#ypres

Battle of Passchendaele: Haig's Folly in the Mud of Flanders

The Third Battle of Ypres was widely seen as an Allied failure. Strictly speaking, Haig had won the battle, but the gains were minimal and the costs high. The British and British Empire forces had overall suffered between 250,000 and 275,000 casualties (including 70,000 killed) in three months of fighting for no strategic gain. Haig was criticised for wasting men for the very limited gain of a salient just 5 miles (8 km) deeper into enemy territory. All of this territory would be lost in just three days during the German Spring Offensive of 1918, when the lack of British reserves, men lost at Passchendaele, was telling.

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Frank Hurley:: 1st Australian Division near Ypres, 1917

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HERE DEAD WE LIE

Here dead we lie Because we did not choose To live and shame the land From which we sprung. Life, to be sure, Is nothing much to lose, But young men think it is, And we were young.