110 years ago today, German troops released 5,930 cylinders of chlorine gas on the Ypres front.

by WarHeritageInstitute

5 comments

  1. Hey, fellow Belgians! 

    As the titel says, exactly 110 years ago, German troops released a deadly poison gas on the Ypres front. 

    A deadly cloud, carried by a northeastern breeze, ushered in a new and terrifying chapter of the war. Soldiers soon discovered that a cloth soaked in urine could offer some degree of protection. British, Canadian, and French troops  (including many Bretons and Algerians) mounted heroic resistance and prevented a major German breakthrough toward Ypres. 

    The Second Battle of Ypres lasted until 25 May 1915 and resulted in more than 100,000 dead, wounded, and missing. Some 1,530 Belgian soldiers (mostly Carabiniers and Grenadiers) also fell in the area around Steenstrate. 

    Although the gas mask was quickly developed, poison gas remained a terrifying weapon for the rest of the war — even on the Belgian YserFront. 

    📸 Photo: April 1915 – French casualty of the first gas attack near Langemark (Source: ‘14–’18. War in Belgium – L. de Vos, T. Simoens, D. Warnier, and F. Bostyn) 

  2. And today people vote for racist Vlaams Belang/NVA or Georges Louis Bouchez’s MR parties … They forgot history

  5. Thanks germany. I still have a bad taste in my mouth.

    Just joking. My son is dating a German girl. She’s nice 🙂

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