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The Battle of Passchendaele

We trudged on through the mud at a loss of 35 men per meter. This is our story.

Location: France, and in hearts of those who sent their loved ones to war

Date: October 25th - November 15th 1917

Lives lost: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) suffered 310,000 casualties, German casualties: 260,000. Canadian casualties: 15,000. A sad total of 585,000 dead.

Names for the Battle:

This battle was fought in a sea of mud. Mud was everywhere and made the battle more difficult and dangerous. Some soldiers even died from sinking into the mud. They had to build special racks to even walk across the mud. Wading through the mud was exhausting as well. It was said that Passchedaele was "hell on earth". As the first and second battles of Ypres were started by the Germans in 1914 and 1915, Third Ypres was planned as the Allied forces breakthrough in Flanders in 1917.  The Third Ypres was launched on 31 July 1917 and continued until the fall of Passchendaele village on the 6th of November.  For the six Canadian battalions that wore kilts into battle the mud was a nightmare. The mud added extra weight and the muddy kilts  tore at the legs of the men. Sleep was impossible and food was scarce. The battle resulted in gains for the Allies but was by no means the breakthrough the leader of the Allied Forces intended. All that was gained was as the result of many deaths. 

Picture used with the permission of "The Heritage of the Great War" site:

http://www.geocities.com/~worldwar1/default.html  

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Sources

Murray Karl. 2000 [revised 2003]The Great War http://users.tibus.com/the-great-war/

  Duffy Michael. First World War.com http://www.firstworldwar.com/

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WEB PAGE CREATED:

BY GRAHAM