This Passchendaele Anniversary Tour looks briefly at the battle of Messines, the highly successful preliminary attack in June. We shall then study all the battles in sequence and in context, with special emphasis on the improved tactics of the British Army in 1917. The battle opened on 31 July 1917 and the real nature of the German defensive scheme was revealed. These first battles, under the ‘thruster’, Gough, also ran into the worst weather ever recorded in Flanders for July and August and the battlefield turned into a swamp. Haig lost patience with Gough and handed the battle to ‘Daddy’ Plumer, the soldier’s friend and the most careful of Generals. Four ‘bite and hold’ battles put the Germans in complete disarray. Then the weather broke again, artillery effectiveness declined and the mud slowed the infantry to a crawl.
As we study the actions there are many questions to be asked. Would it have made difference if the gap between Messines and Third Ypres had been shorter? What difference would it have made if General Plumer and his Second Army had been used in the opening days of the battle? Did we have the German army on the ropes when the weather finally broke and reduced the last battles around Passchendaele to floundering in the mud? This Passchendaele 90th Anniversary tour will not provide all the answers but will increase your understanding of the events of late 1917 in the Salient.
Your guide, John Lee, has written extensively on Third Ypres and the BEF in 1917. |
