Note 71 — THE ATTEMPT TO BREAK THROUGH SOUTH OF YPRES

It was not in ‘long colonial wars’ but in careful training on the ranges that the majority of the defenders of Ypres had learnt that mastery of the rifle which was the mainstay of the success of the defence. Between the close of the South African War (1902) and the outbreak of war in 1914, scarcely any British troops had been on active service.