Ypres, << EE pruh >> , Battles of, were a series of struggles between Allied and German forces during World War I (1914-1918). They took place around the Belgian city of Ypres (also spelled Ieper). The Allied armies consisted of Belgian, British, French, and colonial troops. There were three battles around Ypres from 1914 to 1917, as well as two later actions in 1918.
More than 500,000 soldiers died in the Battles of Ypres. However, neither side gained much until the final months of the war. The fighting around Ypres came to symbolize the misery and hopelessness of trench warfare (fighting from fortified ditches) in World War I.
The First Battle of Ypres
began on Oct. 21, 1914, with a German assault on the Allied defenses around the city. In a month of fighting, there were over 200,000 casualties (soldiers killed, wounded, or captured). The German attack failed, and the opposing armies dug themselves into a system of trenches. Ypres stood on the western end of the Western Front, a battlefront that stretched eastward across France.
The Second Battle of Ypres
began on April 22, 1915. It started with Germany’s first poison gas assault upon Allied forces on the Western Front. The attack caught the Allies by surprise, but no significant ground was gained or lost. About 70,000 Allied troops died in the monthlong offensive, along with some 35,000 Germans.
The Third Battle of Ypres
began on July 31, 1917, when Allied forces assaulted German defenses east of Ypres. The battle is also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, after a village near Ypres. Bombardment and heavy rains turned the battlefield into a mucky swamp. Fighting continued under horrible conditions for more than three months. The Allies advanced less than 6 miles (10 kilometers), taking the Passchendaele ridge on November 6. There were about 250,000 Allied and 200,000 German casualties.
Actions in 1918
included the Battle of the Lys and the Advance in Flanders. The Battle of the Lys began on April 9, 1918, with a German attack near the Lys River south of Ypres. During three weeks of fighting, the Germans retook Passchendaele. However, their position improved little. Each side suffered over 100,000 casualties.
The final engagements around Ypres are known as the Advance in Flanders. On Sept. 28, 1918, Allied forces, now joined by American divisions, attacked the ridges east of Ypres. They gained 6 miles (10 kilometers) on the first day and steadily drove the Germans back. The war eventually ended on November 11. The Advance in Flanders claimed thousands more lives.
