News from the Front - 19th April 2023
The weekly newsletter from from 1914-1918 - The First World War.
News from the Front exists to share great stories and interesting historical aspects of the First World War.
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One anniversary
Germans use chlorine gas against the French at Ypres
On the 22nd April 1915, the German army launched an attack against the Ypres salient. The attack on troops to the north of the salient and achieved a remarkable success as the French soldiers manning the line in this area were overwhelmed by this newly-deployed weapon.
The Germans had been preparing for the attack for some time, deploying large canisters of Chlorine Gas along their front line. When the attack was launched, these canisters would be opened up by specially trained soldiers, known as “stinkpioneres”, and the gas would drift on the prevailing wind towards the enemy trenches.
As far back as the end of March, French and British intelligence had begun to pick up signs that the Germans planned to use poison gas. Intelligence gathered from prisoners, one of whom was carrying a respirator, and from the Belgian intelligence services, had been dismissed, partly from fear that it was a German ruse. The intelligence reports were also ignored because the use of gas was prohibited by the Hague Convention, to which the Germans were a signatory, so it was obvious they’d stick to their word.
The Germans didn’t know the views of the Allied intelligence officers, and they feared that their secret had been discovered. The preparations for the attack involved large numbers of men (each canister required eight men to carry it), and thousands of respirators had been manufactured in Belgium and issued to their attack troops. With so many people involved, surely the secret would leak out? Especially as the attack was delayed while the wind failed to blow in the right direction.
Eventually, on the afternoon of the 22nd, conditions were right and the command “8888 - Open the gas containers” was issued and observers on the Allied side saw a cloud of yellow-green smoke rise up and begin to drift towards across no-mans land.
The site chosen for the attack was at Poelcapelle, where the Canadian Division held trenches alongside the French. The French had just completed a changeover of regiments along their front and the 45th Regiment, a French Colonial unit, found itself directly in the path of the ominous cloud as a conventional artillery bombardment rained down to announce the attack.
The result was a total tactical success. In the front line, where the gas rolled quickly over the positions, the French soldiers there were suffocated and killed within minutes. Then as the main cloud advanced on the second line, the men there ran away from the threat. On the edges of the gas cloud, the effects were survivable. Lance Corporal Keddie, a Canadian recounted that “It makes the eyes smart and run. I became violently sick, but this passed off fairly soon.”
The Germans advanced in the wake of their artillery and found the trenches deserted along a four mile front between Poelcapelle and Steenstraat. By nightfall they had thrown the whole of the Allied line into turmoil, pushing refugees onto the roads. Luckily for the British and French, the Germans had attacked with insufficient troops in reserve to exploit their stunning success and, over the coming days, despite renewed attacks, Allied reserves were rushed forward and the line was held. Just two days later, the 1st Canadian Division was able to repel a subsequent attack that used gas, thanks to hurriedly improvised masks.
One news story
UK Government export ban on Indian soldier painting
A painting by the artist Philip de László of two Indian soldiers has had an export ban placed upon it by the UK Government.
The unfinished painting of two Indian Cavalry officers is valued at £650,000 and depicts troop officers Risaldar Jagat Singh and Risaldar Man Singh standing side by side and looking at the viewer. The two men sat for the painting in London, before transferring to France to fight in the Somme campaign and the image is rare in its depiction of Indian soldiers.
The painting by Philip de László’s was kept in the artist’s own collection, remaining in his possession until he died in 1937. The export ban has been imposed to allow time for fundraising efforts to take place and it is hoped that a UK buyer will be found to purchase the picture and keep it in the country.
If you have a spare £650,000 (plus VAT at 20%) lying around, you have until the 13th July 2023 to get in touch with Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest to register your interest.
One from the archives
Sock knitting in Sydney, Australia
This week’s one from the archives is a pair of knitted socks from the archives of the City of Sydney, Australia. These socks are replicas of sock produced for soldiers serving overseas, and were knitted in 1989 from an original Red Cross knitting pattern.
The Red Cross, aware of the need for various supplementary clothing, provided a patterns booklet that covered operational essentials such as socks, mitten and scarves, alongside essentials for men who were injured, such as pyjamas, “helpless case” shirts, operation gowns and bed socks.
The City of Sydney was a keen supporter for the war effort, providing a recruitment office, space for ambulance training and three reception rooms in the town hall for the use of the Sewing Guild.
Sewing machines were donated by Singer & Co and committed female volunteers, between 40 and 50 a day, sewed and knitted warm clothes and other necessities for soldiers overseas. In October 1914, a newspaper article reported on the activity and printed an article stating that on the day of their visit the following items were produced; “2 dozen pyjamas, 49 chest protectors, 50 soldiers' bags, 27 cholera belts, 2 dozen shirts. So let no one say that the Guild is merely ornamental or its time devoted to tea and gossip”.
Work continued without interruption when the Lady Mayoress who had been a leading light of the Sewing Guild in 1914 fell foul to the forces of democracy when her husband was voted out of office. The new mayoress continued the good work and the former mayoress continued to turn up to volunteer.
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