In Flanders Fields - The Second Battle of Ypres, 1915 (2nd Printing)

Welcome to IN FLANDERS FIELDS, a telling of the story of terror as French Colonials fled following the surprise German gas attack and the brave stand by Canadian heroes at Ypres 1915.

What the British tried to do at Neuve Chapelle, break the deadlock on the western front, the Germans attempted in the second battle of Ypres. They had developed a terrible new agent, the poison-gas, by which they hoped to wipe out every life in an opposing trench and so break the Allied line of defense, sweep over it at will, and drive their foes to despair with agony and terror...

And thus begins the Battle of Second Ypres 1915. The situation is ideal for a wargame, an opening in the Allied lines before Ypres, with the Germans poised to exploit and a Canadian counter-attack— providing both sides opportunities to attack and defend.

I may be 80 years ‘too late’ but the writer is honored to follow Messrs. Foch, French, Aitken, that unknown British eyewitness and the redoubtable Roméo Houle in this little guide. I'll humbly allow the reader to be the judge if the author shows signs of that old saying regarding hindsight. The Second Battle of Ypres has been described as the battle when the First World War truly began. Until that time, it had been a war of maneuver and positioning. Of hope. And optimism that a quick victory was still achievable.

The Second Battle of Ypres ushered in the grim reality that this was total war with trench warfare and the use of weapons of horror. The German use of gas at Ypres was experimental. Though actually used a few times prior to 1915, most such attempts were feeble and not even noticed by the enemy. General von Falkenhayn, the German C-in-C, decided to test the weapon on a larger scale in the fields of Flanders. The German general staff had little faith in the weapon and did not dedicate any reserves for a possible breakthrough. Asphyxiating gas was specifically forbidden under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1906 and most of the Allied staff did not give gas warnings much attention. In one instance, a fortnight prior to the attack, a German deserter provided detailed information on this new weapon and its planned employment.

The deserter even showed interrogators the crude cloth mask to be used by German soldiers. While the commander of the French 11th Division was duly impressed by this, the staff of British units that later took over their position gave this story and other warnings little credence. Late on a spring afternoon, British and Canadian soldiers began to notice a greenish appearance to the setting sun. It was 5:00 PM, April 22 and the Germans had unleashed a chlorine gas cloud along the Northern third of the Ypres salient. Facing this attack were French colonial and a territorial divisions—both second class units that immediately broke, fleeing to rear areas. British troops were confused by the rout, unable to understand the foreigners, but one message was clear by the way they grasped their throats crying “Gaz!”

Contents:

• One 20"x23" color map with all charts and tables printed on it
• 280 color die cut counters
• One rulebook
• One Historical Booklet with designer's notes