Friday 12th
October 1917
Eight
divisions have made concerted attacks today across a broad front stretching
from Broodeseinde in the south to Veldhoek in the north. The main aim has been
to take the village of Passchendaele and the spur on which it sits. However, it
has been wet again and the conditions underfoot have been even worse than
during the attack on 9th and this has severely limited the amount of ground
which has been taken.
The 4th
Australian Division formed a block on the flank of their compatriots further
north. They took their first objective but made no attack on the second as the
division on their left flank could make on further advance. This was 3rd
Australian Division which attacked in two brigades attacking north-east from
the area around Tyne Cot(1). Patrols from 9th Brigade got into the village of
Passchendaele where they encountered men wounded in the attack by 66th (2nd
East Lancashire) Division three days ago. The terrible conditions, however,
meant that men could not be got up quickly enough, nor were there enough men
available, as the brigade’s flank was not secure, to consolidate and hold the
village and the division, to its chagrin, was forced to fall back nearly to its
start line. 10th Brigade, attacking on 9th Brigade’s left, could not get very
far at all, we understand, though it took Waterfields on the Ravebeek, now a
morass of deep, sucking slime. Mounting casualties from machine gun fire from
their flank caused the brigade to abandon its attack and pull back to its
starting position. We understand that there is great frustration amongst the
division’s commanders and, indeed, corps and army headquarters that the village
of Passchendaele, which is a major prize, has had to be abandoned but in truth
the men seem to have done all they could, fighting not just the Germans but the
ground and the elements.
On 3rd
Australian Division’s flank is the splendid New Zealand Division, which, again,
used two brigades in its attack. The attack of 2nd Brigade was destroyed by the
fact that the artillery had not done its job, only one narrow section of the
enemy’s barbed wire around the road to s’Gravenstafel. The 1st and 2nd
Battalions of the Otago Regiment have, we are hearing suffered horrific
casualties from enemy fire for no ground gained; clearly it was not from want
of trying(2). 3rd New Zealand Brigade became intermingled with 9th (Scottish)
Division early in the attack. They captured the cemetery at Wallemolen and took
Wolf Farm, getting as far as Wolf Copse and then the attack was halted given
the misfortune developing with 2nd Brigade. It was planned, we understand to
re-commence the attack in mid-afternoon, but this was called off due to the
severity of the rate of casualties.
9th
(Scottish) Division used the 26th Brigade to make its attack. On the right
Adler Farm, part of the first objective, was taken and Wallemolen was entered.
However, the Germans had numbers of defenders in the village and managed to
turn the Scots out again, so they consolidated just west of the houses, a gain
of about two hundred yards. On the left an advance of only about one hundred
yards has been possible, we hear.
18th Division
are on the left flank of the Scots and their attack was undertaken by 53rd and
55th Brigades. 7th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment forms part of 54th Brigade
and spent the day in attack practice at Tunnelling Camp well behind the line. 55th
Brigade attacked Poelcapelle and Meunier House. They managed to take the best
part of Poelcapelle, but the brewery on the eastern edge of the village proved
too tough a nut to crack, as did Meunier House. There have been a number of
counter-attacks to try and retake the village by the enemy through the
afternoon but the last we heard the 18th Division is still in possession,
adding another village to its impressive list of seizures since the opening day
of the Battle of the Somme.
Next in the
line is 4th Division which attacked with a composite brigade made up from the
battalions in the division with the greatest numbers of men. Again, the advance
was limited but some ground has been made and two farms, Besace and Memling
have been taken.
17th
(Northern) Division is on the left flank of 4th Division and used 51st Brigade
in its attack. This attack has been a great success and all objectives have
been taken, including the strongpoint at Senegal House. This was bypassed
during the attack and, extraordinarily, we have been told that the whole garrison
of ninety men surrendered to three unarmed men of the 7th Battalion,
Lincolnshire Regiment, who were bringing up supplies!
The final
attack was made by 3rd Brigade of the Guards Division. Their attack was due
north, towards Houthulst Forest. As twilight closed in this evening the 2nd
Battalion, Scots Guards took blockhouses at Angle Point and Aden House at the
point where the division’s right flank met the left flank of 4th Division. The
rest of the line now runs along the southern fringes of the forest.
So the second
great attack this month has seen some more useful progress. It is unclear now
long General Plumer and his staff plan to continue the offensive, but, clearly,
they are not finished yet and, if nothing else, we suspect they will want to
seize Passchendaele and its ridge.
(1) Today
this is Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission
cemetery in the World with 11,965 inhabitants.
(2) The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists 265
men from the Otago Regiment dying on 12th October and the numbers of wounded
will probably have been at least twice this number. Overall 847 men from New
Zealand units were killed or died of wounds on this day, compared to 866 from
Australia (which had two divisions in the attack to New Zealand’s one). 1,854
men from British units died - there were five British divisions in the attack
but the figure will include British units from across the World, so it can be
seen that Antipodean units suffered far greater casualties than their UK
counterparts.
