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Home , Battle of Broodseinde, Battle of Menin (1793), Battle of Poelcappelle, Battle of Polygon Wood, First Battle of Ypres, Second Battle of Ypres

Men of the 129th THE ROAD TO PASSCHENDAELE Baluchis marching to the trenches, The First Battle of , 1914 © IWM

I suppose no name in history has ever constructed around the city in the had so dreadful a significance for so many 17th Century. In the Middle Ages it human beings as the name of Ypres… Every was a thriving agricultural centre owing yard of that featureless slab of landscape much of its wealth to the cloth and held the menace of death… After the wool trade. Close to the coast, and nightmare of Passchendaele there is no situated on many trade routes, Ypres had conceivable cataclysm of war or nature developed long-standing commercial which civilised man might not endure. and cultural links with Britain. Although A.J. Cummings, 1928 its wealth and population had dwindled considerably by the late 19th Century, The city of Ypres (Ieper) had experienced the city’s famous Cloth Hall was an conflict long before 1914. architectural inspiration to George was known as ‘the cockpit of Europe’, Gilbert Scott when he came to design The Cloth Hall, Ypres, 1912 such was its reputation as a battleground, the iconic Midland Hotel at St Pancras © IWM and defences and ramparts had been in London.

At the outbreak of war, the vital strategic In early October, the British Expeditionary importance of Ypres was evident. At the Force (BEF) moved into Flanders. To the edge of the coastal plain, it was a gateway north, German attacks along the Belgian to the Channel ports of , coastal plain were held back by the and Boulogne. For the forces of the British remnants of the Belgian Army, supported Empire, the fate of the city was critical. by French Marines, in a series of actions The fighting at Ypres would define the known as the Battle of the . Albert I, war for many servicemen, and its defence King of the Belgians, sanctioned the came to symbolise their efforts. In the opening of the sea defences at Nieuport words of the war artist Paul Nash, Ypres (Nieuwpoort), which flooded the battle became ‘a monument to doggedness’. area and forced the German Army further south in its attempt to reach the THE FIRST Channel ports. 19 OCTOBER – 22 Around Ypres, strong German forces The German Army’s attempt to secure a moving west clashed with the BEF and quick and decisive defeat of France ended French units, in a series of confusing but in failure at the Battle of the Marne in fierce encounters between 19 October September 1914. French and British attacks and 22 November, from Langemarck in the were unable to breach the German lines north-east, through , Gheluvelt, along the River Aisne, and the opposing Zandvoorde, Wytschaete and Messines in forces began to move northwards, the south. Among the troops attempting to outflank each other. engaged in the desperate fighting were

22 23 Men of the According to the British Official History, towards the trenches between Langemarck Oxford and Buckinghamshire the ridge was akin to ‘the rim of a saucer’, and the Yser canal, manned by the two Light Infantry meaning that ‘those inside felt that they remaining French Divisions in the Ypres sheltering from could do nothing without being observed.’ sector. The French were forced to retreat, shrapnel at Ypres, 1914 © IWM The higher ground gave the Germans a leaving a gap of over four miles on the left perfect vantage point from which to direct flank of the nearest British Army forces – fire, enabled them to screen their the Canadian . artillery batteries from British attention, and bring up reinforcements and supplies During the night, Canadian units unseen. The Allies, meanwhile, were improvised a series of scattered outposts vulnerable to attacks and fire from every across the breach, before the Germans side. Holding the line here meant being renewed their assault on Canadian lines under constant threat and regular shelling, at dawn on 24 April, again using gas. with the disorienting trench lines often By the afternoon, they had advanced illuminated at night by signal rockets and beyond St Julien. Fighting continued observation flares. over the following days, before Allied forces withdrew to a new line, barely THE three miles from Ypres. Heavy fighting 22 APRIL – 25 continued in early May on the Frezenberg Ridge, before the largest A British signaller in a dugout with In the late afternoon of 22 , German gas attack yet seen led to the the first issue of German forces attacked Allied lines in the capture of ground at Bellewaarde Lake. at the north of the , attempting to seize Second Battle of Ypres, 1915 the high ground around Pilckem and After 33 days of fighting, there was no © IWM Langemarck. They discharged poison gas decisive German breakthrough, but the

units of the Indian Army, recently arrived period, in the fighting between the in Europe and put straight into action. French border and the sea, are estimated to have been over 120,000. Between 21 and 24 October, British forces to the north-east of Ypres collided THE with strong advancing concentrations of German troops around Langemarck. The German drive to the Channel ports A series of determined defensive had failed and, as the fighting of the actions prevented a breakthrough, with autumn came to an end, soldiers British rifle fire wreaking havoc against consolidated their improvised trenches repeated German mass infantry attacks. and defensive positions. While German Subsequently mythologised as the forces held the high ground, British and ‘Kindermord’, the German losses would Allied lines now formed a Salient – become infamous. extending into German-held territory, and effectively surrounded on three sides. Fighting along the entire front continued The landscape within the Salient was in deteriorating weather conditions, until low-lying, and water was managed by further German attacks were called off. a complex system of ditches and drains The cost in casualties of the fighting had feeding small streams, known as bekes. been enormous. Between 14 October The gentle hills surrounding the city and 30 November 1914, the BEF suffered rose towards the Passchendaele Ridge, more than 58,000 killed, wounded and named after the village which stood at missing. German losses over a similar its highest point.

24 25 Salient was now much smaller, and famous examples was the trench Clayton to run the establishment and serve too close to the front line. One Casualty even more vulnerable to German artillery newspaper ‘The Wipers Times’, edited as house chaplain. It was named after Clearing Station at Brandhoek, between bombardment. Between 22 April and by Captain Fred Roberts and Lieutenant Neville’s younger brother, Gilbert Talbot, Poperinghe and Ypres, was shelled in 31 May 1915, British Empire casualties Jack Pearson. Taking its name from the who had been killed in action in the August 1917, resulting in the evacuation amounted to over 59,000 men killed, slang word for ‘Ypres’ used by British summer of 1915, and soon became known of all patients and staff. Under such wounded or missing. soldiers, it was a satirical publication by its signaller’s abbreviation ‘Toc H’. circumstances, male doctors and female printed on presses reclaimed from the nurses faced equal danger. Staff Nurse For the next two years, trench raids, ruins around the city. From 1916 until A sign outside declared it to be Nellie Spindler was wounded while sniping and artillery fire continued every 1918, it used satire to make light of the ‘Everyman’s House’, and its guiding sleeping off-duty at Brandhoek, and day, as British Empire servicemen fought everyday struggle of the ‘PBI’ – or ‘Poor principle was egalitarian fellowship, died within 15 minutes. A member of to hold their ground and German troops Bloody Infantry’. devoid of rank or social distinction. It the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military strove to drive them from it. Tunnellers provided refuge for visitors seeking respite, Nursing Service, she was buried with full began a subterranean war, attempting With frontline conditions so challenging, friendship, food and accommodation, and honours on 22 August, at the cemetery to undermine enemy positions, and the areas behind the lines took on even was the scene of regular social functions near Remy Siding. sometimes leading to confrontations greater importance to the physical and for servicemen and the local community. such as at the infamous , to the psychological health of soldiers. The town The attic was converted into a modest THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES south-east of Ypres. By 1917, British of Poperinghe () lay some ten chapel, and as many as 100,000 men were Empire forces were suffering thousands kilometres to the west of Ypres. Known estimated to have attended prayer services After the gruelling battles of attrition on the of casualties – wounded, missing and before the war for hop production and there over the course of the war. Western Front in 1916 – at Verdun and the killed – every month. brewing, from the autumn of 1914 it Somme – the Allies launched co-ordinated became an important transport hub for After the early, chaotic, weeks of fighting attacks on German forces in the spring of LIFE BEHIND THE LINES supplies and troops destined for the in the autumn of 1914, an organised and 1917. Devised by French General Robert battlefields of the Salient. Direct rail and complex system of casualty evacuation Nivelle, they were intended to achieve a Trenches in the Salient were often road links between Poperinghe and Ypres and treatment emerged between Ypres long-awaited breakthrough. Around , flooded, and in some areas the surface meant that military infrastructure came and the Channel coast. From initial the British Army made some advances – water was so abundant that attempts to dominate the area: depots and stores contact with stretcher bearers, wounded most notably the capture of Vimy Ridge by to dig down were abandoned and for munitions and equipment; casualty servicemen underwent triage and initial the – but a major French instead high ramparts of earth, logs and clearing stations for medical treatment; treatment close to the frontline, but offensive on the Chemin des Dames near sandbags – known as ‘breastworks’ – were camps for thousands of soldiers on their road and rail lines soon enabled their the River Aisne ended in disastrous failure. constructed, to provide shelter for troops way to and from the frontline. transport to established medical facilities and protect them from small arms and in the rear areas. In the Casualty Clearing Morale plummeted within the French artillery fire. Over the months and years Poperinghe suffered occasional Station at Remy Siding, near Poperinghe, Army, and many units refused to engage of , everyday life in the bombardment but remained relatively professional medical staff treated tens of in offensive actions. With the Russian front lines became, at times, unbearable. unscathed for much of the war and thousands of wounded soldiers. Army on the Eastern Front rocked by provided many rest and recreation heavy losses, and the collapse of the Soldiers entering the Salient passed facilities for Allied troops, becoming The main role of the Royal Army Medical Tsarist regime after a revolution earlier in villages reduced to little more than known as ‘Little Paris’. According to Corps was to maintain the Army’s fighting the year, it was imperative for the British mounds of debris and dust. Lines of the British author Edmund Blunden, strength as effectively as possible. Over Army to take the lead in engaging the duckboards – wooden planks forming it was ‘one of the wonders of the world’. the course of the war, medical treatment Germans before they could target the a makeshift road – stretched around the Local people remained in residence, improved significantly. From improvements weak points in the Allied lines. shell-holes and across the wasteland. many running the shops, restaurants, in sanitary care, to the expansion of blood Rations were carried up to the line in bars and brothels that catered for the transfusion, nitrous oxide and oxygen Sir Douglas Haig, the British commander- sacks: bread and biscuits, tins of stew huge influx of soldiers. anaesthesia, and particularly advances in-chief, had long desired an offensive in and bully beef. Troops often drank their in anti-infection techniques, practical Flanders, but Prime Minister David Lloyd tea and ate their dinner under fire in their The most famous establishment in the experience led to a highly effective system George remained sceptical of committing dugouts. Dead bodies in no-man’s land town was Talbot House. It was conceived of care. Psychological conditions, however, to another major operation on the Western encouraged a proliferation of rats. by Neville Talbot, Senior Chaplain to the remained less well understood or treated. Front, after heavy casualties had led to 6th Division, who arranged for the army such apparently limited gains. In February Soldier-culture responded to such adversity to rent the mansion of a local brewer. Medics worked under pressure, and 1917, the German Navy resumed through black humour. One of the most Talbot appointed Reverend Philip ‘Tubby’ sometimes under direct fire if they were unrestricted submarine warfare, leading

26 27 to a dramatic increase in the rate of batteries lay; and the Passchendaele Ridge wounded and captured, while the German pillboxes remained intact, and German merchant shipping losses. This helped to the north-east, which had dominated the Army lost around 26,000 men. artillery continued to mass behind the to build political backing for Haig’s Salient for nearly three years. high ground. It also helped to destroy the ambitious plans. After the success at Messines, nearly drainage system of the land British troops THE BATTLE OF MESSINES, seven weeks passed before the main would soon attack. As the assault troops The great Flanders offensive was 7–17 JUNE 1917 offensive was launched. Haig had formed up, rainclouds were beginning conceived in part as a means of breaking appointed General Sir to form. out of the dangerous Ypres Salient and The campaign began in June 1917, to lead it, and his Fifth Army would be driving north and north-eastwards towards when General Sir Herbert Plumer’s joined by the French First Army, under THE BATTLE OF PILCKEM RIDGE, the Belgian coast, where British troops Second Army attacked Messines Ridge. General Anthoine. Their preparations 31 JULY – 2 AUGUST would land from the sea and advance Tunnels had been dug beneath German were vital to the success of the operation, THE BATTLE OF LANGEMARCK, towards the ports of and positions, and explosives placed within but meant the loss of precious summer 16–18 AUGUST Oostende, to neutralise the German them were detonated with dramatic weather. The delay also allowed German U-boat bases there. The primary strategic effect. After months of preparation, forces in the region to enhance their At 3.50am on 31 July 1917, two objective, however, was the capture of well-drilled forces from Britain, Ireland, already extensive and formidable system thousand Allied guns opened up on Roulers, an important railway hub twelve and New Zealand combined of defences. Rather than holding the front German lines, and fourteen British and miles to the north-east of Ypres, which to capture the high ground, in one of the lines in strength, they intended to draw two French divisions attacked along was vital to German forces. most successful operations of the war. the attackers into killing zones between 15 miles of the front. Rather than the At the heart of the battlefield, at lines of mutually-supporting concrete dawn assault originally envisaged, low In order to achieve this, British forces Wytschaete, the 16th (Irish) Division strongpoints, known as pillboxes. cloud meant that soldiers emerged from A soldier looks out across the Douve would first need to seize the German-held and 36th (Ulster) Division advanced their forward positions in gloom. The most Valley, as shells ridges which dominated Ypres: Messines alongside one another: the first time For the , the offensive significant success was achieved in the explode on the Ridge to the south of the Salient; the formations from southern and northern began in early July. Aerial reconnaissance north, particularly across Pilckem Ridge. village of Messines, 8 June 1917 Gheluvelt Plateau – uplands to the east Ireland had fought together. British Empire was critical for the effectiveness of the Here, Welsh and Irish troops played an © IWM of Ypres behind which German artillery casualties totalled some 24,500 killed, artillery, providing photography and important role, and among their dead observation which mapped out enemy were two highly regarded poets: Ellis positions. By this time, the war above Evans (better known by his bardic name the Western Front had developed into a ‘Hedd Wyn’) and Francis Ledwidge. ruthless and deadly battle. At Ypres, fighter To the left of Fifth Army, French troops patrols aggressively pursued and engaged regained Bixschoote, while St Julien and German planes, protecting the vulnerable Frezenberg were captured, as were reconnaissance aircraft. Squadrons were Bellewaarde Ridge, Hooge, Sanctuary also assigned to bomb enemy aerodromes Wood and part of Shrewsbury Forest. and key logistical positions such as headquarters, road and rail junctions, By late afternoon, however, fierce and trench strongholds. This struggle German counter-attacks had regained would continue over the coming months, much ground, and wet weather had set as flyers fought for control of the skies in. Ceaseless unseasonal rain over the above the Salient, often watched from following days turned the shell-damaged below by the infantrymen on both sides. ground into a quagmire, severely hampering the movement of advancing On 16 July, British artillery began to men. This made bringing up the artillery bombard German positions across the a Herculean task, and hampered the front, growing in intensity as the start transportation of casualties backwards of the offensive drew nearer. For many and supplies forward. Gruelling for the German soldiers, it was the most terrifying infantry, movement through the swamp- demonstration of firepower they had yet like conditions was equally arduous for experienced. Much of the front line was horses, mules and tanks. Fresh attacks destroyed, but the bombardment failed were launched on 10 August towards to eliminate the defences entirely. Many Westhoek and on 16 August towards

28 29 British soldiers , with limited success. By as targeting German artillery batteries. watching the mid-August, the initial momentum of Greater numbers of British guns were bombardment of the German line the offensive had faltered in the already- concentrated for this task, and aircraft during the Battle infamous mud. were used to provide systematic aerial of Langemarck, observation of German troop movements. 16 August 1917 © IWM THE BATTLE OF THE MENIN ROAD RIDGE, 20–25 SEPTEMBER On 20 September, Allied forces attacked THE , on a front of around eight miles, towards 26 SEPTEMBER – 3 OCTOBER what the British called the Menin Road Ridge. Among them was the 9th (Scottish) THE , Division, including the South African 4 OCTOBER Brigade. By mid-morning, they had captured most of their objectives. German September saw a break in the weather, counter-attacks began in the afternoon, and relief from the incessant rain. but after several hours had failed to gain Command of the offensive passed from back much ground. Gough to Plumer, who oversaw careful preparations for a major new attack. A second major assault began in hot, dry Previously ambitious plans were replaced conditions on 26 September, when British with more limited objectives. The ‘bite- Empire forces – including many Australian and-hold’ tactics were intended to capture units – attacked around Polygon Wood. ground which was defensible against the The policy of aiming for limited objectives inevitable German counter-attacks. British continued: British attacks were led by artillery focused on destroying German lines of skirmishers, followed by small pillboxes and machine-gun nests, as well infantry columns, with vastly increased

Left: A wire- carrying party during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, 31 July 1917 © IWM

Right: South African soldiers of the 9th (Scottish) Division during the Battle of Menin Ridge Road © IWM

30 31 artillery support, providing a ‘creeping’ particularly as a result of intelligence to protect the attackers. Along reports which highlighted the strain with the much-improved weather, these German forces were under. Yet the tactics led to significant success and fine weather which had assisted these inflicted heavy losses on the Germans, advances would soon come to an end. who were forced to reassess their defensive arrangements. A series of THE , desperate German counter-attacks over 9 OCTOBER the following days failed in the face of THE FIRST BATTLE OF British artillery and machine-gun fire. PASSCHENDAELE, 12 OCTOBER

Another major attack was launched THE SECOND BATTLE OF A single soldier Prince Rupprecht would call the weather impassable battlefield. It took three on 4 October, to complete the capture PASSCHENDAELE, makes his way “our most effective ally”. major efforts over the following days 26 OCTOBER – 10 NOVEMBER through the of the Gheluvelt Plateau and occupy battlefield of the until Canadian forces, supported by Broodseinde Ridge. The British ‘hurricane’ First Battle of The first push towards the village of other units of the British Army including bombardment began without warning, In October, the heavy rain returned, Passchendaele Passchendaele on 12 October saw the 63rd (Royal Naval Division), reached © IWM achieving complete surprise and catching soaking the ground and diminishing the minor advances, but German counter- the highest points of the ridge. On German forces in the open as they effectiveness of the British artillery. An attacks soon recaptured lost ground. 10 November, a final push by Canadian prepared another counter-attack near attack on 9 October achieved only limited The quagmire helped to neutralise the troops finally secured the village, and Zonnebeke. Although the British advance success, and German defences held firm, artillery and now made movement almost offensive operations were halted. There had mixed success, the German Army bolstered in part by improved barbed wire impossible at times. Such experiences left were further actions later in November, Men of the 13th suffered devastating casualties, and it which combined with the boggy conditions Allied forces exhausted and demoralised. but the Third Battle of Ypres was over. Australian Field became known as a ‘black day’. to hinder the attacking troops. As the rain Among the 13,000 casualties were many Ambulance at the Battle of Polygon After three successful set-piece attacks, continued, the battlefield began to resemble Anzacs, including some 2,735 New The British Official History recorded a Wood © IWM British commanders were optimistic, a sea of mud. German commander Crown Zealanders. In a disastrous attack at total of 244,897 British Empire casualties Bellevue Spur, over 840 had been killed. killed, wounded and missing, during In terms of lives lost in a single day, the offensive. Recent estimates suggest a 12 remains the greatest higher total, thought to have been around disaster in New Zealand’s history. 275,000. While the French Army suffered around 8,500 casualties, German losses Operations were paused during the remain controversial. Estimates range from worst of the weather, while preparations 217,000 to around 260,000. continued for another attempt to reach

Wounded men Passchendaele. The Canadian Corps had AFTER PASSCHENDAELE at a Royal Army been brought into the Salient, and took Medical Corps the lead in a renewed attack on In the spring of 1918, the German forces advanced dressing station near 26 October. The final actions were fought began a series of major offensives along Boesinghe © IWM in indescribable conditions on a near the Western Front. In Flanders, they swept through much of the ground that had been won by the Allies at such cost the previous autumn. Ypres came close to falling, but the city remained defiant, and by the end of April the German onslaught had been halted. In August, the Allies began their own offensive which would ultimately end with the signing of the Armistice, and victory. By mid-October, the success of Allied operations along the line from Nieuport to Verdun meant the Salient had seen its last fighting. Allied

32 33 be framed as another battle of attrition: which emerged from the conflict. The army which fought at the Somme became drawing in and wearing down German South African Brigade had been fighting one characterised by conscripts. Although forces on territory they could not afford for over a year as part of the 9th (Scottish) contemporary press reports framed the to yield, creating the conditions for Division), and the experience at Ypres fighting in Flanders in defiant terms, their eventual collapse. For German in was another in a there was no escaping the ordeal that commanders, including Crown Prince series of costly battles which had begun the British Army had gone through. Rupprecht, the battles of the autumn of with Delville Wood on the Somme. For The same was true, however, for 1917 were certainly sobering. A total of Australian units, which had suffered German forces. eighty-eight divisions – over half of all serious losses throughout 1917, the final those in France and Flanders – had been months of Third Ypres proved the lowest Passchendaele marked the final great battle engaged and had suffered heavy losses. physical and psychological point in their of trench warfare on the Western Front. In the set-piece attacks of September, time on the Western Front. And for New Those that came after it were smaller in German defenders were powerless to hold Zealand, the death toll of 12 October scale, or very different in character. Almost back British forces, and suffered immense would remain unsurpassed. every aspect of the Third Battle of Ypres damage from the artillery. Together with the remains surrounded by controversy: its Allies’ material superiority, bolstered by the Across England, Scotland, Wales and origins, purpose and conduct; and the prospect of American forces on the Western Ireland, the offensive came during the fighting conditions, consequences and Front, the experience helped convince the lowest ebb of military and domestic casualties. Yet for the Allied and German A German soldier soldiers broke out of their long-held German High Command to prepare for a morale. The period between the spring armies alike, the experience came to seated on wooden foothold in Flanders and pushed make-or-break offensive in the spring of of 1917 and 1918 was marked by war- epitomise the most horrific aspects of track between Men of the 13th Ypres and the German Army back to the eastern 1918, which was to prove a turning point Battalion, Durham weariness and domestic discontent, warfare on the Western Front. Passchendaele Belgian border. in the war on the Western Front. Light Infantry strikes and increasing demands on the © IWM during the Battle war economy, partly due to the impact of the Menin Road Estimates of casualties for British Empire What had been known initially as the Ridge, September of shipping losses. It marked a period forces resulting from the occupation and ‘Flanders Offensive’ by the British was 1917 © IWM when the professional and volunteer fighting around Ypres between 1914 and officially termed ‘The Battles of Ypres, 1918 were in the region of 500,000 dead, 1917’ by the British Battles Nomenclature wounded and missing. Ultimately, no less Committee. More widely, it became than a quarter of all those servicemen known as ‘The Third Battle of Ypres’ or from across the British Empire killed in simply ‘Third Ypres’. There were other action during the First World War lost their names, including the evocative phrase lives in the Ypres Salient. coined by in his memoirs in the 1930s: ‘the campaign THE LEGACY OF PASSCHENDAELE of the mud’. By the 1920s, however, it began to be referred to in the press More than one hundred days of fighting and elsewhere as the ‘Passchendaele during the Third Battle of Ypres saw no Offensive’, after the village and ridge strategic breakthrough, and the advance which became the focus of the advance of around five miles left the Allies holding and, in time, the fighting at Ypres in the an enlarged line which remained a highly summer and autumn of 1917 was often vulnerable Salient. British forces had called simply ‘Passchendaele’. already been transferred to Italy, to shore up the Allied effort after the disastrous For the Dominion forces, the battle . Although the was not so famous, or infamous, as Passchendaele ridge had been taken, the other campaigns, but was nevertheless railhead at Roulers – as well as the Belgian significant. Along with the victory at coast beyond – remained out of reach. Vimy Ridge, the capture of Passchendaele helped to cement the reputation of In the aftermath of the battle, and in Canadian soldiers as elite assault troops, the years to come, the campaign would contributing to a sense of national pride

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