Originally giving naval assistance, Portugal sent an Expeditionary Force of 50,000 men to the Western Front in the February of 1917. They saw action for the first time on June 17th in Flanders. One Portuguese division there was hit by four German divisions and the preliminary shelling was so intense that one battalion refused to go forward into the trenches. 7,000 Portuguese soldiers died in combat during the First World War.
Portuguese troops undergo gas training.