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Western Front: 1915 – 1917: Stalemate
Operations in 1917
1. Nivelle's
Offensive
2. Battle
of Arras
3. Battle
of Messines
4. Third
Battle of Ypres
5. French
Victories
6. Battle
of Cambrai
Third Battle of Ypres
Short Summary:
THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES (also called Battle of Passchendaele;
July 31-Nov. 6, 1917). With the Messines Ridge cleared, the British
launched their Ypres attack. A 10-day preliminary bombardment churned
up the sticky clay, thereby slowing the advance. Nevertheless, the first
day's objectives were captured despite German counterattacks. Then a
14-day heavy rain bogged down guns and transportation. Tactical success
was no longer possible, but, with the French armies demoralized, continued
British pressure on the Germans was essential to prevent disaster. Plodding
along in the mud and subjected to mustard gas, which was added to the
horrors of the battlefield by the Germans, the British finally captured
Passchendaele on November 6, and the battle ended.
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The interval since the assault on the Messines Ridge
had been one of cloudless hot weather, and this continued on July 31,
when the Third Battle of Ypres began. The attack did well and, even
after Gough's left had been robbed of a considerable amount of ground
by fierce and gallant counterattacks, retained a maximum advance of
two miles. That evening the weather broke. The Battle of Langemarck
(now Langemark) was fought on a dry day on August 16, but remission
for a day or two no longer counted. The shell holes were filled to the
brim with water. Every round of ammunition had to be carried over the
final stage on pack saddles, and many mules and a considerable number
of men were drowned. Haig had to reverse once more the roles of his
two army commanders, and the sideslipping required for the purpose wasted
still more time.
Plumer had determined to act with extreme deliberation,
securing the Ypres Ridge with divisions closed down to 1,000-yard frontages,
often with two of the three brigades in support and reserve, tremendous
barrages, and very limited. objectives, in three separate thrusts. The
skilled and devoted work of the Royal Engineers in constructing plank
roads and laying duckboards enabled him to assault in maximum strength,
and he was also helped by miraculous good fortune. The first two battles,
Menen (Menin ) Road Ridge (September 20-25) and Polygon Wood (September
26-October 3), were actually fought in clouds of blinding dust, and
though the rain had recommenced on October 3 before the third battle,
Broodseinde, the ground was still in excellent condition. This time,
however, it had to be taken for granted that the weather had broken
for good, and it was now autumn.
The last phase of the battle (October 26 - November
6) resulted in the name of the village of Passchendaele (now Passendale),
which covers a single final incident, having been expanded in popular
parlance to cover the whole Third Battle of Ypres. The losses associated
with it also led to bitter criticism of Haig. The British loss for the
entire battle was 240,000, and the German loss almost precisely the
same; 37,000 prisoners were taken.
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