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The pretty town of Ypres -- hard to believe that during the great war this town was reduced to rubble, very little remained of this town, but after the war it was rebuilt to its original splendor.
he First Battle of Ypres ~ 18th October 1914 - 11 November 1914
With the failure of the Schlieffen Plan the French General Joffre began moving forces to the north west in an attempt to get around the back of the German line. Von Falkenhayn tried to out flank the French by using reserves and with this the line grew in a race to the sea and at Niewpoort in Belgium the Allies reached the coast.
The BEF moved swiftly in two parts, II Corps to la Bassée straight into action on 11th October in the 25 mile gap south of Ypres and I corps moved to St. Omer. With the battle growing at Ypres Sir John French decided to move I corps to Ypres, reinforcing II corps, and so the first battle of Ypres began.
Second Battle of Ypres ~ 22nd April ~ 25th May 1915
For the first time poison gas was used in the war against the allied lines north of Ypres, the fleeing battle weary troops were replaced by the fresh 1st Canadian Division, who on encountering another gas attack stood their ground, a trait that was seen on many other fronts by the Canadians. With the Allied forces severely dented, the British had to shorten their lines of defense
Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) 7th June ~ 10th November 1917
What started out to be a successful attack developed into a massacre of some 260,000 British Troops, fighting in a mud bath.
The initial attack on June 7th started at 0310 with 19 mines, packed with more than a million pounds of explosives, were detonated, the blast was so savage that it was heard in London and registered on the seismograph in the Isle of Wight. Tone’s of earth thrown into the air buried some German soldiers, others just vaporized whilst some ran around panic stricken and half crazy. This was all the work of General Plumers Second Army who had been tunneling for 12 months to complete the task.
After an initial swift attack with the help of 72 tanks and air support Wijschate and Messines had been taken, but then all drew to a halt! Six weeks passed making preparations for the next attack, the good weather broke then battle continued in appalling weather, trenches flooded, shell holes that soldiers would use for cover too treacherous to use, some soldiers spoke of long nights when they could hear comrades, who upon being injured had crawled into a shell hole for cover only to be slowly drowned as the hole filled with the rain. On the 6th October the newly arrived Canadian Corps took Passchendaele.
For more information about escorted tours to Ypres and the surrounding area, visit the Explorer Travel (ABTA C1953) battlefields website http://www.battlefieldexplorer.com
Tour the battlefield’s of Europe with war tours - free guide to battlefield tours of the first world war and second world war. featuring maps and details of the trenches and memorials in France and Belgium and Holland. Places to visit include Vimmy, the Somme, Verdun, Ypres salient -also known as ieper and wipers - Thiepval, Flanders field museum, details of accommodation, tourist information and how to get around with easy to use maps. .Great war places to see and visit. Links to other sites. battle of the bulge maps and guides, d-day beaches, arnhem Holland, a bridge too far. bastogne, la roche, ardennes, and December 1944 battle museum. Follow d-day beaches, Utah, Omaha, gold, Juno and sword. Includes details of the Sherwood foresters - Notts. and Derby Regiment from WW1, tour the battlefields of France & Belgium battlefields experience, war-tours and the-Somme
