More about the Ypres Salient 1914 - 1918
What is a Salient:
Projecting or jutting beyond a line or surface; protruding.
Strikingly conspicuous; prominent. See Synonyms at noticeable.
Springing; jumping: salient tree toads.
n.
A military position that projects into the position of the enemy.
A projecting angle or part.
a. leaping; outstanding; pointing outwards;
n. such angle or curve, especially in battle-line. salience, n
The Ypres Salient during the war, 3 main battles:
1ste Ypres, 19 October - 12 November, 1914:
Stop the Hun!
The German army needed to be stopped.
The Belgian army stopped them at the Yser whit the flooding of the Yzer valley and an a heroic battle of a mix of troops and men: 17 - 31 oct, 1914.
The French sopped the Hun at the Marne. The BEF fought the Hun in the Salient, using their full capacity + reserves.
The famous battle at the Nonnenbosch took place, only 1 line of BEF soldiers where left and they holded line!
Even the Life Guards fought in this desparate battle at Zandvoorde. Fortunaly the winter could make the front stabilise...
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2354/ypres.html
BEF casualties in these actions were approximately 54,100.
2nd Ypres, April 22 - May 25, 1915:
Gas, gas, gas!
The Greman new weapon assault to push to Paris.
On the mornig of the 22nd of april the Germans opend gas resevoirs (not shells yet) and green clouds of chlorine gas flooded with the wind to the Belgian (Steenstraete), the French (Boesinge) and the BEF (Pilckem)lines.
The succes was amazing and the Germans were not prepared to occupy the gap in the line they made.
Canadian forces were used to drive back the Germans. There were a lot of casualties, but it was a succes.
On 24th of april the Germans used a second time gas at Pilkem + St juliaan.
The Canadian forces were suprised and driven back...
The fight for a break in the lines cotinued untill 25 may.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2354/ypres2.html
3th Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), July 31 - November 8, 1917:
Passchendaele or burst!
The mine war at Messine, tanks and 3000 guns. This should be the Big Push!
Mud, rain, German machine guns and mustard gas made this push to Ghent a failure. The tanks never reached the frontline, they were stuck in the mud.
The Third Battle of Ypres was, like its predecessors, a costly exercise.
Commonwealth forces casualties: 310,000; number of German casualties: 260,000.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2354/ypres3.html
Facts of the Salient:
British Cemeteries and Memorials:
In the Ypres Salient battlefields there are over 137 British military burial grounds and 40,000 unidentified graves are contained in these cemeteries.
In addition to the cemeteries, four memorials list the names of the more than 90,000 soldiers whose bodies have never been found or indentified.
Missing man in the salient:
the menin gate: 54.896 officers and men
Passchendale, tyne cot cemetery: 33.783 soldiers and officers together with the names of 1.176 missing soldiers from New Zealand total: 34.959
http://www.trabel.com/ieper/ieper-tynecot.htm
Buttes New British Cemetery: 378 officers and men of the New Zealand Division
Messines Ridge British Cemetery & Memorial: 828
Total MIA (missing man) in the Salient: 91061
killed soldiers in total (all countries) 8,538,315 men and variously wounded 21,219,452. Of 7,750,919 others taken prisoner or missing, well over a million were later presumed dead.
thus the total deaths (not counting civilians) approach 10,000,000. That is the whole population of Belgium!!!