General Robert battlefields of the Salient. Direct rail and complex system of casualty evacuation Nivelle, they were intended to achieve a Trenches in the Salient were often road links between Poperinghe and Ypres and treatment emerged between Ypres long-awaited breakthrough.

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