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Battle of La Bassée

1914 in FranceBattles of World War I involving GermanyBattles of World War I involving the United KingdomBattles of the Western Front (World War I)Conflicts in 1914
November 1914 eventsOctober 1914 eventsRace to the SeaUse British English from August 2017
Neuve Chapelle to La Bassee, 1915
Neuve Chapelle to La Bassee, 1915

The Battle of La Bassée was fought by German and Franco-British forces in northern France in October 1914, during reciprocal attempts by the contending armies to envelop the northern flank of their opponent, which has been called the Race to the Sea. The 6th Army took Lille before a British force could secure the town and the 4th Army attacked the exposed British flank further north at Ypres. The British were driven back and the German army occupied La Bassée and Neuve Chapelle. Around 15 October, the British recaptured Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée but failed to recover La Bassée. German reinforcements arrived and regained the initiative, until the arrival of the Lahore Division, part of the Indian Corps. The British repulsed German attacks until early November, after which both sides concentrated their resources on the First Battle of Ypres. The battle at La Bassée was reduced to local operations. In late January and early February 1915, German and British troops conducted raids and local attacks in the Affairs of Cuinchy, which took place at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée and just south of La Bassée Canal, leaving the front line little changed.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Battle of La Bassée (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Battle of La Bassée
Lille

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Wikipedia: Battle of La BasséeContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 50.534166666667 ° E 2.8080555555556 °
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59480 Lille
Hauts-de-France, France
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Neuve Chapelle to La Bassee, 1915
Neuve Chapelle to La Bassee, 1915
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Gas attacks at Hulluch
Gas attacks at Hulluch

The Gas Attacks at Hulluch were two German cloud gas attacks on British troops during World War I, from 27 to 29 April 1916, near the village of Hulluch, 1 mi (1.6 km) north of Loos in northern France. The gas attacks were part of an engagement between divisions of the II Royal Bavarian Corps and divisions of the British I Corps. Just before dawn on 27 April, the 16th (Irish) Division and part of the 15th (Scottish) Division were subjected to a cloud gas attack near Hulluch. The gas cloud and artillery bombardment were followed by raiding parties, which made temporary lodgements in the British lines. Two days later the Germans began another gas attack but the wind turned and blew the gas back over the German lines. A large number of German casualties were caused by the change in the wind direction and the decision to go ahead despite protests by local officers. German casualties were increased by the British, who fired on German soldiers as they fled in the open. The gas used by the German troops at Hulluch was a mixture of chlorine and phosgene, which had first been used on 19 December 1915 at Wieltje, near Ypres. The German gas was of sufficient concentration to penetrate the British PH gas helmets and the 16th (Irish) Division was unjustly blamed for poor gas discipline. It was put out that the gas helmets of the division were of inferior manufacture, to allay doubts as to the effectiveness of the helmet. Production of the Small Box Respirator, which had worked well during the attack, was accelerated.