Battle of Polygon Wood

Battle of Polygon Wood Part of Battle of Passchendaele (World War I) Australian infantry wearing respirators Date September 26–27, 1917 Location Polygon Wood, Flanders Result Allied victory Belligerents  United Kingdom Australia  German Empire Commanders and leaders Herbert Plumer Erich Ludendorff Strength 7 British divisions 2 Australian divisions[1] Casualties and losses Australia: 5,770[1] Unknown, but heavy

v t e Battle of Passchendaele Messines Pilckem Ridge Langemarck Menin Road Ridge Polygon Wood Broodseinde Poelcappelle 1st Passchendaele 2nd Passchendaele

The Battle of Polygon Wood took place during the second phase of the Battle of Passchendaele in World War I. The battle was fought near Ypres, Belgium, in an area named the Polygon Wood after the layout of the area. Much of the woodland had been under intense shelling during the Battle of Passchendaele, and the area had changed hands several times.

British General Herbert Plumer replaced the ambitious general assaults that had previously been employed with a series of small attacks with limited objectives, which he named his "Bite and hold" plan. These attacks involved a preemptive artillery bombardment followed by a frontal attack near the Polygon Wood. The attacks were led by lines of skirmishers, followed by small infantry groups. Plumer's plan was to outflank the German divisions rather than execute a main frontal assault. Each advance would stop after it had moved forward 1000–1500 yards. Preparations were then made to fending off any German counterattack. The Allied forces succeeded in securing the wooded area after heavy fighting.

Background

The name Polygon Wood (German-Polygonwald, or French-Bois de Polygone) was derived from the shape of a plantation forest that lay along the axis of the Australian advance on 26 September 1917. Shelling had reduced the wood to little more than stumps and broken timber. The wood was sometimes known as Racecourse Wood, as there was a track within it.^[2] Before the Great War, Polygon Wood was used by the Belgian Army and within it stands a large mound, known as the Butte, which was used as a rifle range before the war. There was also a small airfield near the area.^[3]

Prelude

On 21 September Haig instructed the Fifth and Second Armies to make the next step across the Gheluvelt Plateau on a front of 8,500 yards. I ANZAC Corps would conduct the main advance of about 1,200 yards to complete the occupation of Polygon Wood and the south of Zonnebeke. X Corps to the south was to attack either side of the Menin Road and Fifth Army in the north was to advance to occupy a line from Zonnebeke to Kansas Cross and Hill 40 near Zonnebeke station.^[4] Second Army altered its Corps frontages soon after the attack of 20 September so that each attacking division could be concentrated on a 1,000 yard front. Roads and light railways were built behind the new front line to allow artillery and ammunition to be moved forward, beginning on 20 September; in fine weather this was finished in four days. As before Menin Road, bombardment and counter-battery fire began immediately, with practice barrages fired daily as a minimum. Artillery from VIII and IX Corps in the south acted to threaten attacks on Zandvoorde and Warneton.

Preparations

39th Division took over from 41st Division ready to attack Tower Hamlets (on the Bassevillebeke spur), 33rd Division replaced 23rd Division beyond the Menin Road and 5th and 4th Australian Divisions replaced 1st and 2nd Australian Divisions in Polygon Wood.^[5] The German attack on 25 September between Menin Road and Polygon Wood occurred as 33rd Division was taking over from 23rd Division and for a time threatened to delay preparations here for the British operation due next day. Some ground was captured by the Germans and part of it was then recaptured by 33rd Division. Plumer ordered that the flank guard protecting the I ANZAC Corps on 26 September was to be formed by 98th Brigade of 33rd Division while 100th Brigade recaptured the lost ground.^[6]

The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) began operations on the night of 25–26 September when 100 and 101 Sqns attacked German billets and railway stations. The mist (which affected visibility for the infantry later on) rose before dawn, ending night flying early. Low cloud at 5.50 a.m. when the infantry advanced, made observation difficult but contact-patrol and artillery observers managed to observe progress on the ground and reported 193 German artillery batteries to British artillery. Fighters flying at about 300 feet attacked German infantry and artillery; German aircraft tried this against British troops with some success, although ground fire shot five of them down. Six more German aircraft were shot down by RFC and RNAS pilots over the battlefield^[7] Operations further afield were reduced due to the low cloud but three German airfields were attacked and an offensive patrol over the front line intercepted German bombers and escorts and drove them off.^[8]

Australian

The area where the Battle of Passchendaele had taken place was shelled by both sides, therefore, roads had to be built for mass artillery transport.^[9] Building supply routes for Plumer's 'bite and hold' tactics was a necessity, because the heavier equipment tended to become bogged down in the churned up mud from the intense shelling. All war material had to be brought forward by wagons along roads and tracks dangerously exposed to heavy shelling from both sides.^[10] Allied involvement in the Polygon Wood battle were the Fourth and Fifth Australian divisions, which as well as the infantry included artillery, engineers, medical personnel and those involved in supply and transport. Along with the two Australian divisions there were five British divisions.^[11]

Australian medical details established Regimental Aid Posts close to the line to which the badly wounded could be brought quickly from the battlefield for attention before being carried back by field ambulance stretcher–bearers to horse–drawn and motor ambulance collecting points along the Menin Road.^[1] The artillery pieces consisted of the following: 205 pieces of heavy artillery, one gun for every nine meters of front. In addition, there would be an array of lighter 18–pound guns of the field artillery brigades. Assembled forward of the artillery were the heavy Vickers machine guns of the machine gun companies. A number of these would provide emergency barrages if the attacking infantry needed defense against a sudden German counter–attack.^[9] Planes of the Australian Royal Flying Corps would fly over the infantry as a ‘contact patrol’. These planes were distinguished by black streamers on the rear edge of their left wings and were to call for signals from the ground by sounding a klaxon horn or dropping lights. The infantry would respond with red flares and, the position being noted, the pilot would report back to the Australian Division Headquarters.^[12]

German

The German forces covered a large earthen mound known as the "Butte". The German defenders had commanding views over the surrounding countryside and they fortified the mound with machine gun emplacements and barbed wire structures. Polygon Wood formed part of the German "Wilhelm Line" defense system. Dugouts and foxholes were constructed within it.^[10] The attack was scheduled to begin on September 26, but the plan was almost derailed by a German attack on the British X Corps to the south of I Anzac Corps.^[9] A day earlier, Australian troops of the 15th Brigade, preparing for their attack, took part in fending off the Germans; however, their advance the next day began with uncertainty as to the security of their flank.^[1]

Battle

The Allied attack

Australian soldiers at the Battle of Polygon Wood

The main assault would be supported (on the right) by 33rd Division and on the left with simultaneous attacks by Australian Fifth Division's 3rd and 59th Battalions towards Zonnebeke and Hill 40. The intention was to build on the gains made during the Battle of Menin Road. At 5.50 a.m. on 26 September the five layers of barrage fired by the British artillery and machine-guns began. Dust and smoke added to the morning mist so the infantry advanced on compass bearings and rushed the German outposts of 3rd Reserve Division and part of 50th Reserve Division, most falling immediately.^[13] Each Australian division attacked with two brigades and one in reserve. A battalion in each advanced 800 yards to the first objective, then two more passed through to the final objective about 400 yards beyond and dug in.

Under this screen the 4th and 5th divisions, in conjunction with British formations, swept forward, and after much hard fighting captured the prearranged objectives round Polygon Wood and Zonnebeke. Our loses were again heavy – over 4,000. The German casualties were later found to have been about the same. (Lieut Gen Birdwood, I ANZAC Corps)^[14]

The German defences in the wood disintegrated quickly, Major Hethey, Kampftruppenkommandeur in the southern portion of the wood being killed at 6.30 a.m. but mopping up took until midday.^[15] The difficulties of 33rd Division further south meant that the 5th Australian Division had to swing back on its right to cover the area not retaken by the 33rd Division, which at first only managed an advance to Black Watch Corner. The rest of 5th Australian Division consolidated in the German Flandern I defences just east of Polygon Wood. Another battalion from 33rd Division was sent through the Australian area to attack south-east, together with an advance from the Corner and this recaptured the ground lost the previous day by 2.00 p.m. The ground lost near Menin road was regained by the other 33rd Division brigade, also in the afternoon.^[16] 4th Australian Division advanced 1,200 yards to Groote Molen (Tokio) spur without serious difficulty. 39th Division captured Tower Hamlets from the German 50th Reserve Division and 'The Quadrilateral' further down the spur from the 25th Division but this was recaptured by the Germans after being occupied by 118th Brigade, 39th Division. It had been caught in the boggy ground of the Bassevillebeek, its two tanks in support got stuck near Dumbarton Lakes and soon after arriving in the quadrilateral, was counter-attacked by part of the German 25th Division and pushed back 200 yards.^[17]

North of the I Anzac Corps, three divisions of V Corps from Fifth Army provided the other flank guard. 3rd Division advanced to the west end of Zonnebeke, against part of the German 3rd Reserve Division but further north got caught in mud, lost the barrage and was stopped short of Hill 40.

Suddenly I heard shouts of 'Englander' from in front. I called the men out and we took up a position in the mass of shell-holes on either side. Almost at once figures appeared moving towards us through the fog. They were coming on at a steady pace bunched together in groups between the water-logged shell-holes. We opened fire and threw hand-grenades into the midst of them and they at once took cover in the shell-holes, I could see two of them fixing up a light machine-gun which opened on us hitting several of my men before we could silence it. For a moment the attack here was held, but looking round I could see more English advancing past us to right and left, and realized that our only hope was to run for it. (Officer, 3rd Battalion, 34th Fusilier Regiment)^[18]

A second attack later in the day on Hill 40 met a German counter-attack, leaving both sides where they started. 59th Division advanced swiftly between Waterend House and Schuler Farm, against parts of 3rd Reserve Division and 23rd Reserve Division. 58th Division's 175th Brigade attacked up the Hanebeek valley but mist and disorganisation left it 400 yards short of its objective.^[19]

The infantry’s main obstacles on the battlefield were the dozens of German concrete pill–boxes which protected the enemy machine gunners. They had to arrive at the pill–boxes just as the barrage lifted from them and the occupants were still dazed by explosions. At some pill–boxes there was resistance but many German soldiers surrendered when they found themselves so rapidly surrounded.^[12] The Butte itself was soon rushed and was found to be full of German dugouts. To the south of the Australian divisions, the 15th Brigade, which after its efforts the previous day had been reinforced by two battalions from the 8th, secured not only its own objectives but those allocated to the neighboring 98th Brigade.^[20]

The Germans launched several counter-attacks but these were thwarted by the heavy defensive artillery barrages used to protect the infantry consolidating on their objectives. Despite difficulties at the southern and northern extremities of the front attacked, by mid-morning most objectives had been gained. Clear weather after midday assisted observation of the expected German counter-attacks which were repulsed by precise British barrages and concentrated rifle and machine-gun fire, causing heavy German casualties.^[2]

German counter-attacks

At midday the mist cleared, giving a hot clear day. British observation aircraft began to send wireless messages warning of German infantry advancing towards all of the front attacked. Similar reports from the ground began in the early afternoon; German infantry from 17th, 236th and 4th Bavarian Divisions were advancing north of Becelaere, south of Broodseinde and massing on the Broodseinde-Passchendaele Ridge. British artillery immediately bombarded these areas, disrupting the German deployment and leading to the German attacks being uncoordinated.

Towards 10.30 a.m. information arrived that the enemy, attacking the inner flanks of Groups Ypres and Wijtschaete had forced their way into Polygon Wood.... the British were bringing down ever heavier fire throughout the area.... In the face of this brutal reality and bowed under the weight of our battle loads, we could only pick our way forward tortuously and painfully. Again and again we had to take cover to avoid the attentions of aircraft. (Hauptmann Caspari)^[21]

A counter-attack either side of Molenaarelsthoek was stopped dead at 3.25 p.m. At 4.00 p.m. Germans advancing near Reutel and to its north were bombarded as were German artillery positions in Holle Bosch and the counter-attack was dispersed. Soon after a German attack developed near Polderhoek whose survivors managed to reach the British infantry and were seen off in bayonet fighting. Reports later on revealed German troops massing against Tower Hamlets but artillery and machine-gun barrages stopped the German attack. At 6.50 p.m. the Germans managed to coordinate an attack from Tower Hamlets to north of Polygon Wood. Infantry which got through the barrages was 'annihilated' by the British infantry.

At about 4.00 p.m. on 26 September the company advanced as part of the second wave against Polygon Wood. It was not long before it came under tremendous artillery fire. Nevertheless progress continued to be made. A short time later a great concentration of high explosive shells mixed with gas shells, came down, forcing the company to mask up. Soon it was enveloped in a very dense cloud of gas, which meant that contact within the company was lost and orientation became impossible.(Reserve Leutnant Schutt)^[22]

Apart from Hill 40 near Zonnebeke, where the German counter-attack met 3rd Division's renewed attack and stopped it short of the hill, the German counter-attacks could only reach the new front line.^[23] The German attacks stopped at 8.30 p.m. and after a quiet night, British and ANZAC troops south of Polygon Wood occupied Cameron House and the head of the Reutelbeek valley near Cameron Covert.

The Eingreif divisions for the most part again struck against an already well dug in (eingenistete) enemy, in some places against new enemy attacks.... In the face of the British barrages they took 1 1/2 to 2 hours to advance one kilometre, their formation broken and their attack power lamed. (Der Weltkrieg)^[24]

Aftermath

Private John Hines of the 45th Battalion with the German money and equipment he looted during the Battle of Polygon Wood

The 4th Division's battalions captured all their objectives – woods, blockhouses and trenches – and suffered 1,717 casualties. The even more heavily engaged 5th Division suffered 5,471 dead and wounded in the period 26–28 September. Polygon Wood today, though smaller than in 1917, is still large. The remains of three German pillboxes captured by the Australians lie deep among the trees but few trench lines remain.^[10]

The Butte is still prominent and mounted on top of it is the AIF 5th Division memorial, the usual obelisk. It faces the Butte's military cemetery at the other end of which is a New Zealand memorial to the missing of the sector, the Buttes New British Cemetery (New Zealand) Memorial.^[1]

Each of the three German ground-holding divisions attacked on 26 September had an Eingreif division in support, twice the ratio of 20 September. No ground captured by the British had been regained and the counter-attacks had managed only to reach ground that the survivors of the front-line divisions had retired to. Second Army estimated that ten divisional artilleries had supported the German troops defending the Gheluvelt Plateau, doubling the Royal Artillery casualties compared to the previous week. British losses were 15,375; 1,215 being killed. Der Weltkrieg gives 38,500 casualties between 11 September and 30 September (236th (Eingreif), 10th Ersatz, 50th Reserve, 23rd Reserve (Eingreif), 17th (Eingreif), 19th Reserve and 4th Bavarian (Eingreif) divisions)^[25] to which the British Official Historian^[26] controversially added 30% for lightly wounded.^[27]

Notes

References

External links

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Coordinates: 50°51′7″N 2°59′7″E / 50.85194°N 2.98528°E / 50.85194; 2.98528 (Battle of Polygon Wood)