I would like to copy this blunt summary of the Passchendaele offensive.
"On 26 October the Canadians set out for their ‘Road to Passiondale’ in the pouring rain. Five days later General Plumer gets even more troops at his disposal. Meanwhile the name of the village has acquired mythical proportions: ‘Passion-dale’, ‘the valley of suffering’.
On 6 November the Canadians manage to occupy the village, or what is left of it. They can make no further progress and on 10 November the offensive peters out on top of the ridge.
The result of Haig’s ‘Flanders Offensive’ is distressing: after 100 days the allies have advanced hardly eight kilometres.The human toll is enormous. 250,000 Allies killed, injured or missing, a quarter of the troops deployed. On the German side losses are just a bit lower."
5 comments:
wow I have just come across this blog and it looks really interesting. I am a history lover and have always been interested in the 20th century wars although I haven't been able to go as much in depth as I would have liked to. To follow the story of this individual sounds like a great plan. keep it up.
thanks
My Great Grandfather was at Gallipoli, then onto the Western front, where he was wounded 3 times
He received the military medal and the croix de guerre. He came home in 1919. We only disvovered this about 5 years ago.His brother Harry was also killed in France. I am so pleased to have found this blog. I am adding you to my blogroll. cheers kim
this is amazing
ill reaad more about this later too
One of the little known stories of Passchendaele is about a Canadian Indian named Pegamgabow. In the nights preceding the awesome clash, Peggy went behind enemy lines to return with detailed descriptions of where the German artillery and the various gun emplacements where located, all the way back to the German bivouac area. When the battle commenced the Canadians moved swiftly forward, with Peggy reporting from the flanks. they knocked out all the guns and captured the bivouac area. Then Peggy went back to find the relief party, lost in no-man's-land, guided them to the other troops, then guided the fighting unit back behind the lines. It was an enormous shock to the German generals to find that in all the chaos, a complete and successful military mission had been achieved, and many of those generals mentioned it in their memoirs. Peggy was awarded the Military Medal.
have just found this blog and it is so very interesting to me as I have been to Belgium and visited all the 1st world war graves.Will keep reading.Lydia
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