Frezenberg

On the 1st of April 1915, the Canadian Division was posted to the northeast corner of the salient to defend 4,000 yards of front. To the right was the 28th Division of the British Army, which included the newly raised Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (P.P.C.L.I. would not come under Canadian command until months later, when additional Canadian divisions were created), and to the left of the Canadian Division the 45th Algerian Division of the French Army. The main line was a shallow stretch of trenches, in some places simply piles of sand bags. A secondary trench line, marked on the maps, was nowhere to be found, and a third line – dubbed the GHQ Line – was nothing more than strong points 500 yards apart strung together in a line, with a 6-yard wide belt of barbed wire as protection. The Germans were said to be preparing an attack; rumours of poison gas spread after prisoners leaked the word of their preparations – large tanks of chlorine gas had been brought up well in advance, waiting for a favourable breeze to carry it into the Allied lines. The Germans had already used gas on the Eastern Front, but there was a reluctance among the Allies to believe that the Germans would use it in the west, where the Hague Conventions of 1907 specifically forbade the use of "poison or poisoned weapons." The Second Battle of Ypres opened when 168 tons of chlorine gas were released by the Germans at 5:00p.m. on April 22nd over a four mile front, following a heavy bombardment that had started at 4:00p.m. The gas affected the lungs and the eyes causing respiration problems and blindness. Being denser than air it flowed downwards, forcing French troops of the 45th and 78th Divisions to abandon their positions en masse, leaving a 4,000 yard wide gap in the front line.

Map published by the New York Times in 1915. The dark line shows the Ypres Salient as it appeared more or less at the start of the 2nd Battle of Ypres, and the shaded territory shows the major area of fighting. The first gas attacks were launched in the area between Steenstraate and Langemarck, garrisoned by the French 87th (Territorial) and 45th (Algerian) Divisions. The PPCLI, in 1915 part of the British Army, had their baptism of fire south-east of St. Julien at Frezenberg, as part of the 28th Division. When all was said and done, 2nd Ypres cost the Allies 70,000 men, and the Germans 35,000 – but was considered an Allied victory. The desired breakthrough of the Allied lines never came. The British were able to shorten their lines, though with Ypres itself closer to the front, it was eventually shelled into rubble. Kitcheners' Wood suffered the same fate, and photos taken after the war show only a handful of shrapnel-riddled trunks standing on the grounds of the former oak plantation. The Canadians returned to do battle in 1917, in what historians called the 3rd Battle of Ypres, or more popularly, the Battle of Passchendaele.

Ypres Salient on the morning of 21 April 1915

The Canadians in the line to the right could discern a large yellow-green cloud over the French positions; three German divisions swarmed forward past dead and panicked troops. The Canadians were in disarray as many of their telephone lines had been cut in the shelling, and units now began giving conflicting reports back to their headquarters, far behind the front. What was clear was that their left flank was wide open; what was not known was that the Germans had inexplicably stopped for the night after driving 3,000 yards into the French positions.

Click to enlarge

Early on, the 13th Battalion had strengthened positions around St. Julien and this small group was one of only a few holding the entire left flank. To the southwest, the only unit between the Germans and the 3rd Brigade headquarters at Mouse Trap Farm was a battery of British 4.7-inch guns at Kitcheners' Wood. Another battery 1,000 yards north of St. Julien engaged a large number of Germans over open sights at about 7:00p.m. that night, and with the help of men from the 13th, 14th and 15th Battalions, were able to move their guns back to safety. An hour later, the commander of the 3rd Brigade by now fully realized the delicate situation his left flank was in, and requested reinforcement from the 2nd Brigade and from the Division. The 10th Battalion, reserve unit for the 2nd Brigade, and the 16th Battalion, in reserve for the 3rd Brigade, were tasked for an immediate counter-attack on Kitcheners' Wood, which went in at about midnight on 21/22 April with heavy losses, but managed to seize the Wood.

The 3rd Brigade area, in the meantime, continued to receive reinforcements, and the 2nd, 3rd and part of the 7th Battalions were put into the sector north of St. Julien to shore up the line, along with five British battalions. Another counter-attack, at Mauser Ridge, had been ordered by the French, with the support of two Canadian battalions. The French attack never materialized, but repeated attacks by the Canadians kept the line holding.

The Battle of St. Julien

The chlorine gas hit the 15th and 8th Battalions; supporting artillery fire thinned the ranks of the Germans coming for the 8th Battalion, but the S.O.S. flares of the 15th Battalion went unheeded, as their supporting battery had moved out of range.

Anti-gas equipment had by now been distributed, in the form of damp cotton-gauze masks. Advised that urine soked handkerchiefs would also neutralize chlorine, many soldiers attempted that as a solution. The gas cloud was strongest at the boundary of the two battalions, and the protective equipment did nothing to shield the eyes. While many troops suffered seared eyes and lungs, one company of the 8th was missed entirely by the gas cloud, who brought heavy fire on the advancing Germans - only to find their Ross rifles jamming in large numbers. The 15th Battalion was eventually pushed back 700 yards to the base of the Gravenstafel Ridge, suffering 647 casualties and the greatest single-battle loss of any Canadian battalion for the entire war. The 13th Battalion also withdrew, with other weary battalions thrown into the line to replace them. The Germans now held the apex of the Ypres Salient, but their gains had been limited to a maximum penetration of 1,000 yards. By early afternoon, renewed German attacks had won another 1,000 yards. When St. Julien fell, counter-attacks pushed them out again. Canadian battalions began leaving the salient on the 25th, while divisional headquarters stayed to direct the actions of British units into May.

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

The third phase of 2nd Ypres opened on May 8th, with a German attack on the Frezenberg Ridge. Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry had travelled to France as a component battalion of the 80th Brigade of the British 27th Division, and had served in the St. Eloi sector from 7 January to 23 March 1915. Its largest action had been a 100 man raid on 28 February, which cost 5 dead and 9 wounded, and destroyed 30 yards of German trench. The Patricias, with their parent division, moved to the Ypres Salient on 9 April in relief of the French 17th Division. During the opening phases of 2nd Ypres, the Patricias came under bombardment several times, suffering 80 casualties, and on the night of 3-4 May fell back to the Bellewaarde Ridge. On 4 May, lacking time to develop positions, they suffered 122 casualties to shell and machine gun fire.

Battle of Frezenberg

On 8 May, the entire 5th Corps front came under heavy bombardment as the Germans once again tried to reduce the Ypres Salient. The renewed offensive involved three corps making converging attacks. The 26th Reserve Corps advanced south against the area between Mouse Trap Farm and Frezenberg; in the centre the 27th Reserve Corps was tasked with the main effort, attacking westward between Frezenberg and Bellewaarde Lake; and in the south the 15th Corps was ordered to drive north-west between Bellewaarde Lake and Zillebeke Lake. Two British divisions - the 27th and 28th - were therefore required to defend their sector against at least six German divisions. As a prelude to the attack on the 8th, the 15th Corps had taken Hill 60 following gas attacks on 5 May.

On 8 May, German attacks fell most heavily on the Frezenberg Ridge, defended by the 83rd and 84th Brigades, both components of the 28th Division. Two attacks were driven back, but a third overwhelmed British positions, and the towns of Frezenberg and Verlorenhoek fell by mid-morning before being stopped. Unable to penetrate the British lines further, the Germans nonetheless continued to roll up the blanks.

The 80th Brigade had two battalions in the front-line, P.P.C.L.I. and the 4th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. Both units held the extreme southern shoulder of the gap in the line that the Germans had created. Heavy enemy fire was being directed on the British trenches from the Menin Road which "obliterated whole sections" of the front line on the ridge's forward slope. The Patricias lost two of their four machine guns, and the acting C.O. ordered signallers, pioneers, orderlies and officers' batmen into the support trenches to augment the front line strength. The Germans attacked in strength at 9:00 a.m. and were met by a steady stream of rifle fire, driven back on the Patricias' left, but managing to seize a foothold on the right of the Patricias' positions. The battalion was compelled to withdraw to their main defensive line on the crest of the ridge, where they were reinforced by a company of the 4th Rifle Brigade. Here, they "stood unflinchingly for the rest of the day, enduring repeated bombardments and beating back every German attempt to advance from the captured trenches."

During the afternoon the left flank, drawn back to face the danger from the north,* was extended by reserve battalions of the 80th and 81st Brigades. These units linked up with counter attacking battalions of the 85th Brigade in the centre to seal off the German encroachment. East of Mouse Trap Farm a heroic stand by the 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers, when the remainder of the 84th Brigade's front-line battalions were annihilated, held firm the northern shoulder of the gap. On the 4th Division's front west of Mouse Trap Farm British artillery (including eight Canadian field batteries) broke up the infantry attack which followed the early morning bombardment.

When the Patricias were relieved shortly before midnight, their total trench strength was four officers and 150 men. The day's casualties totalled 392. For the last few days of the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge (which ended on 13 May) they formed a composite unit with the 4th King's Royal Rifles, which had shared their valiant stand on Bellewaarde Ridge. On 24 May, when the Fourth Army again attacked the 5th Corps, releasing a heavy concentration of chlorine along a front of 4-1/2 miles (the largest scale yet attempted), the 27th Division was in corps reserve. The Germans captured Mouse Trap Farm and Bellewaarde Ridge, breaking through on both sides of Bellewaarde Lake. Late on the 24th the 80th Brigade made an unsuccessful counter-attack, the Patricias being held in brigade reserve. This operation, named the Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge, ended the Battles of Ypres, 1915. A successful counter-thrust by the French on 15 May had driven the Germans back over the canal about Steenstraat. But the Allies regained no more ground. For the next two years the opposing lines around the Salient were to remain virtually unchanged.¹

Monument to the Patricias near the location of their stand at Frezenberg, enscribed "Here 8th May 1915, the Originals of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry commanded by their founder Major A Hamilton Gault held firm and counted not the cost." photographed in 2010. CSC collection.

Battle Honours

The following unit was granted the Battle Honour "Frezenberg" for participation in these actions:

7th Canadian Brigade

• Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Notes

1. Nicholson, Gerald Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 (Duhamel, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, Ottawa, 1964)