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The First World War - 1917

Passchendaele is one the most notorious battles of World War I. Difficulties had started to arise through a dispute between the British generals and politicians, all of whom had a different strategy of war.

The third major battle of the Ypres, also known as the battle of Passchendaele, took place between July and November of 1917. The town traditionally was a centre of textile weaving and was completely flattened as four years of battle raged nearby in the town.

The opening attack at Passchendaele was carried out be general Hubert Gough and the British Fifth Army general Herbert Plumer and the second army joining on the right with General Françoise Anthoine with his French First Army on the left. After a ten day preliminary bombardment with 3,000 guns firing at 4.25 million shells, the British offensive started at Ypres at 3.50am on the 31st of July.

The battle of Passchendaele began on July 31 1917, with a huge assault of Allied artillery. This barrage warned the Germans of the coming attack and also turned the battlefield into a mess of craters. With unusual heavy rain the entire area was transformed into a sea of mud. The soldiers slept in the mud, crawled in the mud, fought in the mud and drowned in the mud. The mud also clogged the rifles, ruined the food and rendered artillery use.

The battle carried on for months with neither side making progress due to inhospitable conditions. In these atrocious conditions Canadian soldiers fought exceptionally and in the end were close to securing victory. Through the three months of fighting the Canadians established themselves as an elite fighting Corp and received honours reflecting this. At the end 9 soldiers received the Victoria Cross in recognition of their outstanding effort at Passchendaele.

Attacks on 26th September and 4th October enabled British forces to take possession of the ridge east of Ypres. Despite the return of the heavy rain, Haig ordered further attacks on the Passchendaele Ridge. Attacks on the 9th and 12th October were unsuccessful.

Read about other battles of the Western Front.

The Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) was written by Hira Zafar, a Year 9 student at Laisterdyke High School, Bradford.

Night patrols were carried out by both sides during the war. Patrolling close to enemy lines was particularly dangerous, listen to this account to find out more.