As promised, a sort of explanation of the heavy
casualties suffered between the
11th and14th October.On those days, the
battalion was in the front line
for the first Battle of Passchendaele. A very significant feature of the battle
was the
rain. Torrential rain fell on a
battlefield where all the field drainage
system had been destroyed in the
fighting.In the two days up to the 9th
October an inch of rain had fallen, over half the normal rainfall for the month.
The whole battlefield was a sea of mud. October 1917 was the wettest October
that century.While Harry’s battalion was in the front line, the
main attack on the 12th October was carried out by the Australian and New Zealand
troops. Their losses were enormous. They had little success. The casualties
experienced by the 9th battalion York & Lancaster Regiment must have been
incidental to the main attack, drawing significant casualties from the fighting
resulting from it.
More summaries about the 12th October 1917 - 1st battle of Passchendaele