Quote:
Originally Posted by m60g
Hey, you live in Ypres, that's where Paschendale was fought. I'm a big military history buff  |
Technically they called it the Battle of Passchendaele or the Third Battle of Ypres.
But the fighting was mostly away from Ypres, and took many months over a large area.
Boezinge is 3 miles North of Ypres, that's where the started off, the Battle of Pilkem Ridge (area where my house is) was part of the first phase (along with Battle of Messines and others),
then in the second phase they fought in the center of the front , Battle of Menin road and others, 3rd phase whwere the actual 3 Battles of Passchendale
The third Battle of Ypres was one of the first, real modern battles.
Where Airsupport, Tank support, Artillery support were coordinated for effect,
unlike the earlier parts of WW1 where it was basically a case of , everybody go over the top and run to the enemy.
Often ending up shelled by their own artillery if things weren't coordinated right.
The more modern tactics however did not mean they resulted in lesser casualties.
On the contrary, 3 months of fighting.. they estimate at least 240 000 casualties on each side.
That's 2500 men , per day
2 per second
They can't really set an exact number, they can only guestimate.. Many were buried by the shelling after they fell.