Current Information:

Military Cross

Hooge Crater 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 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 four 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.

Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31st July-2nd August)

This was the opening attack of Third Ypres and began at 3.50am on 31st July when British and French troops launched their offensive to break out of the Ypres salient. The day had mixed results. To the north the Pilckem Ridge was captured but there was less success further south along the Gheluvelt Ridge, where a combination of stiff German resistance and low cloud, which hindered observation, meant that only the first objectives were captured. Further attempts to push on were stopped in their tracks by specialist German counter attack divisions and resulted in a 70% casualty rate among the British troops. Then in the afternoon, the rain came and under the weight of shells falling on it, the battlefield soon became a quagmire. Over the next two days, suffering the most appalling conditions in the mud and the rain, the troops had to fight off numerous German counter attacks.

On 31st July, 1917, 53 Brigade of 18th Division attacked in support of 30th Division, pushing out from the Ypres salient, just south of the Menin Road. 53 Brigade’s task was to leapfrog 30th Division and capture Glencourse Wood using the 8th Suffolk and 6th Royal Berkshire battalions with the 10th Essex battalion in support. The two leading battalions made progress, crossed the Menin road but were then held up  by machine-gun nests in western edge of Glencourse Wood. Here they were joined by B and C Companies of  10th Essex and although some of the enemy strong points were eliminated, the wood remained in enemy hands. Fearing a counter attack, the  battalions of 53 Brigade consolidated their new positions and remained there until relieved that evening. Among the casualties suffered during a day of heavy fighting was Henry Tarrant of 6th Royal Berkshire.