The British sector of the Western Front

• Battles of Ypres


  • Fighting took place there because the British needed to defend route between Calais and Dunkirk so troops could still receive supplies and reinforcements of men
  • Was a vulnerable area of British occupation
  • Terrain was made of heavy soil which got easily waterlogged which made it hard for stretcher bearers to remove the wounded and made it hard to move on foot
  • Poisonous gas first used in 1915 by the Germans which presented medical services with new injuries and challenges
• Battle of the Somme


  • Jul-Nov 1916
  • Nearly 400,000 British casualties total
  • Small numbers of tanks used for the first time but were not successful
  • Use of tanks created uneven ground which made it hard for the wounded to be transported for treatment after the battle
  • On the first day the British suffered 60,000 casualties, 20,000 of which died
• Battle of Arras


  • 1917
  • Soldiers from Britain and New Zealand dug a network of tunnels
  • Tunnels used as accommodation for soldiers
  • Underground hospital with operating theatres built
  • Tunnels used to shelter soldiers during fighting
• Battle of Cambrai


  • Late 1917
  • British forces used over 450 tanks
  • Initially the attack on the Germans was effective however the tanks did not have enough infantry support and could not defend the area
  • The British lost almost all of the ground they had taken