"Denied victory in 1914 with the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans, facing war on two fronts, had to send significant numbers of men east, leaving the Western Front undermanned. They sought a new weapon to give them a new military advantage; chlorine gas. The Second Battle of Ypres aimed to wrest control of the important Flemish town in western Belgium, deal a death blow to the BEF and advance to the Channel coast. the battle opened on 22 April, with the Germans making first large-scale use of poison gas against French troops holding the northern flank of the salient. The attack succeeded but the Germans were slow to follow up and, overnight the British stabilised the line. The gas attack was only the first of a whole series of mighty blows that sent the Allies staggering back into a much reduced Ypres Salient. During the battle, a colonial force (the 1st Canadian Division) fought on European soil for the first time, being both gassed and heavily shelled along with their British and Allied counterparts. The endurance of the BEF was quite remarkable and how they held on against all odds for over a month before the Germans themselves backed down was nothing short of legendary. Military historian Tim Saunders and Andrew Duff join a selection of expert battlefield guides on the ground to explore the Second Battle of Ypres and analyse the significance of each desperate action. The team explain the weapons, equipment and tactics of the armies, plus the bravery shown by the troops on the ground and the horrors they faced from the advancing German gas cloud." -- From the container insert.

16x9 widescreen presentation. Special features, Pen & Sword trailers. Originally aired on the British television programme : Battlefield history.