Warfare

 First Battle of Ypres      Picture courtesy  quizzclub.com On October 19, 1914, close to the Belgian city of Ypres, Allied and German forces began the first of what would be three battles to control the city and take the advantage of the positions on the north coast of Belgium during the First World War. After the German advance through Belgium and eastern France was curtailed by a great Allied victory in the First Battle of Marne and Second Battle of Marne   in late September 1914, the so-called name “Race to the Sea” began, as each army attempted to outflank the other on their way northwards, hastily constructing trench fortifications as they went. The race ended in mid-October at the city named Ypres, the ancient Flemish city with its fortifications guarding the ports of the English Channel and access to the North Sea beyond. After the Germans had taken control of the Belgian city of Antwerp early in October, Antwerp’s remaining Belgian forces along w...