The Western Front was the series of trenches which ran along the Belgian coast to the Swiss border, covering 700 kilometres. Along the Western Front, both sides dug trenches where the troops would be more protected and could shelter from attack. In March 1916, the AIF moved to France, from July onwards the Australians were heavily involved on the Western Front. The first battle the Australians had when they got to the Western Front was in Passchendaele on October–November 1917, the Australians failed to attack in the final phase of the Ypres war. The Second battle of Ypres used around 6,000 canisters of chlorine gas and mustard gas. This is why all of the Australians on the Western Front wore gas masks to protect themselves from a gas attack. The last battle on the Western Front was in Montbrehain on October 1918 it was the 29th battle the AIF had fought on the Western Front. (Anzac Day, 2014; Anzac Day, 2014)
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