Photograph taken September 2008, In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium.__________
Map - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Website
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“On Oct 21, 1914 the Germans, who were on the high ground along the Flemish Ridge, including Passchendaele, launched their attack on Ypres and the First Battle of Ypres began. At Langemark, hardened professionals from the British 1st Division faced massed ranks of German reserves and volunteers, mostly army cadets and university students with only six weeks of military training. At least 3,000 died. A large number lie in Studentenfriedhof, the German cemetery at Langmark.
Despite their losses, the German pushed back the Allies relentlessly. By 31 October, they had taken Geluveld and almost broken through the British line on the Menin Road. The next day they took the Mesen Ridge and Wijtschate while British troops recaptured Geluveld. The fate of Ieper (Flemish spelling of Ypres) hung in the balance. On 11 and 12 November, the Germans took Sint Elooi (St. Eloi). By now, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was virtually destroyed as a professional army and cooks, batmen, signallers, and other non-combatants were ordered into action, with and without firearms.
As the German attacks began to slacken, both sides subsided into exhaustion. It was the end of the First Battle of Ieper (Ypres) and the beginning of trench warfare and winter. To prevent the Allies from using the city as winter quarters, Germans shelled it constantly and on 22 November set the Cloth Hall ablaze, together with the rest of the city center. By now, the Salient was less than half its original size and already some 100,000 thousand men had lost their lives there. Another 400,000 would die there in the following three years.”
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Further reading
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