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Men of the 46th Division pictured on the banks of the St Quentin Canal after their victory.

September 29 1918, Bellenglise--The fourth and final hammer blow of the Allied offensives in late September fell on the Hindenburg Line behind the St Quentin Canal.  The main attack was to be undertake by the Australians, but after months of hard fighting they were exhausted, and they were reinforced by an American corps.  During the rapid advance on August 8, plans for the sector were captured by a tank officer.  While somewhat out of date, they were still extraordinarily detailed and allowed the Allied bombardment to hit its targets with pinpoint accuracy.  Despite this, and extensive tank support, the Australians and Americans were quickly bogged down.  The rolling barrage started too far away and advanced too quickly (in an effort not to hit survivors of a failed trench raid who may still have been in no-man’s-land).

However, further to the south, the 46th Division had a stunning success.  In what they thought would be a purely diversionary attack, they crossed the canal using equipment salvaged from cross-Channel passenger ferries an hour after the Americans attacked, and took the Germans completely by surprise.  Private George Waters recalled:

The men were on top of the Germans before they knew what was happening.  A corporal, Crutchley, suddenly came to a German machine gun post protecting the bridge and he shot the German crew down before they could get their guns into action.

They were able to secure the bridge before the Germans had a chance to set off the demolition charges, and more troops streamed over (while still others swam across with the help of life belts). 

By the end of the day, the 46th Division had advanced three miles, taking the bulk of the Hindenburg Line in their sector.  A single regiment took over 4200 PoWs themselves.  Following up on this success, by the end of the next day over 30 miles of the Hindenburg Line were in Allied hands, with only one German reserve line in between them and open country beyond.

Today in 1917: British Victory at Ramadi Today in 1916: Romania Launches Last Attack into Transylvania Today in 1915: Haig Blames Sir John French for Failures at Loos Today in 1914: Belgian Cyclist Saboteurs Return to Antwerp; There, German Artillery Destroys Forts’ Magazines

New Zealand artillery in the mud on October 12.

October 12 1917, Passchendaele--Only three days after the disastrous attack on Poelcappelle, Haig and Plumer were determined to go forward with their next planned attack, towards the ridge around Passchendaele.  The atrocious conditions had not changed in the last three days, and had in fact grown worse, with hurricane-strength winds being recorded on the night of the 11th.  Major FJ Rice, an artillery officer in II ANZAC Corps, recalled:

Infantry officers told us more than once that they doubted if they could have dragged their way to their objectives even if there had been no enemy, the mud was so deep, and one heard stories of men, wounded and unwounded, being stuck in waterlogged shell holes for more than a day.

The British artillery was still crippled by mud, and was operating at half strength and with much-diminished effectiveness. B.O. Stokes, a gunner from New Zealand, recalled:

Every time we fired a shot the trail would dig deep into the mud, so with every shot we had to try to lift it back and re-lay the gun before we could fire again.  It was a nightmare.

The extremely muddy ground also meant the fired artillery shells were often just absorbed by the mud, not inflicting the damage it was supposed to, leaving belts of uncut wire.  This problem was most serious for the New Zealand Division, which had the critical task of capturing the Bellevue Ridge.  The night before, Private W. Smith recalled,

We dug in as best we could at the bottom of the Bellevue Ridge -- but the idea of ‘digging in’ was ridiculous.  You can’t dig water!  My section managed to throw up a kind of ridge of slush, but the water from the shell-holes around just poured into it. You couldn’t squat down, we just stood there in the rain and wind waiting for our guns to open up with the barrage.

The New Zealanders, tasked with making an advance of 2500 yards in places (the plans having assumed that the attack on the 9th succeeded), were cut down.  Wire remained uncut, and German machine-gun fire was hardly affected by the mud and the artillery barrage.  The official report of the opposing Germans read in part:

The day was a particularly great day for the machine guns.  As sufficient ammunition was available, and delivered efficiently all day--during the course of this day alone, more than 130,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition were delivered -- all targets that presented themselves could be taken under continuous machine gun fire....As the field of fire was often very wide, and as the English presented the most worthwhile mass targets all day long, the effect of the machine guns was truly devastating for the enemy.

The Australians on their right had slightly more success, in some cases reaching their second objective at a distance of over 1700 yards. However, they faced enfilade fire from the positions the New Zealanders were supposed to have taken, communications and reinforcements were impossible, and the British artillery did little to deter German counterattacks, most of the gains were lost by the end of the day.

Today in 1916: Prussian War Ministry Begins Jewish Census Today in 1915: Edith Cavell and Philippe Baucq Executed Today in 1914: Martial Law Declared in South Africa

British troops attempt to move an 18-pound gun through the mud at Poelcappelle on October 16 (a week after the battle).  Strewn in the foreground are some duckboards on which foot soldiers would traverse the mud.

October 9 1917, Poelcappelle--After the British victory at Broodseinde, Haig and Plumer were eager to launch yet another attack on the German lines as quickly as they possibly could, bringing the date up one day to October 9.  However, in the intervening five days, the weather turned.  An inch of rain fell onto the already-sodden battlefield on October 7 and 8, making it essentially impossible for the British to properly situate artillery.  Not enough guns could be brought forward, and those that could often had to be sited haphazardly.  After a few rounds were fired, the recoil would force the gun down into the mud, forcing the gun crews to re-aim the gun, dig it out, or accept abysmal accuracy, wrecking the idea of the creeping barrage.

The infantry had it no easier.  Private A.T. Shaw of the East Lancashire Regiment recalled:

Word was passed down from the front saying, “Every man get hold of the bayonet scabbard of the man in front.  We cannot wait for any man who falls in.” This of course referred to the shell-craters brimming with stinking water on either side of the duckboards [the narrow wooden paths laid over the mud]. We knew this order was not meant to be carried out, but it made you realize what could have happened if you were alone on these duckboards and staggered off.  It was still raining but we were past caring.

Given these issues, some commanders advocated a postponement, while others (including the head of II ANZAC Corps, which would be in the vanguard), pointedly argued the opposite.  Haig ultimately decided to proceed with the attack as planned on the morning of October 9.  

Private Shaw continued:

As dawn approached I could see the faint outline of a ridge about four or five hundred yards in front, and we then left the duckboards...[I] was knee-deep in slush, and then I heard the sound of a heavy gun firing and immediately our barrage started; but we had not then arrived at the jumping-off point.  Heavy German shells were already falling amongst us and shrapnel was flying all over the place.  There were shouts and screams and men falling all around.  The attack that should have started never got off the ground.

Shaw’s experience was, unfortunately for the British, quite typical of the day.  Even for units that got to the jumping-off point in time, the creeping barrage was ineffective.  This allowed the new German defense tactics to be quite effective, as the most advanced defending Germans could stay in their shell-holes with their machine guns rather than fall back to concrete bunkers.  German artillery, far better situated than their British counterparts, also inflicted serious damage on the advancing British.  

The British and French made a limited advance of a few hundred yards on the northern edge of their attack (where the ground had fewer shell-craters), but elsewhere they were almost completely stymied.

Today in 1916: Venizelos Arrives at Salonika, Declares Provisional Government of National Defense Today in 1915: Austrians Enter Belgrade Today in 1914: Germans Find Russian Order of Battle; Austrians Reach Przemyśl