The Battle of Passchendaele

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The Battle of Passchendaele

• 31 July 1917 10 November 1917
• This battle was fought for control of the city of
  Passchendaele. The city was located on a ridge
  that sat above the rest of the land, offering
  whoever had control of the city a strategic
  advantage in the war. The plan was to drive
  through the German forces and reach the Belgium
  coast where they would capture the submarine
  bases located there. Also, by distracting the
  Germans there would be less pressure on the
  French, who were suffering from low morale.

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Where oh where

• Ypres, West Flanders, Belgium
• Mud soaked, hell ridden, shell molested badlands!

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When

• The battle of Passendale was apart of a campaign
  which is also known as the Third Battle of Ypres.
• The campaign lasted from July 31st to November
  10th, 1917
• There had been previous battles revolving around
  the district of Ypres in both 1915 and 1916.

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The sides!

• Britain
• France
• Canada
• Australia
• New Zealand

• German Empire

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Entente Commanders
Alliance Commanders

• Douglas Haig
• Hubert Gough
• Herbert Plumer
• Arthur Currie

• Max von Gallwitz
• Erich Ludendorff

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Douglas Haig,1st Earl Haig

• He was a British soldier and senior commander
  during World War I. He was commander of the
  British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of
  the Somme and the 3rd Battle of Ypres. His tenure
  as commander of the BEF made Haig one of the most
  controversial military commanders in British
  history

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Hubert GoughSir Hubert de la Poer Gough

• Gough was a cavalry officer who, as a favourite
  of the British Commander-in-Chief, General Sir
  Douglas Haig, experienced a meteoric rise through
  the ranks during the war.

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Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer

• Plumer was an Infantry officer and as a result it
  could be argued that he understood somewhat
  better what could reasonably be expected of his
  troops bearing in mind the terrain, the weather
  conditions and morale. Plumer, a meticulous
  planner, would often express the plans of the his
  superiors as being too ambitous and more often
  than not, as seen at the third battle of Ypres,
  Passchendaele he would be proved to be right.

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Arthur CurrieGeneral Sir Arthur William Currie

• He made sure all troops were able to perform
  platoon responsibilities, briefing of the
  frontline troops, the use of counter-battery fire
  measures and constant patrolling of the enemy
  defenses all contributed to the effectiveness of
  the Canadian Corps at Vimy and for the rest of
  the War.
• Currie and the Canadian Corps were successful
  again at Passchendaele (the Third Battle of
  Ypres) in November, but at the cost of 16,000
  men. Currie had accurately predicted these high
  casualty figures when Haig ordered his troops to
  attack.

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Max von GallwitzMax Karl Wilhelm von Gallwitz

• Gallwitz began the war as a corps commander on
  the Western Front, but was almost immediately
  transferred east to join the Eighth Army under
  Hindenburg. In 1915 he took command of Army Group
  Gallwitz

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Erich LudendorffGeneral Erich Ludendorff

• In World War I Ludendorff was first appointed
  Deputy chief of staff to Germany's Second Army,
  under Karl von Bülow, as he was knowledgeable
  about capturing the forts of Liege. This was a
  crucial part of the Schlieffen Plan. This task
  accomplished, Ludendorff was sent to East Prussia
  where he worked with Paul von Hindenburg as his
  Chief of Staff. Hindenburg relied heavily upon
  Ludendorff and Hoffmann in crafting his victories
  in the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian
  Lakes.

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Weaponry

• Mark IV Tanks were used by the British, mainly in
  the battle of Messiness Hill just prior and
  South of the battle of Passchendaele (Third
  battle of Ypres)

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Significance

• The city of Passendale has strategic
  significance. You must pass through here in order
  to reach the coast. The ports located there are
  a key part shipping equipment and goods.
• This battle was important to the Belgium people
  because it was the last city left free of German
  rule.
• FACT
• Upon arriving at Passendale with Canadian Troops,
  Canadas Commander-in-Chief General Sir Arthur
  Currie estimated that 16,000 would die in order
  to complete this task.
• Passendale is the current spelling for the city
  of Passchendaele, and its old spelling is used
  specifically as a reference to the battle.

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Weaponry Cont.
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Strategies

• Bite and Hold where the attackers were to
  gain a small portion of front, and hold it
  against counter-attacks.
• 1,295 guns were concentrated in the area
• Germans had artillery accurately aimed in
  No-Mans Land.

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Conditions

• Ground conditions during the whole
  Ypres-Passendale action were atrocious.
  Continuous shelling destroyed drainage canals in
  the area, and unseasonable heavy rain turned the
  whole area into a sea of mud and water-filled
  shell-craters. The troops walked up to the front
  over paths made of duckboards laid across the
  mud, often carrying up to one hundred pounds (45
  kg) of equipment. It was possible for them to
  slip off the path into the craters and drown
  before they could be rescued. The trees were
  reduced to blunted trunks, the branches and
  leaves torn away, and the bodies of men buried
  after previous actions were often uncovered by
  the rain or later shelling.

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Casualties

• First battle of Passchendaele produced 13,000
  Allied casualties which stacked on top of the
  100,000 dead already.
• Germans lost about 270,000 men. British Empire
  forces lost about 450,000, including 36,500
  Australians and 16,000 Canadians - the latter of
  which were lost in the intense final assault
  between October 26 and November 10 90,000
  British and Australian bodies were never
  identified, and 42,000 never recovered.

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Quotations

• "I died in Hell
• (they called it Passchendaele) my wound was
  slight
• and I was hobbling back and then a shell
• burst slick upon the duckboards so I fell
• into the bottomless mud, and lost the light"
• Siegfried Sassoon

• The man beside him, who had been through the
  campaign, replied tonelessly, 'It's worse further
  on up.'"
• Leon Wolff, In Flanders Fields
• "Passchendaele was just a terrible, terrible
  place. We used to walk along these wooden
  duckboards - something like ladders laid on the
  ground. The Germans would concentrate on these
  things. If a man was hit and wounded and fell off
  he could easily drown in the mud and never be
  seen again. You just did not want go off the
  duckboards." Private Richard W. Mercer (911016)
  

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Iron Maiden Paschendale
In a foreign field he laylonely soldier unknown
graveon his dying words he praystell the WORLD
of PaschendaleRelive all that he's been
throughlast communion of his soulrust your
bullets with his tearslet me tell you 'bout his
yearsLaying low in a blood filled
trenchkilling time 'til my very own deathon my
face I can feel the falling rainnever see my
friends againin the smoke, in the mud and
leadsmell of fear and feeling of dreadsoon be
time to go over the wallrapid fire and the end
of us allWhistles, shouts and more gun
firelifeless bodies hang on barbed
wirebattlefield nothing but a bloody tombbe
reunited with my dead friends soonmany soldiers
eighteen yearsdrown in mud, no more tearssurely
a war no one can win killing time about to
beginHome, far away. From the war, a chance to
live againHome, far away. But the war, no chance
to live again
Dodging shrapnel and barbed wirerunning straight
at cannon firerunning blind as I hold my
breathsay a prayer symphony of deathas we
charge the enemy linesa burst of fire and we go
downI choke a cry but no one hearsfeel the
blood go down my throatHome, far away. From the
war, a chance to live againHome, far away. But
the war, no chance to live againHome, far away.
From the war, a chance to live againHome, far
away. But the war, no chance to live againSee
my spirit on the windacross the lines beyond the
hillfriend and foe will meet againthose who
died at Paschendale
The bodies of ours and our foesthe sea of death
it overflowsin no man's land God only knowsinto
jaws of death we go...Crucified as if on a
crossallied troops, they mourn their lossGerman
war propaganda machinesuch before has never been
seenswear I heard the angels crypray to God no
more may dieso that people know the truthtell
the tale of PaschendaleCruelty has a human
hearteveryman does play his partterror of the
men we killthe human heart is hungry stillI
stand my ground for the very last timegun is
ready as I stand in linenervous wait for the
whistle to blowrush of blood and over we
go...Blood is falling like the rainits crimson
cloak unveils againthe sound of guns can't hide
their shameand so we die in Paschendale