Passchendaele, 3rd Ypres

The 10th of November 1917 saw the official end of the 3rd Battle of Ypres, often referred to as 'the Battle of 'Passchendaele.' The difficulties encountered cause this battle to be wrongly identified as typical of the fighting conditions during the war.  It was however a dreadful place to be for both sides.

Admiral Fisher, the First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy complained they were losing transport ships to submarines.  This was because the Royal Navy had refused to instigate the convoy system as yet, this was soon remedied by London.  Fisher implied the war could be lost if the submarine pens at Ostend, from which U-Boats emerged, were not taken.  The only way to accomplish this was to remove the Germans from Passchendale Ridge and send the British and Belgian forces up the coast to Ostend.  A clever strategy which took no account of unusual, never ending, rain storms.  

 

The action began on 31st July 1917 with General Gough's 5th Army at the 'Battle of Pilkem Ridge.' All went well at the beginning and a good advance was made.  Each 'ridge' had to be taken one by one and several individual 'battles' comprised '3rd Ypres.'  At first all went well and then the rain came.  This was not a surprise, at that time of year it often rained and 'Flanders' means 'Flooded Land.'  However, this time the rain did not stop, indeed the rain not only continued but it brought downpours unknown in living memory.  

Without the rain it is possible to surmise that the allies may well have taken the village of Passchendaele long before November.  The rain however ended this hope.  The water table is not far from the surface, streams and irrigation channels ran through the area, heavy constant shelling from both sides led to the break up of these and very quickly the land became a morass of shellholes quickly filling with water.  It must be added that this was no ordinary mud, this was a type of 'Blue Clay' which makes walking difficult and moving weaponry almost impossible.  As time passed the army soon became bogged down.  

 

The battle continued however and General Haig, Commander-in-Chief of British Forces, attacked in the South and then North continuing the battle in spite of the growing difficulty of the conditions.  It became clear that while his generals began to doubt any advance possible Haig considered not just Admiral Fishers fears but also the news that the French Army had gone on strike!  French General Nivelle's failed offensive broke the back of the French Army not the German and in this position Haig was reluctant to cease fire understanding the Germans may be tempted to attack the French. 

His men did not agree!

Wounded men often sheltered in shell holes, these soon filled with water drowning many casualties.  Movement of guns became impossible, aircraft could rarely fly, men could barely walk.  Falling from the duck board pathways often meant being sucked into the mud, few could pull such men out.  Constant firing from distant big guns, machine guns and rifle fire continued at all times.  The German insistance of constant counter-attacking at all times increased the suffering of both sides.  Captured prisoners were often happy to be out of it.

In the end the Canadians, who had been the first Colonial troops to arrive in 1915, finally took the muddy bricks that represented Passchendaele village.  The picture indicates what remained, the church being the only building recognisable, and that a heap of bricks.

The top picture features Canadian machine gunners the day before they started their next phase of attack.  Several men can be seen in various holes which comprised the 'trench.'  Only the man at the machine gun survived to tell his story.  The cost?  About 200,000 men on each side not counting the wounded or those who possessed a memory they would never forget.