On April 22nd we have as just arrived at the front which was located just outside the city of Ypres, near Belgium. Here the Germans have achieved recognition for holding their ground. We were not alone in battle. The French and British aided us throughout the battle. From the beginning, the Germans had the advantage of holding high ground.
After hundreds if not thousands of artillery shelling, the Germans used their new weapon, chlorine gas. I remember how the gas sank into our trenches and the cries of men gasping for air. I saw many men die a painful death. We ran to higher ground to escape the gas, this made the German's job of targeting us much easier. Men were blown into pieces by enemy artillery left and right of me. A constant artillery fire nearly wiped out the French defenses and they were forced to retreat. This caused a large gap in our allied line. I thought we were goners. The Germans could have easily filled in the gap and fished the battle. To my surprise the German troops did not have proper protection from the chlorine gas. They feared invading our trenches because they did not want to suffer the painful death that many of our men did. Even the Germans were surprised by the effectiveness of the gas attack, and did not have enough troops available to take full advantage of the breach in the lines, while we were able to quickly bring up reinforcements. Even so, large numbers of German troops were able to advance through the gap, and take up positions within the salient. One such area was known as Kitcheners’ Wood.
We were ordered to counter-attack into the gap created by the Germans poison gas. I remember our battalion banding together with our allies the night before the attack. The order to advance was given. We were told nothing about the enemy, I had no idea what to expect. We were forced to make a blind charge over open ground to attack the Wood, it was suicide. Armed with our unreliable Ross rifles we fought of the Germans armed with poison gas and machine guns. We suffered heavy losses, but we were able to capture Kitcheners’ Wood. We thought we captured Kitcheners’ Wood, but we were sadly mistaken.
On the 24th, soon after our initial attack launch the Germans launched a second chlorine gas attack, this time directed towards us. We held urine soaked cloths on our mouths and ran for our lives. We lost our forward trench positions, but we did not give up. We drove out the German artillery as they advanced.
We were able to withstand their brutal shelling, their chlorine gas and machine guns for ten days straight. We fought against a far more superior force, but were still able to halt them from advancing. On May 3rd allied forces arrived, and we relived from the front line. Our stubborn resistance in the face of the horrible new weapon played a vital role in the Allies’ success in holding the Ypres salient. It was at a very high cost though. From what I heard is that 1 in 3, which is about 6000 allied troops suffered casualties.
I am a very lucky man to survive the battle of Ypres.