Louis Lipsett - First World War

First World War

At the outbreak of the First World War Lipsett was dispatched to British Columbia, the Pacific coastline of which was completely undefended and was believed to be at risk from the German East Asian Cruiser Squadron under Maximilian von Spee, which had embarked on a raiding campaign in the Pacific Ocean that would culminate in the Battle of Coronel and the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Lipsett recognised that there was no immediate threat to the Canadian coast and calmed fears whilst simultaneously organising the local militia forces and deploying the submarines purchased by province governor Richard McBride. His task completed in British Columbia, Lipsett took over command and training of the 8th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. A friend recalled that as a commanding officer he was "always accessible and charming in manner, yet there was that about him which made him respected and no one ever presumed on his kindness, except the few old soldiers, who with their war ribbons up, and uncanny intuition, never failed to touch a soft spot in his heart."

In 1915 the 8th Battalion joined the British Army in France as part of the 3rd Canadian Division. At the Second Battle of Ypres his troops faced the brunt of the German assault, involving the first use of poison gas in modern warfare. Lipsett is credited with issuing the first order to counteract the effects of poison gas, when he ordered his men to urinate on strips of cloth and tie them to their faces to neutralise the chlorine. Lipsett's battalion was instrumental in holding the line during the action and he was consequently rewarded by being made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, promoted to acting brigadier-general and given command of the Canadian 2nd Brigade, which he trained during the spring of 1916 to conduct major trench raids on German lines.