Product Description

On 31st July 1917, the small Belgian village of Passchendaele became the focus for one of the most gruelling, bloody and bizarre battles of World War I. By 6th November, when Passchendaele village and its ridge were captured, over half a million British, French, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and Germans had become casualties. Philip Warner's account of the battle to capture Passchendale brings together all the elements of this horrific campaign - the historical background, personal accounts, strategies and tactics, the personalities and political movements. He investigates the issues that had a crucial effect on the course of the battle, including the mutinous state of the French army, and the bombardment that destroyed the drainage system.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #761143 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

Mud, blood and tears
Passchendaele by Philip Warner
Although originally published by Sidgewick and Jackson in 1987, I assumed that its appearance in the Wordsworth Military Library was just that company's cynical ploy to expand their budget range in a new direction. Well that may or may not be the case. Either way, we are given a second opportunity to discover what is actually a very well written book about the muddiest and bloodiest campaign of the Great War: the third battle of Ypres. In a nut-shell, the objective of the campaign, was to push the front-line around Ypres back approximately 10 kilometres across a front of about 30 km. Whilst at the same time, knock the Germans and their artillery off the ridge from which they had a commanding view over the allied front line. Also, this degree of activity would keep the German army sufficiently occupied that they would not be able to take advantage of the demoralised and mutinous French troops elsewhere on the western front.

Warner has written an excellent account of the campaign with a great deal of detail spent in describing how it took 6 months to complete a planned campaign of about 4 weeks. An endless sea of mud churned up by incessant shelling meant that an advance of 1500 m could easily be followed up by a withdrawal of half that distance. In the end, it became a battle of attrition: to keep slugging away with hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides until only one army was still standing! Warner gives a scathing account of life for the general staff based many kms behind the front line but saves his greatest criticism for Haig and his cronies. There are plenty of examples of the life of the lowly private and also of the brave acts performed by individuals during the many assaults on the German line.

There are a number of chapters dedicated to peripheral activities: the Royal Army Medical Corps (special for me because my grandfather was on the Somme and at Ypres as an ambulance driver), the Wipers Times and Army chaplains. There is also a brief chapter giving the view from the German side with several extracts from German memoirs. Finally, there is a guide for the tourist visiting the site today.

The book is of 160 pages with 10 maps and 14 pages of interesting photographs. One annoying issue with the maps: Warner in company with many of his peers fails to make sure that if a place-name is mentioned in the text, then it should be on the map!

Otherwise, a good read!