During World War I, which Belgian city that was the centre of intense battles was nicknamed 'wipers'?
"for a season at The Arts Theatre (March–May 2017). Over Remembrance Day weekend, the show was running at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. In February 2018, a UK tour was announced for August-December 2018. The Wipers Times The Wipers Times was a trench magazine that was published by British soldiers fighting in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. In early 1916, the 12th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, was stationed in the front line at Ypres, Belgium, and came across a printing press abandoned by a Belgian who had, in the words of the editor, ""stood not on the order"
"the salient. By August 1918, the Fifth Battle of Ypres (part of the Hundred Days Offensive) pushed the German forces out of the salient entirely and they did not return. Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient is the area around Ypres in Belgium which was the scene of some of the biggest battles in World War I. Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked by Kemmel Hill in the south-west and from the east by low hills running south-west to north-east with Wytschaete (Wijtschate), Hill 60 to the east of Verbrandenmolen, Hooge,"
"Ypres Town Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery and Extension Ypres Town Cemetery and Extension is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located in Ypres, Belgium, on the Western Front. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war. Ypres formed a salient in the Western Front of the First World War, with fighting continuously in the area throughout the war. The city, which"
"French forces recaptured the Passchendaele Ridge east of the city at a terrible cost of lives. After months of fighting, this battle resulted in nearly half a million casualties to all sides, and only a few miles of ground won by Allied forces. During the course of the war the town was all but obliterated by the artillery fire. English-speaking soldiers in that war often referred to Ieper/Ypres by the deliberate mispronunciation ""Wipers"". British soldiers even published a wartime newspaper called the ""Wipers Times"". The same style of deliberate mispronunciation was applied to other Flemish place names in the Ypres"
"Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient is the area around Ypres in Belgium which was the scene of some of the biggest battles in World War I. Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. The city is overlooked by Kemmel Hill in the south-west and from the east by low hills running south-west to north-east with Wytschaete (Wijtschate), Hill 60 to the east of Verbrandenmolen, Hooge, Polygon Wood and Passchendaele (Passendale). The high point of the ridge is at Wytschaete, from Ypres, while at Hollebeke the ridge is distant and recedes to at Polygon Wood. Wytschaete"
"Flanders Fields Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields in an area straddling the Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders as well as the French department of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, part of which makes up the area known as French Flanders. The name Flanders Fields is particularly associated with battles that took place in the Ypres Salient, including the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Passchendaele. For most of the war, the front line ran continuously from south of Zeebrugge on the Belgian coast, across Flanders Fields into the centre of Northern"
"start of the First World War, had spoken (then as a general) from a prepared French text at manoeuvres in France in 1910, his accent was so bad that his listeners thought he was speaking in English! During the First World War, British soldiers unable to pronounce French words came up with their own (often humorous) versions of place names – the town of Ypres (""Ieper"" in Flemish) was known as 'Wipers'. Yet French place names were also a problem for senior officers. In the spring of 1915, Spears was ordered to pronounce French place names in an English way"
"I Corps (Belgium) The 1st Corps of the Belgian Army (), also known as 1 BE Corps, was a Belgian army corps active during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. During the Belgian Campaign of 1940, it initially held defences at Liège but was forced to retreat by the German XVI Panzer Corps. (The Battle of Fort Eben-Emael occurred along the Corps' defensive line.) During the Cold War, it served initially as an army of occupation in Germany and then as part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). The corps headquarters was initially established at Yser"
"Tuileries British Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Tuileries British Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located near Ypres (now ""Ieper"") in Belgium on the Western Front. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war. This cemetery's name means ""tile factory"", as it was begun in the grounds of a tile works in 1915. The chimneys of the tile works were"
"Second Battle of Ypres During World War I, the Battle of Ypres 1915 (2nd Battle of Ypres) was fought from for control of the strategic Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the previous autumn. It was the first mass use by Germany of poison gas on the Western Front. It also marked the first time a former colonial force (the 1st Canadian Division) defeated a European power (the German Empire) in Europe (at the battles of St. Julien and Kitcheners' Wood). The eminent German chemist Walther Nernst. who was with the"
"its deep-water port was necessary to keep the allied armies supplied. The Battle of the Scheldt in October 1944 was fought primarily on Dutch soil, but with the objective of opening the way for boats to Antwerp. The port city was also the ultimate objective of German armies during the Ardennes Offensive which resulted in heavy fighting on Belgian soil during the winter of 1944–5. Following liberation, large numbers of Belgians who had remained in the country during the occupation were mobilised into the Belgian army in 57 ""Fusilier Battalions"". 100,000 Belgians were mobilised for the allies by the end"
"First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres ( , was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium, during October and November 1914. The battle was part of the First Battle of Flanders, in which German, French and Belgian armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) fought from Arras in France to Nieuport on the Belgian coast, from 10 October to mid-November. The battles at Ypres began at the end of the Race to the Sea, reciprocal attempts by the German and Franco-British armies to advance past the"
"just 85 graves. They date from the outbreak of the Battle of Messines. Mud Corner Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Mud Corner Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located near Ypres, on the Western Front. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war. The cemetery, near Ploegsteert (""Plug Street"" to the common soldier of the time), is one of the"
"Hooge in World War I In World War I, the area around Hooge on Bellewaerde Ridge, about east of Ypres in Flanders in Belgium, was one of the eastern-most sectors of the Ypres Salient and was the site of much fighting between German and Allied forces. Within a radius of Hooge are the sites of Château Wood, Sanctuary Wood, Railway Wood and Menin Road. There are four Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) war cemeteries in this area and several museums and memorials. Hill 62 and Mount Sorrel (Also Mont Sorrel) are further south, while the sites known to British and"
"to the east of the city. The German army eventually surrounded the city on three sides, bombarding it throughout much of the war. The Second Battle of Ypres marked a second German attempt to take the city in April 1915. The third battle is more commonly referred to as Passchendaele, but this 1917 battle was a complex five-month engagement. The fourth and fifth battles occurred during 1918. British and Commonwealth soldiers often passed through the Menenpoort on their way to the front lines with some 300,000 of them being killed in the Ypres Salient. 90,000 of these soldiers have no"
"lost over 4,000 men to a disease called ""Walcheren Fever"", thought to be a combination of malaria and typhus, as well as to enemy action. The French suffered some 4000 dead, wounded and captured. With the strategic reasons for the campaign gone and the worsening conditions, the British force was withdrawn in December. Strategically situated at the mouth of the River Scheldt, Walcheren was the key that allowed use of the deep-water port of Antwerp, located further upstream on the right bank of the southern estuary of the river. It was fought over during World War II in 1940 between"
"Sanctuary Wood Cemetery Sanctuary Wood Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemetery for the dead of the First World War, 5 km east of Ypres, Belgium, near Hooge in the municipality of Zillebeke. Located off the main Ieper-Menin Road on ""Canadalaan"" (Canada Lane). The Canadian Hill 62 Memorial is 100 metres further down the road from the cemetery. Sanctuary Wood itself was named by British troops in November 1914 when it was used to shelter troops. Fighting took place in it in September 1915 and it was fought over by Canadian and German soldiers during the Battle of"
"the ""Menin Road Museum"". Extensive woodlands, known locally as 'Drieblotenbos Hoge Netelaar' but called 'Sanctuary Wood' by British soldiers who took refuge here in November 1914. Hooge in World War I In World War I, the area around Hooge on Bellewaerde Ridge, about east of Ypres in Flanders in Belgium, was one of the eastern-most sectors of the Ypres Salient and was the site of much fighting between German and Allied forces. Within a radius of Hooge are the sites of Château Wood, Sanctuary Wood, Railway Wood and Menin Road. There are four Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) war cemeteries"
"the first city to welcome Belgium's new king, Leopold I, in his new country. During World War I, Veurne was located within the Yser pocket of Belgian resistance against the German troops. During the Battle of the Yser, the Veurne city hall became the headquarters for the Belgian troops under King Albert I and a military hospital was set up in the city. In 1920, the French President, Raymond Poincaré, came to Veurne to award the city the Croix de guerre with palm. Veurne suffered some damage during World War II, mainly from allied bombing but also from the strategic"
"Battle of the Lys (1940) The Battle of the Lys (, ) was a major battle between Belgian and German forces during the German Invasion of Belgium of 1940 and the final major battle fought by Belgian troops before their surrender on 28 May. It was the bloodiest of the 18 Days' Campaign. The battle was named after the river Leie (known as the Lys in French), where the battlefield was situated. On 24 May, a heavy German attack forced Allied troops to fall back at Kortrijk over the Lys to the 1st and 3rd Belgian divisions. The Belgians had"
"went to Herenthals and the Belgians returned to Mol the next day, intending to recapture the camp at Leopoldsburg but urgent orders from Headquarters forced them to retire; during the night a Belgian officer drove to Herentals to blow up the railway line. On 28 September, the siege of Antwerp began with the bombardment of forts Waelhem and Sint-Katelijne-Waver, after which Belgian operations in the Limburg district ended. Battle of Buggenhout The Battle of Buggenhout (25–29 September 1914) was fought at the beginning of the First World War at Buggenhout, between Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium. It was a"
"Battle of Geel The Battle of Geel, also known as the Battle of the Geel Bridgehead, was a major battle between British and German troops in Belgium during the Second World War. It occurred between 8–23 September 1944, in and around the Flemish town of Geel (Gheel), and was one of the largest and bloodiest battles to occur during the Liberation of Belgium. The first phase of the fighting took place at the Albert Canal, south of Geel, on 7 September. On the German side of the Canal was ""Kampfgruppe Dreyer"" of the 85th Infantry Division on its way to"
"war. During the early campaigns of 1914, the Belgian army had been pushed out of the fortified cities of Liège, Namur and Antwerp by the German advance. Although they succeeded in delaying the Germans at some actions, they were forced to withdraw, first to Antwerp, and into the far north-west of Belgium. By October 1914, the Belgian forces were holding a position along the Yser and Ieperlee canal. After months of retreat, the Belgians forces were considerably reduced and were exhausted. They flooded a large expanse of territory in front of their lines, stretching as far south as Diksmuide. Between"
"Track ""X"" Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Track ""X"" Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located near Ypres (now ""Ieper"") in Belgium on the Western Front. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war. The area where this cemetery now stands had been between the two front lines in June 1917. The area was captured and a cemetery was begun"
"Battle of Passchendaele The Battle of Passchendaele (; ), also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders, as part of a strategy decided by the Allies at conferences in November 1916 and May 1917. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres, from a railway junction at Roulers, which was vital to the"
"army suffering heavy losses. Among the casualties was Prince Frederick, who was wounded in the shoulder at Wervik, an injury from which he never fully recovered. The combat occurred during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. Menen is a city in Belgium located on the French border about west of Brussels. After his victory in the Battle of Hondschoote, the French commander Jean Nicolas Houchard decided to fall on the Dutch forces defending Menen. About 27,000 French troops advanced on Menen from two directions - northward from Lille toward Menen and eastward along the north bank"
"Nieuport Memorial The British Nieuport Memorial is a First World War memorial, located in the Belgian port city of Nieuwpoort (), which is at the mouth of the River Yser. The memorial lists 547 names of British officers and men with no known grave who were killed in the Siege of Antwerp in 1914 or in the defence of this part of the Western Front from June to November 1917. Those that fought in 1914 were members of the Royal Naval Division. The fighting in 1917, when XV Corps defended the line from Sint-Joris to the sea, included the German"
"Battle of the Yser The Battle of the Yser (, ) was a battle of World War I that took place in October 1914 between the towns on Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, along a stretch of the Yser River and the Yperlee Canal, in Belgium. The front line was held by a large Belgian force, which halted the German advance in a costly defensive battle. The Allied victory at the Yser stopped the German advance into the last corner of unoccupied Belgium, but the German army was still left in control of 95 percent of Belgian territory. The victory at the"
"Siege of Namur (1914) The Siege of Namur () was a battle between Belgian and German forces around the fortified city of Namur during World War I. Namur was defended by a ring of modern fortresses, known as the Fortified Position of Namur and guarded by the Belgian 4th Division. When the siege began on 20 August, the German forces used experience gained at the Battle of Liège and bombarded the forts using German super-heavy siege artillery and four batteries on loan from Austria-Hungary, before attacking with infantry. The French army was defeated at the Battle of Charleroi and managed"
"place at Overloon. At the same time, the Allies also advanced into the province of Zeeland. At the start of October 1944, the Germans still occupied Walcheren and dominated the Scheldt estuary and its approaches to the port of Antwerp. The crushing need for a large supply port forced the Battle of the Scheldt in which First Canadian Army fought on both sides of the estuary during the month to clear the waterways. Large battles were fought to clear the Breskens Pocket, Woensdrecht and the Zuid-Beveland Peninsula of German forces, primarily ""stomach"" units of the Wehrmacht as well as German"
"Brandhoek New Military Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Brandhoek New Military Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located near Ypres (now ""Ieper"") in Belgium on the Western Front. The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by King Albert I of Belgium in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defence and liberation of Belgium during the war. The cemetery was begun by the British in July 1917 to replace the nearby Brandhoek Military Cemetery, which closed with the arrival of the"
"the first party of the Flemish Movement, in 1917. Battle of the Yser The Battle of the Yser (, ) was a battle of World War I that took place in October 1914 between the towns on Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, along a stretch of the Yser River and the Yperlee Canal, in Belgium. The front line was held by a large Belgian force, which halted the German advance in a costly defensive battle. The Allied victory at the Yser stopped the German advance into the last corner of unoccupied Belgium, but the German army was still left in control of"
"only lightly defended, leaving it vulnerable. Following a few months of relative calm in Belgium, on 16 December 1944 the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive with over a quarter of a million soldiers. Antwerp was the ultimate objective of the German offensive, but the German advance stalled before the Meuse River, at Celles near Dinant, and was pushed back in furious fighting over a period of six weeks in bitterly cold weather by American, British and Belgian troops. Belgian towns and civilians in the Ardennes suffered during the offensive as homes were reduced to ruins, and there were instances of"