Moments in History is proud to bring you to the fields of Flanders in their recreation of the infamous German gas attack at Second Ypres, 1915 and the heroic Canadian stand that followed.
Click here for Flanders errata.
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...
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!”
Kerry Anderson, Designer of In Flanders Fields
Product Information ...
Part No. YPR-19
Retail Price: $29.95
Shipping Date: Now shipping.
In Flanders Fields
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.
Setting the stage for Ypres 1915...
The true story of the trenches has never been told. I know,
because for many months I have lived in trenches. I have slept
daily in dread of bullet, shrapnel, mine, and deadly gas; and
nightly in fear of mine and gas-and the man-eating rats.
I am one of the few soldiers living who entered the front trenches
at the opening of the war and who lived to fight the Germans
in the front trenches in February, 1916. Of my original company
(the Fourth of the Fourteenth Battalion, Third Brigade, First
Canadian Division), which marched away to that hell at Laventie
and Ypres so gaily—500 brave boys—I am one of the sixteen
who survive. . . .
Who has seen hell? Who has experienced the horrors of Milton’s
terrible vision or the slow tortures of Dante’s inferno?
God! If Dante’s dream madness were truth, and those seven
circles were seven encircling battle lines in Northern France
or the torn fringe of brave little Belgium, I could stand up
and say there is no agony of body or mind which I have not seen,
which I have not experienced. I thank God and give Him the glory
that I still am sane. Gas? What do you know of it, you people
who never heard earth and heaven rock with the frantic turmoil
of the ceaseless bombardment? A crawling yellow cloud that pours
in upon you, that gets you by the throat and shakes you as a
huge mastiff might shake a kitten, and leaves you burning in
every nerve and vein of your body with pain unthinkable; your
eyes starting from their sockets; your face turned yellow-green.
Roméo Houle, of the First Canadian Division
What You Get...
In Flanders Fields is a game of the battle of Second Ypres, 1915 and features top quality components through-out. Contents: 22"x30" map by an artist making his debut in the wargaming field, artist, plus 280 die-cut counters, a unique 36-page rulebook, and as a SPECIAL BONUS the historical guide entitled "Ypres....perspectives" which includes Game Design and Historical Notes, and a series of articles by witnesses to the battle, from Generals to the men in the trenches, to bring the gamer lacking even a single book on the subject up to speed in one supporting document.
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