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A timeline of Passchendaele
A timeline of events before, during and after the Third Battle of Ypres
1914
1 August — Germany declares war on Russia
2-3 August — Germany enacts the Schlieffen Plan, invading Luxembourg and Belgium and declaring war on France
5-10 September — German invasion of France stopped at the First Battle of the Marne
September-December — German, British and French forces establish trench networks running from the Channel coast down to Switzerland
19 October-22 November — First Battle of Ypres. Germany fails to take Ypres, and the British maintain a prominent salient around the town
1915
10–13 March — Failed British offensive at Neuve Chapelle
22 April-25 May — Second Battle of Ypres. German forces make offensive against Ypres, forcing the reduction of the salient but failing to take it or the city. The battle also saw the extensive use of poison gas by the Germans
25 September-14 October — First Battle of Loos. Major British offensive that includes British use of poison gas and of the ‘creeping’ artillery barrage. Costs 50,000 British casualties
19 December — Douglas Haig becomes commander-in-chief of the BEF
1916
21 February-18 December — The Battle of Verdun. This battle of attrition eventually costs the Germans as many casualties as the French, and by December the German forces had lost all their initial gains
1 July-18 November — The Battle of the Somme, a British offensive launched to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun. For limited gains the British suffer more than 600,000 casualties. Tanks used for first time in combat
1917
February — German forces on the Western Front, weakened by fighting in 1916, are forced to withdraw back to the Hindenburg Line
6 April — The United States declares war on Germany
April-May — A British offensive at Arras and French attack at Chemin des Dames bring little change to the front line positions on the Western Front
31 July-10 November — Third Battle of Ypres. A major British offensive runs aground in appalling weather and in the face of terrible casualties – 250,000 men are killed or wounded. The German Fourth Army suffers similar casualties. The campaign consists of the following major engagements:
31 July-2 August — The Battle of Pilckem Ridge
16-18 August — Battle of Langemarck
20-25 September — Battle of Menin Road Ridge
26 September-3 October — Battle of Polygon Wood
4 October — Battle of Broodseinde
9 October — Battle of Poelcappelle
12 October — First Passchendaele
26 October-10 November — Second Passchendaele
20 November — The British Flanders campaign is officially brought to an end
Extracted from Passchendaele 1917 by Chris McNab
