The long period of enforced inaction during the winter months, and the depressing waiting in the icy mud, were now succeeded first by local enemy attacks, then by a fresh powerfully organised attempt by the Germans to capture Ypres.

The battle began on April 14 with a strong unsuccessful thrust to the north of Ypres. The British replied by attacking Hill 60.

On April 17, after the firing of a powerful mine, the hill was brilliantly captured, and in spite of bitter counter-attacks on the 18th by the Germans, who fully realised the importance of this point d'appui, the position remained in the hands of the British.

Meanwhile, a new German offensive was being prepared, which their High Command believed would prove irresistible, thanks to the use of a new weapon, as murderous as it was unexpected.

Although Germany had signed the clause of the Hague Convention (July 29, 1899), which prohibits the use of asphyxiating gas, the unscrupulous leaders now made use for the first time of this treacherous weapon.

In accordance with their usual practice, they claimed that the British used the gas first, and that they used it only in reprisal. Needless to say, this assertion was pure fiction.

On April 22 the front ran as follows: Belgian troops held the canal; the French 45th Colonial Infantry Division, resting on the canal, and passing through Bixschoote, linked up with the troops of the Canadian 3rd Brigade.

Throughout the morning of April 22, the Germans bombarded the first lines, while the roads behind were swept by the fire of the heavy artillery, including 16½-in. guns. The bombardment continued into the afternoon.

Suddenly, at about 4 p.m., there rose from the German trenches, opposite the lines occupied by the French Colonial troops, a strange opaque cloud of greenish-yellow fumes. A light breeze from the north-east wafted this cloud towards the French, who, a few moments later, fell gasping for breath in terrible agony. Terror spread through the ranks, especially among the African troops. A panic inevitably followed, which quickly spread from the front to the rear lines.

Behind that cloud of gas the German troops advanced, protected by a heavy barrage and intense machine-gun fire.

The French Colonial troops fell back several miles towards Ypres, and the Germans took Steenstraat, Het Sas and Pilkem, together with many prisoners.

The withdrawal of the French uncovered the left flank of the Canadians, who were on their right, and they in turn were obliged to fall back, leaving four guns in the hands of the Germans.

In the afternoon the Canadians, rallying, took the offensive, recovered part of the lost ground between Steenstraat and Langemarck, together with their guns, and inflicted a sanguinary defeat on the Germans.

Further north, on the Yser Canal, the enemy took advantage of the disorder caused by the gas to cross at Steenstraat Bridge, and reached the village of Lizerne near Zuydschoote, where they strongly entrenched themselves. But Zouaves, aided by Belgians, counter-attacked in force, retook Lizerne, and advanced along the canal.

The greatest German effort was made on April 25 against the British lines.

The attacking troops had been grouped on both sides of the railway from Ypres to Roulers, near Broodseinde, but in spite of fierce attacks they could not break the British lines, and once more their dastardly methods failed them.

At the end of April the front was fixed as follows: from Steenstraat the line followed the canal as far as Het Sas Bridgehead and then passed along the right bank to Pilkem (on the opposite bank). Here it turned at right-angles eastwards, as far as Soetart Farm (on the Ypres-Langemarck Road), turned south-east through Wieltje, then west of Hooge, finally linking up with Hill 60 and St. Eloi.

The Germans revenged themselves for their failure by again bombarding Ypres.

The shelling, which had ceased for a time prior to the offensive, began again with renewed intensity. An enormous quantity of heavy artillery had been brought up, and large calibre shells were continuously rained on the unhappy city, causing a panic. The few remaining inhabitants fled terror-stricken along the Poperinghe Road.

During the last week of April the battle continued with great bitterness, but in spite of the enemy's use of gas, the Allies gradually retook the lost ground. Then followed a fresh period of calm, broken from time to time by fierce attacks, of which that of May 5 on Hill 60 was the most important.

On May 8 the battle broke out afresh in the region lying between Poelcappelle and the Ypres-Menin Road. The Germans pierced the British line at several points, notably between St. Julien and Frezenberg, and reached Wieltje, but after bitter hand-to-hand fighting, they were driven back to their trenches at the point of the bayonet.

The next day the attack was renewed in close formation, under the protection of an intense bombardment of gas shells, but the British, now provided with masks, stood firm. The German columns, mown down by shrapnel and machine-gun fire, were unable to reach the British trenches.

The fighting died down during the next few days, on account of rain and wind storms, which made all movement impossible, but began again on the 24th without, however, any appreciable advantage for the Germans, who once more took the offensive.

Another period of calm set in, and this Second Battle of Ypres—the second serious check of the Germans before the town—ended in a successful operation by the British, who, on June 2, captured the ChÂteau of Hooge on the Menin Road, two miles from Ypres.

Long period of comparative calm. Isolated actions.
Artillery activity on both sides

These weeks of fierce, bloody fighting were followed by a long period of comparative calm, the operations having been transferred to other parts of the front (Argonne, Artois, Champagne). Nevertheless, local actions took place from time to time without any appreciable result. From July 22 to 26 the British, after successful mining operations, advanced their line along the Ypres-Menin Road, in the neighbourhood of Hooge ChÂteau.

After being driven from the outskirts of the chÂteau by a gas attack on August 7, they retook the lost ground on the 8th and advanced beyond it.

Towards the middle of September there was a rather severe bombardment near Steenstraat and Ramscappelle, while Ypres received 300 more shells.

During the latter half of August an Order of the Day to the German Armies in Flanders stated: "Our work is practically finished in the East, and we are on the point of beginning in the West; peace in October is certain."

In December, a new offensive by the Germans failed, despite the use of gas. There was unusual artillery activity, all the heavy guns, both German and British, being brought into action.

On December 30, Field-Marshal French received the title of "Viscount of Ypres," in commemoration of the vigorous British defence of that city.

On February 12, 1916, the Germans launched fresh attacks in the west, near Steenstraat and Het Sas, and attempted to cross the Yser. After being smartly checked, they furiously attacked the British trenches between the Ypres-Comines Canal and the railway, and succeeded in capturing one of them for a length of 600 yards. This trench, on account of its frequently changing hands, came to be known as the "International Trench." A few days later (March 2) the British retook it.

The struggle now became limited to a continuous artillery duel, with occasional surprise infantry attacks. The hamlet of St. Eloi to the south was the scene of constant fighting for the possession of the shell-craters.

On April 19, the fighting assumed a more serious character. An unimportant German attack near St. Eloi and along the Ypres-Langemarck Road was the prelude to operations by considerable enemy forces, having for their objective the great undulating slopes between Hill 60 and ArmentiÈres.

The first of these attacks took place on April 25, 1916, but failed. Two days later a night attack with gas was repulsed with hand grenades.

A third attempt was made in May, 1916, more to the south towards ArmentiÈres, on the sides of the road connecting that town with Ypres. The British, entrenched in a wood near Ploegsteert Village, were assailed by three German columns, and were only able to repulse two of them. The third took the position, but Scottish troops counter-attacked and drove the Germans back.

The most important of the enemy attacks during this period took place on June 1. The preparations included a concentration of troops between Tournai and Baisieux, from May 21 to 27, supported by guns of all calibres. The attack was carried out in considerable strength between Hooge and the Ypres-Comines Railway.

The artillery preparation began at 9.15 a.m. on June 1, and at noon the first assaulting wave entered the front-line trenches. The battle died down for a few minutes in the evening, only to break out again during the night. The Germans succeeded in crushing in the front to a depth of some 700 yards in the direction of Zillebeke, but the next day a portion of the lost ground was retaken by the Canadians.

On June 6, a fresh assault began, preceded by the usual bombardment, and further assisted by mine explosions. The front line trenches to the north of Hooge were lost; but on the 13th the valiant Canadians, who had previously recaptured the original positions abandoned on June 1, resumed the offensive, and re-established the lines from the southern part of Sanctuary Wood to a point 1,000 yards north of Hill 60.

Throughout the days of June 26 and 28 there was an extremely violent bombardment, to which the British guns replied effectively. The Germans, whose losses from the attacks and this artillery fire were very heavy, declared: "Belgium will be our grave."

These were the last operations in which the enemy took the offensive. All their efforts had failed, whether their object had been to turn the left flank of the Allies, to break the lines around Ypres, or merely to take the town.