History of the War: Ypres

Tantalising fragment from Pathé's History of the War series, looking at the battle of Ypres

All the picture for this episode of Pathé's History of the War series is disappointingly lost, leaving only three intertitles to suggest what the footage might have depicted. It starts by celebrating the contribution of Field Marshal Sir John French and the outnumbered British troops as the "men who saved Europe" through their endurance at the first battle of Ypres. The second title suggests images of injured troops boarding the Asturia hospital ship bound for home, and the final "For England, Home and Beauty" would likely have depicted the little woman, babe in arms, waiting at the gate of a modest rural cottage.