YPRES 1915:
BATTLE OF
ST JULIEN
Situation on 30th April
The Salient before the withdrawal
Published by ORDNANCE SURVEY, London, 1925
An original 1925 Ordnance Survey Map of the situation on 30th April 1915 during the Battle of St. Julien in the Ypres Salient. This large map (54cm x 60cm) covers the area of the frontline around Ypres. The map shows details of the units and formations involved in the action on 30th April.
Battle of St. Julien: the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915 for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the previous autumn. The Second Battle of Ypres was the first mass use by Germany of poison gas on the Western Front.
The Battle of St. Julien began with the second gas attack by the Germans at Ypres directed at the “Apex” in the line formed as a result of the attack on 22 April. The front line of Apex was held by the 2nd (Brigadier-General A.W. Currie) and 3rd (Brigadier-General R.E.W. Turner, VC) Canadian Brigades. At four in the morning on 24 April 1915 a German artillery bombardment began and simultaneously they released chlorine gas in the direction of the lines held by 1st Canadian Division (Lieutenant-General E.A.H. Alderson). The gas was centred on the junction of 2nd and 3rd Brigades, falling most heavily on the 8th and 15th Battalions. Even under the strenuous conditions caused by the gas, the Canadian front line battalions were able to momentarily halt the initial waves of Germans. Heroic fighting by those units allowed the Canadian brigades to withdraw to positions along the Gravenstafel Ridge. The Germans launched a simultaneous attack between Kitcheners Wood and Keerselare. Despite their best efforts, the Canadian front-line units only gave some pause to the German attack. Almost overrun, they withdrew to positions along the Gravenstafel Ridge while several British battalions arrived in the Canadian sector to help reinforce the lines. Despite severe confusion and conflicting messages to and from commanders, new defensive positions were gradually established. Only the 2nd Brigade, on the far right of the Canadian line, still held part of its original front line at the end of the day on the 24th of April. In the early morning of the 25th, a British brigade launched a counter-attack in the area between Kitcheners Wood and St-Julien. Even if objectives were not reached, it blocked a gap in the line and caused the Germans to commit troops that were supposed to conduct an attack of their own in this area. This German attack at Kitcheners Wood was supposed to be coordinated with an attack on the 2nd Canadian Brigade in the Apex in the line North of Gravenstafel. Canadian units held the line for most of the day but by evening, the German attack forced the Canadians back behind Gravenstafel. The remaining troops of the Brigade were relieved in place by a British unit. The remainder of the Canadian Division was gradually relieved in place by British units with most Canadians out of the line on the 26th of April. That brought an end to the fighting for the infantry battalions of the 1st Canadian Division in the Battle of St-Julien, although British units continue to fight in the area for several more days.
Ordnance Survey WW1: Following the declaration of the Great War, Ordnance Survey was immediately placed at the disposal of the War Office and lost 16 of its 22 officers to war duties and 285 civilians volunteered for war too. By 1915, some 22 printing presses were working solely on producing war maps and 90% of all maps used in France were supplied by Ordnance Survey. The primary aim for Ordnance Survey staff working at the front was to provide a reliable ranging method to help the artillery hit their targets. Captain Winterbotham (later to be a Director General), earned himself the nickname of ‘the astrologer’ by telling the gunners the direction and elevation to fire their guns and the shells regularly hitting their distant targets. In addition to the work on ranging methods, there was a need to map parts of northern France. Survey work needed to be completed much faster than in peacetime and surveyors used plane-tables to achieve this. Their survey work in France was continuous from 1915 to the end of the war, not just mapping the country, but plotting positions of trenches, machine-guns and batteries. As well as supplying trained staff, Ordnance Survey enlisted and drafted a further 800 topographers, observers, draughtsmen and printers. During the war 67 Ordnance Survey staff lost their lives, around 6% of the men that were sent overseas. In this time, Ordnance Survey supplied almost 33 million maps, plans and diagrams to the forces, a vital tool for the war effort.
Condition:
The map is in excellent condition, with minimal signs of use.
Published: 1925
Paper folding map
Dimensions: 54cm x 60cm
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