On the morning of May 24th, 1915, the day my Great Uncle William Byrne died the German's drenched the Allied lines with chlorine gas along a 12 kilometre front.

Three Irish battalions held the line around Mouse Trap Farm. To the right was the 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers, in the centre was the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers and to the left was the 2nd Royal Irish Regiment.

The RDF bore the brunt of the German assault on the trenches surrounding Mouse Trap Farm. Their trenches were within 35 metres of the German lines. They could hear the hissing of the gas being released. Within seconds the Germans were on top of them.

The assault began before first light and continued until midday.

At the end of the day all that was left was one officer and 21 other ranks out of a total complement of 658 officers and men. Rarely in that terrible war had a single battalion suffered such a wipeout.

The Royal Irish Regiment, drawn mostly from the southeast and the Royal Irish Fusiliers from Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan, also suffered grievous losses in what was the bleakest of bleak days for Irish regiments. The whole of Ireland was affected by the tragedy, which also claimed the life of Pte John Condon from Waterford city who was with the Royal Irish Regiment. At 14, he was the youngest Allied soldier to die in the war. He too will be remembered this weekend.

Mouse Trap Farm was rebuilt after the war. It is now mainly a pig farm. From its long laneway you can see the twin spires of the Cloth Hall and the cathedral at Ypres. It was so near and yet so far for the Germans. Ypres became the British Verdun. It would not be taken at any cost even if that cost turned out to be nearly 200,000 British andIrish lives.

Ann McCoy