Battle of the Lys (1918)

Fourth Battle of Ypres
Part of the Western Front of World War I
Date 9 April - 29 April 1918 Location Ypres, Belgium Result Eventual Allied Victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Portugal Canada France	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Julian Byng Gomes da Costa Arthur Currie Philippe Pétain	Ludwig von Falkenhausen

British 55th (West Lancashire) Division troops blinded by tear gas during the battle, 10 April, 1918.

Portuguese forces in trenches at the Lys, 1918.

British and Portuguese captured by German forces in the Flanders region (1918)

The Battle of the Lys (also known as the Lys Offensive, the Fourth Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Estaires) was part of the 1918 German offensive in Flanders during the World War I, originally planned by General Ludendorff as Operation George but scaled back to become Operation Georgette, with the objective of capturing Ypres. Starting on April 9, 1918, the battle lasted until April 29.

The German attack was able to smash through two Portuguese divisions. Although they captured some land, German forces were ultimately brought to a halt by French and British divisions. By April 29 Ludendorff ceased Georgette operations.

In one of the greatest defeats in the military history of Portugal, the 2nd Portuguese Division, approximately 20,000 men commanded by General Gomes da Costa (later President of Portugal), lost about 300 officers and 7,000 men, killed, wounded and prisoners, resisting the attack of four German divisions, with 50,000 men of 6th German Army, commanded by General Ferdinand von Quast, in the first day of the German offensive.

References

• La Lys, 1918, Mendo Castro Henriques and António Rosas Leitão, Lisboa, Prefácio («Batalhas de Portugal»), 2001, ISBN 972-8563-49-3

External links

• Operation Georgette