Passchendaele
Passchendaele, located in Belgium, is known primarily for the Battle of Passchendaele, a significant conflict during World War I that took place from July to November 1917. This battle involved a coordinated offensive by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac), alongside British and Canadian forces, against German troops along the Western Front. The operation aimed to capture the village of Passchendaele, which was strategically important due to its location.
The battle was marked by severe challenges, including harsh weather conditions that turned the battlefield into a quagmire, complicating troop movements and logistics. Despite initial successes, the Anzac forces faced heavy casualties, with an estimated 43,300 Anzac personnel wounded, killed, or missing over the course of the campaign. Ultimately, after months of intense fighting and significant loss, it was the Canadian Corps that succeeded in capturing Passchendaele on November 6, 1917.
The impact of the battle was profound, resulting in thousands of casualties and contributing to the larger narrative of the war. Today, the area is remembered for its memorials, including the Tyne Cot cemetery, which honors the soldiers who fought and died there, many of whom remain unidentified. Passchendaele stands as a poignant reminder of the hardships faced during the war and the sacrifices made by the troops involved.
Passchendaele
In late 1917, in the midst of World War I, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) troops joined British forces in launching a major offensive against German forces along the Western Front in Belgium. The eastward push into Belgium occurred in three stages, with Anzac troops proceeding along the Menin Road from the town of Ypres (Ieper) to the village of Passchendaele. From July through November, Anzac, Canadian and British troops slowly pushed a few kilometres eastward, struggling with harsh weather and heavy enemy fire. By the time Anzac troops arrived at Passchendaele, their forces had been so heavily depleted that a Canadian relief force was needed to complete the task. Over five months, an estimated 43,300 Anzac soldiers were wounded, were killed or went missing.
Background
When World War I began in 1914, Australia and New Zealand, both of which had only recently become nations of their own, came to Britain's assistance. Troops were rapidly raised to support Britain and its allies, Russia and France, against Germany and its allies, Turkey and Austria-Hungary. However, these troops, many of whom were adolescents whose ages were falsified, were largely undertrained. Nevertheless, the troops were excited to join the war against Germany, buoyed by the idea that a British-led military effort would result in a swift victory.
In early November 1914, a convoy of Australian ships carrying the Australian and New Zealand forces (later dubbed Anzacs) departed the port of Albany in Western Australia, bound for Europe. In addition to fighting in the Middle East, a large contingent of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and New Zealand Corps were deployed in Belgium, along the infamous Western Front. As the Anzacs arrived in Europe, Germany had launched a major westward offensive into Belgium, attacking the town of Ypres. French and British forces pushed the Germans back to the Ieper-Comines Canal in Ypres. A year later, British forces attempted to take Hill 60, just east of Ypres and along the original Western Front battle line. They were initially successful, but German forces, using poison gas attacks, retook the hill during what would be known as the Second Battle of Ypres. More than sixty thousand British soldiers were killed during that battle.
In June 1917, New Zealand Division forces, which had been fighting along the Somme River in France, were redeployed to the Ypres Salient, a bulge in the front lines. Their task was to drive the Germans off the Messines Ridge, south of the town of Passchendaele. The troops tunnelled under the lines, detonating massive mines there and forcing the Germans from their position. Doing so meant hindering the Germans' view of the British forces, which were planning their next move: a full advance across the Western Front and into Passchendaele.
The Battle of Passchendaele
On 31 July 2017, after the New Zealand Division's successful capture of the Messines Ridge, British-led forces began their push across the Western Front. Favourable weather conditions and a bolstered British troop complement saw early success, although the push was extremely slow. On 20 September 1917, AIF forces joined their British and Anzac allies at Ypres. The AIF began an eastward move along the Menin Road—along the southern flank of the offensive—while Anzac Corps troops moved eastward across the central Flanders Fields. The British Corps also moved east from the northern flank.
The AIF offensive involved an attack on the area known as Polygon Wood. Although the goal was an advance of only a few kilometres, the battle was extremely bloody: over eleven thousand Australians were killed by counterattacking Germans during one week's time. Ultimately, however, the AIF proved successful in its efforts, taking Polygon Wood and setting its sights north-east to the next stage, the village of Broodseinde. AIF and New Zealand Division forces combined efforts to take that strategic target. They preceded their assault with a heavy artillery bombardment. As they did at the Menin Road and Polygon Wood, however, the Anzacs took an incremental approach, moving slowly from point to point rather than extending themselves too far beyond the support of their rear artillery.
Meanwhile, Tasmanian and other Anzac forces just to the north of the Broodseinde operation pushed eastward toward the village of Tyne Cot. Stretched thin from multiple assaults, the Germans were only able to delay, but not halt, those forces from taking their objective. The AIF, Anzac and British forces moving on Broodseinde were ultimately able to take their target.
Despite heavy losses, the allies, adhering to their incremental battle strategy, were nearing their final objective of Passchendaele. However, after they captured Broodseinde, the weather turned foul. Heavy rains reduced the battlefield to mud. In some cases, the mud was so deep that some drowned in it. Troops were not the only ones slowed by the mud—British and AIF artillery to the rear, which by then should have been moved forward, was largely rendered immobile. Absent heavy shelling to support them, the British allies could not move forward into Passchendaele.
Weakened by their lack of heavy guns, the AIF attempted two assaults—on 9 and 12 October 1917—on Passchendaele, but both times were repelled by German counterattacks. Anzac forces, which had lost tens of thousands in the advance across just a few kilometres, were too depleted to successfully take their objective. The Canadian Corps were called forward to replace them and captured Passchendaele on 6 November 1917.
Impact
The Battle of Passchendaele (or the Third Battle of Ypres) involved thirty-eight thousand Australian and fifty-three hundred New Zealand casualties. Many of the dead were interred at a cemetery in Tyne Cot. Also part of that cemetery is a wall honouring the unknown Anzacs and British soldiers whose bodies were buried somewhere in the Flanders battlefield. A battlefield memorial was also constructed at Polygon Wood.
Bibliography
"Historical Facts on WWI in the Ypres Region." Australian Embassy—Belgium, Luxembourg and Mission to the European Union and NATO, eu.mission.gov.au/bsls/comhisfacts.html. Accessed 17 June 2024.
MacDonald, Andrew. Passchendaele: The Anatomy of a Tragedy. HarperCollins, 2013.
"Passchendaele: Fighting for Belgium." New Zealand History,Ministry for Culture and Heritage, New Zealand Government, 29 May 2015, nzhistory.govt.nz/war/passchendaele-the-battle-for-belgium. Accessed 17 June 2024.
Pedersen, Peter, and Chris Roberts. ANZACS on the Western Front: The Australian War Memorial Battlefield Guide. John Wiley & Sons Australia, 2012.
Prior, Robin, and Trevor Wilson. Passchendaele: The Untold Story. 3rd ed. Yale UP, 2016.
Tibbitts, Craig. "Battle of Passchendaele (Third Ypres)." Australian War Memorial, 11 Apr. 2007, www.awm.gov.au/blog/2007/04/11/battle-of-passchendaele-third-ypres. Accessed 17 June 2024.