Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 17 Earlier battles had also destroyed the ancient Flanders drainage system that once channeled rain water away from the fields. The explosion of millions more shells in the new offensive — accompanied by torrential rain —would quickly turn the battlefield into an apocalyptic expanse: a swampy, pulverized mire, dotted with water-filled craters deep enough to drown a man, all made worse by the churned-up graves of soldiers killed in earlier fighting. British troops, supported by dozens of tanks and assisted by a French contingent, assaulted German trenches on 31 July. For the next month, hundreds of thousands of soldiers on opposing sides attacked and counterattacked across sodden, porridge-like mud, in an open, grey landscape almost empty of buildings or natural cover, all under the relentless, harrowing rain of exploding shells, flying shrapnel and machinegun fire. Few gains were made. Nearly 70,000 men from some of Britain's best assault divisions were killed or wounded. By early September, Haig was under political pressure from London to halt the offensive, but he refused. In September, Australian and New Zealand divisions were thrown into the fight alongside the worn out British forces, but the result was the same: the Allies would bombard, assault and occupy a section of enemy ground only to be thrown back by the counterattacking Germans. In October, Haig — determined to carry on despite the depletion of his armies and the sacrifice of his soldiers — now turned to the Canadians. Haig ordered Lieutenant General Arthur Currie, the Canadian Corps' new commander, to bring his four divisions to Belgium and take up the fight around Passchendaele. Currie objected to what he considered a reckless attack, arguing it would cost about 16,000 Canadian casualties for no great strategic gain. Ultimately, however, Currie had little choice. After lodging his protest, he made careful plans for the Canadians' assault. The Battle of Passchendaele (continued) (continued on page 19)
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