page_title: Battle of Broodseinde
section_title: Fifth Army
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Broodseinde / Battle / Fifth Army
caption_attribution_description: English: Five soldiers silhouetted against the sky. Rays of sun burst through dark clouds to create a dramatic and atmospheric shot. They are all wearing steel helmets, and three of them are clearly carrying rifles and backpacks.Original reads: 'BATTLE OF BROODSEYNDE [sic] RIDGE. - TROOPS MOVING UP AT EVENTIDE. MEN OF A YORKSHIRE REGIMENT ON THE MARCH.'The Imperial War Museum caption (Q 2978) gives "A silhouetted file of men of the 8th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment going up to the line near Frezenberg.")
context_page_description: The Battle of Broodseinde was fought on 4 October 1917 near Ypres in Belgium, at the east end of the Gheluvelt plateau, by the British Second and Fifth armies against the German 4th Army. The battle was the most successful Allied attack of the Third Battle of Ypres. Using bite-and-hold tactics, with objectives limited to what could be held against German counter-attacks, the British devastated the German defence, which prompted a crisis among the German commanders and caused a severe loss of morale in the 4th Army. Preparations were made by the Germans for local withdrawals and planning began for a greater withdrawal, which would entail the abandonment by the Germans of the Belgian coast, one of the strategic aims of the Flanders offensive.
  After the period of unsettled but drier weather in September, heavy rain began again on 4 October and affected the remainder of the campaign, working more to the advantage of the German defenders, being pushed back on to far less damaged ground.
context_section_description: In the XVIII Corps area, the 48th (South Midland) Division attacked with one brigade at 6:00 a.m. Vale house and Winzig on the right fell quickly, then machine-gun fire slowed the advance and some New Zealand troops strayed across the divisional boundary, causing confusion around Albatross Farm and Wellington Farm. Once Wellington and Winchester Farms had been captured, the advance resumed to the Stroombeek. As night fell, the division relieved the New Zealanders in the divisional area and took more ground. In the centre the division captured German posts west of the Stroombeek and was then was held up by fire from the area of York Farm. Eventually the advance was halted 300 yd (270 m) short of Vacher Farm. A renewal of the attack with reinforcements was not able to overcome German machine-gun fire. On the left, the attack was hampered by massed machine-gun fire immediately. Tweed House was captured and contact made with troops further north from the 11th (Northern) Division. Beck House was reached but further south the attackers were forced back. A resumption of the attack at 5:00 p.m. was cancelled due to rain and poor light.
  The 11th (Northern) Division had attacked at 6:00 a.m. with two brigades and ten tanks of D Battalion, 1st Tank Brigade. On the right, the advance took Malta House and reached an intermediate line, where a small counter-attack was defeated. Fire from the church and the Brewery pillbox in Poelcappelle caused a delay but Gloster Farm was captured with the aid of two tanks and the red line (first objective) consolidated. Troops from the inner flanks of both brigades and several tanks entered Poelcappelle and then captured pillboxes beyond the east end. The left brigade had an easy advance to the intermediate line and then overcame small parties of German infantry concealed in shell-holes. A shelter was captured near the church in Poelcappelle amid sniper fire. Ferdan House was captured and the final objective consolidated. A defensive flank was thrown back to maintain touch with the 4th Division to the north, whose advance had been pushed back 400 yd (370 m) by German counter-attacks. A counter-attack in the 11th (Northern) Division area at 1:00 p.m. was defeated and reinforcements allowed the new line to be established between the Steenbeek and the Langemarck–Winnipeg road.
  XIV Corps guarded the northern flank of the attack. The 4th Division attacked with two brigades at 6:00 a.m. The brigade on the right flank, took Kangaroo Trench but was held up on the first objective by small-arms fire from Lemnos House. Troops on the extreme right combined with infantry of the 11th (Northern) Division to capture a pillbox on the Poelcappelle road. As they reached the next objective, Ferdan House was outflanked, then the green line was consolidated amidst fire from 19 Metre Hill. The left brigade troops lost direction crossing the marshy ground about the Lauterbeek and were fired on from the flank as they reached a road beyond 19 Metre Hill. After an hour's pause the advance resumed but machine-gun fire stopped the attack and the ground captured was consolidated. A German counter-attack at 3:00 p.m. made good progress until reinforcements drove it back. A gap on the boundary with the 29th Division to the north was filled as dark fell and German infantry assembling for a counter-attack were spotted and dispersed by artillery fire. A line from Ferdan House to Kangaroo Huts, west of Tragique Farm and 19 Metre Hill was consolidated.
  The 29th Division was to attack astride the Ypres–Staden railway and form a defensive flank overlooking the Broembeek, with troops from two brigades. The right brigade took Chinese House and the 't Goed ter Vesten Farm, as it formed a flank along the junction with the 4th Division further south. As a German counter-attack forced back elements of the 4th Division, the 29th Division troops stopped them with flanking machine-gun fire and drove them back, allowing the 4th Division to regain the lost ground. North of the railway several pillboxes were captured by the left brigade and observat
caption: Men of the 8th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment going up to the line near Frezenberg. Photo by Ernest Brooks
exif: {}