PASSCHENDAELE
15 Facts:
1 launched on 31 July 1917, the British offensive in Flanders had aimed to drive the Germans away
2 Sir Arthur Currie, commander of the Canadian Corps, objected to the battle, fearing it could not be won without a terrible expenditure in lives.
3 The British lost an estimated 275,000 casualties at Passchendaele to the German's 220,000, making it one of the war's most costly battles of attrition.
4 Passchendaele, often remembered as the low point of the British war effort, remains synonymous with the terrible and costly fighting on the Western Front.
5 The Canadians arrived in Flanders in mid-October to relieve Australian and New Zealand troops and were shocked by the terrible battlefield conditions.
6 Horses and mules transported hundreds of thousands of shells to the front to prepare for the artillery barrange that would prepare for the infantry's attack
7 Having no choice but to attack, Currie prepared carefully for the fight, understanding that deliberate preparation, especially for his artillery and engineers, was the key to advancing over this shattered landscape.
8 Sir Douglas Haig, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, ordered the Canadians to deliver victory.
9 His preparations ready, Currie launched a deliberate or ‘set-piece’ attack on 26 October, the first of four phases in a battle he estimated might cost 16,000 Canadians killed or wounded. By mid-November, having captured the ridge, his estimate proved eerily accurate, with 15,654 Canadian fallen.
10 But unceasing rain and shellfire reduced the battlefield to a vast bog of bodies, water-filled shell craters, and mud in which the attack ground to a halt. After months of fighting, Passchendaele ridge was still stubbornly held by German troops.
11 The more populous Allies could better afford the losses, especially with the recent entry of the United States on their side, but the battle had delivered a blow to the collective morale of the British Expeditionary Force.
12 By mid-November, having captured the ridge, his estimate proved eerily accurate, with 15,654 Canadian fallen.
13 The Germans atop Passchendaele ridge fired continuously on these efforts, killing or wounding hundreds.
14 Haig was desperate for a symbolic victory and insisted on the effort, believing that even a limited victory would help to salvage the campaign.
15 Currie ordered the construction of new roads, the building or improvement of gun pits, and the repair and extension of tramlines (light railways).
1 launched on 31 July 1917, the British offensive in Flanders had aimed to drive the Germans away
2 Sir Arthur Currie, commander of the Canadian Corps, objected to the battle, fearing it could not be won without a terrible expenditure in lives.
3 The British lost an estimated 275,000 casualties at Passchendaele to the German's 220,000, making it one of the war's most costly battles of attrition.
4 Passchendaele, often remembered as the low point of the British war effort, remains synonymous with the terrible and costly fighting on the Western Front.
5 The Canadians arrived in Flanders in mid-October to relieve Australian and New Zealand troops and were shocked by the terrible battlefield conditions.
6 Horses and mules transported hundreds of thousands of shells to the front to prepare for the artillery barrange that would prepare for the infantry's attack
7 Having no choice but to attack, Currie prepared carefully for the fight, understanding that deliberate preparation, especially for his artillery and engineers, was the key to advancing over this shattered landscape.
8 Sir Douglas Haig, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, ordered the Canadians to deliver victory.
9 His preparations ready, Currie launched a deliberate or ‘set-piece’ attack on 26 October, the first of four phases in a battle he estimated might cost 16,000 Canadians killed or wounded. By mid-November, having captured the ridge, his estimate proved eerily accurate, with 15,654 Canadian fallen.
10 But unceasing rain and shellfire reduced the battlefield to a vast bog of bodies, water-filled shell craters, and mud in which the attack ground to a halt. After months of fighting, Passchendaele ridge was still stubbornly held by German troops.
11 The more populous Allies could better afford the losses, especially with the recent entry of the United States on their side, but the battle had delivered a blow to the collective morale of the British Expeditionary Force.
12 By mid-November, having captured the ridge, his estimate proved eerily accurate, with 15,654 Canadian fallen.
13 The Germans atop Passchendaele ridge fired continuously on these efforts, killing or wounding hundreds.
14 Haig was desperate for a symbolic victory and insisted on the effort, believing that even a limited victory would help to salvage the campaign.
15 Currie ordered the construction of new roads, the building or improvement of gun pits, and the repair and extension of tramlines (light railways).
THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
DEAR FUTURE CHILD,
I am the unknown soldier, I hope all is well with you in the future, hoping that you will be fine, it was worth taking my life to save you from war, oh future child I hope there is no war in the future. I will be telling you some stuff of the war. It was hard being away from my family I have been thinking about them for a long time now I knew, that must have been the last time I saw them but I just had faith that I would make it back alive and see them once more it was tragic the guns the sounds everything it was just plain and sad. I was not forced to go to the war I chose to because I had to fight for my country I am a woman and I have rights too sometimes you just have to take a risk with life. I had to spy on them to get information and see what they are planning it's hard to go and I was glad that I got something to do. I had a friend she went with me to spy on them we found lots of information and we were going to bring it back then my friend's foot snapped a branch and they came out with big guns we were running and bang they shot her on the back the gun sound always haunts me it feels like it was my fault that she got killed like I was pushing her to come I always regretted that day hoping that she would forgive me. The next day had passed it was breakfast the food there were gross we had to eat it. The commander handed me a gun and said "you will become a soldier" I was shocked with fear knowing that this would be the end. Every day I pray that I would make it back alive. It was the day of the final battle I was standing right on the battlefield I can feel that things won't go as well. Looking at my friends killed didn't give me courage to fight but I knew that no matter what happens I have to do it I grabbed the gun and aimed the feeling felt bad to shoot someone losing their lives they would never come back to their family until I knew it was my turn to die and in an instant I was gone.
DEAR FUTURE CHILD,
I am the unknown soldier, I hope all is well with you in the future, hoping that you will be fine, it was worth taking my life to save you from war, oh future child I hope there is no war in the future. I will be telling you some stuff of the war. It was hard being away from my family I have been thinking about them for a long time now I knew, that must have been the last time I saw them but I just had faith that I would make it back alive and see them once more it was tragic the guns the sounds everything it was just plain and sad. I was not forced to go to the war I chose to because I had to fight for my country I am a woman and I have rights too sometimes you just have to take a risk with life. I had to spy on them to get information and see what they are planning it's hard to go and I was glad that I got something to do. I had a friend she went with me to spy on them we found lots of information and we were going to bring it back then my friend's foot snapped a branch and they came out with big guns we were running and bang they shot her on the back the gun sound always haunts me it feels like it was my fault that she got killed like I was pushing her to come I always regretted that day hoping that she would forgive me. The next day had passed it was breakfast the food there were gross we had to eat it. The commander handed me a gun and said "you will become a soldier" I was shocked with fear knowing that this would be the end. Every day I pray that I would make it back alive. It was the day of the final battle I was standing right on the battlefield I can feel that things won't go as well. Looking at my friends killed didn't give me courage to fight but I knew that no matter what happens I have to do it I grabbed the gun and aimed the feeling felt bad to shoot someone losing their lives they would never come back to their family until I knew it was my turn to die and in an instant I was gone.
Photo used under Creative Commons from eamathe