Passchendaele
The Battle of Passchendaele Passchendaele Is a small village in Belgium and is also the third battle of Ypres. The battle of Passchendaele was the most ineffective battles that took place in World War One. The conditions of this battle led to terrible losses. The losses of this battle only helped wear down the German army. The battle of Passchendaele lasted from July 31 to November 6, 1917. The battle of Passchendaele gave a leverage to Canada to become a separate nation. In this essay I will be writing about the events that lead up to the battle, the strategies and tactics of Passchendaele, and the casualties of the battle. The battle of Passchendaele took place on the Western Front, for the control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian City of Ypres in West Flanders. In 1917 Willmott states, "The British, with support from the French, began their major assault on the Ypres salient on July 31."(Willmott). The battle of Passchendaele started due to Germans. "The commander of British was convinced of the capture of Messines, meant the army of Germany to collapse so he started to make plans to obtain the necessary breakthrough." (Passchendaele). The overall purpose of the battle was to drive a hole in the German lines, advance to the Belgian coast and capture the German submarine bases there. It was intended to create a decisive corridor in a crucial area of the front, and to take off the pressure for the French. Secondly, the battle contained of four strategies and tactics. Artillery Bombardment is a strategy that was not only used in Passchendaele but was also used throughout world war one. The aim for this strategy is to wipe out the soldiers in the front line and to break down the trench of the enemies. Following this attack with cannons and huge guns leads to the soldiers on the Britain side to occupy the trench, to gain more land. The second technique they used was called the creeping barrage. The procedure of this strategy started with
Bibliography: * Copp, Terry, Symes, Matt& Lachance, Nick. Canadian Battlefields 1915-1918. LCMSDS Press/Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 2011. Print. * Duffy, Michael * Evans, David. The First World War. Hodder Arnold & Contemporary Books. 2004. Print. * Prior, Robin & Wilson, Trevor. Passchendaele The Untold Story. Yale University Press. 1996. Print. * Willmott, H.P. World War 1. Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc. 2003. Print. · On July 27th, 1917, Allied forces discovered the German soldiers had fled; the trenches were empty JULY 31st, 1917- Pilckem Ridge · 4 days later, a major assault occurred at Pilckem Ridge The First battle of Passchendaele October 12th, 1917 2nd Battle of Passchendaele October 26-November 10, 1917 · The four Canadian corps. Divisions were transferred to Ypres Salient (an area around Ypres, Belgium)