Battle of Broodseinde

Battle of Broodseinde
Part of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War

German artillery piece captured by the 45th Australian Battalion
Date4 October 1917; 107 years ago (1917-10-04)
Location
Broodseinde Ridge, West Flanders, Belgium
50°51′07″N 2°53′26″E / 50.85194°N 2.89056°E / 50.85194; 2.89056
Result British victory
Belligerents

 British Empire

 German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Douglas Haig
Herbert Plumer
Hubert Gough		 Erich Ludendorff
Crown Prince Rupprecht
Friedrich Sixt von Armin
Strength
12 divisions 10 divisions
Casualties and losses
Total: 20,000
Australian: 6,423
New Zealand: 1,853		 35,000: 1–10 October, including 5,000 prisoners on 4 October

The Battle of Broodseinde was fought on 4 October 1917 near Ypres in Belgium, at the east end of the Gheluvelt plateau, by the British Second and Fifth armies against the German 4th Army. The battle was the most successful Allied attack of the Third Battle of Ypres. Using bite-and-hold tactics, with objectives limited to what could be held against German counter-attacks, the British devastated the German defence, prompted a crisis among the German commanders and caused a severe loss of morale in the 4th Army. Preparations were made by the Germans for local withdrawals and planning began for a greater withdrawal, which would entail the abandonment by the Germans of the Belgian coast, one of the strategic aims of the Flanders Offensive.

After the period of unsettled but drier weather in September, heavy rain began again on 4 October and affected the remainder of the campaign, working more to the advantage of the German defenders, being pushed back on to far less damaged ground. The British had to move their artillery forward into the area devastated by shellfire and soaked by the autumn rains, restricting the routes on which guns and ammunition could be moved, presenting German artillery with easier targets. At the Battle of Poelcappelle on 9 October, after several more days of rain, the German defence achieved a costly success, holding the approaches to Passchendaele village, the most tactically important ground on the battlefield.