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Tactics and Strategy Because the Germans
were so well entrenched and because the battlefield was a terrible quagmire of
mud and water, Currie insisted on some time for preparation. He was given two
weeks. Reinforced platforms had to be built so that the big guns would not recoil
into the mud. Duckboards or trench mats were constructed – wooden pathways
thrown over the pools of water and mud that the men would have to move along.
Those who fell off, and many did, sometimes drowned, sinking out of sight in
the oozing slime of the shell holes. Currie also had the men construct corduroy
roads (laying timbers down) to allow the transport of supplies to the battle.
Just in the building of those paths, the Allies suffered 1,500 casualties from
German snipers.
On the morning of October 26, the battle began. Currie, having learned from
previous battles, laid down curtains of advance fire, behind which the men creeped
across the muddy battlefield. The artilllery barrage was at least partially successful.
The men, weighed |
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down by wet and mud-caked greatcoats and slipping and falling in the
muck, made progress, but at great cost. The 3rd and 4th Divisions suffered more
than 2,500 casualties, gaining less than 1,200 metres of territory. Machine-
gun
fire from the pillboxes was deadly and the slow-moving Canadians were easy targets
for the German gunners. The 46th Battalion suffered an appalling 70 per cent
casualties in the advance. On October 30, the second phase of the attack began.
The Canadians pushed
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The Battle of Passchendaele
Interactive Map
Canadians are mired in a three-month long assault in
deadly mud and enemy fire with little gain to show for the deaths.
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