Failure On The Somme

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Saphroneth

Banned
Not meaning to be a grouch, but...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele#cite_note-FOOTNOTEFalls194038.E2.80.9339-18
Nivelle planned an operation in three parts, with preliminary offensives to pin German reserves by the British at Arras and the French between the Somme and the Oise, a French breakthrough offensive on the Aisne, then pursuit and exploitation. The plan was welcomed by Haig with reservations, which he addressed on 6 January. Nivelle agreed to a proviso that if the first two parts of the operation failed to lead to part three, they would be stopped so that the British could move their main forces north for the Flanders offensive, which Haig argued was of great importance to the British government.[17] Haig wrote on 23 January, that it would take six weeks to move British troops and equipment from the Arras front to Flanders and on 14 March he noted that the attack on Messines Ridge could be made in May. On 21 March, he wrote to Nivelle that it would take two months to prepare the attacks from Messines to Steenstraat but that the Messines attack could be ready in 5–6 weeks. On 16 May, Haig wrote that he had divided the Flanders operation into two phases, one to take Messines Ridge and the main attack several weeks later.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battl...te_note-FOOTNOTETerraine197731.2C_55.2C_94-20https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele#cite_note-FOOTNOTETerraine199915-21


You're still copying large chunks of text directly from Wikipedia. And not sourcing them.
 
I'm saying that most of the information will be taken from Wikipedia until I can find appropriate sources that deal with dubious, incomplete and uncovered bits. Stuff that happened in reality or in very similar manners without significant differences would be taken from Wikipedia while the alternate history would be mostly taken. And here's a table of links for your information and consideration.
Main battles
Associated articles
 
I'm saying that most of the information will be taken from Wikipedia until I can find appropriate sources that deal with dubious, incomplete and uncovered bits. Stuff that happened in reality or in very similar manners without significant differences would be taken from Wikipedia while the alternate history would be mostly taken. And here's a table of links for your information and consideration.
Main battles
Associated articles

The thing is a great many people here are thoroughly familiar with WWI and the Somme, we don't really need a cut and paste replay. Simply concentrating on the AH material would be better, and frankly the wall of text formatting is making that almost impossible to find. Its also worryig that you seem to be implying you don't have any other sources of information besides Wikipedia.
 
....... and frankly the wall of text formatting is making that almost impossible to read and understand...
Sorry but I take one look at the last post and think :eek: 1334 words and all in one block, it doesn't matter how good it is if nobody finishes it....
(maybe 5 paragraphs but not a line separating them)
 
Passchendaele Preparations

Preparations for the Offensive
Preparations for British offensives in Flanders began in 1915, when the Hazebrouck–Ypres rail line was doubled and was assisted by the building of a new railway from Bergues–Proven which was doubled in early 1917. Progress on roads, rail lines, railheads and spurs in the Second Army zone was continuous and by mid-1917, gave the area the most efficient supply system of the British Expeditionary Force. Several plans and memorandum for an offensive on Ypres were produced between January 1916 and May 1917, in which the writers tried to relate the offensive resources available to the terrain and the likely German defence. In early 1916, the crucialness of the capture of the Gheluvelt plateau for an advance further north was emphasised by Haig and the army commanders.
On 14 February 1917, Colonel Macmullen of GHQ proposed that the plateau be taken by a mass tank attack, reducing the need for artillery; in April a reconnaissance by Captain G. Le Q. Martel found that the area was unsuitable for tanks. On 9 February, commander of the Fourth Army General Rawlinson believed that Messines Ridge could be taken in one day and that the capture of the Gheluvelt plateau would be essential to the attack further north. He suggested that the southern attack from St. Yves to Mont Sorrel should come first and that Mont Sorrel to Steenstraat should be attacked within 48–72 hours. After discussions with Rawlinson and Plumer and the incorporation of Haig's changes, Macmullen submitted his memorandum on 14 February. With amendments the memorandum became the GHQ 1917 plan.
On 1 May 1917, Haig wrote that the Nivelle Offensive had weakened the German army despite the failure and resulting mutinies resulting from the offensive. However, an attempt at a decisive blow and breakthrough would be too early, at least until the French Army recuperated. An offensive at Ypres would continue the wearing-out process on a front where the Germans could not refuse to fight, despite the option of Cambrai being available and more tactically useful. After all, despite the defences of the Hindenburg Line, the terrain was more favourable for an attack than the muddy and shell-ladden fields of Flanders; not to mention the fact that tanks which were expected to break the defences if not stalemate would be better piercing the land in more advancable terrain and creating the decisive blow. However, Ypres might be necessary without a supporting major French offensive and despite the conditions unfavourable to the British, even a partial success would improve the tactical situation in the Ypres salient, reducing the exceptional "wastage" of time and military which occurred even in quiet periods, at least in the stubborn mindsets of Haig. If not, a diversionary offensive on Ypres or Messines while the major attack was decided elsewhere would tie up German troops, especially when combined with a major amphibious landing named Operation Hush. In early May, Haig set the timetable for the Flanders offensive, with 7 June the date for the preliminary attack on Messines Ridge. A week after the Battle of Messines Ridge, Haig gave his objectives to his Army commanders: wearing out the enemy, securing the Belgian coast and connecting with the Dutch frontier by the capture of Passchendaele ridge, followed by an advance on Roulers and Operation Hush, an attack along the coast with an amphibious landing. If manpower and artillery were insufficient, only the first part of the plan might be fulfilled. On 30 April, Haig told Gough the Fifth Army commander, that he would lead the "Northern Operation" and the coastal force, although Cabinet approval for the offensive was not granted until 21 June.
British Offensive Preparations
Haig selected Gough to command the offensive on 30 April and on 10 June, Gough took over the Ypres salient north of Messines Ridge. Gough planned an offensive based on the GHQ 1917 plan and the instructions he had received from Haig. On the understanding that Haig wanted a more ambitious version, Gough held meetings with his Corps commanders on 6 and 16 June, where the third objective, which included the German Wilhelm (third) line a second-day objective, was added to the two objectives due to be taken on the first day. A fourth objective was also given for the first day but was only to be attempted at the discretion of divisional and corps commanders, in places where the German defence had collapsed. An attack of this nature was not a breakthrough operation, because the German defensive position Flandern I lay 10,000–12,000 yards (9,100–11,000 m) behind the front line and would not be attacked on the first day. The Fifth Army plan was more ambitious than Plumer's earlier version, which had involved an advance of 1,000–1,750 yards (910–1,600 m]. Major-General J. Davidson, Director of Operations at GHQ, wrote in a memorandum that there was "ambiguity as to what was meant by a step-by-step attack with limited objectives" and suggested reverting to a 1,750 yards (1,600 m) advance, to increase the concentration of British artillery. Gough stressed the need to plan to exploit an opportunity to take ground left temporarily undefended and that this was more likely in the first attack, which would have the benefit of long preparation. After discussions at the end of June, Haig and Plumer the Second Army commander endorsed the Fifth Army plan.
German Defensive Preparations
The 4th Army held a front of 25 miles (40 km) with three Gruppen, composed of corps headquarters and a varying complement of divisions and Group Staden, based on the headquarters of the Guards Reserve Corps was added later. Group Dixmude held 12 miles (19 km) with four front divisions and 2 Eingrief counterattack divisions, Group Ypres held 6 miles (9.7 km) from Pilckem to Menin Road with three front divisions and two Eingreif divisions and Group Wijtschate held a similar length of front south of the Menin road, with three front divisions and three Eingreif divisions. The Eingreif divisions were stationed behind the Menin and Passchendaele ridges. About 5 miles (8.0 km) further back, were four more Eingreif divisions and 7 miles (11 km) beyond them, another two in Oberste Heeresleitung [supreme German Army High Command, or OHL) reserve.
German worries that the British would capitalize on their triumph at Messines, by advancing to the Bassevillebeek (Tower Hamlets) spur, beyond the north end of Messines ridge, led Crown Prince Rupprecht to contemplate a withdrawal to the Flandern line in the area east of Messines. Construction of defences in the area began but on 13 June, after the arrival of Colonel Fritz Von Lessberg following his appointment as the new Chief of Staff of the 4th Army. Lossberg rejected the proposed withdrawal to the Flandern line and ordered that the current front line east of the Sehnen line (Oosttaverne Line) be held tightly, as the front of a deepened Flandern Stellung (Flanders Position), in front of the Flandern line. The existing line was to become Flandern I, with a new Flandern II line to be built west of Menin, northwards to Terhand and Passchendaele, at the back of a new Flandern II Stellung. Construction of Flandern III was begun east of Menin to run north to Moorslede.
On 25 June, the First Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff returned to OHL headquarters and suggested to Rupprecht, that Group Ypres should withdraw to the Wilhelm (third) line, leaving only outposts in the Albrecht (second) line. On 30 June, General Hermann Von Kuhl, the army group Chief of Staff, suggested a withdrawal to Flandern I along Passchendaele ridge, meeting the old front line in the north near Langemarck and close to Armentières in the south. Such a withdrawal would avoid a hasty retreat from Pilckem Ridge and force the British into a time-consuming redeployment. Lossberg disagreed, believing that the British would launch a broad front offensive, that the ground east of the Sehnen line was easy to defend, that the Menin road ridge could be held, if it was made the Schwerpunkt (point of main effort) of the German defensive effort. Pilckem Ridge deprived the British of ground observation over the Steenbeek Valley, while the Germans could see the area from Passchendaele Ridge, allowing German infantry to be supported by observed artillery fire. Lossberg's judgement was accepted and no withdrawal was made.
British attack plans
Haig chose Gough to command the offensive on 30 April and on 10 June, Gough took over the Ypres salient north of Messines Ridge. Gough planned an offensive based on the GHQ 1917 plan and the instructions he had received from Haig. On the belief that Haig wanted a more ambitious and devastating version, Gough held meetings with his Corps commanders on 6 and 16 June, where the third objective, which included the German Wilhelm (third) line a second-day objective, was added to the two objectives due to be taken on the first day. A fourth objective was also given for the first day but was only to be attempted at the discretion of divisional and corps commanders, in places where the German defence had collapsed. It would be more likely that the attack would be contemplated for the next day. An attack of this nature was not a breakthrough operation, because the German defensive position Flandern I laid 10,000–12,000 yards (9,100–11,000 m) behind the front line and could not be assaulted on the first day. The Fifth Army plan was more extensive than Plumer's earlier version, which had involved an advance of 1,000–1,750 yards (910–1,600 m). Major-General J. Davidson, Director of Operations at GHQ, wrote in a memorandum that there was "ambiguity as to what was meant by a step-by-step attack with limited objectives" and suggested reverting to a 1,750 yards (1,600 m) advance, to increase the concentration of British artillery. Gough stressed the need to plan to exploit an opportunity to take ground left temporarily undefended and that this was more likely in the first attack, which would have the benefit of long preparation. After discussions at the end of June, Haig and Plumer the Second Army commander endorsed the Fifth Army plan.
 
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Dude where are you going with this? I don't think anybody's been able to read through those walls of Wikipedia and find what's supposed to be AH about them.
We know the Somme, just focus on the alternate history part, or at least use brackets [like this] to point out where the AH stuff is if you really must copypaste everything
 
Battle of Plickem Ridge

British Second Army
Due to the advantageous observation by the Germans in daytime, zero hour had been chosen for dawn at 3:50 a.m., but with mist and unbroken cloud at 500–800 feet (150–240 m), it was still dark when the British bombardment began. The shelling was maintained for six minutes, while the British infantry crossed the 200–300 yards (180–270 m) of no man's land, then the barrage began to creep forward at a rate of 100 yards (91 m) in four minutes. The attack extended from opposite Deulemont in the Second Army area, to the boundary with the Fifth Army, to enforce the German belief that a serious effort was being made to capture the Warneton–Zandvoorde line. The II Anzac Corps took the German outpost line west of the Lys river. The New Zealand Division captured La Basse Ville, south-west of Warneton, in street fighting with the German garrison, who eventually withdrew towards Warneton and the 3rd Australian Division captured outposts and strong points of the Warneton line near Gapaard.
To the north, IX Corps with the 39th and 19th divisions, advanced 500 yards (460 m) astride the Wambeke and Roosebeke streams and down the Oosttaverne spur between them, to the blue line (first objective) 1,000–1,500 yards (910–1,370 m) forward. The 19th Division attacked from Bee Farm in the south to Forret in the north. Two battalions of the 37th Division were attached to the right flank of the 19th Division to capture the blue line, from July to Bee Farms and revert to the command of the 37th Division for the next phase, for an attack south of July Farm. The 19th Division attack was conducted by the 56th Brigade, with three attacking battalions and one in reserve. Each battalion assembled in the front line and the support battalions took post in the old British front line, which had been made redundant by the Battle of Messines in June, then advanced to occupy the vacated front-line positions, when the attack began. Artillery support came from the 19th divisional artillery, the left group of the 37th divisional artillery and two 6-inch batteries of the IX Corps heavy artillery; a machine-gun barrage was to be fired by about 30 machine-guns. The right battalion reached the objective very quickly, capturing Junction Buildings, Tiny and Spider farms, as the 63rd Brigade battalions of the 37th Division formed a defensive flank by 4:10 a.m. One of the 37th Division battalions had gained touch with the rest of their division on the right but a gap of 300 yards (270 m) had opened between Wasp Farm and Fly Buildings. Further to the left a 19th Division battalion had reached the blue line but further on the left, companies of the next attacking battalion has been pushed back south and south-west of Forret Farm. Prisoners claimed that the attack was expected later in the day and that a measure of surprise was obtained. Mopping up and consolidation began, although the unexpected darkness made this difficult.
At about 5:30 a.m. German artillery fire increased and German soldiers were seen dribbling forward near Pillegrem's Farm, east of the junction with the 37th Division. Engineers and pioneers had begun work on strong points and communication trenches, despite the interference of the German barrage and by 11:00 a.m. had turned Tiny Farm into a strong point and completed communication trenches back to the old front line. More Germans were seen dribbling forward and small-arms fire became intense, when at 6:40 a.m. a smoke screen rose at the junction of the 19th and 37th divisions; the Germans attacked at 7:40 a.m. and overran some of the 63rd Brigade troops on the far right, halting the advance at later recaptured Tiny Farm. Reinforcements from the 19th Division, were prevented from reaching the old front line by German machine-gun fire. More reinforcements arrived and defensive flanks were formed, until a counter-attack on Rifle Farm was organised at 8:00 p.m., which succeeded until a fresh German attack moments later forced it back again. A second attack in the north on Forret Farm was repulsed late in the day and the division was ordered to consolidate.
X Corps attacked with the British 41st Division's support on either side of the Comines canal, captured Hollebeke village and dug in 500–1,000 yards (460–910 m) east of Battle Wood. Much of the X Corps artillery was used to help the Fifth Army by counter-battery fire on the German artillery concentration behind Zandvoorde. The 41st Division attack was hampered by frequent German artillery bombardments, in the days before the attack and the officers laying out markings for the assembly tapes during the night of 30 July, exchanged fire with a German patrol. High explosive and gas shelling never stopped and one battalion lost 100 casualties in the last few days before the attack. At zero hour the attack began and the division advanced down the hill to the first German outposts. At one part of the battlefield, German pillboxes had been built in lines from the front-line to the rear, from which machine-gunners kept up a steady fire. The strong points on the left were quickly suppressed but those on the right held out for longer and caused several casualties, before German infantry sallied from shelters between the front and support lines on the right, only to be repulsed by British small arms fire and that of a Vickers machine-gun, fired by the Colonel in command of the battalion. Mopping-up the remaining pillboxes failed, due to the number of casualties and a shortage of ammunition. It began to rain and at 4:00 a.m. and many Germans were seen massing for a counter-attack. Reinforcements were called for and rapid fire opened on the German infantry but the attack succeeded in reaching the pillboxes still holding out on the right after taking a failed German counterattack. The British artillery began firing as reinforcements arrived, the Germans were forced back and the last pillboxes captured. The front line had been advanced about 600–650 yards (550–590 m) on a front of 2,500 yards (2,300 m), from south of Hollebeke north to the area east of Klein Zillebeke.
British 5th Army
For the army, its offensive began at 3:50 a.m., which was intended to coincide with dawn but low cloud which meant that it was still dark. The main British effort was made by II Corps across the Ghelveult Plateau, on the southern flank of the Fifth Army. II Corps had the most difficult task, advancing against the principal German defensive concentration of artillery, ground-holding and Eingreif divisions. The 17th Brigade on 24th Division's right flank reached its objective 1,000 yards (910 m) east of Klein Zillebeke. The 73rd Brigade in the centre was stopped by German pillboxes at Lower Star Post and 72nd Brigade on the left reached the Bassevillebeek but then had to withdraw to a line south from Bodmin Copse, a few hundred yards short of the blue line (first objective].
British 30th and 18th Divisions had to advance across the Gheluvelt plateau to Glencorse Wood. The 21st Brigade on the right lost the barrage, as it crossed the shelled wreckage of Sanctuary Wood and took until 6:00 a.m. to capture Stirling Castle Ridge. Attempts to advance further were stopped by German machine-gun fire. The 90th Brigade to the left was stopped on the first objective. German artillery fire fell on Sanctuary Wood and Chateau Wood from 5:00 a.m. and succeeded in stopping the advance, except for a short move forward of about 300 yards (270 m) south of Westhoek. In the dark, a battalion had veered left into Château Wood, in the 8th Division sector and reported that it had captured Glencorse Wood. The attached 53rd Brigade of 18th Division moved forward, into ground that both divisions believed to be clear of German defenders, it was not until 9:00 a.m. that the mistake became known to the divisional commanders. The 53rd Brigade spent the rest of the day attacking an area that 30th Division was supposed to clear. 30th Division and 24th Division failed to advance far due to the boggy ground, loss of direction in the dark and because much of the German machine-gun defence on this section of the front remained intact.
British 8th Division advanced towards Westhoek and took the Blue and Black lines relatively easily. The southern flank then became exposed to the concentrated fire of German machine-guns from Nonne Boschen and Glencorse Wood in the area to be taken by the 30th Division. The difficulties of the 30th Division further south were unknown to the 8th Division, until just before the 25th Brigade was due to advance over Westhoek Ridge. Brigadier-General Coffin decided that it was too late to stop the attack and sent a company of the reserve battalion to fill the gap to the south, which was not enough to stop German enfilade fire, so the Brigade consolidated on the reverse slope and held the crest with Lewis-gun posts. Pockets of ground lost to German counter-attacks were regained by British counter-attacks. British artillery barrages prevented German counterattacks by making it impossible for German infantry to advance further in this area.
XIX Corps attacked with 15th Division on the right, next to the II Corps boundary along the Ypres–Roulers railway and 55th Division north to just short of St Julien. Their objective was the black line up the bare slope of Frezenberg Ridge, then across the valley of the Steenbeek to the green line on the far side. If German resistance faltered or collapsed, reserve brigades were to advance to the red line beyond Gravenstafel. The advance went well but then increasing resistance from fortified farms delayed exploitation of the offensive. Several tanks managed to follow the British infantry and attack strong-points like Bank Farm and Border House, allowing the advance to continue. After a pause for consolidation on the black line, the reserve brigades of the XIX Corps divisions began their advance to the green line a mile beyond, as the sun came out and a mist formed. On the right the advance encountered enfilade fire, from the area not occupied by 8th Division beyond the Ypres–Roulers railway. The 164th Brigade of 55th Division had a hard fight through many German strong-points but took Hill 35 and crossed the Wilhelm (second) line, an eventual advance of about 4,000 yards (3,700 m). Patrols pressed beyond the Zonnebeek–Langemarck road with one platoon being destroyed by ten expected prisoners at Aviatik Farm on Gravenstafel spur after a short fight.
XVIII Corps took the first objective to be captured and after an hour, moved down to the Steenbeek, one of the muddiest parts of the battlefield, behind a smoke and shrapnel barrage. Both 39th and 51st Divisions then established themselves on the stream for 3,000 yards (2,700 m), from St Julien to the Pilckem–Langemarck road. Several tanks were able to help capture strong-points delaying the advance and outposts were established across the stream.
The attack had most success in the north, in the area of XIV Corps, with the British Guards and 38th Divisions along with I Corps of the French First Army achieving some captures. German inactivity east of the Yser canal led to the Guards Division crossing it without artillery preparation on the afternoon of 27 July easily. The German front line was found to be unoccupied, so the Guards lurked forward 500–700 yards (460–640 m) beyond the canal, as did the French 1st Division on the left. The 38th Division front line was on the east side and it moved forward slightly, against German small-arms and artillery-fire. On this section of the front, the Entente forces advanced 3,000–3,500 yards (2,700–3,200 m) to the line of the Steenbeek river. The preliminary bombardment had destroyed the front line of the German position and the creeping barrage supported the infantry attack at least as far as the first objective. The infantry and some tanks dealt with German strong points, which were encountered after the first line and forward battle zone had been penetrated, pushing on towards the further objectives. A number of field batteries moved forward once the black line had been captured, to join those established there before the attack, which had remained silent to avoid detection. Small cavalry probes were also carried out but German fire stopped them before they reached the green line.
French First Army
The French First Army was to attack with two divisions of I Corps on the left of the British Fifth Army, in close contact as flank protection from a German counter-attack from the north. The operation involved a prolonged movement over difficult country, to capture the peninsula between the floods at the St. Jansbeek stream and Martjevaart to the Yser Canal. The advance was to be by bounds from one defined line to another, based on the positions of the German defensive lines and the configuration of the ground. The front held by the French extended 5 miles (8.0 km) from Boesinghe to the north of Nordschoote. The ground to the north was a morass created by the Belgians after flooding of the area during the Battle of the Yser back in 1914. The paved road between Reninghe, Nordschoote and Drie Grachten ran on a bank just above the water level. Into the inundations ran the Kemmelbeek, Yperlee and Martjevaart. Between Nordschoote and the Maison du Passeur pillbox, the opposing lines were separated by a wide stretch of ground, which was mostly flooded. At the Maison du Passeur there was a French outpost on the east side of the Yser Canal, connected with the west bank by a footbridge. From this point to Steenstraat, no man's land was about 200–300 yards (180–270 m) wide. From Boesinghe to Steenstraat the Yser canal running from Ypres, formed the front line. The German trenches were on drier ground but barely above water level and parapets and breastworks had been built. It had proved impossible to build concrete artillery-observation posts, which left the position liable to a surprise attack.
Two divisions of the French 1st Corps advanced at 3:50 a.m. on 31 July in a thick overcast, on a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) front, using 39 bridges thrown over the Yser canal since its occupation on 27 July. The German first line north to Steenstraat was taken easily and then the advance began on the second position. The French kept pace with the Guards Division to the south, after a delay until 2:30 p.m. on the right at Colonel's Wood, caused by fire from German pillboxes, reached the final objectives then pressed on to take Bixschoote and Kortekeer Kabaret. In the early afternoon a German counter-attack, at the junction of the Anglo-French armies on the Steenbeek took parts of the loss territory before being repulsed. The position gained by the French was not easily defensible, consisting of half-flooded craters that dissolved into rivulets when connected. Contact with the rear was difficult to maintain over the moonscape of shell-holes, many of them wide and of great depth but the French infantry had been issued supplies for four days to minimise the difficulty. The 2nd Guard Reserve Division advanced through Houthoulst Forest towards the junction of the British Fifth and French 1st armies but the attack bogged down in deep mud. A prisoner said that in his company of about 150 men, barely fifty reached attacking distance and most of those took cover in shell-holes. The first four days of August were exceptionally rainy, which added to the difficulty of maintaining troops in the ground captured on 31 July. On 4 August despite the mud the First Army advanced east of Kortekeer Kabaret and took two farms west of the road from Woumen to Steenstraat.
At noon the advance on the II Corps front had been stopped by the local German defenders and their artillery. The arrival of the British advance further north on the green line, 500 yards (460 m) beyond the Steenbeek on the XIX Corps front at about 11:00 a.m. took a long time to be communicated to the British divisional headquarters because of mist, slow going by runners, cut signal cables and poor reconnaissance results from contact-patrol aircraft, caused by troops being unwilling to light flares while overlooked by German defences. Around 3:00 p.m. Gough ordered all XIX Corps troops to advance to the green line, in support of the three brigades which had reached it. Delays persisted and a German force approaching from behind the Broodseinde–Passchendaele ridge was not seen by British aircraft. A message from a ground observer did not reach 15th Division headquarters until 12:53 p.m. and rain began soon after, cutting off the view of advanced British troops by artillery observers.
A German creeping barrage began at 2:00 p.m. along XIX Corps front, then German troops attacked the flanks of the most advanced British positions. The 39th Division was pushed back to St Julien, exposing the left of the 55th Division, just as it was attacked frontally over the Zonnebeke spur by six waves of German infantry, preceded by a barrage and three aircraft which bombed and machine-gunned British troops. Attempts to hold the ground between the black and green lines failed because of the communication breakdown, speed of the German advance and worsening visibility as the rain increased during the afternoon. The 55th and 15th division brigades beyond the black line, were rolled up from north to south and either retreated or were overrun. It took until 6:00 p.m. for the Germans to reach the Steenbeek, as the downpour added to the mud and flooding in the valley. When the Germans were 300 yards (270 m) from the black line, the British stopped the German advance with artillery and machine-gun fire.
The success of the British advance in the centre of the front caused serious concern to the Germans. The defensive system was designed to deal with some penetration but it was meant to prevent the 4,000-yard (3,700 m) advance that XVIII and XIX Corps had achieved. German reserves from the vicinity of Passchendaele were capable of counter-attacking from 11:00–11:30 a.m. when the three British brigades facing the counter-attack by regiments of the German 221st and 50th Reserve Divisions of Group Ypres had their strength depleted and thinly spread. The British brigades could not communicate with their artillery due to the rain and because the Germans also used smoke shell in their creeping barrage. The German counter-attack was able to drive the British back from the green line along the Zonnebek–Langemarck road, pushing XIX Corps back to the black line. The Germans also recaptured St Julien just west of the green line on the XVIII Corps front, where the counter-attack was stopped by mud, artillery and machine-gun fire. The three most advanced British brigades had lost 75% casualties by the time they had withdrawn from the green line.
On the flanks of the Entente attack, German counter-attacks had some success. In the XIV Corps area, German attacks made some impression against British troops, who had had time to dig in but managed to push back a small bridgehead of the 38th Division from the east bank of the Steenbeek, after having suffered moderate losses from British artillery, when advancing around Langemarck. The Guards Division north of the Ypres–Staden railway held its ground; the French repulsed the Germans around St Janshoek but were unable to capture Bixschoote. German counter-attacks in the afternoon against II Corps on the Gheluvelt plateau, intended to recapture Westhoek Ridge, were able to advance a short distance from Glencorse Wood before the 18th Division artillery and a counter-attack repulsed the attack with some casualties. In the Second Army area south of the plateau at La Basse Ville, a powerful attack at 3:30 p.m. took the plateau back before the New Zealand Division halted it with some casualties. X Corps also managed to retain its gains around Klein Zillibeke against a big German attack after having some casualties at 7:00 p.m.
 
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Subsidiary Operations of early Passchendaele

Operation Sommernacht
Operation Sommernacht [Summer's Night] was a local German attack near Hollebeke, which began at 5:20 a.m. on 5 August. After a short bombardment, three companies of I Battalion, Infantry Regiment 62 captured a ridge 1 km (0.62 mi) north-east of Hollebeke, surprising the British who fell back 80 metres (87 yd). The new German observation positions were on higher and drier ground, which deprived the British of observation over the German rear and reduced casualties from British artillery fire. Further to the south, Reserve Infantry regiments 209 and 213 of the 207th Division, attacked Hollebeke through thick fog and captured the village, despite many casualties and took at least 400 prisoners. Most of the British had occupied captured pillboxes and blockhouses, which had to be attacked one by one and at 5:45 a.m., three signal flares were fired to indicate success. The Germans later reoccupied the old "A line", then the Germans withdrew to their start line, because of the severity of British counter-attacks and artillery fire after inflicting some casualties. Operation Sommernacht left the front-line ragged, with a gap between regiments 209 and 213, which the British tried to pierce in the days before the larger scale local attack of 10 August.
Capture of Westhoek
II Corps attacked on the 10 August, to take the part of the black line held by the Germans on 31 July. British artillery fire was distributed across the battlefront for the general attack due later by the Fifth British and First French armies, to the green line of 31 July. German artillery fire was focused on the II and XIX Corps fronts. British counter-battery efforts were hampered by the adverse weather, which made air observation extremely difficult. Much of the British counter-battery effort was wasted because the British were unable to see German artillery shifting position and often bombarded empty emplacements and fake guns, along with several guns unlucky enough to be in the sector, although the Germans wrecked several British guns. The state of the ground, German artillery fire and British artillery losses predicted the situation in late October opposite Passchendaele ridge. The 8th and 30th divisions had been relieved by 25th and 18th divisions by 4 August but postponements caused by the rain and reliefs of the front-line troops every 48 hours had exhausted all of the battalions by 10 August.
On 10 August, an attack by the 24th Division on Lower Star Post failed, after German sentries caught sight of the British troops assembling in moonlight and shelled the troops. The principal advance was made by the 18th Division in the centre and succeeded quickly but German artillery began an SOS barrage at 6.00 a.m., from Stirling Castle to Westhoek. The German barrage isolated the foremost infantry beyond Inverness Copse and in Glencorse Wood, as local German reserves began immediate counter-attacks. Around 7:00 p.m., German infantry advanced behind a smokescreen and recaptured the copse and all of Glencorse Wood. The 74th Brigade of the 25th Division advanced at 4:25 a.m., fast enough to evade the German barrage on the British front line and reached its objectives by 5:30 a.m., assisted by the shells of five brigades from the Royal Field Artillery. The German garrison in Westhoek was hurried to counter the attacks, while on the right flank, sniping and attacks by German aircraft, caused considerable casualties during the day. The division held its gains around Westhoek but lost 158 men killed, 1,033 wounded and more than 100 missing. The difficulties encountered by the 18th Division in Glencorse Wood on the right, as it was pushed back towards its start line, allowed German snipers and machine-gunners to obstruct consolidation in the 25th Division area, particularly on the right flank, as the German troops reoccupied positions lost earlier in the day.
Lieutenant-General Claud Jacob, the II Corps commander, argued for a delay in the general offensive to complete the advance on the Gheluvelt plateau, particularly by gaining superiority over the German artillery behind the plateau and repairing tracks through the woods, to allow the replenishment of supply dumps close to the front line. Gough was mindful of Operation Hush and only willing to postpone the offensive for a day, then for another 24 hours, after a thunderstorm late on 14 August.The 8th Division commander, Major-General W. Heneker had written to Jacob on 12 August, urging that the 56th Division must be supported adequately by artillery for its attack and the proceeding bombardments should precede the attack of the 8th Division. The ground in front of II Corps sloped down from a high point on Menin Road to the Hanebeek valley. Failure in the 56th Division area on the right, would risk troops further north to cross-fire from Inverness Copse and Glencorse Wood. The suggestion was rejected but the 18th Division's 53rd Brigade was added to the 56th Division as a reinforcement on the day before the attack.
Diversionary action at Hill 70 [Introduction]
Hill 70 was a position located at the coal producing city of Lens in northwestern France. The town was captured by the well-known German advance of October 1914. As a result, the Germans held the dominating heights at Hill 70 to the north of the city and Sallaumines Hill to the southeast, both of which had spectacular views over the surrounding area as well as the city itself. Hill 70 was a treeless expanse at the end of one of the many spurs. In September 1915, the British captured the hill during the Battle of Loos, but it was recaptured after the British defeat at the battle.
The commander of the British First Army, General Henry Horne, ordered the Canadian Corps to replace the British I Corps from their position opposite the city of Lens on 10 July 1917 and free them up as a reserve. He asked the Commander of the Canadian Corps, Arthur Currie, to prepare a plan for capturing the town by the end of July 1917. The operation was intended to divert as many German formations as possible, preventing any reinforcement of the Ypres sector during the third battle for the renowned town and salient. Command of the Canadian Corps had only recently changed. A month earlier, Canadian Corps commander Julian Byng was promoted to the rank of General and commander of the British Third Army, replacing General Edmund Allenby, who was sent to Palestine. In turn, Arthur Currie, commander of the 1st Canadian Division, was promoted to the position of Lieutenant-General and took official control of the Canadian Corps. The diversionary operation was to begin in mid-August 1917.
Currie believed that capture of either Hill 70 or Sallaumines Hill as tactically more important than control of the city of Lens. If the Canadians just took the city while the Germans held the high ground, it would place them in an unfavourably lower and more exposed position than the ones currently occupied. At a conference of corps commanders, Currie persuaded the First Army commander General Henry Horne to make Hill 70, not the city of Lens, the main objective of the limited offensive. Controlling Hill 70 would provide excellent observation over the German lines, in preparation for any future offensives. Currie thought the Germans would counterattack if Hill 70 was captured because of its observational importance. Nevertheless, Currie thought that the advantageous observational position of Hill 70 would allow properly directed artillery to effectively halt any counterattacks. The plan was therefore to occupy the high ground directly after the assault, establish defensive positions and utilize combined small arms and artillery fire to repel expected counterattacks and inflict as many casualties as possible.
In an attempt to increase deception over the Germans, minor operations were undertaken in an effort to show an imminent attack by the British First Army south of La Bassée canal. This included an attack by the 9th Canadian Brigade against units of the German 36th Reserve Division at Mericourt trench and a British First Army attack using poison gas north of Loos, with both taking place in late July 1917.
Unexpectedly heavy weather led to the delay of the attack on Hill 70 from late July until mid-August. In the interim, special Royal Engineering companies increased the typical level of tbombardment by firing a total of 3,500 gas drums and 900 gas shells into Lens by 15 August. The artillery neutralized 40 out of an estimated 102 enemy batteries in the area by zero hour, partly with the technique of predicted fire with datum points and calibrated guns for the first time, which improved the accuracy of artillery fire greatly. Troops were moved through the reserve area to conduct necessary practice in preparation for the assault. These certain preceeding actions to an attack were observed by the Germans, which made it impossible to hide the First Army's general intentions or even, as it turned out, the date of the assault. The best that could be done was to attempt to mislead the Germans with respect to exact time and place. To this end I Corps staged exercises with dummy tanks on 14 August, directly west of Lens.
Initial assault on Hill 70 and German counterattacks
The plan to capture Hill 70 demanded 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions to attack on a front of 4,000 yards (3,700 m). Their objective was to take the key enemy defensive positions on the eastern and reverse slope of Hill 70. The objectives were marked off in depth by three stages. In the first stage, the assaulting troops would capture the German front-line trenches. The German second position on the crest of the hill during the second stage and the final stage, marked by the German third line, on the reverse side of the slope, some 1,500 yards (1,400 m) from the starting position. The 1st Canadian Division's 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade would attack north of Hill 70 while the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade would attack the summit itself. The 2nd Canadian Division's 4th and 5th Canadian Infantry Brigades would attack the rubble remains of the suburbs of Cité St. Édouard, St. Laurent and St. Émile directly south of Hill 70.
The assault began at 4:25 a.m. on the morning of 15 August, just as dawn was breaking. Special companies of the Royal Engineers fired drums of burning oil into the suburb of Cité St. Élisabeth and at other selected targets in order to reinforce the rolling barrage of the artillery guns and build up a smoke-screen for hiding the attack and its true intentions from the Germans. Divisional field artillery positions launched a rolling barrage directly in support of the attacking troops while field howitzers shelled German positions 400m in advance of the rolling barrage and heavy howitzers shelled all other known German strong-points. Artillery Forward Observation Officers moved forward with the infantry and artillery observation aircraft flew overhead and sent 240 calls for artillery fire by wireless. The Germans had moved up their reserve units on the previous night in anticipation of an attack. The main assembly of Canadian troops was detected by 3:00 a.m. and within three minutes of the attack commencing the German artillery brought down defensive fire at widely scattered points. The affected forward positions of the German 7th Division and 11th Reserve Division were quickly overwhelmed. Within twenty minutes of the attack beginning, both Canadian Divisions had reached their first objective. By 6:00 a.m. the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade had reached the second objective line while units in the other three brigade had in some cases already reached their final objective. However, only the flanking companies of the two battalions attacking Hill 70 itself managed to reach their objectives before being counterattacked out of the objectives. The remainder of the both units were forced to retreat up the slope and consolidate their position at intermediate objective line.
On the right flank of the 2nd Canadian Division, the 12th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Canadian Division executed a diversionary operation which proved successful in drawing German retaliatory fire away from the main operation. Four hours later, the 11th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Canadian Division attempted to exploit the weakened German force by pushing strong patrols towards the centre of Lens. This ultimately proved unsuccessful as the Germans used local counterattacks across the 4th Canadian Division's front to drive the patrols back to the city's outskirts.
In anticipation of German counterattacks, the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions began to reinforce and construct strong points immediately upon taking the first objective line. Within two hours of the start of the battle, the Germans began using their immediate reserves to launch local counterattacks. Between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., on the morning of the 15th, the Germans launched four local attacks against Canadian positions. Each attack was repulsed due in large part to the work of forward artillery observers who could now overlook some of the German positions. However, in at least one instance the counterattack was only repulsed after engaging in hand-to-hand fighting and taking of heavy casualties. The Germans rapidly brought up seven additional battalions from the 4th Guards Division and 185th Division to reinforce the eight line battalions already in place. Over the following three days, the Germans executed no less than 21 counterattacks against Canadian positions. A frontal attack against the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade on the afternoon of 15 August ultimately failed. A German attack against the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade was initially successful with the Germans re-capturing Chicory Trench but the attack was repulsed later the same afternoon.
Final Assault on Hill 70 and German counterattacks
The morning of 16 August was silent, with only a few attempts made by small German parties to approach the Canadian lines. After having failed to capture all their objectives the previous day and having postponed additional attacks a number of times, the 2nd Canadian Brigade attacked and captured the remainder of its final objective line on the afternoon of 16 August. The assault lasted a little over an hour but the troops were then forced to defend against a dozen German counterattacks during the day.
Attempts by the 4th and 11th Canadian Infantry Brigades to eliminate an enemy salient between Cité St. Élisabeth and Lens on 17 August failed and as had been foreseen the Germans continued to mount determined counterattacks. The German command began to realize that the Canadian and British artillery would need to be neutralized before any counterattacks would be successful. The Germans began a series of counterattacks against a chalk quarry under Canadian control outside of Cité St. Auguste but also sought to wear down the Canadian artillery resources by sending up false flare signals or provoking the infantry to call for unnecessary artillery fire. The Germans also began to use poison gas in earnest. From 15,000–20,000 of the recent Yellow Cross shells containing blistering sulfur mustard were launched in addition to an undetermined number of shells with diphosgene. The Canadian 1st and 2nd Artillery Field Brigades and the Canadian front line were heavily gassed. Many artillery men became casualties after gas fogged the goggles of their respirators and they were forced to remove their masks in order to set the fuses, lay their sights and maintain accurate fire. The Germans used the cover of gas to make a number of attempts against the Canadian controlled chalk quarry and Chicory Trench on the night of 17 August and early morning of 18 August. All attempts against the chalk quarry failed and only one company of the 55th Reserve Infantry Regiment (on loan to the 11th Reserve Division) managed to breach the Canadian defenses at Chicory Trench before being repulsed. German troops managed to pierce the Canadian line north of the quarry on the morning of 18 August before being driven out.
The front quieted significantly after the final attack against the chalk quarry. For the Canadian Corps, the following two days consisted largely of consolidation activities. The front line was drawn back 300 yards (270 m), midway between the original intermediate and final objective lines and the 4th Division slightly advanced its forward posts on the outskirts of Lens and extended its front northward to include the Lens–Bethune road. Currie however wish to further improve the position around Hill 70 and ordered an attack against enemy positions along a 3,000-yard (2,700 m) front directly opposite the 2nd and 4th Canadian Divisions.
Capture of Lens
The operation was scheduled for the morning of 21 August, the tasks being divided between the 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade, on the left, and the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade on the right. The attack was to begin at 4:35 a.m. however the German began shelling the Canadian positions at 4:00 a.m. and just before the Canadian attack was set to launch the 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade's left flank was attack by units of the German 4th Guards Infantry Division. Both forces met between their respective objectives, and desperate hand-to-hand and bayonet fighting ensued. In the chaos the 6th Brigade's advance all but collapsed. Communications between the brigade's forward units and brigade headquarters had broken down at the beginning of the attack and could not be restored due to heavy German shelling, making it all but impossible to coordinate further actions of the assaulting units and the artillery.
Counterattacks by the 4th Guards Division, reinforced by a battalion of the 220th Infantry Division ultimately forced any 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade units who had reached the objective line to retreat to the safety of the starting line. On the right flank, the 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade fared no better. One attacking unit suffered a large number of shellfire casualties while still assembling for the attack and were met the intense artillery and machine-gun fire as they neared their objective line. Only three small parties, the largest of not more than twenty men, reached their goal. The remaining two attacking units of the brigade managed to reach and capture their objectives but not until late in the evening. As a result of having only partially captured their intended objectives, a salient was created in the 4th Canadian Division's line. On the evening of 21 August an attempt was made to correct the situation by sending three parties to bomb the German position from the flanks but was only moderately successful. An additional attack planned for 22 August failed to materialize due to battalion-level misunderstandings. A brigade reserve unit was tasked with correcting the situation by attacking a slag heap called Green Crassier and the mine complex at Fosse St. Louis. The attack proved to be a miserable failure with the majority of the attackers being killed, wounded or taken prisoner. In the end the hotly disputed position was back in German possession and remained so until the German retreat towards the end of the war.
Later August on the Ypres Front
Lighter intensity British attacks from 19–27 August failed to hold captured ground, although a XVIII Corps attack on 19 August succeeded. Exploiting observation from higher ground to the east, the Germans were able to inflict many losses on the British divisions holding the new line beyond Langemarck. After two fine dry days from 17–18 August, XIX Corps and XVIII Corps began pushing closer to the Wilhelm (third) line. On 20 August, an operation by British tanks, artillery and infantry captured strong points along the St. Julien–Poelcappelle road and two days later, more ground was gained by the two corps, which still left them overlooked by the Germans in the un-captured part of the Wilhelm (third) line. II Corps resumed operations to capture Nonne Bosschen, Glencorse Wood and Inverness Copse around the Menin Road on 22–24 August, which failed and were costly to both sides. Gough laid down a new infantry formation of skirmish lines to be followed by "worms" on 24 August. Cavan noted that pill-box defences required broad front attacks, so as to fight them at the same time. The British general offensive intended for 25 August was postponed because of the failure of previous attacks to maintain hold of captured territory, following the Battle of Langemarck and then postponed due to worsening weather. Attacks on 27 August were minor operations that were indecisive and costly that Haig had to terminate due to tempestuous weather.
 
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Battle of Langemarck

At 4:45 a.m.on 16 August, an artillery barrage began the advance of the British troops. German flares were seen rising signalling the attack, but the German artillery response was too slow and nearly missed the attackers. In the 18th Division area, German machine-gun fire from pill-boxes caused meany losses to the 53rd Brigade, which was stopped in front of the north-west corner of Inverness Copse. Part of the brigade managed to work forward further north and formed a defensive flank, along the southern edge of Glencorse Wood. To the north, the 169th Brigade of the 56th Division advanced quickly at the start but veered to their right around boggy ground, then entered Glencorse Wood. The German main line of resistance was in a sunken road in the wood, where after a hard-fought engagement, with high losses to both sides, the German defenders were overcome and the rest of the wood occupied. The leading waves then advanced to Polygon Wood.
The 167th Brigade also had a quick start but when it reached the north end of Nonne Bosschen, found mud 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, the brigade turning round it to the left, but the gap which this formed between the 167th and 169th brigades was not closed. Another problem emerged, because the quick start had been partly caused by the rear waves pushing up, to avoid German shelling on the left of the brigade. The follow-up infantry mingled with the foremost troops and failed to mop up the captured ground and German troops who had been overrun, began sniping from behind at both brigades. The ground conditions in the 56th Division area were too awful for the tanks in support to be capable of supporting the attacks.
On the 8th Division front, the two attacking brigades got a good advance, behind an "admirable" barrage and reached the Hanebeek, where hand bridges were used to cross and continue the advance up Anzac Spur, to the green line objectives on the ridge beyond. Difficulties began on the left flank, where troops from 16th Division had not kept up with the 8th Division. After reaching the vicinity of Potsdam Redoubt a little later, the 16th Division was stranded for the next few hours, freeing up German machine-gunners north of the railway to enfilade the area of 8th Division to the south. On the right flank, the same thing happened to the 56th Division, which was stopped by fire from German strong-points and pillboxes in their area and from German artillery concentrated to the south-east. After a long fight, the 8th Division captured Iron Cross, Anzac and Zonnebeke redoubts on the rise beyond the Hanebeek, then sent parties over the ridge.
XIX Corps had the same difficulties as II Corps in preparing its attack by the 16th and 36th divisions, from north of the Ypres–Roulers railway to just south of St. Julien, which were to advance 1-mile (1.6 km) up Anzac and Zonnebeke spurs, near the Wilhelm (third) line. Providing carrying parties since the last week in July and holding ground from 4 August, in the Hanebeek and Steenbeek valleys, which were overlooked by the Germans had exhausted many men. From 1–15 August, the divisions had lost about a third of their front-line strength in casualties. Frequent reliefs during the unexpected delays caused by the rain, spread the casualties to all of the battalions in both divisions. The advance began on time and after a few hundred yards encountered German strong points, which were found undestroyed by a series of heavy artillery bombardments fired before the attack.
The 16th Division had many casualties from the Germans in Potsdam, Vampire and Borry farms, the reason being that these farms had not been properly mopped up due to a shortage of supporting infantry. As a result, German garrisons were able to shoot at the advancing British troops of the 48th Brigade from behind and none of the British troops managed to reach their objectives. The 49th Brigade on the left was also delayed by Borry Farm, which defeated several costly attacks but the left of the brigade got within 400 yards (370 m) of the top of Hill 37. The 36th Division also struggled to advance, Gallipoli and Somme farms were behind a new wire entanglement, with German machine-guns took advantage on gaps made by the British bombardment to fire shells from, which stopped the advance of the 108th Brigade. To the north, the 109th Brigade had to get across the swamp astride the Steenbeek. The infantry lost the barrage and were stopped by fire from Pond Farm and Border House. On the left troops got to Fortuin, about 400 yards (370 m) from the start line.
The attack further north was much more successful. In XVIII Corps, the 48th Division attacked at 4:45 a.m. with one brigade, capturing Border House and gun pits either side of the St. Julien–Winnipeg road, where they were held up by machine-gun fire and a small counter-attack. The capture of St. Julien was completed and consolidated along a line from Border House, to Jew Hill, the gun pits and St. Julien. Troops consolidating were fired on from Maison du Hibou and Hillock Farm, which was captured soon after, then British troops seen advancing on Springfield Farm disappeared. At 9:00 a.m., German troops gathered around Triangle Farm and at 10:00 a.m., made a counter-attack which was stopped after exhausting a battalion. At 9:30 p.m., another German counter-attack from Triangle Farm was repulsed, although another German counter attack took the gun pits and caused the Canadians to fight for them at night with some casualties from exhaustion and fire.
The 11th Division attacked with one brigade at 4:45 a.m. The right flank was held up by machine-gun fire from the 48th Division area and by pillboxes to their front, where the infantry lost the barrage. On the left, the brigade dug in 100 yards (91 m) west of the Langemarck road and the right flank dug in facing east, against fire from Maison du Hibou and the Triangle. Supporting troops from the 33rd Brigade, were caught by fire from the German pillboxes but reached the Cockcroft, passed beyond and dug in despite fire from Bulow Farm. On the left flank, these battalions reached the Langemarck road, passed Rat House and Pheasant Trench and ended their advance just short of the White House, joining with the right side of the brigade on the Lekkerboterbeek.
In the XIV Corps area, the 20th Division attacked with two brigades at 4:45 a.m. The battalions of the right brigade leap-frogged forward on a one-battalion front, crossed the Steenbeek and then advancing in single file, worming round shell craters full of water and mud. Alouette Farm, Langemarck and the first two objective lines were reached easily. At 7:50 a.m., the advance to the final objective began and immediately encountered machine-gun fire from the Rat House and White House, which continued until they were captured, the final objective being taken at 8:05 a.m., as German troops withdrew to a small wood behind White House. The left brigade advanced on a two-battalion front and encountered machine-gun fire from Au Bon Gite before it was captured and was then fired on from German blockhouses in front of Langemarck and from the railway station. Once these had been captured, the advance resumed at 8:20 a.m., despite fire from hidden parties of defenders and reached the final objective at 8:47 a.m., under fire from the Rat House. German counter-attacks began around 4:00 p.m. and advanced 200 yards (180 m) around Schreiboom, being driven back some distance later on.
The 29th Division to the north, attacked at the same time with two brigades. On the right the first objective was reached quickly and assistance given to the 20th Division further south. The Newfoundland Regiment crossed the terrain, being delayed slightly by marshy conditions and fire from Cannes Farm. The Newfoundlanders pressed on, reached the third objective and then took Japan House beyond. The left brigade took the first objective with some opposition, then encountered machine-gun fire from Champeaubert Farm in the French First Army sector and from Montmirail Farm. The advance continued to the final objective, which was reached and consolidated by 11:00 a.m. Patrols moved forward towards the Broombeek and a German counter-attack at 4:00 p.m. retook some of the farm before being stopped by exhausted troops with their artillery and small-arms fire. Langemarck and the Wilhelm (third) line, north of the Ypres–Staden railway and west of the Kortebeek had been captured, but the German strength was such that the positions were repeatedly fought over until night exhausted the troops.
French 1st Army
To the northern flank, the French operated from south of the hamlet of St. Janshoek on the east of the Steenbeek, north of Bixschoote and the edge of the floods to the Noordschoote–Luyghem road, which crossed the Yperlee at Drie Grachten (Three Canals). The Germans had counter-flooded the area between Dixmude and Bixschoote and had built fortifications to stop crossing or circumventing of the flooded area by attackers. The bridgehead of Drie Grachten was the main German defensive fortification in the area, which blocked the Noordschoote–Luyghem road where it crossed the Yperlee Canal, north of the Steenbeek, beyond the confluence with the Kortebeek, where the combined rivers became the St. Jansbeek. From Luyghem, a road ran south-east to Verbrandemis and the road from Zudyschoote and Lizenie crossed the Yperlee at Steenstraat and ran on to Dixmude. The capture of Luyghem, Merckem and the road was necessary for the French to threaten Houthoulst Forest, to the south of Dixmude and north of Langemarck. The bridgehead at Drie Grachten also gave the Germans a jumping-off point over the canal for a counter-attack across it. By 15 August, the French had closed up to the bridgehead from Bixschoote to the south-east and Noordschoote to the south-west.
West of the Yperlee Canal, the bridgehead consisted of a semi-circular work, which was built above ground, due to the waterlogged soil. Reinforced concrete shelters had been built and connected by a raised trench of concrete, earth and fascines, with a communication trench leading back to a command post. Several hundred yards forward on the causeway was a small blockhouse, joined to the work by a communication trench on the north side of the road. Barbed wire entanglements, above and below the water, extended in front of the post and blockhouse, astride the Noordschoote–Luyghem road. To the north was l'Eclusette Redoubt and another to the south, west of the Yperlee. The redoubts met with the ends of the defences on the eastern bank of the canal and enclosed the flanks of the position, 2 metres (6.6 ft) above the inundations. Platforms provided command of a wide arc of ground in front for machine guns. Across the Yperlee on the east bank, there was a rampart of reinforced concrete, behind and parallel with the canal, from opposite l'Eclusette to the southern redoubt. Communications between the concrete rampart and the defences of the Luyghem peninsula, were via the raised road from Drie Grachten to Luyghem and two footbridges through the floods, one north and one south of the road. Every 35–50 metres (38–55 yd), traverses with reinforced concrete shelters had been built.
The German redoubts in the area were much better defined targets than those across the Ypres–Staden and Ypres–Roulers railways and were more easily destroyed, as they were almost entirely above ground. The German floods hampered attack but also made moving reserves to threatened points complicated while the open country facilitated French aircraft observation of positions. The First Army objectives were the Drie Grachten bridgehead and the triangular spit of land between the Lower Steenbeek and the Yperlee Canal. The right flank was to cross the Steenbeek and assist the British XIV Corps to take the positions north-west of Langemarck and south of the Broombeek stream, which joined the Steenbeek just south of St. Janshoek. The Steenbeek was 2 metres (6.6 ft) broad and 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) deep at this point and widened between St. Janshoek and the Steenstraat–Dixmude road; from the Martjewaart reach to the Yperlee Canal it was 6 metres (20 ft) broad and 4 metres (13 ft) deep. During the night of the 15/16 and the morning of 16 August, French aircraft bombed the German defences, the bivouacs around Houthulst Forest and Lichtervelde railway station, 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Dixmude. French and Belgian air crews flew at a very low altitude to bomb and machine-gun German troops, trains and aerodromes and shot down three German aircraft.
The attacking divisions of the French I Corps crossed the Yperlee from the north-west of Bixschoote to north of the Drie Grachten bridge-head and removed the Germans from a part of the swampy Poelsele peninsula but numerous pillboxes built in the ruins of farmhouses further back were uncaptured. The French crossed the upper Steenbeek from west of Wydendreft to a bend in the stream south-west of St. Janshoek. Keeping pace with the British, they advanced to the south bank of the Broombeek. Mondovi blockhouse held out all day and pivoting on it, the Germans counter-attacked during the night of 16/17 August to penetrate between the French and British. The attack succeeded partially and the next morning, the French and British troops on the army boundary had little observation across the narrow Broombeek valley. Apart from resistance at several blockhouses, the French had achieved their objectives of 16 August relatively easily. The German garrisons at Champaubert Farm and Brienne House held out until French artillery deluged them with shells, which brought the German defenders to surrender after an hour. The French took more than 250 prisoners, numerous guns, trench mortars and machine-guns.
North and north-east of Bixschoote, the ground sloped towards the Steenbeek and was dotted with pillboxes. Just west of the junction of the Broombeek and Steenbeek, were the Les Lilas and Mondovi blockhouses, in the angle between the streams. The French artillery had shelled the Drie Grachten bridge-head for several days and reduced it to ruins, the concrete works being easily hit by heavy artillery and on 16 August, the French infantry waded through the floods and occupied the area. On the Poelsele peninsula the German defenders resisted until nightfall before being driven back, as the French closed up to the west bank of the Martjewaart Reach of the Steenbeek. North and north-east of Bixschoote, the French reached the west bank of the St. Janshoek reach and surrounded Les Lilas. On the night of 16/17 August, French airmen set fire to the railway station at Kortemarck, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Dixmude.
On 17 August, French heavy howitzers battered Les Lilas and Mondovi blockhouses all day and by the next morning's early hours, both strong points had been breached and the garrisons taken prisoner. The total of prisoners taken since 16 August, exceeded 300 and fifteen guns had also been captured. From the southern edge of the inundations and swamps, between Dixmude and Drie Grachten, the French line had been pushed forward to the west bank of the Steenbeek, as far as the south end of St. Janshoek. South of Mondovi blockhouse, the Steenbeek had been crossed and on the extreme right, the First Army had swung northwards to the south bank of the Broombeek, which eliminated the possibility of the British Fifth Army being threatened from the north. French engineers had worked in swamps and morasses to repair roads, bridge streams and build wire entanglements despite constant German artillery fire. The advance was made west of the northern stretch of the Wilhelm (third) line.
German 4th Army
The troops of 169th Brigade of the 56th Division, which tried to follow the leading waves from Glencorse Wood, were stopped at the edge of Polygon Wood and then pushed back by a counter-attack by the German 34th Division at approximately 7:00 a.m., overwhelming the advancing British. The brigade was driven back later in the afternoon to its start line by German attacks from the south and east by troops from a regiment of the 54th Division sent back into the line.The 167th Brigade pulled back its right flank as the 169th Brigade was seen withdrawing through Glencorse Wood and at 3:00 p.m. the Germans attacked the front of 167th Brigade and the 25th Brigade of the 8th Division to the north. The area was under British artillery observation and the German attack was stopped by massed artillery fire. At 5.00 p.m. the brigade withdrew, to a better position 350 metres (380 yd) in front of its start line, to gain touch with 25th Brigade. German artillery fired continuously on a line from Stirling Castle to Westhoek and increased the rate of bombardment from noon, which isolated the attacking British battalions from reinforcements and supplies and prepared the counter-attack made in the afternoon.
As the German counter-attacks by the 34th Division on the 56th Division gained ground, the 8th Division to the north, about 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) ahead of the divisions on the flanks found itself enfiladed, as predicted by Heneker before the offensive. At about 9:30 a.m. reinforcements for Reserve Infantry Regiment 27 of the 54th Division, from the local Eingreif division, Infantry Regiment 34 of the 3rd Reserve Division, attacked over Anzac Farm Spur. SOS calls from the British infantry were not seen by their artillery observers, due to low cloud and smoke shell being fired by the Germans into their creeping barrage. An observation report from one British aircraft, failed to give enough information to help the artillery, which did not fire until too late at 10:15 a.m. The German counter-attack pressed the right flank of the 25th Brigade, which was being fired on from recaptured positions in Nonne Bosschen and forced it back, exposing the right of the 23rd Brigade to the north, which was already under pressure on its left flank and which fell back slowly to the Hanebeek stream. Another German attack at 3:45 a.m. was also not engaged by the British artillery, when mist and rain obscured the SOS signal from the infantry. The Germans "dribbled" forward and gradually pressed the British infantry back to the foot of Westhoek Ridge. That evening both brigades of the 8th Division withdrew from German enfilade fire coming from the 56th Division area, to ground just forward of their start line.
At around 9:00 a.m. the 16th and 36th Divisions were counter-attacked by the reserve regiment of the 5th Bavarian Division, supported by part of the 12th Reserve (Eingreif) Division behind a huge barrage, including smoke shell to mask the attack from British artillery observers. Despite "ideal" weather, air observation failed as it did on the II Corps front. The forward elements of both divisions were overrun and killed or captured. By 10:15 a.m. the Corps commander, Lieutenant-General H. Watts, had brought the barrage back to the start-line, regardless of survivors holding out beyond it. At 2:08 p.m. Gough ordered that a line from Borry Farm to Hill 35 and Hindu Cottage be taken to link with XVIII Corps. After consulting the divisional commanders, Watts reported that a renewed attack was impossible, since the reserve brigades were already holding the start line.
There were few German counter-attacks on the front of XVIII and XIV Corps, which had also not been subjected to much artillery fire before the attack, as the Germans had concentrated on the corps further south. Despite the "worst going" in the salient, the 48th Division got forward on its left, against fire from the area not occupied by 36th Division on its right; 11th Division advanced beyond Langemarck. The 20th and 29th Divisions of XIV Corps and the French further north, reached most of their objectives without serious counter-attack but the Germans subjected the new positions to intense artillery fire, inflicting heavy losses for several days, especially on the 20th Division. The German army group commander, Crown Prince Rupprecht wrote that the German defence continued to be based on holding the Gheluvelt Plateau and Houthoulst Forest as bastions, British advances in between were not serious threats. Ludendorff's opinion was less calm because, despite writing that 10 August was a German success, the British attack on the 16 August was devastating as Poelcappelle had been reached and despite a great effort, the British could only be pushed back a short distance.
 
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Saphroneth

Banned
...well, at least you're slightly editing the Wikipedia pages.

It's an improvement.



You:


The Germans also began to use poison gas in earnest. From 15,000–20,000 of the recent Yellow Cross shells containing blistering sulfur mustard were launched in addition to an undetermined number of shells with diphosgene. The Canadian 1st and 2nd Artillery Field Brigades and the Canadian front line were heavily gassed. Many artillery men became casualties after gas fogged the goggles of their respirators and they were forced to remove their masks in order to set the fuses, lay their sights and maintain accurate fire. The Germans used the cover of gas to make a number of attempts against the Canadian controlled chalk quarry and Chicory Trench on the night of 17 August and early morning of 18 August. All attempts against the chalk quarry failed and only one company of the 55th Reserve Infantry Regiment (on loan to the 11th Reserve Division) managed to breach the Canadian defenses at Chicory Trench before being repulsed. German troops managed to pierce the Canadian line north of the quarry on the morning of 18 August before being driven out.





Wiki:


The Germans also began to use poison gas in earnest. From 15,000–20,000 of the new Yellow Cross shells containing the blistering agent sulfur mustard were fired in addition to an undetermined number of shells containing diphosgene. The Canadian 1st and 2nd Artillery Field Brigades and the Canadian front line were heavily gassed. Many artillery men became casualties after gas fogged the goggles of their respirators and they were forced to remove their masks in order to set the fuses, lay their sights and maintain accurate fire. The Germans used the cover of gas to make a number of attempts against the Canadian controlled chalk quarry and Chicory Trench on the night of 17 August and early morning of 18 August. All attempts against the chalk quarry failed and only one company of the 55th Reserve Infantry Regiment (on loan to the 11th Reserve Division) managed to breach the Canadian defenses at Chicory Trench before being repulsed. German troops employing flamethrowers managed to penetrate the Canadian line north of the quarry on the morning of 18 August before being driven out.



Bolded are the changes you made from Wiki.


Seriously, this is basically plagiarism since you're copying vast chunks of text almost verbatim and not attributing it.
 
Menin Road Ridge Battle

After the temporary halting of the Flanders Offensive in August, the Germans were under the misimpression that the offensive had failed because of failed and very costly attacks, resulting in the reinforcement of the Italian and Eastern Fronts by an army's strength divisions. This was something that could be expected during the interval and Haig suggested another offensive to take back unreached objectives. After all, better weather and road conditions enabled the reinforcement of several British sectors for a renewed offensive. During the period, some infantry tactics were changed, such as taking the "leap-frog" method of advance after waves of infantry stopped once they reached their objective followed by consolidation the ground, while other waves passed through the objective to assault the following one and the earlier waves became the tactical reserve. General adoption of the method was made possible when more artillery was brought into the salient and by increasing the number of aircraft involved in close air support of the attackers as well as defence of the skies.
On 1 September, Plumer issued an order which defined the Second Army area of operations as Broodseinde and the area southwards. The plan was dependent of usage of much more medium and heavy artillery, which had been brought to the Gheluvelt Plateau from VIII Corps on the right of the Second Army and by removing more guns from the Third and Fourth armies in Artois and Picardy, where no offensive operations were undertaken.
British Second Army attack plans
In IX Corps, the 19th Division covered the southern defensive flank of the attack front against the German 9th Reserve and 207th divisions, on a 1,600 yards (1,500 m) front, from the Comines canal to Groenenburg Farm, on the west slope of the Bassevillebeek valley. The six attacking battalions of the 58th Brigade on the right and the 57th Brigade on the left and their supporting battalions had a difficult approach. The 58th Brigade had to tackle obstructions in Opaque Wood and Imperfect Copse and then, at midnight on the first day, it rained until 5:00 a.m. As Zero hour was dependent on the weather, the time of 5:40 a.m. was passed forward at 1:45 a.m. so all ranks had to lie quiet in the rain for more than three hours. Around dawn, a heavy mist formed and at 5:40 a.m. the barrage began. On the right, the short advance to the first objective (red line) was met with opposition from dug-outs south-west of Hessian Wood, Jarrocks Farm, Pioneer House and a small wood nearby. Machine-gun fire was also encountered from Hollebeke Château and the railway embankment. The right battalion was able to capture its first objective, but the two to the left had many casualties and lost touch with their flanking units and the barrage, until the pause on the red line (first objective) allowed them to reorganise, mop-up and regain touch with units which had lost direction. The third battalion on the left was still held up and attacked by German forces at Hessian Wood, so a defensive flank was formed facing north.
The 57th Brigade advanced to the red line against some opposition on the right, while the two battalions on the left had to cross an extremely boggy area which delayed them that they lost contact with the supporting barrage. The delay resulted in them being caught by machine-gun fire from dug-outs near Top House, while bunched up because of the heavy going. The red line (second objective) which here was little different from the first objective (green line) was reached and two platoons from each attacking company moved up, ready to advance to the blue line (final objective) which began at 6:24 a.m. The second and final lines (red and blue) were contiguous on the right from Hessian Wood but the Germans defending the wood were still fighting when the advance was due to resume. Two companies of the right hand battalion managed to advance after suffering many losses. A number of dug-outs were cleared and 50 prisoners were taken, which enabled the centre battalion to get into the north end of the wood and gain touch with the left-hand battalion in the south-western corner. On the front of the 57th Brigade, opposition at Wood Farm and Belgian Wood was overrun by a bayonet charge and the blue line (third objective) reached on time. During this advance, machine-gun sections and a battalion liaison detachment of the 39th Division pushed forward to North Farm, which was captured with four machine-guns and 29 prisoners. At 8:40 a.m., the protective barrage lifted 200 yards (180 m) and patrols were sent forward to establish outposts and to clear the area of remaining German troops; Moat Farm and Funny Farm were mopped-up. Consolidation was begun despite machine-gun fire from Hollebeke Château, the green line (first objective) was dug-in and the ground forward to the blue line (final objective) defended in depth by outposts. A German counter-attack was attempted at 8:00 a.m. and ruined by small-arms and artillery fire after retaking a farm.
To the north, the X Corps's 39th Division on the right, extended the southern defensive flank from Groenenburg Farm northwards down the slope to the Bassevillebeek. The division suffered badly from German fire, as it advanced 800 yards (730 m) to its objective, from hidden dug-outs in the area further north, which halted the 41st Division. When the division reached its objective, it swung back its left flank to link with the right hand brigade of the 41st Division. The main attack was made by X Corps and 1st Anzac Corps on a 4,000 yards (3,700 m) front on the Gheluvelt plateau. Steady pressure in early September from the 47th Division, advanced the British front line near Inverness Copse for a considerable distance, which made better jumping-off positions for the attack by I Anzac Corps. The four divisions made their advance behind a creeping barrage of unprecedented weight. The increased amount of artillery allowed the heavy guns to place two belts of fire beyond the two from the field artillery; a machine-gun barrage in the middle made five belts, each 200 yards (180 m) deep. The creeping barrage started quickly, lifting 100 yards (91 m) every four minutes and this allowed the British infantry to surprise the German outpost garrisons, while the Germans were still in their shelters, by looming out of the mist. After four lifts, the barrage slowed to 100 yards (91 m) every six minutes. Several German troops found were astonished by the bombardment that they made a desperate counter- attack and barrage and after delaying the schedule, they were forced to surrender, despite few of the concrete pill-boxes and Mebu shelters being destroyed by the British artillery. In the few areas where the German defenders were capable of resisting, they inflicted heavy losses but were outflanked in the mist shortly afterwards. The new system of local reserves allowed the British to maintain momentum despite local checks.
The 41st Division had to advance across the Bassevillebeek valley, against the right of the German 9th Division and the left of the Bavarian Ersatz Division, to capture Tower Hamlets spur. The advance was delayed by overnight rain, which affected the valley more than the plateau to the north. Fire from camouflaged German machine-gun nests in the valley caused confusion and delay to the infantry, who lost the barrage. The Bassevillebeek stream in the valley was eventually crossed, with the 122nd Brigade struggling forward and the 124th Brigade being held up near the British front line, by numerous machine-guns in the Quadrilateral, fortifications of three ruined cottages behind a digging 400 by 100 yards (366 m × 91 m) at the south end of the spur. The Quadrilateral commanded the western approach to the spur and the rise northwards to the pill-boxes at Tower Hamlets. The left hand brigade of the division arrived at the third objective and threw back its right flank to the brigade on the right, which had advanced just beyond the second objective and then joined the left flank of 39th Division. Despite the failure to capture Tower Hamlets, parts of the two leading battalions of 124th brigade running away before being rallied and two dead and three wounded battalion commanders, the division defeated most German counter-attacks during the day with heavy losses and retook the lost positions after the Germans withdrew with heavy losses on both themselves and the British.
The British 23rd Division was held up by a German strong point in Dumbarton Wood, which had been missed by the barrage and caused many casualties. Despite the delay and the difficulty of navigating through clouds of dust and smoke, caused by the barrage and the marshy ground north of Dumbarton Lake, the first objective was reached ten minutes after the barrage and consolidated along the source of the Bassevillebeek. 69th Brigade on the left managed to get through Inverness Copse but German troops emerged from cover and fired on the troops behind, as they proceeded to assault the second objective, causing heavy losses before they were killed or captured. The troops who had been severely reduced in numbers, following on through the copse, were still able to capture a line of German fortifications along Menin Road, north of the hamlet of Kantinje Cabaret. Of four tanks attached for the attack along Menin Road, one bogged early and the infantry advance was too swift for the other three tanks to keep up. A tank was knocked out on the road and the other two carried ammunition and equipment to the troops at the final objective.
The 1st Australian Division on the right of I Anzac Corps, advanced on a 1,000 yards (910 m) front north of the Menin Road, with its right aimed at Fitzclarence Farm, against part of the Bavarian Ersatz Division and most of the 121st Division. The Australians passed through Glencorse Wood, which had changed hands twice in August and quickly suppressed German resistance. The Germans at Fitzclarence Farm were kept under cover by rifle grenade fire, while other groups got behind and rushed the garrison, taking 31 prisoners after another counterattack. Infiltration was also used against German machine-gunners in concrete shelters along the sunken road in the north end of the wood, who had caused many casualties. Close reserves worked behind the shelters, fought their way in and killed or captured the garrison. Nonne Bosschen was crossed by moving along the edges of shell craters, the second objective along the west edge of Polygon Wood being reached on time at 7:45 a.m. The Wilhelm (third) Line pill-boxes and Mebu shelters were captured shortly, while the German defenders had their resistance reduced by the bombardment. Few accounts survive from the Bavarian Ersatz Division companies holding the ground either side of the Menin road, as they were quickly overwhelmed by the 23rd and 1st Australian divisions. Machine-gun fire was heard from the Albrecht (second) Line at 8:30 a.m. but by 9:00 a.m. the British and Australians were well on the way to the Wilhelm (third) Line.
Meanwhile, two brigades of the 2nd Australian Division, one either side of the Westhoek–Zonnebeke road, against the German 121st Division, down the Hanebeek valley to the near bank, began their offensive. The German outpost garrisons were surprised and overrun after losses taken by the Australians. On the far side of the stream, the advance overwhelmed the Germans, who sacrificed their strength in a subsequent counterattack and defence operation that cost several lives. Visibility began to improve to 200–300 yards (180–270 m) and on breasting the rise, machine-guns in Albert and Iron Cross redoubts in the Wilhelm (third) Line on Anzac House spur, the next rise to the east, were blinded by smoke grenades, at which the garrisons ran off. Further to the left, Anzac House, an important German artillery observation post, which overlooked the Steenbeek valley to the north was captured, as the garrison attempted to fight the Australians by moving their machine-guns outside. As the divisions on the Gheluvelt plateau reached their second objective at 7:45 a.m., a breeze blew away the mist and revealed the magnitude of their achievement. The British and Australians had carried the defences which had held them up through August and had gained observation all the way to Broodseinde.
No German counter-attacks were mounted due to heavy losses except for a small-scale diversionary one to assist the retreat. As a result, the British and Australians spent two hours consolidating the second objective. The creeping barrage stood for fourteen minutes in front of the second objective, then advanced 2,000 yards (1,800 m) before returning to the new British front line and then advancing again, to lead the troops to the third objective. German counter-attacks were stopped shortly after they reached the new British and Australian outposts. The German artillery only managed to fire a disjointed and sparse barrage, which did little to obstruct the troops ready to advance to the third objective as they moved up but snipers and long-range machine-gun fire began to harass the troops consolidating the second objective. Local operations were mounted to stop sniping, using the methods that had been so successful earlier in the morning, leading to Black Watch Corner at the south-west of Polygon Wood and Garter Point east of Anzac House and other strong-points being captured.
At 10:53 a.m. the barrage resumed its forward movement towards the third objective, another 300–400 yards (270–370 m) away. The 23rd Division had to fight forward, through pill-boxes hidden in ruined cottages along the Menin Road, concrete shelters in Veldhoek and a hedgerow in front, before the German garrisons retreated. The left hand brigade was held up by a dozen pill-boxes in the Wilhelm (third) Line until noon, which caused the division many losses and it held firm until reinforcements took the positions in the afternoon. The two Australian divisions reached the third objective in half an hour, finding the Germans in those strong points which had not been subdued during the halt on the second objective, as stunned as those met earlier in the day. Bombing by ten German aircraft, (one of which was shot down by ground fire) and some shelling by German artillery caused minor losses, as the Australian divisions consolidated captured trenches and shell holes in their new front line.
 
Note that this may be a first draft. As soon as the timeline diverges further from the reality, the Wikipedia reliance may be reduced for the sake of butterflies. As of the present, the updates are still using Wikipedia for reference. Also, there's another earlier Cambrai and major French Offensive combination that might be considered should this prove undesirable.
So far, in this stage of the Passchendaele battle, I've covered:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Broodseinde
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Polygon_Wood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Menin_Road_Ridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Wurst_Farm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Langemarck_(1917)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pilckem_Ridge
And the Wikipedia articles about Messines.
Will you read the post above before making your comments?
 
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Note that this may be a first draft. As soon as the timeline diverges further from the reality, the Wikipedia reliance may be reduced for the sake of butterflies. As of the present, the updates are still using Wikipedia for reference. Also, there's another earlier Cambrai and major French Offensive combination that might be considered should this prove undesirable.

No, 'for refence' would mean you read them and wrote your own material, it does not mean simply dumping larges chunks of copied text, that is called plagiarism. As has been pointed out several times now people on AH are familiar with WWI and the Somme, no one needs a reiteration of all the historical events. You could just start with your POD and explain the divergent event in your own words.

ETA: In fact going back to page 1 you did just that:

These are my intentions, give Germany crushing but pyrrhic victories at Jutland and the Somme against Britain followed by slightly better conditions in 1917 with Romania staying neutral until events that year keep them from joining the Entente and a greater threat to St. Petersburg. The minor differences, however, keep unrestricted submarine warfare out of the picture or reduces it, preserving American neutrality. Germany fights the Western Front with better conditions in 1917 and Italy suffers a bigger defeat at Caporetto and is forced to rely more on foreign help, collapsing in 1918. 1918 is decision year in which the Germans win against Britain and France or suffer defeat as in reality and unrestricted submarine warfare is launched after the failures of 1918. In 1919, if the Entente survives the German offensives to fight with victory, they begin the counterattack, with American support in 1920. Germany finally surrenders that year after revolution, defeats and the collapse of Austria Hungary and the Ottoman Empire the previous year.


So given the scope of your intentions why are you bogging down in the minuatiae of unaltered events on the Somme that most people here already know the outlines of?
 
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Fifth Army and Wurst Farm

Fifth Army attacks

The Fifth Army assaulted on the left of the Second Army to seize the Wilhelm (third) Line, with V Corps on the right and XVIII Corps on the left, to complete taking of the line from Schuler Farm to Langemarck and then advance 500–800 yards (460–730 m) east towards Poelcappelle; XIV Corps formed the northern flank with 20th Division. V Corps had more field guns than the I Anzac Corps to the right and fewer heavy guns, so only a three layer barrage was possible. A creeping barrage by 18-pdr field guns, was to make an advance of similar pace to the Second Army. 18-pdr and 4.5-inch howitzer fire were to comb the area in front of the creeping barrage, from 100–400 yards (91–366 m) deep and a neutralizing barrage by 6-inch howitzers and 60-pdr guns was to sweep ground 450–1,200 yards (410–1,100 m) in front of the creeping barrage. Unnecessary artillery for counter-battery fire was to put standing barrages on the most dangerous German positions, like Hill 37 and Hill 40 and German assembly areas in the dips behind Zonnebeke and Gravenstafel.
The 9th and 55th Divisions of V Corps were to attack on fronts of 1,800 yards (1,600 m) over ground held by the right of the German 121st Division and the 2nd Guards Reserve Division, which had also changed hands twice in August. The heavy numbers of heavily defended points, pill-boxes and fortified farms east of the Hanebeek and Steenbeek streams were in shape, despite several attempts to destroy them with artillery fire. The artillery brought to the Ypres salient in September went to the Second Army so the Fifth Army adopted a new infantry formation, where moppers-up were rearranged into small groups of up to a platoon, moving with the leading assault waves, to capture stated strong-points in the plan and then garrison them. XVIII Corps adopted the same practice, which became standard in the Fifth Army soon after the battle.
The 9th Division was faced with the morass of the Hanebeek valley, where the stream had been choked by frequent bombardment and turned into a swamp and water-filled shell-holes. Both brigades sent two battalions forward to the first objective and leap-frogged two more through them to take the final objective. Hanebeek Wood on the right was bombarded with smoke and high-explosive shell rather than shrapnel, except for a lane along which a company was able to move behind the wood. When the artillery fire moved beyond the wood it was rushed from both directions and captured with thirty prisoners and four machine-guns. In the mist, the strong points were easily overrun except for four pill-boxes around Potsdam House, which were eventually attacked on three sides and captured, after inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers. Delays caused by machine-gun nests dug in along the Ypres–Roulers railway did not stop the division reaching the first objective as the barrage began to creep forward again at 7:08 a.m. At 7:08 a.m. when the 9th Division began the advance to the final objective, the right hand brigade found only minor opposition. A brigade from the division on the left flank was heavily hit by German machine-gun fire from Hill 37, as delays to the 55th Division meant that it was well short of the hill. They managed to capture Bremen Redoubt in the Zonnebeek valley and extend a defensive flank back to the first objective. Waterend House later fell into the 55th Division's hands.
To the north of 9th Division, most the 55th Division began the day understrength, after the losses of 31 July. Replacements had arrived slowly and 1,000 soldiers were left out of the battle, having arrived too late to be trained for the attack. German artillery and machine-gun fire from Reserve Regiment 91 of the 2nd Guards Reserve Division, engaged the infantry with massed small-arms fire as the attack began. The mist worked to the Germans' advantage in this part of the front, because the depleted British units missed several German strong points and dug-outs, from which the Germans were able to stop the British support waves from moving up. The attacking troops, upon finding this, were halted and lost the barrage after taking heavy casualties. The difficulties of the division were made worse at 7:08 a.m., when the scheduled advance to the final objective coincided with the dispersal of the mist. Reserves were pushed forward around 10:00 a.m. from the 166th Brigade, which allowed the 165th and 164th brigades to take the first objective around Gallipoli Farm and the Schuler Galleries in front of Schuler Farm, by noon. Combat at Hill 35 continued and the Germans regained Hill 37 with a counter-attack. Machine-guns were placed in the Schuler Galleries and nine machine-guns were dug in near Keir Farm, with which the British stopped German counter-attacks from making further progress. In the afternoon the rest of the reserve brigade captured Hill 37, which dominated the Zonnebeke spur. The right of the division established touch with the 9th Division but the centre and left of 55th Division were 500 yards (460 m) short of the final objective. After a German counterattack, Hill 35 was held for an hour until 55th Division troops retook the hills.
XVIII Corps was to advance onto the Gravenstafel and Poelcappelle spurs, held by the German 36th Division since 8 September. The divisions had to assemble east of the Steenbeek between St Julien and Langemarck in low ground which was still muddy and full of flooded shell-holes despite the better weather. The 58th Division objective was 1,000 yards (910 m) ahead, among German strong points on the west end of Gravenstafel spur. As a frontal attack here had failed, the division feinted with its right brigade, while the left brigade conducted theactual attack from the flank. The feint captured Winnipeg cross-roads, as the main attack by three battalions one behind the other, captured Vancouver Farm, Keerselaere and Hubner Farm. The two following battalions passed through the leading battalion and turned right half way up the spur, to reach Wurst Farm on a tactically vital part of the spur, at the same time as the barrage. Nearly 300 prisoners and fifty machine-guns were taken and outposts were established to the left, overlooking the Stroombeek valley. The division ascribed the success to the excellence of their training, an excellent creeping barrage and smoke shell, which had thickened the mist and blinded the German defenders; gas shell barrages on the German reinforcement routes had reduced German morale.
The 51st Division further north, had the same task on Poelcappelle spur. The division advanced with one brigade on a 1,400 yards (1,300 m) front. The Germans in the Wilhelm (third) Line were ready for them and fought until they were almost annihilated, in new machine-gun nests that they had dug in front of their front line, which had avoided the worst of the artillery bombardment. The division reached the final objective in sight of Poelcappelle village reduced in strength. By these advances, XVIII Corps got observation of Poelcappelle and up the Lekkerboterbeek and Lauterbeek valleys, the capture of which allowed British artillery to move forward of the Steenbeek.
The 20th Division on the right of XIV Corps, had to form the northern defensive flank of the offensive, on a front of 1,400 yards (1,300 m) from Poelcappelle spur to the Ypres–Staden railway. Two brigades attacked with two battalions each. The German Wilhelm (third) Line, here known as Eagle trench, was held as determinedly as that part in the 51st Division sector (Pheasant Trench) despite a bombardment from Livens Projectors(which fell behind the German trench and illuminated the British infantry as they advanced). By the end of the day, the division was still short of the first objective.
The British offensive had captured most of the German outpost zones, to a depth of about 1,500 yards (1,400 m). As the ground was captured it was prepared for defence, in anticipation of counter-attacks by the German Eingreif divisions. Captured German machine-gun nests and strong points were garrisoned and wired with German barbed wire found in the area. The final objective became the outpost zone and the second objective the main line of resistance, a chain of irregular posts using shell-holes concealed by folds of the ground and reverse slopes, avoiding trenches which attracted German shell fire. Communication between the infantry and artillery was prepared with runners, messenger dogs and pigeons. Wireless transmitters and power buzzers were set up at brigade headquarters and artillery observation posts, one for each artillery group. Engineer and pioneer units dug telephone lines, which took until the afternoon of 21 September.
Wurst Farm capture
Before the main attack, the 58th Trench Mortar Battery fired twenty shots at a pillbox and had ten hits, which demoralised the occupants. On the right flank, C Company of the 2nd/4th Battalion of the London Regiment, 173rd Brigade performed the Chinese attack to divert German attention and captured Winnipeg crossroads in the process. On the left flank, the 174th Brigade attacked with three battalions following each other on a battalion front. Triangle Farm was reached first and the garrison killed or captured, then Vancouver Farm was taken with its neighbouring pill-boxes were reduced.The strongpoints beyond Vancouver Farm and Keerselaere were captured after some resistance and Hubner Farm on the edge of the spur, fell after being surrounded; fifty prisoners were taken by the 2/8th Post Office Rifles. The 2/5th London Rifle Brigade and the 2/6th Rifle Brigade in support and reserve, leap-frogged through the Post Office Rifles and turned half-right up the spur. Having reached the summit of the spur the two battalions advanced on Von Tirpitz redoubt and Wurst Farm from behind, keeping close behind the creeping barrage.
The German defenders fought with determination but the redoubts were surrounded and stormed. Platoons and sections had all been given geographical objectives, such as pillboxes and emplacements and as these were outflanked and captured, 301 Germans were taken prisoner. Small parties then moved across the Stroombeek valley north to the left flank of the division and swept the valley with machine-gun fire from outposts, protecting the right flank of the 51st Highland Division around Quebec and Delta Farms; the 173rd Brigade then advanced to the summit of the ridge. Two tanks assisted the attack by the 58th Division, E.17 (Exterminator) and E.3 (Eclipse) of E battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment's 1st Tank Brigade. The 55th Division on the right flank and a party of the 58th Division attacked the Germans at the Schuler Galleries on the divisional boundary but the tanks were stuck in the ground and the infantry were pinned down by machine-gun fire; the galleries were eventually captured by the 55th Division, the next day..
At about 6:30 p.m. a large force of German infantry from the 234th Division advanced down the main ridge 1-mile (1.6 km) beyond the line now occupied by the 55th, 58th and 51st divisions. Just before 7:00 p.m., the 58th Division began firing with machine-guns and Lewis Guns at 1,500 yards (1,400 m), which inflicted casualties and compelled the combined deployment of numerous German small columns. When the estimated 2,000 German infantry were at 650 yards (590 m), British rifle-fire began and when the survivors were 150 yards (140 m) from the foremost divisional strongpoint, a British artillery barrage fell on them with an effect "beyond description and the enemy stampeded". After dark, German patrols moved forward and occupied several small outpost positions that were emptied.
 
Battle for Polygon Wood

Following the partial successes of September, advance was planned to cover 1,000–1,500 yards (910–1,370 m) and stop on reverse slopes which were easier to defend, enclosing ground which gave observation of German reinforcement routes and counter-attack assembly areas. Preparations were quickly prepared to defeat German counter-attacks, by mopping-up and consolidating the captured ground with defences in depth. The attack inflicted a heavy blow on the German 4th Army, causing many losses, capturing a significant portion of Flandern I, which threatened the German position on Broodseinde ridge, but was held. The better weather continued to benefit the British attackers by drying the ground, raising mist which obscured British infantry attacks made around dawn, then clearing to reveal German Eingreif formations to air and ground observation, well in advance of their arrival on the battlefield. German defensive arrangements were changed hastily after the battle to try to counter British offensive superiority after heavy German and British losses.
[As of the moment, an increased German strength by 50,000 troops resulted in 75,000 casualties compared to the actual 125,000.]
Second Army's Role in the offensive
In X Corps, the 19th Division of IX Corps provided flanking artillery fire, machine-gun fire and a smoke screen for the 39th Division, keeping a very thinly occupied front line which in consequence, heavy German retaliatory artillery fire responded and fell on fell on unoccupied ground before diminishing in accuracy day-by-day. The 39th Division attacked at 5:50 a.m. with two brigades. The "Quadrilateral" further down Bassevillebeek spur, which commanding the area around Tower Hamlets was captured after a heavy fight; the right brigade had been caught in the boggy ground of the Bassevillebeek, its two tanks in support got stuck near Dumbarton Lakes and destroyed. Soon after arriving in the "Quadrilateral", it was counter-attacked by part of the German 25th Division and pushed back 200 yards (180 m]. The left brigade passed through Tower Hamlets to reach the final objective and consolidated behind Tower Trench, with an advanced post in the north-west of Gheluvelt Wood.
The right brigade of the 33rd Division advanced to recapture the ground lost in the German attack on 25 September. It was the following day to the German counterattack and was stopped 50 yards (46 m) short of its objective, until it touched the left brigade of the 39th Division to the south. On the left of the brigade, the old front line was regained by 1:30 p.m. and posts established beyond the Reutelbeek. The 98th Brigade on the left attacked with reinforcements from the reserve brigade at 5:15 a.m. so as to advance 500 yards (460 m) with the troops at Black Watch Corner in action the previous day. At 2:30 a.m., the brigade had gained Jerk House and met the 5th Australian Division to the north. A German barrage forced a delay until 5:30 a.m. but the German bombardment increased in intensity and the advance lost the barrage, stopping before reaching Black Watch Corner. A reserve battalion from the 5th Australian Division attacked south-east at noon, which enabled the brigade to regain most of the ground lost the day before, although well short of the day's objectives. A German counter-attack at 2:30 p.m. was driven off and more ground re-taken by the 100th Brigade on the right. A pillbox near the Menin road taken at 5:00 p.m. was the last part of the area captured by the German attack the previous day to be re-taken. A German counter-attack at the same time took several pillboxes before it was stopped by artillery fire.
I Anzac Corps attacked with the 5th Australian Division on the right. In the 15th Australian Brigade the battalions were to advance successively but bunched up near the first objective and were stopped by pillboxes at the "racecourse" and fire from the 33rd Division area to the south. At 7:30 a.m., the right-hand battalion dug in at the boundary with the 33rd Division and the other two advanced to the second objective by 11:00 a.m. The left brigade assembled in twelve waves on a strip of ground 60 yards (55 m) deep and avoided the German barrage fired at 4:00 a.m. which fell behind them and advanced through the fog 500 yards (460 m) almost unopposed to The Butte. At some pillboxes, there was heavy resistance but several German soldiers surrendered when they were surrounded, only to be released by a counterattack. The Butte was rushed and was found to be full of German dugouts. Two battalions passed through at 8:30 a.m. towards the second objective, a 1,000-yard (910 m) stretch of Flandern I and some pillboxes, until held up by fire from a German battalion headquarters on the Polygonebeek. A reserve battalion overran the dugouts and more pillboxes nearby, advancing to just beyond the final objective, at the junction with the 4th Australian Division to the north, taking 150 prisoners and 34 machine-guns. An attempted German counter-attack by part of the 17th Division, was stopped by artillery and machine-gun fire after regaining a few pillboxes.
The 4th Australian Division assembled well forward and avoided the German barrage by squeezing up into an area 150 yards (140 m) deep and attacked at 6:45 a.m. with two brigades. The right brigade attacked through a mist, took the first objective with only short delays to capture pillboxes but then mistakenly advanced into the standing barrage, which had paused for twice as long as usual, to assist the 3rd Division advance through muddier conditions to the north and had to be brought back until the barrage moved forward. The brigade reached the final objective from just short of Flandern I on the right and the edge of Zonnebeke on the left and gained touch with the 5th Australian Division further south. At 1:20 p.m. air reconnaissance reported German troops east of Broodseinde ridge and at 3:55 p.m., as the German force (from the 236th Division) massed to counter-attack, it was dispersed by artillery fire. The northern brigade advanced to the final objective against minor opposition, moving beyond the objective to join with the 3rd Division to the north, which had pressed on into Zonnebeke. Attempts by the Germans to counter-attack at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. were initially successful before being stopped by the protective barrage and machine-gun fire, but were stopped, however, the resulting counteroffensive by the Australians failed.
Fifth Army Offensive
The southern boundary of the Fifth Army lay approximately 800 yards (730 m) south of the Ypres–Roulers railway, in the V Corps sector. British 3rd Division attacked either side of the line at 5:50 a.m. The right brigade met several resistance, but was delayed from crossing the Steenbeek. The advance slowed under machine-gun fire from Zonnebeke station on the far side of the railway as Zonnebeke was entered. North of the embankment, the left brigade attacked at 5:30 a.m. in a mist. The attack reached the first objective, despite crossing severely boggy ground at 7:00 a.m. The advance resumed and reached the western slope of Hill 40, just short of the final objective. A bigger attempt at 6:30 p.m. was halted with rifle and machine-gun fire, as the British attack on Hill 40 resumed with losses, eventually leaving both sides still on the western slope after losing heavy casualties in a brigade.
59th Division attacked with two brigades, the right brigade advancing until held up by its own barrage and took Dochy Farm at 7:50 a.m. One battalion found a German barrage laid behind the British creeping barrage, which crept back with it and caused many casualties. The advance continued beyond the final objective to Riverside and Otto Farms but when the protective barrage fell short, Riverside was abandoned. The left brigade advanced and took Schuler Farm, Cross Cottages, Kansas, Martha, Green and Road Houses. As the brigade reached the final objective Riverside, Toronto and Deuce Houses were defended. A German counter-attack between 5:30 p.m. and 6:50 p.m. pushed back some advanced posts, which with reinforcements were regained by 11:00 p.m.
The XVII Corps' 58th Division began the attack with one brigade at 5:50 a.m. In a thick mist, some of the British troops lost direction and were then held up by fire from Dom Trench and a pillbox, after these were captured the advance resumed until stopped at Dear House, Aviatik Farm and Vale House, about 400 yards (370 m) short of the final objective. A German counter-attack pushed the British back from Aviatik Farm and Dale House and an attempt to regain them took the positions back before recapture by the British. Another attack at 7:15 p.m. reached Nile on the divisional boundary with the 3rd Division. Riverside and Otto pillboxes were held after a costly defence to both British and Australians. It was only at night, after using reserve troops, that the Germans were thrown out, but in a fight, they retook the pillboxes and exhausted the British and Australian combat capabilities in the sector.
[Note that dates are added for time reference and 26-27 September 1917 are the days for the battle.]
 
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Capture of Broodseinde

Using "bite-and-hold" tactics after taking heavy losses, with objectives limited to what could be defended from German counter-attacks, the British devastated the German defence, which prompted a crisis among the German commanders and caused a severe loss of morale in the German 4th Army. Preparations were made by the Germans for local withdrawals after the success of the offensive, if it was decisive. Unfortunately, heavy rain returned on 4 October, the day of the attack, and affected the remainder of the campaign, working more to the advantage of the German defenders, who were being pushed back on to far less damaged ground. The British had to move their artillery forward into the area wrecked by shellfire and rain soaked, constricting the movement of guns, ammunition and supplies and giving German artillery targets. In the next British attack on 9 October, after several days of rain, the German defence achieved a costly success, holding the approaches to Passchendaele village, which was the most tactically vital ground.
Second Army
In IX Corps, the 37th Division attacked with two brigades, the 19th Division on the right co-operating with an artillery and machine-gun barrage and a smoke screen. The right brigade pivoted on the southern flank amid much German small-arms fire but captured the first objective on Tower Hamlets (Bassevillebeek) spur. German counter-attacks and fire from Joist Trench and Berry Cottage then pushed the right flank units back to their start line. The left brigade was fired on from a pillbox and Lewis Farm, which had been missed by the bombardment and which hindered an attack on dug-outs along the north end of Gheluvelt wood. The brigade dug-in in short of the final objective, Tower Trench was held, mostly due to the fire from Lewis Farm.
In X Corps, the 5th Division attacked with two brigades. It was by luck that German 19th Reserve Division was also about to attack and was caught in the British bombardment. The right brigade was stopped by fire from the 37th Division area, believed to be from Lewis Farm and a defensive front was established facing the pillbox. The centre of the brigade was capable of keeping pace with the barrage and consolidated the objective by 12:30 p.m. The battalion on the left attacked between the Scherriabeek and Reutelbeek towards Polderhoek Chateau, advancing 700 yards (640 m), with the assistance of a tank before being halted and then dug in. To the north, the left flank brigade was shelled by Cameron Covert and scattered pillboxes as it advanced. After a long delay, Cameron Copse was captured with the help of three tanks moving down the Reutel road after several counterattacks. The final objective at Juniper Hill was not reached due to being exposed to machine-gun and artillery fire. The attackers sidestepped to the north of the Reutel road and linked with troops from the 21st Division. Eight German counter-attacks were made, which regained Polderhoek Spur, leaving the new front line along the west of Cameron Covert and just short of Château Wood.
Two brigades of the 21st Division attacked at 6:00 a.m. onto ground held by the German 19th Reserve Division, backed by part of the 17th Division, the Eingreif division between the Menin Road and Polygon Wood. The going varied from marsh to hard ground, which could support the four attached tanks and caused shells to ricochet. The right brigade advanced under heavy machine-gun fire and took Joist Farm before being obstructed by marshy ground and pillboxes to the right. British bombing sections attacked the pillboxes and fought Germans at Juniper Trench to reach the objective. Fire from a blockhouse at the east end of Reutel caused a delay. A counter-attack from the south-east was dispersed around noon by artillery and small-arms fire. The left brigade crossed the Polygonebeek and captured a portion of Juniper Trench and a pillbox. At Judge Trench, the brigade consolidated; a further advance came under fire from Judge Copse but was able to dig in and hold the ground.
By 11:00 a.m. most of the division's objectives had been captured, giving observation to the south-east down the Reutel valley. Heavy fire from the Polderhoek spur caused many casualties in the 64th Brigade on the right, which withdrew slightly to sheltered ground, without sacrificing the commanding position which protected the right flank of the Anzac corps further north as it was regained by another counterattack.
The right brigade of the 7th Division advanced against light resistance to the first objective (red line) but came under fire from un-subdued machine-guns in the 21st Division area. As the neighbouring division came up, the 91st Brigade continued its advance towards In Der Ster Cabaret until fire from Joiner's Rest held them up. Reinforcements allowed the final objective (blue line) to be taken. A defensive flank was formed along Jolting Houses road and Jetty Trench, meeting the 21st Division to the west of Reutel. The left brigade had an easy advance to the first objective. As the attack continued some troops crossed into the area of the 1st Australian Division, causing a gap but the German defenders were not able to exploit this properly as another counterattack was defeated and the final objective was reached. Occupation of the In Der Ster plateau provided the two divisions views of the lower part of the valley, enfilading ground on which any counter-attack from the south against the 1st Australian Division had to pass through.
The main attack was conducted by the two Anzac Corps. When the I Anzac Corps was ready to attack, a German artillery bombardment fell on it at 5:30 a.m. causing heavy casualties. As the Australian divisions advanced at 6:00 a.m., they met the German 212th Infantry Regiment from the 45th Reserve Division and the 4th Guard Division in no-man's-land. The 1st Australian Division, advancing with two brigades, routed the Germans and continued the advance beyond Flandern I. The right brigade stopped at first objective due to German resistance and had to fall back behind the British protective barrage to consolidate. The left brigade picked its way through marshy ground and tree stumps in Romulus and Remus Woods, north of Molenaarelsthoek and then outflanked a group of blockhouses, some troops crossing into the 2nd Australian Division area. The first objective was taken at 7:35 a.m., when German field guns opened fire from the Becelaere–Broodseinde–Passchendaele road, which were promptly attacked and captured. Fresh battalions resumed the advance and were fired on from Retaliation Farm and a crater being used as a German headquarters, about a third of the way up the road from Molenaarelsthoek to Beclaere, until they were cleared. At 8:30 a.m. the advance resumed to the final objective (blue line) which was consolidated and outposts established in front of it, despite long-range fire from the Keiberg spur and a small rise north east of Broodseinde village. Attempts were made by parties of German infantry to counter-attack at noon around Dame House, from Celtic Wood at 1:00 p.m. and at Flint Farm at 2:30 p.m. and two attempts to mass around Flandern II at the Keiberg spur, to the south of Passchendaele village, which were negated by artillery fire after taking the objectives.
The 2nd Australian Division moved up to the front line during the night, amidst rain which began around midnight. Along with the 1st Australian Division, it was caught in the German preparatory bombardment for their counter-attack (Operation Hohensturm), but this fire was stopped when the British hurricane bombardment began at 6:00 a.m. as the Australian advance began. The 6th and 7th Brigades had to pass either side of Zonnebeke lake and saw German troops opposite them rise from shell-holes and begin to advance. The Australian troops began to fire on the move and devastated the first German wave, at which those to the rear retreated back into the British creeping barrage, while others retired in stages through Zonnebeke. Germans hidden in the ruins were rushed by the following Australian battalion, before they could shoot many of the Australians who had passed beyond. The Australians had overrun German troops from the 45th Reserve and the 4th Guard divisions, having forestalled the German infantry attack and then took several field guns along the way, several of the Australians were delayed by Germans however. The battalions pressed on beyond the first objective and reached the final objective east of Broodseinde village. The left brigade met snipers in Zonnebeke and then more fire from a large number of machine-guns in Daisy Wood. The brigade chose an old British trench to consolidate, about 200 yards (180 m) short of the final objective.
In the II Anzac Corps area, the 3rd Australian Division had to prepare west of Hill 40 on the north side of the Ypres–Roulers railway, which had not been captured by the 3rd Division (V Corps) on 26 September. Delays in assembling were caused by German flares which revealed the approaches to the hill. The division was to prepare its attacking battalions in widely spaced lines due to the state of the ground, allowing troops behind the initial waves were to escape a German barrage by being far enough behind the British front line. These areas were found to be under fire when the troops arrived, so they were squeezed up like those in the other divisions. The attack began at 6:00 a.m. with two brigades. The right brigade advanced quickly over the near crest, then paused on the first objective before advancing in section columns to the red line on the right, the left coming up after a delay caused by the Alma blockhouse and some pillboxes nearby.
The leading battalion of the 10th Brigade on the left had edged so far forward that when the advance began, it was 30 yards (27 m) from the pillboxes at Levi Cottages at the top of the rise, beyond which was a dip then the slope of Gravenstafel ridge. The pillboxes were captured, followed by Alma and Judah House in the dip after a short delay. After a twelve-minute pause at this (first intermediate) objective, to give the New Zealanders on the left time to cross the boggy ground in their area, the two following battalions leap-frogged through, that of the right brigade taking many German prisoners from dug-outs along the railway embankment and reaching the red line quickly. After a delay caused by the British bombardment dwelling for nearly half an hour, the left brigade advanced up Gravenstafel spur and then pressed on to silence several machine-guns in pillboxes on Abraham Heights. By 7:50 a.m., all of the 3rd Australian Division was on the red line while "swarms" of German prisoners were taken by the brigade mopping-up behind the advanced troops after launching a failed counterattack.
At 8:30 a.m., the advance resumed and after a pause to capture Seine pillbox, the right brigade crossed Flandern I, which lay diagonally across its path and arrived at the final objective. The 10th Brigade on the left was held up by fire from machine-gun nests in the New Zealand Division area, until they were taken by a party from the supporting battalion. The advance resumed under heavy fire from positions in Flandern I where the barrage had passed over. Troops on the right established several machine-gun posts and shelled the Germans further north while troops crossed into the New Zealand area and outflanked the German positions from the north. The final objective (blue line) was reached by 10:12 a.m. and the ground consolidated.
The New Zealand Division on a 2,000-yard (1,800 m) front, continued the attack with two brigades. The German bombardment which began at 5:30 a.m. fell between the foremost New Zealand troops and their supporting battalions. The division had 180 18-pounders and 60 4.5-inch howitzers for its creeping barrage in front of the four deeper barrages fired by 60 machine-guns and the II Anzac Corps medium and heavy artillery. When the infantry advance began, the German infantry who had assembled for their attack and been devastated by the British artillery barrage, were met after 200 yards (180 m). The German survivors were dispersed, many being killed in bayonet-fighting, before the New Zealand infantry found that they could cross the morass around the Hanebeek more easily than expected. The 4th Brigade on the right took Duchy Farm and Riverside easily, then paused to capture Otto Farm and then reached the first objective (red line) and dug in. Fresh battalions resumed the advance and captured two pillboxes in Berlin Wood and two unexpected pillboxes, then captured Berlin Farm. The 1st Brigade attack on the left, veered north beyond the Hanebeek and was fired on from Aviatik Farm and Dear House, which were taken by a trench mortar and grenade attack after heavy losses to the attackers. Fire from the Winzig, Albatross Farm and Winchester blockhouses, in the 48th Division area further north (and from the Bellevue spur up the Stroombeek valley), delayed the advance until they were captured. More pillboxes at Boetleer were taken by the left flanking battalion of the 4th Brigade and the red line (first objective) was reached. A German position near Korek was then attacked, despite being beyond the first objective and under British artillery fire. The advance to the final objective, between Flandern I where it met the Ypres–Roulers railway, north to Kronprinz Farm on the Stroombeek began and a German battalion headquarters was captured in the Waterloo pillboxes after heavy losses were yet incurred. Calgary Grange and Kronprinz farm held out for a while longer, but the final objective, after an advance of 1,000 yards (910 m) was reached and consolidated at night.
Fifth Army Offensive
Within the XVIII Corps sector, the 48th Division attacked with one brigade at 6:00 a.m. Vale house and Winzig on the right fell quickly, then machine-gun fire slowed the advance and some New Zealand troops strayed across the divisional boundary, causing confusion around Albatross Farm and Wellington Farm. Once Wellington and Winchester Farms had been captured, the advance resumed to the Stroombeek. As night fell, a division relieved the New Zealanders in the divisional area and took more ground. In the centre, the brigade was held by several German posts on the west bank of the Stroombeek and the troopa were then held up by fire from the area of York Farm. Eventually the advance was halted 300 yards (270 m) short of Vacher Farm. A renewal of the attack with reinforcements was not able to overcome German machine-gun fire. On the left the attack was hampered by heavy machine-gun fire immediately. Tweed House was captured and contact made with troops further north from the 11th Division. Beck House was reached but further south the attackers were forced back. A resumption of the attack at 5:00 p.m. was cancelled due to rain and poor light.
British attacked at 6:00 a.m. with two brigades and ten tanks of 'D' battalion from the 1st Tank Brigade. On the right, the advance took Malta House and reached an intermediate line. Fire from the church and the Brewery pillbox in Poelcappelle caused a delay but Gloster Farm was captured with the aid of two tanks and the red line (first objective) consolidated. Troops from the inner flanks of both brigades and several tanks entered Poelcappelle, then captured pillboxes beyond the east end. The left brigade had advanced with some difficulty to the intermediate line, then overcome small parties of German infantry concealed in shell-holes. A defensive flank was thrown back to maintain touch with the 4th Division to the north, whose advance had been pushed back 400 yards (370 m) by German counter-attacks. A counter-attack in the 11th Division area at 1:00 p.m. was defeated and reinforcements allowed the new line to be established between the Steenbeek and the Langemarck–Winnipeg road.
XVI Corps guarded the northern flank of the attack and the 4th Division attacked with two brigades at 6:00 a.m. The right brigade took Kangaroo Trench but was held up as they reached the first objective by German troops and fire from Lemnos House. Troops on the extreme right combined with 11th Division infantry to capture a pillbox on the Poelcappelle road. As they reached the next objective Ferdan House was outflanked, then the green line was consolidated amidst fire from 19 Metre Hill. The left brigade lost direction as it crossed the marshy ground about the Lauterbeek and was fired on from the flank, as the advance reached a road beyond 19 Metre Hill. After an hour's pause, the advance resumed but machine-gun fire stopped the attack and the ground captured was consolidated. A German counter-attack at 3:00 p.m. made good progress until reinforcements drove it back. A gap on the boundary with the 29th Division to the north was filled as dark fell and another German counter-attack was spotted as the German infantry assembled and dispersed by artillery fire. A line Ferdan House–Kangaroo Huts–west of Tragique Farm–19 Metre Hill was consolidated.
British 29th Division was to attack astride the Ypres–Staden railway and form a defensive flank overlooking the Broembeek, with troops from two brigades. The right brigade captured Chinese House and 't Goed ter Vesten Farm, as it formed a flank along the junction with the 4th Division further south. As a German counter-attack forced back elements of the 4th Division the 29th Division troops stopped them with flanking machine-gun fire and drove them back, allowing the 4th Division to regain the lost ground with heavy casualties. North of the railway, several pillboxes were captured by the left brigade and observation posts wrecked by German shells before capture.
 

CalBear

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Copy Paste isn't writing. It is, at best, lazy, at worst theft. This comes much close to theft than lazy. You are not even willing to change the information into your own words, you are just lifting Wiki and pasting it with the occasional edit.

It took multiple statements from other members to even get you to acknowledge that you were doing it. That, BTW, saved you from the Banhammer.

Kicked for a week. This is a one chance issue. You have used yours.
 
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