The First Gas Attack - The Battle of Ypres Salient

pedroeibar1

Group1001 by Pedro Eibar, on Flickr

In 1915 on the night of Wednesday, April 21st, the 13th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regt.) – the ‘Royal Highlanders of Canada’ moved up into the line and took over a series of breastwork trenches from the 14th Battalion, Royal Montreal Regiment, little dreaming as they moved into position what was to lay before them. On their left were the Turcos, a French Territorial Regiment from Algeria.

On the 22nd at about 3 p.m., these peaceful conditions changed when the Germans opened their attack with a heavy artillery bombardment, using field artillery and also 16½-in. guns. This fire was directed at the Canadian and French lines. After two hours of heavy shelling, the Germans released a strange opaque cloud of greenish-yellow fumes. A light breeze from the north-east wafted this cloud towards the French. They thought it was a smokescreen to disguise the forward movement of German troops, so the French soldiers began firing into it. Rolling across the open fields the cloud spread over and across the trenches of the Turcos to the Highlanders’ left. It was the first use of chlorine gas. Many of the Canadian 13th were affected, but the Turcos suffered its full effects. Blinded, coughing and choking they fell in agony and perished miserably. Those who escaped the first discharge did not wait for another - they turned and fled, and, as written by a Canadian officer ‘no man has been found to blame them.’

A German soldier, a member of a specialized chemical unit in Ypres, after the battle reported:
That day was a Thursday in April 1915. Finally we decided to release the gas. The weatherman was right. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining. Where there was grass, it was blazing green. We should have been going to a picnic, not doing what we were about to do. The artillery put up a really heavy attack, starting in the afternoon. The French had to be kept intheir trenches. After the artillery was finished, we sent the infantry back and opened the valves with strings. About supper time, the gas started toward the French, everything was quiet. We all wondered what was going to happen. As this great cloud of green gray gas was forming in front of us, we suddenly heard the French yelling. In less than a minute, they started with the most rifle and machine gun fire that I had ever heard. Every field artillery gun, every machine gun, every rifle that the French had must have been firing. I had never heard such a noise. The hail of bullets going over our heads was unbelievable, but it was not stopping the gas. The wind kept moving the gas towards the French lines. We heard the cows bawling, and the horses screaming. The French kept on shooting. They couldn’t possibly have seen what they were shooting at. In about fifteen minutes, the gun fire started to quit. After a half hour, only occasional shots [were heard]. Then everything was quiet again. In a while it had cleared and we walked past the empty gas bottles. What we saw was total death. Nothing was alive. All of the animals had come out of their holes to die. Dead rabbits, moles, rats, and mice were everywhere. The smell of the gas was still in the air. It hung on the few bushes that were left. When we got to the French lines, the trenches were empty. But in a half mile, the bodies of French soldiers were everywhere. It was unbelievable. Then we saw that there was some English. You could see where men had clawed at their faces, and throats, trying to get their breath. Some had shot themselves. The horses, still in the stables, cows, chickens, everything, all were dead. Everything, even the insects were dead. We started counting the casualties. This operation was so much bigger than we had ever imagined. That night we guessed over 20,000 French soldiers, and even more town people had died. The infantry followed us but when they couldn’t find any French to fight, they stopped. All of us went back to our camps and quarters wondering what we had done. What was next? We knew what happened that day had to change things.

The number of French and Algerian soldiers killed that day is now estimated to be about 10,000. The number of civilians and animals killed is undetermined.
In successive attacks the Canadians stood firm and held the Line at huge cost. Field-Marshal Sir John French in his official despatch wrote as follows:
"In spite of the danger to which they were exposed, the Canadians held their ground with a magnificent display of tenacity and courage; and it is not too much to say that the bearing and conduct of these splendid troops averted a disaster which might have been attended with the most serious consequences."
The Canadian Battalion had paid a very heavy price – it lost very nearly half its fighting strength. My granduncle was not among the survivors. He perished along with 12 officers and 454 other ranks. After a little over seven months in the army, he survived two days on the Front line. His death is commemorated on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. RIP.

stoneill

Here's a pic I took of the Canadian memorial to that bitter day.

Colonel Sanders

Very interesting OP

However, I watched a documentary just last night that said poison gas was actually first used on the Eastern Front at a place called Bolimov. Found this link saying the same:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-introduce-poison-gas

The documentary stated that many history books still (mistakenly) refer to Ypres as its' first use in WWI