Rapid Fire World War–Five Incredible Days in April 1915

French Colonials Killed by Gas at Ypres

• The first  gas attack of the Western Front launched on 22 April 1915 at Ypres 1915 was just the first of a rapid series of fateful, tragic, and memorable events that unfolded in less than a week.

Rupert Brooke, Royal Naval Division

• The following day, one of the first of the notable "war poets" to emerge, Lt. Rupert Brooke of the Royal Naval Division, would die on the island of Skyros. 

Armenian Family on a Deportation March

• On 24 April the Ottoman Empire would begin its systematic massacres and deportations of its Armenian subjects.

Gully Ravine, Gallipoli Peninsula

• Sunday the 25th will forever be remembered as the landing day at Gallipoli, the start of the memorable and ill-fated land campaign. 

Italian Ambassador to Great Britain, Marquis Guglielmo Imperiali

• In London 24 hours later, Italian and Allied diplomats executed the treaty bringing Italy into the war. Anticipating an Allied victory to come soon, Italy's representatives never realized they were signing a death warrant for 600,000 of their citizens. 

• Meanwhile in New York on 24 April the RMS Lusitania completed its 201st transatlantic voyage and began loading cargo for its next trip, which would be its last.