Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Battle of Passchendaele (Second Battle of Passchndaele (The battle began…
Battle of Passchendaele
First Battle of Passchendaele
Zero hour was fixed for 5.25am. A supporting artillery bombardment began, but it was light and patchy. Guns couldn’t be moved forward across the muddy battlefield, and the few that were in position sunk into the mud with each shot. Many shells that did land on German positions fell deep into the mud before exploding, diminishing their effect or neutralising them altogether.
The first push towards the village of Passchendaele saw minor advances. Some ground was gained and pillboxes captured, but German counter-attacks soon pushed most Allied troops back. Machine guns sited in concrete pillboxes caused significant casualties, and uncut barbed wire halted many attacking troops. Movement through the quagmire was almost impossible at times. The attack was called off the following day, in the hope that the weather would improve. It would not be until 26 October that the second effort to capture Passchendaele would begin.
As they formed up in position to attack on the night of 11/12 October, the troops had to contend with thick mud, at times up to their ankles or knees. Those that slipped into the numerous shell holes risked drowning. In the early hours it began to drizzle, adding to the discomfort of those waiting to attack. To assist the passage of the New Zealanders, five makeshift crossings made of coconut matting were laid over the Ravebeek stream by the New Zealand Engineers.
The New Zealand Division suffered 2,700 casualties in a disastrous attack at Bellevue Spur. More than 840 were killed. In terms of lives lost in a single day, 12 October 1917 remains the greatest disaster in New Zealand’s military history.
After an attempted advance on 9 October had failed, British Empire forces launched a new attack three days later in appalling weather. British, Australian and New Zealand troops were tasked with the capture of the Passchendaele Ridge from the Germans.
British Empire casualties numbered some 13,000 killed and wounded. Estimates for German casualties vary, but were roughly 12,000 from 11-21 October.
The First Battle of Passchendaele was the penultimate phase of the Third Battle of Ypres – a major Allied offensive which later became known simply as Passchendaele.
Second Battle of Passchndaele
The battle began at 5.40am on 26 October, with artillery shells raining down on the German positions while the infantry advanced: the Canadians at the centre of the attack facing Passchendaele, British and Australian units to their left and right. Progress was slow in the deep mud, but the attackers made modest gains and held on against German counter-attacks.
On the morning of 30 October a second effort was launched to capture Passchendaele. Again the attackers met with heavy German resistance, and the ground gained was still short of the final objectives.
After heavy casualties in previous efforts, fresh troops were needed. They included the Canadian Corps, which had gained a formidable reputation after its successes at Vimy Ridge and Hill 70 earlier in 1917.
On the evening of 26 October, Prime Minister David Lloyd George committed British troops to be sent from the Western Front to Italy to help shore up the Italian Army after a major defeat to Austro-Hungarian and German forces at the Battle of Caporetto.
Due to the exceptionally wet weather and extremely muddy conditions, it was difficult to bring forward enough artillery to support the attack. Engineers and working parties constructed miles of wooden roads and tramways behind the lines to help bring guns, supplies and men to the frontlines.
At 6am on 6 November a third attack began. Advancing from assembly positions in No-Man’s Land, the Canadian infantry rushed and outflanked German pillboxes. In the ruins of Passchendaele village, troops fought fiercely at close-quarters with bayonets. The German positions were overwhelmed and more than 500 prisoners were captured.
The village of Passchendaele stood on vital high ground overlooking the battlefields around Ypres, where British Empire forces had been fighting since July 1917 in an attempt to push back the Germans and break through their defensive lines. After failing to capture the village in early October, British command planned a further attempt which began on 26 October.
A final advance began on 10 November, with British and Canadian troops attacking into a heavy rainstorm to secure ground to the north of the village and consolidate their positions.
The Second Battle of Passchendaele was the final phase of the Third Battle of Ypres – a major Allied offensive in Flanders, Belgium, which later became known simply as ‘Passchendaele’.
More than 11,280 died during the Second Battle of Passchendaele (26 October to 10 November 1917), of whom 3,700 belonged to Canadian forces