Friday 26th
October 1917
Another
attack has been made today on the village of Passchendaele and its ridge as
well as on the village of Gheluveldt along the Menin Road. These attacks have
involved eight divisions.
For the first
time in three weeks, serious fighting returned to the vicinity of the Menin
Road. Here 7th Division attacked south-east towards Gheluveldt. Those with long
memories have been struck by the fact that this division, which then included
2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, saw its first action in this very
vicinity almost exactly three years ago, making an attack from Gheluveldt
towards Gheluwe on 15th October 1914. That attack ended in failure and retreat.
Today’s attack seems to have been little more successful. 91st Brigade could
make any headway against a solid wall of machine-gun fire. 20th Brigade, at
times waist-deep in water, did penetrate the village, getting to within one
hundred yards of the church. Then came a wave of German counter-attacks which
pushed the attackers out of the village and almost back to their starting
positions. Those who remember it tell me what a pleasant little place
Gheluveldt was before the war, sitting on its ridge over-looking Ypres to the
west and Gheluwe to the east. Evidently the enemy are very fond of it, too, and
will not give it up without a prolonged struggle.
Next in the
line going north is 5th Division, who were also in this vicinity three years ago.
This division attacked with 13th Brigade, heading south-east along the north
side of the Menin Road down the valley of the Scherriabeek, which has become
vile, stinking bog. On 16th October the 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment
played a war game called “The Taking of Polderhoek Chateau”. That feat was
achieved for real today by 15th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment but they
were forced to pull back, because the units on either flank had made no
progress, letting the enemy back into the strong-point he had lost. He then
counterattacked the Warwicks and the last we heard the whole of the brigade was
back at its starting line of this morning.
The adjutant
of the 1st Bedfords told me that at ten o’clock this morning he had received a
message from divisional headquarters that all objectives had been taken. At
noon another message was received saying that the Warwicks had abandoned the
chateau and that 2nd Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers had been ordered
to reinforce the attack. At 1.15 pm the adjutant received orders for the
Bedfords to the support the Borderers and the Battalion moved forward arriving
at a spot called the Tower at 4.30. An hour later they were ordered to take
over in the front line between the foul morasses of the Reutelbeek and the
Scherriabeek which they are in the process of doing as I write this.
So much for
the attacks along the Menin Road. The other main area of attack has been the
Passchendaele Spur. 4th Canadian Division is astride the road from Broodeseinde
to Passchendaele and their attack, by 10th Brigade, was aimed directly for the
village. They seized their first objective but, under relentless
counter-attacks have withdrawn nearly to their starting position. On the left
is 3rd Canadian Division whose attack, by 8th and 9th Brigades, headed in the
direction of Mossemarkt and Goudberg. Again, they made their first objective
but could not go any further. Nevertheless, Wolf Copse and Bellevue have been
taken.
63rd (Royal
Naval) Division are next in the line, though 4th Bedfords are still in support
closer to Ypres. The attack was made by 188th Brigade comprising two battalions
of sailors and two of Royal Marines. As with the Somme last November, many have
been the wry remarks about the battlefield being so flooded that the navy has
been sent in. Only in the centre was the attack prevented from getting too far
forward, the right flank taking Varlet Farm and the left flank taking Bray Farm
and Berks Houses. Thus the majority of the first objective has been taken and consolidated.
58th (2nd/1st
London) Division made the attack on the navy’s left flank, using one brigade,
the 173rd, pushing north-east from Poelcapelle. Cameron House and its
blockhouses fell quickly but then the advance stalled and we understand that
enemy counter-attacks this afternoon have pushed the Londoners back to their
original line.
57th (2nd
West Lancashire) Division attacked with 170th Brigade but, in truth, never
really began. It simply could not get through the marsh in front of it. A few
men were able to get round the morass and establish posts in Memling farm and
Rubens Farm, which were unoccupied by the enemy but that has been the extent of
what was possible.
Finally, 50th
(Northumbrian) Division, heavily involved in the final stages of the Somme
campaign in the bitter fighting in the bogs around the Butte de Warlencourt was
faced with more of the same today when 149th Brigade was ordered to attack
north-eastwards towards Schaap-Balie. The weight of fire from the enemy,
combined with the state of the ground has reduced their advance to one of
eighty yards in some places, no advance at all in others.
The attacks
today have not had the same success as some of those of recent times. The
enemy’s resistance seems to be stiffening as the year fails and the weather
closes in. Still the village of Passchendaele, which seems to have become
something of a touchstone for the later stages of this battle, remains untaken.
This evening
we hear that Brazil has joined the long list of civilized countries which have
lost patience with German aggression. A few days ago one of their ships was
sunk by a U-Boat and its captain taken prisoner. Relations have not been good
between the two states for most of this year but this has been the final straw
and Brazil has declared war on Germany. Whether we see any soldiers from the
land of the samba remains to be seen(1)
Source: X550/2/5
(1) Only about twenty men were sent to the
Western Front to learn the strategy and tactics of modern war. The Brazilian
navy, however, played an important part in anti-U-boat operations in the South
Atlantic.
