BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE: JULY 1917

Passchendaele (July to November 1917)

Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig planned to break through the German lines from the Ypres Salient and then march onto the North Sea coast. Despite the losses at The Somme in 1916, Haig did not believe his plan could fail although other Allied commanders (Petain and Foch) did not support his plan. However Haig wanted to show he could beat the Germans without the help of the Americans who he knew were going to join the war. Despite objections to his strategy, the plan was supported and the 3rd Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele began.

Haig planned that the offensive would be quick (a matter of days) and be decisive. The early successful offensive at Messines encouraged him to make a similar plan for Passchendaele but he had not adapted his plan to take account of the different terrain (it was flat not on a gradient) so the Allied forces were very exposed. He had also not taken account of the mud.

He recognise that it was important that progress was effective as it was likely that the weather would actually become a major factor if the battle became prolonged. Records showed that the best weather would be in the early part of the summer and then more continuous rain would significantly affect the progress that might be made by the Allied forces. Unfortunately the weather forecast was not correct and the area experience torrential and extended periods of rain.

In the beginning the Allied advances involved heavy bombardments – 4.5 million shells fire over a 2 week period. Unfortunately this did not stem the German artillery and only served to churn up the land (and mud) in between the advancing Allied forces and the German lines. The ground conditions were so poor that the Germans did not dig trenches but had concrete bunkers from which they fired protected machine guns.

Conditions of the Passchendaele Battlefield:

A German pillbox:

As the terrain was flat so the Germans knew an attack was imminent and they were able to make appropriate preparations to defend. The infantry attack began on 31 July 1917. The left wing of the Allied attack achieved its objectives but the right wing failed completely. Then, the heaviest rain for 30 years fell and turned the soil into a quagmire. The mud was so thick that it clogged up rifles and immobilised tanks.

Scene from the film Passchendaele (2008)

Eventually the mud became so deep that men and horses seemed to “drown” in it. There was of course significant loss of Allied lives as a consequence.

There followed a period of several weeks in stalemate – then the weather improved and another attack was attempted with the following battles: The Battle of Menin Road Ridge, the Battle of Polygon Wood and the Battle of Broodseinde. Eventually after nearly 3 months Passchendaele village was captured but it was not the decisive victory that Haig had predicted with 325,000 Allied and 260,000 German casualties and only a gain of 5 miles.

The battle of Passchendaele brought Haig’s tactics into more question. It is remembered for the huge loss of life on both sides and ultimately the impact of the weather and the resultant mud.

Many of the dead from the Battle of Passchendaele are buried at Tyne Cot cemetery.