On the morning of 11th Nov 1914, German forces launched a final attempt to capture Ypres and the Channel ports. After a two hour artillery bombardment, thousands of troops came out of the mist and attacked a thin Allied line stretching from Polygon Wood to Messines.
During the attack, four regiments from the elite Prussian Guard advanced in columns along each side of the Menin Road. About 600 men from 1st and 3rd Foot Guards pushed through the gap between Verbeek Farm and Polygon Wood, reaching the last line of defence before the Channel coast. Here the guardsmen came under fire from British 2nd Division artillery and a hastily-assembled group of defenders, including Army cooks.
As the German advance halted, many guardsmen took cover in Nonneboschen (Nun’s Wood) before being driven out by a counter-attack led by 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
With no decisive breakthrough, the First Battle of Ypres marked the end of mobile, open-ground warfare on the Western Front.
By Ibrahim Zamir
Empire of History 