Throughout April and May will be a series of posts about the
Second Battle of Ypres and the role the Durham Light Infantry played in
it. In this first post is a summary of
the battle as a whole. The next five posts
will look individually at the Durham Light Infantry territorial battalions involved
before a final post looking at what was happening at home during this period.
During October
and November 1914, British troops successfully resisted all German attempts to
capture the small Belgian town of Ypres (Ieper ) and march on to
the Channel coast, but were unable to prevent the German Army from occupying a
ring of higher ground that overlooked the town on the east and south. This
higher ground allowed German artillery to fire down on the British trenches and
to reduce Ypres and its neighbouring villages
to ruins, and to make the Salient one of the most dangerous places on the
Western Front.
Notes:
Salient: A salient was a bulge in a
trench line into enemy territory that enabled the enemy to attack from the
sides or flanks.
Casualties: refers to dead and wounded.
Territorial Force:
Formed in 1908 of militia and volunteer units, these were part time
soldiers trained for home defence, not obligated to serve abroad, they could
choose to do so.
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D/DLI 7/63/2(15) Sketch map captioned Situation at 9 a.m.,
showing Ypres, and environs, Belgium, 24 April 1915 from the war diary of Rev.
J.A.G. Birch, 5th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
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On 22 April 1915,
German forces attacked the northern part of the Ypres Salient, held by the
French, with poisonous chlorine gas, described in many accounts as a
greenish-yellow cloud. One of the first
times a gas attack of this size had taken place, the French troops suffered
casualties whilst others fled. The
resulting break in the line was 4 to 5 miles long, however, the Germans were
slow to advance, perhaps in fear of the gas themselves or not realising the
extent of the gap. The result was that
Canadian troops were able to reinforce the line before too much ground was
lost.
The Canadians continued to defend the line when, on 24 April, the Germans unleashed heavy
artillery and another gas attack.
British territorial forces, including Durham Light Infantry battalions,
were sent up to help. The Canadian
forces suffered very heavy losses during this two days of fighting. Canadian and British troops continued to
defend the line but were driven back and the Germans pushed past the village of St. Julien
The next few days saw a series of unsuccessful
counterattacks before the decision was made on 1 May to fall back to a new defensive line. The withdrawal was made over the first few
days of May under a continued assault by the Germans including another gas
attack on 2 May.
On 5 May the
German forces recaptured Hill 60, a strategic observation point the British had
taken control of on 17 April; on 8 May
the Germans began an offensive on British lines at Frezenberg Ridge causing
numerous casualties. The first and
second attacks were repelled but the third broke the line. A night time counterattack restored
this. Attacks and counterattacks
continued along the line in the Salient throughout May with a period of intense
fighting on 13 May followed by a
lull of about 10 days.
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D/DLI 7/63/5(35) Illustration captioned 'Distant view of Ypres from rough trenches dug to protect from shrapnel',
23 May 1915, by Rev. J.A.G. Birch, 5th Battalion, Durham Light
Infantry
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In the very early hours of 24 May, the German forces launched a vicious onslaught of artillery
fire and more chlorine gas on the British.
The hour meant many soldiers were sleeping, and the close proximity of
the two sides meant there was little forewarning of the gas, not giving
soldiers much chance to don protection. This
was immediately followed up with an assault by the German Infantry. The attack took place along the whole British
line, the Germans broke through at the north and south ends but the British
held strong in the centre.
A counterattack gained back some ground but a further
counterattack that night led to heavy casualties, a new line was formed and the
German offensive ceased. The Second
Battle of Ypres is considered to have ended on 25 May 1915.
All five territorial battalions of the Durham Light Infantry
were involved in some way in this battle.
By the end of it, they had suffered heavy losses, yet these battalions
had only been in Europe for five weeks.
Sources:
Faithful, The Story of The Durham Light Infantry – SGP Ward, 1968
The Fifth Battalion, The Durham
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.