By Joe Corrigan
If the Battle of Vimy Ridge was Canada’s “birth of a
nation” then Passchendaele was truly the young country’s baptism of fire.
Following the Canadian Corps successful diversionary attack at the Battle of Hill
70 which took place from August 15 to 25, 1917, Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig
found his offensive at the Third Battle of Ypres had bogged in the rain soaked
fields of Belgium. The massive artillery barrage that supported the initial
British attacks had destroyed the region’s already fragile drainage system just
in time for the heavy fall rains. What resulted was one of the grimmest and
most deadly battlefields of a war that was already know for massive numbers of
casualties in futile offensives.  |
| Currie and Haig |
By this time in the war, the troops from the British Empire’s
Dominions, initially looked down upon, had established a reputation as elite
shock troops capable of great feats of arms. As such, when none of the
offensive’s initial campaign objectives had been taken by October of 1917, Haig
called upon the Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians to reinvigorate the
allied push. One look at the battlefield told Canadian Corps commander,
Lieutenant General Arthur Currie, that the task his men were being assigned,
the taking of Passchendaele Ridge, would only be achieved at a high cost in
casualties. Currie estimated that taking what was left of the now virtually
non-existent village of Passchendaele, would incur 16,000 casualties; a 60% increase
over what the taking of Vimy Ridge had cost. And for what? Vimy Ridge had been
a strategic objective giving the allies an important stretch of high ground and
driving the German back several kilometers. It had proven to be the high point
of the entire Arras offensive back in the spring. Taking Passchendaele seemed
nothing but folly. A pyrrhic battle over impossible ground for an objective
whose only significance was to save the British high command from
embarrassment.
Currie used his stature as the commander of a national,
albeit small, army to push back when Haig insisted the Canadian Corps join the
battle. He refused to serve under British Fifth Army Commander General Sir
Hubert Gough and persuaded Haig to assign the Canadian Corps to Sir Hebert
Plummer’s Second Army. Currie continued to press his objections to the point
where he noted “I carried my protest to the extreme limit … which I believe
would have resulted in my being sent home had I been other than the Canadian
Corps commander.” This was something Currie did not wish to risk. He was still
haunted by his financial indiscretions from his days as a regimental commander
in British Columbia which would no doubt come to a head if he was relieved of
his command. He was also one of the allies’ finest strategic commanders and to
give command to someone else at this point would only result in more losses for
the Canadian Corps. Forced to take on the challenge, Currie refused to be
rushed. He undertook his typical studied analysis of the situation and made a
number of plans to overcome the obstacles presented by the battlefield his
troops would be forced to fight in.
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| Machine gun crew in the mud |
The ground was virtually impassable. Nothing but mud and
pools of standing water dotted with barbed wire and scores of concrete bunkers
the Germans had constructed over the years as they had held the ridge since
early in the war. The men would be challenged to make any headway in the muddy
conditions weighed down by their heavy equipment and to stumble into the water
meant death by drowning. A large number of soldiers who fought in the Battle of
Passchendaele were listed as missing in action and have no known graves. Tanks,
which were becoming more reliable at this point in the war and which would
evolve into a war winning weapon, were useless in these conditions. Artillery
could not be moved forward to support the infantry as it advanced and the mud
caused havoc with the operation of rifles and machine guns.
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| Duck boards |
Prior to the assault, the cannons and howitzers were set on
firm wooden platforms to ensure their effectiveness. Corduroy roads were
constructed by the Corps engineers and pioneers with timber provided by saw
mills set up behind the lines. These “duck boards” made it possible for the
infantry to move forward over the muddy terrain. Tramways were built to move
ammunition and supplies forward efficiently to support the assaults and canvas
breach covers were provided to the soldiers and machine gunners to ensure their
weapons weren’t compromised by the ever present mud.
The assaults began on October 26th with 2,500
casualties over a three day period before Currie called off the effort short of
the initial objective. Following resupply, the assault was renewed on October
30th with the troops advancing about 1,000 yards at a cost of 2,300 additional
casualties. The final push took place on November 6, 1917 in an advance so rapid,
German artillery shells mainly landed behind the advancing Canadians. In three
hours the ridge was in Canadian hands. Haig’s long sought after objective was firmly in allied possession. Except for some fierce fighting to repulse a German counter-attack on November 10th, the Battle of Passchendaele was over.
The Third Battle of Ypres was over, Field Marshall Haig had achieved the objectives that looked so attainable in August and Currie’s prediction of 16,000 Canadian casualties spent in the taking of a worthless objective came to pass. Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden told British Prime Minister Lloyd George that “if there is ever a repetition of Passchendaele, not a Canadian soldier will leave the shore of Canada so long as the Canadian people entrust the Government of my country to my hands.” Indeed the battles of 1917 (Vimy Ridge, Hill 70 and Passchendaele) cost the young Dominion 35,000 casualties and served to precipitate the conscription crisis that caused a rift between English and French Canada that lasted for decades.
The Third Battle of Ypres was over, Field Marshall Haig had achieved the objectives that looked so attainable in August and Currie’s prediction of 16,000 Canadian casualties spent in the taking of a worthless objective came to pass. Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden told British Prime Minister Lloyd George that “if there is ever a repetition of Passchendaele, not a Canadian soldier will leave the shore of Canada so long as the Canadian people entrust the Government of my country to my hands.” Indeed the battles of 1917 (Vimy Ridge, Hill 70 and Passchendaele) cost the young Dominion 35,000 casualties and served to precipitate the conscription crisis that caused a rift between English and French Canada that lasted for decades.
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| Passchendaele Monument |
Much of the information for this blog was drawn from J.L.
Granatstein’s major work “Canada’s Army – Waging War and Keeping the Peace”
from the University of Toronto Press, 2002.
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| Painting of the taking of Passchendaele Ridge |
Some interesting YouTube videos you might like to look up
include the following:
The Great War – October 26, 1917 - https://youtu.be/t61qBlEa6Us
On Wednesday, November 8th from 10 am to 2 pm, Canada's military history will come to life at Lansdowne Place through a partnership between Lang Pioneer Village Museum, the Norwood District High School “Red Coats” (NDHS) historical drill team and the East Northumberland Secondary School (ENSS) drill team. Please visit langpioneervillage.ca for details.
On Wednesday, November 8th from 10 am to 2 pm, Canada's military history will come to life at Lansdowne Place through a partnership between Lang Pioneer Village Museum, the Norwood District High School “Red Coats” (NDHS) historical drill team and the East Northumberland Secondary School (ENSS) drill team. Please visit langpioneervillage.ca for details.
Joe Corrigan has been Museum Manager at Lang Pioneer Village since February of 2003. He has been a lifelong student of history. His specific areas of interest are Canadian and world political, military and sports history with a particular focus on biographical works. Joe has been interpreting Sir John A. Macdonald at the Museum's Historic Dominion Day event since 2007. 