Redefining the Rules of Engagement
On April 22, 1915, at 5:30 am, Germany launched 5,000 chlorine-filled canisters onto the Allied forces in Ypres, Belgium. While British and French forces fought with determination, their efforts failed against the toxic effects of poison gas. The battle was a massacre for the British, with the death toll exceeding 50,000, according to leading historian George H. Cassar. The chaos allowed German forces to advance into Allied territory, and it would take Britain months to regain their strength.
A British soldier describes a scene at Ypres:
“[I watched] figures running wildly in confusion over the fields. Greenish-gray clouds swept down upon them, turning yellow as they traveled over the country blasting everything they touched and shriveling up the vegetation. . . . Then there staggered into our midst French soldiers, blinded, coughing, chests heaving, faces an ugly purple color, lips speechless with agony, and behind them in the gas soaked trenches, we learned that they had left hundreds of dead and dying comrades”
