Military History of the First World War
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The Third Battle of Ypres (The Battle of Passendaele)
The objective was to break the German lines in front of the Passendaele ridge above Ypres. As a preliminary Haig's army used 1 milliion tons of TNT placed in mines under the German defenses on the lower flank of the Messines Ridge to shatter them. With the support of a massive barrage, the British were able to overrun the German positions there. However, the field commander, General Hubert Gough, made a botch of the operation, and the Germans were able to reinforce their line all along the salient at Ypres, that is, in front of the Pasendale ridge. The main attack began on 31st July, and The British, nonetheless, launched a massive barrage and made some progress, before a month of rain put a stop to things for a while. Gough was replaced by Plummer, and the offensive was reopened in late September, and by early October Plummer's forces had made three successful limited attacks in the battles of Menin Road, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde, using "bite and hold" tactics. The key to these successes was the use of a massive artillery barrage fired precisely in front of the infantry as the infantry advanced. The infantry were able to overrun the German defenses are less cost to themselves. They did not advance beyond the cover of the artillery, so any German counter-offensive was repulsed. In late September it began to rain heavily again; nonetheless, the British continued the offensive attempting to take the Passchendaele Ridge. The conditions were appalling and whilst the ridge was eventually taken it proved to be an untenable salient, and had to be evacuated in 1918 in advance of the German offensive then.
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Contents of
Military History of the First World War
1 The Central Powers and the Entente
2 The run-up to the war: The July Crisis, 1914
3 Military Planning in Advance of the War
4 Serbia and the Eastern Front, 1914
5 The Battle for the Marne
6 The Race to the Sea and the First Battle of Ypres
7 First Battle of Ypres
8 The Pacific
9 Africa
10 The Eastern Front during 1915
11 Italy enters the war
12 The Balkans
13 The Western Front
14 Gallipoli
15 The Western Front, 1916
16 Verdun
17 The Battle of the Somme
18 The Trentino Offensive
19 The Brusilov Offensive
20 Romania
21 The Russian Front in 1917
22 Mesopotamia
23 The Nivelle Offensive
24 The Third Battle of Ypres (The Battle of Passendaele)
25 Cambrai
26 Caporetto
27 German offensive in Russia, 1918
28 Ludendorff's offensive in the West
29 Allied counter-offensive
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