War and Game

The Ypres salient was one of the most dangerous places on the entire Western Front. The bulge in the front-line enabled the Germans to fire into the British positions from in front and both sides. It was a "hot" place and every soldier dreaded being in the lines there. The salient was also vulnerable to a major German attack. At any time, the Germans, attacking from the north and south, could attempt to pinch-off any troops in the bulge. If they were successful in cutting off the British positions from behind, there would be no avenue of escape for the thousands of trapped soldiers.

The Germans also had the advantage of topography on their side. The Ypres salient was located on the Flanders Plain, an area distinguished by flat, low-lying agricultural land with few heights of any significance. Occasionally, the land rose to form almost imperceptible ridges. Control of these ridges was of great military importance, for they offered the occupier the "eyes" to observe all the opponent's movements and to direct deadly artillery fire accurately on the enemy's positions. In the summer of 1917, unfortunately for the British, the Germans controlled virtually all of the high positions in the Ypres salient.

The most prominent of these crests of land was Passchendaele Ridge which ran in a crescent-shape about eight kilometres east of Ypres. It was a truly dominating position. The Germans, aware of its crucial importance, had turned the entire ridge into an armed bastion. For the British, their precarious position in the Ypres salient could only be alleviated by seizing Passchendaele Ridge. Once the Ridge was captured, the British could then utilize the high ground to harass the surrounding German .positions and to launch a decisive attack on the German-occupied channel ports. These ports were important to the German war strategy, as many of their deadly submarines operated from them.

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In mid-October, the Canadian Corps was given the dubious task of securing Passchendaele Ridge. Immediately, the Canadians set about devising a strategy that would defeat the mud and allow them to penetrate the formidable German defences. The German defensive system reflected the unique conditions found in the Ypres salient. The high water table precluded the use of the traditional trench systems that were employed in other sectors of the Western Front like the Somme and Vimy. In their place, the Germans erected a complex system of interlocking pillboxes. S.G. Bennett, historian of the 4th Canadian Rifles, describes the problems encountered when attacking the German defensive lines as follows:

"The enemy's line of defence was not a series of uniform trenches to be taken and mopped up. Instead there were isolated trenches and strongpoints dotted here and there. The greatest obstacles were the pill-boxes.

They were manned by picked resistance-troops who fought with courage and resolution, keeping their rifles and machine-guns in action until bombed or bayoneted. Only by collective bravery and individual acts of gallantry were these obstacles removed. Contrary to popular belief the majority of pill-boxes were not loop-holed fortresses from which the defenders fought. They were square rooms of reinforced-concrete with walls and roof about five feet thick with one door in the rear leading into a fire-trench. Their walls were too thick to allow a field of fire through ports. During a bombardment and when not in action the garrison gained shelter within, but as soon as an attack was launched, the occupants manned the fire-trench which ran behind and extended on either side of the pill-box. They took the place of deep dug-outs, which were impracticable in such a low-lying country, and were good rallying points giving moral support to the defenders.

"They were formidable, but with one weakness, their range of fire was limited, and unless covered by other pill-boxes on the flanks the blind points in the range of fire made it possible for individual attackers to crawl up under cover and bomb the garrison behind. This explains many of the individual acts of heroism in capturing or demolishing a crew defending a pillbox."