British war crimes September 1915 and continued their usage for the remainder of the war. This was done in retaliation for the use of chlorine by Imperial German Army the preceding April. Following the Imperial German Army's use of poison gas at Ypres, the commander of II Corps, Lieutenant General Sir Charles Ferguson, had said of poison gas: Mustard gas was first used effectively in World War I by the German army against British and Canadian soldiers near Ypres, Belgium, in 1917 and later also against the French Second Army. The name "Yperite" comes from its usage by the German army near the
British home army in the First World War the authorities with antipathy and censure, but it was formally recognised in 1916 as an official military auxiliary and incorporated, as the Volunteer Force, into the anti-invasion plans. A shortage of manpower at the end of 1917 resulted in further significant reductions in the home army. Four of its eight divisions were disbanded, and the partially-trained 19-year-olds in the remainder were replaced with raw 18-year-old recruits. The problem was exacerbated by the heavy losses suffered as a result of the German Spring Offensive in March 1918. The home army was stripped of all available personnel, leaving its ranks populated by