Battle of Passchendaele

The Battle of Passchendaele  was one of the biggest battles of the First World War. It happened between July and November 1917. Allied troops attacked the German Army in many operations. The Allies were commanded by British leaders. The battle was fought for control of a village named Passchendaele. Passchendaele is near the town of Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The purpose of the battle was to "wear out the enemy" and "to secure the Belgian coast and connect with the Dutch front lines".

The British commander was Douglas Haig. He planned the battle in three parts. They were capturing Passchendaele Ridge, moving to capture Roeselare, and Operation Hush in which marines were to land somewhere on the Belgian coast after which would be a breakout attack from Nieuwpoort and the Yser bridgehead.Sheffield G. The Chief, p. 227, 2011

The British launched many massive attacks. They were helped greatly by artillery, aircraft and sometimes tanks. The British did not win because they were up against a large and modern German defense. The British and French Armies eventually became tactically better and came close to winning later in the year.

The battle was made up of bite-and-hold attacks, which captured ground that could be useful. It also wore down the German Army with attacks and counter-attacks by to stop the Allied attacks and take back ground. The battle lasted until the Canadian Corps captured Passchendaele on 6 November 1917. It ended on 10 November, apart from small operations. Causing huge casualties for the Germans, the Allies had captured 5 miles (8 km) of some of the best-defended territory in the world. They lost 140,000 men. This is a ratio of about 2 inches (5 cm) of ground taken by every dead soldier. The Germans took back the lost ground when the line was shortened five months later, during the Battle of the Lys,Hart & Steel pp. 211–212. and they lost it for the final time of the war on 28 September 1918.

Passchendaele has become popular with the misery of grinding attrition warfare, a type of warfare that was often fought in thick mud. The land between Dixmude and the Lys River was crossed by streams and ditches that were used for drainage. Most of these flowed west and moved towards the Ypres-Commines Canal, which went north-south. The land was flat and swampy but for good drainage. August 1917 was very cold and wet, which was not usual. Very big artillery strikes had also destroyed the ground surface. Sometimes, it was dry. It was the driest in September, but mud was still in parts of the battlefield. Tanks got stuck in the mud, and some soldiers and horses drowned in it.

Ridges went in a curve pattern from south of Ypres, east then north to Passchendaele and Staden. They were 60 m high at the most. The high ground had been fought over many times since 1914.Sheldon op.cit., pp. x–xi.

Many historians have different opinions on this battle. Most of the debate is in Britain. The volume of the British Official History of the War about the Battle of Passchendaele was the last ever published. Some people say that it was written to make Field Marshal Douglas Haig look betterTravers, The Killing Ground pp. 215–7. and to make General Hubert Gough, the commander of the Fifth Army, look worse. The many dead and injured men the British Army captured only a very small amount of land, which has made many historians follow the example of David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister at the time, and use it as an example of wasting soldiers and being a bad leader. Lloyd George, who was almost certainly affected by Basil Liddell Hart, wrote 100 pages of memoirs to a review of British generalship at the battle.Sheldon pp. vi.

There is also a revisionist way of thinking that tries to say that the British Army did well in the battle. Revisionists say that the British caused many casualties in the German Army, helped the French and came up with attack tactics that could win against German defenses. The tactics made the Germans gratly want winter to come. Revisionists say that those things were important in winning the war in 1918.Terraine pp. 336–342.Travers, The Killing Ground, p. xxi.

Death and injury amounts for the battle are still not agreed on. Some people say that the Allies suffered much heavier losses than the Germans. Others say different things. However, nobody says that hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides were not killed or hurt.Terraine pp. 342–347. The last survivor of the battle, who was also the last British survivor of the Western Front, Private Harry Patch, died on 25 July 2009.

 Related pages 
Harry Patch
Western Front

 Notes 

 References 

 Other websites 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/battle_passchendaele.shtml
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ypres3.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6386991.stm

Category:1917 in Belgium
Passchendaele
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Category:Flanders
Category:West Flanders