Haig's grand plan
The Ypres Salient had penetrated the German front since 1914. It presented both opportunities
for attack and, in view of the fact that the Germans held the strategically important high ground
of a horseshoe of low ridges, counter attack.
At the time, the pressure on Field Marshal Haig was huge.
The French were under pressure after their April losses and mutinies at the Chemin des Dames.
Mutinies put the French army in a state of near collapse and the Russian alliance was
questionable.
In the grand plan Haig imagined this to be the ideal location for the cavalry break through
to the U-boat bases at Bruges, Ostend and Zeebrugge, then threatening the cross-channel
shipping.
Haig saw the Gheluvelt Plateau and the Mid West Flanders Ridge - low
ridges of between 40m and 60m as the key to the whole
area. Passchendaele had to be taken to prevent the German army from seeing the planned build-up. Once
taken, the German communication system in Belgium and the industrial base in the Ruhr
would be and threatened.
The British evolved 'bite and hold' tactics: troops attacked a limited objective,
consolidating gains protected by the artillery, before tackling the next objective.
The Battle of Broodseinde, on 4 October 1917, preceded the attacks on Passchendaele.
II ANZAC Corps, 11th Brigade and 42nd Battalion were part of Gough's Fifth Army attack
at Zonnebeke (Zonabayka), about 1 250m from Passchendaele, |
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| Above: The towns and battles of the Ypres Salient 1917 |
This lead to John henry's death, his body to be 'lost' on the battlefield and his name to be
recorded on the Menin Gate.
The approach march
Wednesday 25 September 1917
Our rest came to an end ... when we marched out of Blairingham.
Thursday 26 September 1917
We proceeded the next day to Eeke ...
Friday 27 September 1917
... and continued our march to Poperinghe, which place we eventually reached on
September 27th.This last day was very trying, for the weather was hot and very dusty.
It was a bad day for marching, so we were very glad when we last made our camp, near the Railway
Depot, one mile east of the town.
1805info8e, sheet 2
Saturday 28 September 1917
Next day, the 28th, we were again bombed, and again, on the 29th, hostile aircraft
dropped bombs throughout the night, which inflicted heavy casualties, especially on the 11th Brigade
Machine Gun Company, among whom were many former 42nd Battalion men. (Brahms
1938, page 47)
Sunday 30 September 1917
Temperature 67°F. Clear sky no rain. Note: these weather conditions were
ideal for tanks.
 |
| Above: A schematic map showing the battalions route march to Poperinghe, using
best guess routes and modern town sizes. By modern road this is a 37km march. Note:
The spellings of Blaringhem and Eecke are from the Michelin Tourist and Motoring Atlas 2004. |
Monday 1 October 1917:
Our strength at the end of September was 43 officers, 978 other ranks. We were bombed
again on October 1st, causing us further casualties. (Brahms)
Communications from 3rd Australian Division to 11th Brigade to 42nd Battalion.
Menin Gate appears to be the only suitable crossing over Canal east of YPRES. Could
CRE [Canadian Royal Engineers?] put an infantry bridge 50 to 200 yards south of this crossing.
Brig. General Cannan Commanding 11th Aust. Inf. Brig.
Kindly make arrangements to dump packs and kit you require to leave behind at
Brigade Stores at 59 Rue d'Ypres tomorrow morning 2nd instant.
Staff Captain 11th Aust. Inf. Brig.
Source: 11th Brigade War Diary, The National Archives, (TNA) WO95/3425
1805info8e, sheet 3
Monash, commanding the 3rd Australian Division, wrote home from a dugout close to the
Menin Gate in Ypres on 1 October:
'Difficult as it is to convey any idea of the destruction of Ypres, it is simply
impossible to describe the life and turmoil in the whole area, from Poperinghe forward through
Vlamertinghe (also destroyed) and Ypres, as far as our present forward position. It is one enormous
medley of military activity of every conceivable description, and the traffic on the main roads is
simply incredible … streams of men, vehicles, motor lorries, horses, mules, and motors of
every description, moving ponderously forward, at a snail's pace, in either direction, hour after
hour, all day and all night, day after day, week after week, in a never halting, never ending
stream.' (Evans, 2005, page 106/7)
Tuesday 2 October 1917:
On the afternoon 2nd October the Battalion entrained at POPERINGHE and detrained at
the ASYLUM YPRES and bivouacked east of YPRES near the MENIN GATE during the night of
2/3rd October and the day of 3rd October.
Source: 42nd Battalion War Diary - Report of Operation for period ended October
2nd 1917 AWM 4 23/59/12
Reaching there, we bivouacked at a location near a cemetery a little after
midday. (Brahms) |
 |
Right: Troops in transit
at Poperinghe Station 30 September 1917. Note the 'slouched hats' of
3rd Division troops in the centre foreground. Source: Imperial War Museum (IWM)
Photographic Archives Q 3965 |
| Right: Aerial photograph of Ypres (Autumn 1917) showing the route
past the Cloth Hall, the Grot Markt and leading to the Menin Gate in the top right corner |
 |
1805info8e, sheet 4
The 42nd's progress through shell-torn Ypres to their final bivouac
Column 1 top: The heavily shelled Ypres Asylum 1915
Column 1 bottom: The pre-War buildings have been incorporated into the modern H.Hart
Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis
Column 2: 'Left wheel' opposite the railway station into Cloertplein
Column 3: Boterstraat
Column 4 top: A period post card showing the burning Cloth Hall
Column 4 bottom: The rebuilt Cloth Hall and Grot Markt
Column 6: The modern Menin Gate, unveiled in 1927, where 54,900 names of The Missing are carved. |
 |
Source of map: 11th Brigade War Diary, TNA WO95/3425
Click on the map or any of the images to load a larger image, generally 700x525 pixels.
Column 1 top: The modern railway crossing
Column 1 bottom: The remains of the Ypres town moat. Beyond the 1917 bridge was the sign
'Tin hats to be worn beyond this point'
Column 2: The shell damaged Ypres Station date unknown Source: IWM Q.17,304
Column 3 top: 'Right wheel' at the corner of Fochlaan
Column 3 bottom: Looking along Fochlaan to the station
Column 4 bottom: Gustave de Stuersstraat,
Column 7: The turning into the 43rd Battalion's bivouac. There was no obvious
turning to the area where the 42nd bivouacked. |
1805info8e, sheet 5
 |
| Above: A modern town map of Ypres showing the route followed by the 42nd |
When the 5th Battalion passed through the city it was ...
'... a grim example of the horrors of modern war. Formerly a prosperous city, whose
architectural beauties alone were enough to make it noted, it was now nothing but a devil's
dustheap. There was not a building, public or private, that had not been hammered and blasted to a
shattered ruin of tottering walls, or lay so much more cruelly smashed that nothing but a heap of
stones and splintered timbers littered the spot where once it stood.
In this city of crumbling stone, the German shells still whined and crashed,
grinding to finer pieces the ruin they had already achieved. Ypres was very unsafe, even in the
crypts and cellars that sheltered most of the troops, and the vicinity of the railway station and
Lillegate was always most unhealthy by reason of the shelling that these places constantly received.
Around and in the city were other signs of the bloody and desperate fighting of
which it had been the centre. The graves of Hun and Briton were so many thousand separate proofs,
if such had been needed, that War had passed though this place.' (Keow 2009, page 239)
The 41st would
'... never forget one's first impression of the most historical city of the war—
Ypres. This was the first large town we had seen the victim of "Kultur", and even the first dreams
we had of this place, when we heard it was to be our fighting sector, did not come up to reality.
Ypres, with its silent streets and stricken houses, which once throbbed with the life of a
laughter-loving people, will for ever remain in our memories. It stands a monument for all time to
the thousands who lie round it beneath little white crosses; they who, by their noble
self-sacrifice, prevented the enemy from ever treading its streets.' (MacGibbon 2010, page 61)
1805info8e, sheet 6
Wednesday 3 October 1917: Establishing the line at Zonnebeke
Temperature 64°F. Overcast skies resulted in 1.2mm of rain.. (Source: All
weather: McCarthy, 1995)
From the 27 September the ANZAC pioneers and engineer had been engaged in extending
the duckboards along the tracks for the approach march, but these ended before the front
line. There was no time to plank the artillery road or lay the all the telegraph wires.
The start of the attack depended on how quickly the II ANZACs, with short notice of its
task, could be brought up to the front and to make their preparations.
The map on the right shows the tracks leading to 11th Brigades assembly point in
preparation for the attack of 4 October 1917. The assembly points are marked by parallel
lines, with 11th Brigade on the right flank.
Although 'Jack Track' was constructed after the battle, perhaps because of the German
bombardment at 05.30am, it connects with 'F' Tracks, which in turn leads to the 42nd
Battalion's overnight bivouac. It is possible that 'Jack Track' was built on the original
track. The assembly position was still reached by a 'corduroy road' of logs making a
'causeway over bog'.
The Artillery Road marks the line of the Ypres to Rouliers railway.
Right: 11th Engineers Zonnebeke track map
Source: 11th
Field Company, Australian Engineer's War Diary, October 1917, page 27, Australian War Memorial
Click on the map to open the full 72kB A4 landscape map, which extends from the outskirts
of Ypres, linking to the map in 1805info8e, to Tyne Cot. |
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The weather was uncertain, and the slight misty rain in the afternoon of 3 October gave some
warning of the difficulties to be faced. The twice daily preliminary bombardment, had consisted
largely of practice barrages which, from 1 October, churned the ground of the attack and the area
beyond. On the night of 3/4 October John henry moved forward to the start line.
At 10pm on the night of October 3rd the approach march began. We found
marching a very difficult performance owing to the several sharp showers which had rendered the
ground sodden and sticky and made visibility very poor. Fortunately the route [The Battalion
map above suggest this was 'F' track] was marked by tapes, white posts, and red lights, and
these were more or less discernable in the dark. (Brahms 1938, page 47)
1805info8e, sheet 7
3/4 October 1917
John henry's 'A' Company, No. 4 Platoon and Corporal D Bowden's section began
to move forward between 21.00 hours and 22.00 hours. The II
Anzac faced two serious obstacles. First the Zonnebeke valley, and then, beyond the
Zonnebeke-Langemark road, the shallow basin of the Hannebeek. Both were quagmires, and both were
subject to almost permanent shellfire.
The full moon was hidden, and, from the point where the duckboards ended, the tracks,
although excellently marked with tapes and stakes, were difficult, especially in the
Zonnebeke valley, which lay close behind the jumping-off tapes. Engineers had bridged the
swampy beds at seven points with duckboards, but some of the crossings had been destroyed by
shellfire leaving men and equipment to struggle through the bog. The approach of the 3rd
Division was under direct observation of the Germans, on the close-by Windmill Cabaret Hill
[Hill 40], who were constantly firing white flares and coloured signals and delaying
the approach.
The stepping-off point was based on the trenches created after the attacks of 20 - 26
September, facing the German lines north-east of the Zonnebeke to Langemarck road. Dochy
Farm New British Cemetery, the site of Van Isackere Farm, was in No Man's Land and Dochy
Farm part of the German front line.
The space for the 11th Brigade's assembly ahead of the Zonnebeke was so narrow the
41st Battalion, destined for later objectives, assembled besides Brigade
Headquarters 1,200 yards in rear. However, because of constant German barrage the
41st moved forward and squeezed behind 10th Brigade. (Bean 1941,
page 841)By 03.00 the approach march was completed.
‘Trenches’ were shell holes around a pill box captured earlier 27
September, 200 yards from the front, near Zonnebeke station. |
 |
Right above: A photograph of the start-line
tapes, dated 4 October 1917
Source: Imperial War Museum (IWM) Photographic Archives Australian collection, access
number unknown |
The approach march is described in the unit history of the 41st Battalion.
At 11 p.m., after a hot meal, the advance march began. Picking our way amongst the
debris and shell-holes along the railway embankment, under desultory shelling, we reached the
viaduct. Here we had to lie up for an hour while assembly-tapes were put out. The front was by no
means quiet, and this hour, spent under continuous shelling, is numbered amongst the longest ever
passed by many. At length a further move forward to Bremen Redoubt was made, and although the
assembly-place was here, it was thought inadvisable to stay, so we moved across the Zonnebeke
River. In crossing we had at least thirty casualties. We had to run the gauntlet of a heavy area
shoot on the three duckboard bridges which spanned this waste of mud and water, and two out of
three were destroyed under our feet. Shelter was taken in shell-holes in rear of the three
battalions who were to take the first three objectives. Our role was the taking of the fourth and
final one. (MacGibbon 2010, p.62)
The 44th found the approach as difficult:
When the head of the column (and 700 men in single file on a dark night form "some"
column) reached the Zonnebeke it was found that the duck-board bridge over it had just been shot
away. There was nothing for it but to sit the Battalion in their tracks while the guide found
another crossing. After an hour's search in the darkness and mud, another bridge was found closer
to the railway line, and by 2 a.m. on October 4 the whole Battalion was assembled in its allotted
position. (Longmore 2009, page 99)
1805info8e, sheet 8
The battlefield
Right: An annotated and composite aerial photograph of Zonnebeke taken
before 1914
Click on the image to open the original A4 landscape
Source: Bostyn 2007 |
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