Current Information:

Charing Cross

Mendinghem Military Cemetery, Belgium

Third Battle of Ypres

This was a campaign fought between July and November 1917 and is often referred to as the Battle of Passchendaele, a village to the north-east of Ypres which was finally captured in November. It was an attempt by the British to break out of the Ypres salient and capture the higher ground to the south and the east from which the enemy had been able to dominate the salient. It began well but two important factors weighed against them. First was the weather. The summer of 1917 turned out to be one of the the wettest on record and soon the battlefield was reduced to a morass of mud which made progress very difficult, if not impossible in places. The second was the defensive arrangements of concrete blockhouses and machine gun posts providing inter-locking fire that the Germans had constructed and which were extremely difficult and costly to counter. For 4 months this epic struggle continued by the end of which the salient had been greatly expanded in size but the vital break out had not been achieved.

The Battle of Langemarck

This took place between 16th-18th August, 1917 and was the second general attack of 3rd Ypres. Although it did not rain during the two days of the battle itself there had been plenty of it in the preceding days and in many places the battlefield was a quagmire. On the left of the attack in the north-west of the Ypres salient there was considerable success,  especially for the French Army which attacked on the left of the British, but the attack on the Gheluvelt Plateau, due east of Ypres, met determined German resistance and the early gains were soon reversed.

On 16th August, 56th Division attacked at 4.45am on the right of the battle front, with 169 and 167 Brigades their objective being the western half of Polygon Wood. 168 Brigade were in reserve and had been given a number of different tasks to facilitate the operation. As the 13th London battalion moved forward to their allotted position they were hit by heavy shell fire, much of it gas, which caused a number of casualties. At 10am the battalion was ordered forward to Chateau Wood where it came under orders of 167 Brigade. By now the attack as faltering and 13th London took over  the positions of the 7th Middlesex battalion who were sent forward to assist the beleaguered 8th Middlesex. Throughout the afternoon there was some very heavy shelling of the positions 13th London now held in James Trench and Ignorance Row but no orders were issued for the battalion to move further forward and here they remained in what was to become the new front line. Enemy counter-attacks all along the divisional front were fierce and prolonged and gradually 169 and 167 Brigades were pushed  back, almost to their starting line. 13th London remained in these forward positions until relieved on the following evening. There were many casualties for all involved and one of these was William White who died from wounds on 22nd August.