The Battle of Kitcheners' Wood was fought during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

during the

Second Battle of Ypres The Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915, during the First World War, for control of the tactically-important high ground to the east and the south of the Flanders, Flemish town of Ypres, in western Belgium. The ...

Location

The name of this oak plantation derived from the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

name, Bois-de-Cuisinères, where French troops housed their field kitchens, and ''not'' in reference, as is sometimes thought, to the British general officer Lord Kitchener. (Thus the name of the feature is "Kitcheners' " with the apostrophe after the "s", indicating the plural possessive.)

Background

On the night of 22 April 1915, the Germans launched the first

poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal concentration) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious ...

attack of the war on the western front. The object of their attack was the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I. Location Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked b ...

, and they concentrated their initial attack on two French divisions, the 45th (Algerian) and 79th (Territorial). Attacking in the evening of the 21st, the two French divisions found themselves ill-prepared to cope with the

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

gas and promptly broke, leaving a gap in the line six kilometres wide. The

1st Canadian Division The 1st Canadian Division (French: ) is a joint operational command and control formation based at CFB Kingston, and falls under Canadian Joint Operations Command. It is a high-readiness unit, able to move on very short notice, and is staffed and ...

, which had been in France since February, was hastily pulled out of reserve and ordered to seal the line. In particular, a position known as Kitcheners' Wood was ordered reinforced, and two Canadian battalions were selected for the job – which in the event turned out to be a major counter-attack, and the first major offensive operation of Canadian troops in the war.

The Battle

At Kitcheners' Wood, the

10th Battalion, CEF The 10th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force was a unit of the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), specifically in the 1st Canadian Division from 1914 to 1919. The battalion participated in every major Canadian battle of th ...

of the 2nd Canadian Brigade was ordered to

counter-attack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in " war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

into the gap created by the gas attack; they formed up after 11:00 pm on the night of 22 April. The 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) of the 3rd Canadian Brigade arrived as they were forming, tasked to support the advance. Both battalions had over 800 men, formed up in waves of two companies each. The order to advance was given at 11:46 pm. The leading waves of the 10th Battalion covered half the distance from the start line to the Wood, running into a strong hedge interlaced with wire. No

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

had been done prior and the battalion was forced to break through the obstacle with rifle butts, while taking fire from German machine guns about 180 meters away. On the second day of the battle, the Canadian’s left flank, defended by the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force came under heavy attack, but was holding its position and repulsing the enemy despite losses from a second gas attack and heavy and accurate artillery fire. Alderson, believing that the Canadian division was capable of holding the line, ordered his brigade commanders to move reserves up to the front line to reinforce losses rather than withdraw. However, 3/1 CEF commander Brig. Gen. Turner made a sudden and unilateral decision to withdraw his brigade back to the General Headquarters (GHQ) line, several miles to the rear. Not only did Turner not inform Alderson, his commanding officer, of his decision, he also did not tell Brigadier General

Arthur Currie General Sir Arthur William Currie, (5 December 187530 November 1933) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who fought during World War I. He had the unique distinction of starting his military career on the very bottom rung as a pre-war ...

, commanding the 2nd Brigade on Turner's right, that Currie's flank was now completely unprotected. (Currie would be forced to withdraw his brigade the next day, albeit in an orderly fashion, in order to avoid having his flank rolled up.) Both battalions charged the last 180 meters to the wood, threw the Germans out, and suffered more than 75 percent casualties. Small parties of French troops, eager to reclaim the French guns that had been abandoned in the wood, had also participated in the battle. After the war, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Allied Supreme Commander, remarked that the "greatest act of the war" had been the assault on Kitcheners' Wood by the 10th and 16th Battalions.

Aftermath

The fighting in the Wood continued on for several more days, as German attacks continued to mount along the Salient, even though no clear advantage could be gained. The 1st Division as a whole suffered some 60% casualties before being relieved, and the 10th and 16th Battalions were reduced to less than 20% of their pre-battle strength. The commanding officer of the 10th, Lieutenant-Colonel Russell Lambert Boyle, was gravely wounded by machine-gun fire in the opening attack on the Wood. He succumbed to his wounds days later. Both battalions needed considerable time and effort to rebuild. Colonel Garnet Hughes who had directed the ill-planned attack was criticized for his poor leadership.

Memory

Honours

After the war, Second Ypres and St. Julien were granted as

battle honours A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military ...

to British and Canadian regiments, but to the dismay of the units that fought there, Kitcheners' Wood was not. The commanding officer of the

Canadian Scottish Regiment The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The regiment is in Victoria, Nanaimo, and Courtenay, British Columbia. It is part of the ...

(Princess Mary's) which perpetuates the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) CEF, organized a lobby to have a dress distinction awarded for the part the 10th and 16th Battalions played at Kitcheners' Wood, which was never recognized with a battle honour. In the 1930s a distinctive brass shoulder title was awarded. In the case of the Canadian Scottish, the title consisted of a brass acorn and oak leaf over a red felt backing surrounded by the title CANADIAN SCOTTISH. The Calgary Highlanders and

Winnipeg Light Infantry The Winnipeg Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia (now the Canadian Army). In 1955, the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Lineage The Winnipeg Light Infantr ...

, both of whom perpetuated the 10th Battalion (Canadians) CEF, were also awarded distinctive shoulder badges, though their pattern consisted only of a brass badge with the initials of the regiment directly on the oakleaf. The WLI were absorbed into the

Royal Winnipeg Rifles The Royal Winnipeg Rifles (R Wpg Rif) are a Primary Reserve one-battalion infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Nicknamed the "Little Black Devils", they are based at Minto Armoury in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles are part of 3r ...

in 1955 and the WLI badge fell out of use. The acorn and oak leaf are symbolic of the heavy oak trees of Kitcheners' Wood which were a significant obstacle to infantrymen in 1915. Photos taken two years later showed that the forest was eventually obliterated during the fighting. Tradition in the Canadian Army has been that metal shoulder badges consist only of letters or numerals, with only a few exceptions. The use of honorary distinctions is common, however, in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, such as the addition of the

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to regimental badges.

Legacy

The old City Hall in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, Alberta (the city from where about 60% of the original 10th Battalion men were recruited) bears a plaque dedicated to Lieutenant Colonel Russ Boyle and the men of the 10th Battalion who made the charge at Kitcheners' Wood. The Calgary Highlanders (10th Canadians), who perpetuate the history and traditions of the 10th Battalion, commemorate the battle annually on the weekend closest to April 22. "St. Julien's Day", as it is known, usually involves an all-ranks reunion dinner, an officers' mess function, a freedom of the city parade, and a church service. The Regimental hockey team is known as "The Oakleafs" and a regimental newssheet known as ''The Oak Leaf'' has been published on and off over the years, in addition to the official newssheet, ''The Glen''. In Belgium, the ''Vrije Basisschool'' (elementary school) of the current day St-Juliaan displays an oak leaf memorial in honour of the event.digilife website
The 2008 film '' Passchendaele'' presents a fictionalized view of a soldier who fought in both the 2nd and 3rd Battle of Ypres, including the Battle of Kitcheners' Wood. The main character is based on 10th Battalion veteran Michael Dunne. On 22 April 2015, exactly 100 years later, soldiers of

The Calgary Highlanders The Calgary Highlanders (10th Canadians) is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The regiment is a part-time reserve unit, under the command of 41 Canadian Brigade Gr ...

and

The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The regiment is in Victoria, Nanaimo, and Courtenay, British Columbia. It is part of the 3 ...

assembled at the former location of Mouse Trap Farm and paraded to the former location of the Wood led by their combined pipes and drums. A service of remembrance was conducted at sunset at the oak leaf memorial, and soldiers, veterans and family members of both regiments were hosted to a dinner on the site of the former battlefield.

References

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