WWI - Ypres : The Gas Inferno

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The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in World War I and the first time a former colonial force (Canadians) pushed back a major European power (Germans) on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St. Julien-Kitcheners' Wood.

The Second Battle of Ypres consisted of four separate engagements:
The Battle of Gravenstafel: Thursday 22 April – Friday 23 April 1915
The Battle of St Julien: Saturday 24 April – 4 May 1915
The Battle of Frezenberg: 8 May – 13 May 1915
The Battle of Bellewaarde: 24 May – 25 May 1915

The scene of the battles was the Ypres salient where the Allied line which followed the canal bulged eastward around the town of Ypres, Belgium. North of the salient were the Belgians; covering the northern part of the salient itself were two French divisions (one Metropolitan and one Algerian) The eastern part of the salient was defended by one Canadian division and two UK divisions.

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Part 2

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Part 3

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Part 4

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Part 5

[Magenta]

Fab vids Para! Thanks!

[güttsfükk]

I found this an interesting one cause i have a fascination with gas masks, i'd love to have one to hang up in my room, i'd actually love to have a small collection of them

[Magenta]

Originally Posted by parasyte

I found this an interesting one cause i have a fascination with gas masks, i'd love to have one to hang up in my room, i'd actually love to have a small collection of them

The other half has a gas mask... I love them... My auntie used to have a photo of her and my dad at school during WWII doing their air raid training with their gas masks on. I only saw it once and I have no idea where it went to when she died... Might have to get my cousin to go digging around - there's something pretty fascinating about seeing a group of young kids in gas masks holding their lunchboxes!

[güttsfükk]

Originally Posted by magenta

there's something pretty fascinating about seeing a group of young kids in gas masks holding their lunchboxes

i always wondered where that image came from

[Magenta]

Originally Posted by parasyte

i always wondered where that image came from

Yeah, my dad was like 7 or 8 at the time and apparently they used to have the air raid training every afternoon at school. The end result was meant to be that all the kids could grab all their belongings, get their masks on and get to the shelter in 2 minutes... My dad said it was really surreal looking back at it because all the kids were lined up in the school yard having like a roll call with their gas masks on and their little lunchboxes while people were pulling down the school fences and gates around them to use the metal for weapons production, etc. That was in Carlisle.