Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
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Passchendaele...!
On October 30, 1917, troops of the Western Allies succeed in briefly taking the Flemish village of Passendale - the British call it "Passchendaele" - as part of the fourth so-called Ypres battle!
That means: You can actually no longer speak of a "village", because Passendale can no longer be recognized as such after the fighting - you only see a muddy funnel field, turned over and over again by tens of thousands of grenades, without any vegetation or buildings ...:
On October 12th around 6:30 a.m. the barrage started between Draaibank and Zandvoorde against the German Korpsgruppen Dixsmuide, Ypres and Wytschate ...:
An hour later, the infantry attack against the German group Ypres (Generalkommando of the Gardekorps), which was expecting the attack and had already alerted its intervention divisions.
In the area of the English XIV Corps (Lord Cavan) between Poelcappelle and the Houthoulster Forest, the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division, the 51st Brigade of the 17th Division and the 3rd Brigade of the Guards Division were destined to attack.
The main attack is carried out by the II. ANZAC Corps (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) under General Godley ...
... on a narrow front of 2,700 meters against Passchendaele.
On the northern flank of the New Zealanders, the right wing of the British 5th Army supports them. In the area of the XVIII. Corps (General Maxse) ...
... the 26th Brigade of the Scottish 9th Division under Major General Tim Lukin ...
... is set at 1,800 meters wide to advance to the hamlet of Goudberg.
The English were lying northwest of Paschendale in such swampy positions that every possibility was fine for them to gain firmer ground and better visibility against the ridge to Westroosebeke ...:
After the Allies lost more than 20,000 soldiers without even reaching any of their goals, the attack was stopped for the time being - also because the troops were on the verge of mutiny!
It hit the ANZACs worst:
The Australian 4th Division alone lost about 1,000 men, the Australian 3rd Division had lost 3,199 men and the New Zealand Division 2,735 men.
On October 26, the British General Plumer (front left) ...
... starts a second attack after the exhausted ANZAC soldiers have been replaced by the Canadian corps under General Sir Arthur Currie ...
On October 30th, this new attack by the Canadians ...
... against the whole section of the German 238th Division of General Fritz von Below ...
... and against the northern part of the 3rd Guards Division under General von Lindequist, pulled forward to the left of it ...:
On the right wing of the "Yperg Gruppe", which extends over Goudberg and Mollelmarkt, and in the area of the 11th Division on the left, British and Canadian troops penetrate the Paschendaele area.
After heavy fighting, the former village, which had been razed to the ground, was taken.
But not for long!
The 238th German Infantry Division counterattacked, supported by artillery, to retake the completely destroyed village and the already lost main battle line ...:
The goal of taking the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast from land is not achieved.
The slaughterfor a few square kilometers of muddy earth cost 16,000 Allied and 11,481 German soldiers (and 3,118 officers) their lives ...
Passchendaele will not fall to the Allies until November 10, 1917 - but will again be recaptured by the Germans in the course of the "great battle in France" in the summer of 1918 ...
On October 30, 1917, troops of the Western Allies succeed in briefly taking the Flemish village of Passendale - the British call it "Passchendaele" - as part of the fourth so-called Ypres battle!
That means: You can actually no longer speak of a "village", because Passendale can no longer be recognized as such after the fighting - you only see a muddy funnel field, turned over and over again by tens of thousands of grenades, without any vegetation or buildings ...:
On October 12th around 6:30 a.m. the barrage started between Draaibank and Zandvoorde against the German Korpsgruppen Dixsmuide, Ypres and Wytschate ...:
An hour later, the infantry attack against the German group Ypres (Generalkommando of the Gardekorps), which was expecting the attack and had already alerted its intervention divisions.
In the area of the English XIV Corps (Lord Cavan) between Poelcappelle and the Houthoulster Forest, the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division, the 51st Brigade of the 17th Division and the 3rd Brigade of the Guards Division were destined to attack.
The main attack is carried out by the II. ANZAC Corps (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) under General Godley ...
... on a narrow front of 2,700 meters against Passchendaele.
On the northern flank of the New Zealanders, the right wing of the British 5th Army supports them. In the area of the XVIII. Corps (General Maxse) ...
... the 26th Brigade of the Scottish 9th Division under Major General Tim Lukin ...
... is set at 1,800 meters wide to advance to the hamlet of Goudberg.
The English were lying northwest of Paschendale in such swampy positions that every possibility was fine for them to gain firmer ground and better visibility against the ridge to Westroosebeke ...:
After the Allies lost more than 20,000 soldiers without even reaching any of their goals, the attack was stopped for the time being - also because the troops were on the verge of mutiny!
It hit the ANZACs worst:
The Australian 4th Division alone lost about 1,000 men, the Australian 3rd Division had lost 3,199 men and the New Zealand Division 2,735 men.
On October 26, the British General Plumer (front left) ...
... starts a second attack after the exhausted ANZAC soldiers have been replaced by the Canadian corps under General Sir Arthur Currie ...
On October 30th, this new attack by the Canadians ...
... against the whole section of the German 238th Division of General Fritz von Below ...
... and against the northern part of the 3rd Guards Division under General von Lindequist, pulled forward to the left of it ...:
On the right wing of the "Yperg Gruppe", which extends over Goudberg and Mollelmarkt, and in the area of the 11th Division on the left, British and Canadian troops penetrate the Paschendaele area.
After heavy fighting, the former village, which had been razed to the ground, was taken.
But not for long!
The 238th German Infantry Division counterattacked, supported by artillery, to retake the completely destroyed village and the already lost main battle line ...:
The goal of taking the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast from land is not achieved.
The slaughterfor a few square kilometers of muddy earth cost 16,000 Allied and 11,481 German soldiers (and 3,118 officers) their lives ...
Passchendaele will not fall to the Allies until November 10, 1917 - but will again be recaptured by the Germans in the course of the "great battle in France" in the summer of 1918 ...
