Commemorating the WW1 Battle of Passchendaele Today 12th October 2017. (1 Viewer)

[Desertkiwi]

Although I'm writing from a Kiwi perspective, the commemorations for the battles for Passchendaele involve many countries this week

The 12th October 1917 is considered New Zealand’s darkest day in WW1, for on this day our military suffered its highest one day death toll seeing 843 men killed in a few hours after its failed attack on Bellevue Spur at Passchendaele, Belgium.

The attacks should never have gone ahead and were a complete fiasco from the start.

Mud and rain had affected the ability of the artillery to provide a sufficient barrage to cut barbed wire and suppress enemy resistance.

Regardless, fighting as part of the ANZAC corps the attack began at 5:25am that saw the Kiwi’s advance into a hail of machine gun fire that raked them from the front and flank. They became pinned down in shell craters and hung up on barbed wire. They eventually fell back to positions close to their start lines, having to leaving many badly wounded comrades lying in the mud.

Today NZ and many other nations commemorate this horrendous battle/s around the country and overseas.

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealands-blackest-day-at-passchendaele

 

[BHogan]

Although I'm writing from a Kiwi perspective, the commemorations for the battles for Passchendaele involve many countries this week

The 12th October 1917 is considered New Zealand’s darkest day in WW1, for on this day our military suffered its highest one day death toll seeing 843 men killed in a few hours after its failed attack on Bellevue Spur at Passchendaele, Belgium.

The attacks should never have gone ahead and were a complete fiasco from the start.

Mud and rain had affected the ability of the artillery to provide a sufficient barrage to cut barbed wire and suppress enemy resistance.

Regardless, fighting as part of the ANZAC corps the attack began at 5:25am that saw the Kiwi’s advance into a hail of machine gun fire that raked them from the front and flank. They became pinned down in shell craters and hung up on barbed wire. They eventually fell back to positions close to their start lines, having to leaving many badly wounded comrades lying in the mud.

Today NZ and many other nations commemorate this horrendous battle/s around the country and overseas.

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealands-blackest-day-at-passchendaele

Lest we forget.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Although I'm writing from a Kiwi perspective, the commemorations for the battles for Passchendaele involve many countries this week

The 12th October 1917 is considered New Zealand’s darkest day in WW1, for on this day our military suffered its highest one day death toll seeing 843 men killed in a few hours after its failed attack on Bellevue Spur at Passchendaele, Belgium.

The attacks should never have gone ahead and were a complete fiasco from the start.

Mud and rain had affected the ability of the artillery to provide a sufficient barrage to cut barbed wire and suppress enemy resistance.

Regardless, fighting as part of the ANZAC corps the attack began at 5:25am that saw the Kiwi’s advance into a hail of machine gun fire that raked them from the front and flank. They became pinned down in shell craters and hung up on barbed wire. They eventually fell back to positions close to their start lines, having to leaving many badly wounded comrades lying in the mud.

Today NZ and many other nations commemorate this horrendous battle/s around the country and overseas.

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/new-zealands-blackest-day-at-passchendaele

Douglas Haig was a disgrace. He knew he was going to be sacked for lack of success, so he launched this attack, knowing it had no chance to succeed, and had all the church bells in England rung to announce a great victory (the short one day advance), thereby saving his job. He stands atop my list of generals I would love to see executed by their own men.

 

[Desertkiwi]

Douglas Haig was a disgrace. He knew he was going to be sacked for lack of success, so he launched this attack, knowing it had no chance to succeed, and had all the church bells in England rung to announce a great victory (the short one day advance), thereby saving his job. He stands atop my list of generals I would love to see executed by their own men.

Agreed, I know it's easy to criticize such decisions in hindsight, but when the chances of success were virtually slim to none in the first place, such acts seem criminal to me and beyond reason. Commanders like Haig have much to answer for, but so to have the people that put the likes of him in charge and continued to support him no matter what.

One of the more sobering things about Passchendaele was the horrendous weather the men were ordered to fight in and the staggering number of troops who actually drowned in the mud before getting anyway near the German lines.

 

[Desertkiwi]

This clip helps explain the battle in a couple of minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLhS-ioXunc