During the First World War, 'Wipers' was the Tommy slang pronunciation of Ypres. A soldier stands before the medieval Cloth Hall which was all but destroyed by the end of the war, a German helmet balanced on his bayonet. Below is a smaller painting of German soldiers languishing in no man's land. These original watercolours were reproduced together as a hugely popular run of prints in 1915, with some minor variations to the ruins.

In his biography of Snaffles, John Welcome wrote:

''Wipers', his picture of a wounded soldier in front of the Cloth Hall at Ypres with a German pickelhaube on his bayonet, which was held to embody the defiant spirit of the Old Contemptibles, became the first of his successful war-time prints and increased his reputation', and 'of all Snaffles' First World War prints it was produced in the largest numbers and is still much sought'.