key battles of WW1

• what was the order of the key battles of WW1?

  first battle of Ypres, hill 60, second battle of Ypres, battle of the somme, battle of arras, third battle of Ypres, battle of Cambrai
• the first battle of Ypres was from 12 October to 11 November 1914 the British held on to Ypres giving them control of English Channel ports and germans extended their control around the edge of the Ypres Salient.
• there was tunnels, caves and quarries at Arras. up to 25,000 men could be stationed in the tunnels and the tunnels also contained a fully functioning hospital
• the use of mines at hill 60 was in April 1915. Britain were able to take over the strategically important position by using mines. 5 of the mines blew the top off the germans control of hill 60
• the battle of arras was in April 1917. the British advanced about 8 miles and there was a large number of casualties, nearly 160,000
• the second battle of Ypres was from 22 April to 25 may 1915. this was the first time the germans used chlorine gas which took the British by surprise and caused mass casualties
• the third battle of Ypres was from 31 July to November 1917. the British moved back the edge of the salient back about 7 miles and there was an estimated 245,000 British casualties
• the battle of the somme was from July to November 1916. this involved the use of 2 new tactics, creeping barrage and tanks. overall 400,000 allied and 450,000 German casualties
• the battle of Cambrai started on 20 October 1917. it was the first large scale use of tanks and the British lost any ground they had taken as there was not enough infantry supporting the tanks