Ypres arch
The Ypres Arch (English: Ypres Salient, French: Saillant d'Ypres) was the front position around the West Flemish city of Ypres in the northern part of the western front of the First World War . To the south was the 15 km long Wytschaete-Bogen .
description
The arch or front arch at Ypres was created by the defense of the city by Allied troops in the race to the sea . The outstanding front position was formed in the Battle of the Yser and in the First Battle of Flanders in 1914. A four-year trench war raged along this position arc , no less than five major battles took place at the front bulge near Ypres. There were roughly half a million victims on both sides in these battles. In the Second Battle of Flanders in 1915, poison gas was used here for the first time , which tightened the circle around the city. Douglas Haig did not think the position was particularly strong, as it was constantly visible to the enemy. In the Third Battle of Flanders in 1917, the German territorial gains were largely reversed, but they did not bring about any major change. In the Fourth Battle of Flanders in 1918, the German army was again able to achieve considerable territorial gains and conquer the Kemmelberg . The area finally fell into the hands of the Entente during the Hundred Days Offensive from September 28 to October 2. Those who have fallen will be honored at the Menenpoort in Ypres.
See also
literature
- Gustav Stoffleth : History of the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 18 ; Berlin 1937, Bernard & Graefe publishing house, 525 pages
- Otto Dziobek : History of the Infantry Regiment Lübeck (3rd Hanseatic) No. 162 , Verlag Gerhard Stalling , 1922 Oldenburg i. O.
- Hans Wegener : The history of the 3rd Upper Alsatian Infantry Regiment No. 172. Edited from the official war diaries and reports from fellow combatants. Sporn, Zeulenroda (Thuringia) 1934.
- Werner Bernhard Sendker: Fallen in Flanders fields. Germans and their relationship to the First World War. 2nd, completely revised and greatly expanded edition. Der Andere Verlag, Tönningen et al. 2005, ISBN 3-89959-366-9 .
- Jan Vancoillie: De Duitse militaire begraafplaats Menen Forest: divorced van de Duitse militaire graven van de Eerste Wereldoorlog in Zuid-West-Vlaanderen. Wevelgem 2013 ISBN 978-90-821039-0-8
- Alan Palmer : The Salient: Ypres, 1914-18. Constable, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-84119-633-6 .
