Cave - Polygon Wood

Prelude: 20 September 1917

One of the determining factors in the geographical boundaries laid down for this book has been the construction of the A 19 motorway, running to the south west of Polygon Wood. This makes it quite difficult to follow on the ground the various movements of the troops, so it has been decided that this part of the action will be included in a later work on the Battle of the Menin Road.

What undoubtedly has been lost to most people in the persistence of the association of Third Ypres with the village of Passchendaele and rain, mud, more mud and desolation, are the considerable developments in a whole range of areas in both the offensive and the defensive. In the offensive there was further work on the artillery, the use of wireless, continued progress in the matter of logistics, developing battalion, company, platoon and section formations and tactics and so it continues. In the defence there was further experimentation with the idea of counter-attack (or Eingreif ) divisions and the use of low-flying aircraft. There were also a number of limited, bite and hold, offensives which were extremely successful and this applies to both the Battle of the Menin Road and the Battle of Polygon Wood. The weather was full of contrasts whereas August was a month notable for the quite appalling and unusual level of rainfall, September was very dry. So, undoubtedly, conditions were absolutely abysmal for much of the battle, especially at its beginning and in the final weeks, and the landscape was transformed from what is actually pretty bleak most of the time into utter devastation. Yet the Third Battle of Ypres was also vitally important in the continuing evolution and development of both armies, British and German.

Fatigue party (in more ways than one) during the Third Battle of Ypres.

The offensive came to a temporary halt on 28 August, and Plumers Second Army moved into the southern half of the Salient to take over the offensive there, heading for the Gheluvelt Plateau; as the battle progressed his left extended further and further to the left, taking on the responsibility for capturing the Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele, securing the right flank whilst Goughs Fifth Army worked its way north eastwards.

The Official History summarises the situation at the end of August,

The casualties alone (68,100 from 31 July - 28 August) do not give the full picture of the situation; for , apart from actual losses, the discomfort of the living conditions in the forward areas and the strain of fighting with indifferent success had overwrought and discouraged all ranks more than any other operation fought by British troops in the War so that, although the health of the troops did not suffer, discontent was general: the soldier hates discomfort more than he fears danger.

What a contrast this comment is to that which the Official Australian Historian makes of the atmosphere on the late morning of 20 September.

It is difficult to recapture the sudden lift of spirits experienced throughout the British side on that battlefield when news spread that the British line again ran across the main heights, through Polygon Wood.

He goes on to say

This success differed from all others in which Australians had yet participated, in that it was part of a well planned series of operations leading definitely towards victory in the war. But, though it caused some rejoicing in England and France , its real importance was probably underrated there; earlier failures had caused the people to be cautious and the governments sceptical.

Plumer was given three weeks to prepare his Army for the next phase of the battle. The preparations were extraordinarily methodical and massive in their scale; the main purpose of these efforts was to bring up the artillery, build emplacements and provide the infrastructure to maintain the vast quantities of ammunition that these guns would require. The two main railheads for the supply of ammunition between them could only take a maximum of eleven trains a day, and it was estimated that his plans required 156 trainloads above normal usage. Light railways were laid to bring material up from here closer to the line.

The roads were also a major problem. One way circuits were built, for example at Hooge, made for the most part of planks. This process was assisted by the dry weather, ...the sea of mud in the forward area gradually turned into a brown dusty desert.

The artillery plan was meticulously carried out something that had become a feature of British assaults, at least in the opening phase of a battle, such as at Arras and Messines. However the long pause confused the Germans, who became convinced that the British were moving their effort further south, something that might have been reinforced by the earlier attack, in mid August, of the Canadian Corps against Lens. The Germans became accustomed to a variable barrage, at different times of the day, of different length, and with a variety of ammunition. They appreciated a major attack was imminent as zero came closer, and captured documents from an officer in the early hours of 20 September confirmed this but rather too late for them to put in an effective artillery protective blanket of their own.