Battles of the War in Europe
The Battle of Ypres
31 July 1917
Ypres, West Flanders (current- day Belgium)
The outcomes of this battle were the loss of 310,000 British men and 260,000 German soldiers and the Canadians and British gaining control of Passchendaele (current-day Passendale). It did not, however, accomplish the main intended goal- a substantial breakthrough or change of momentum on the Western Front. It was one of the most costly and controversial offensives or WWI.
Ypres, West Flanders (current- day Belgium)
The outcomes of this battle were the loss of 310,000 British men and 260,000 German soldiers and the Canadians and British gaining control of Passchendaele (current-day Passendale). It did not, however, accomplish the main intended goal- a substantial breakthrough or change of momentum on the Western Front. It was one of the most costly and controversial offensives or WWI.
The Battle of the Somme
01 July 1916
Somme River, France
The outcomes of this battle were 420,000 casualties for the British, 200,000 for the French, and nearly 500,000 for the Germans. The Allied Forces gained a thirty-mile strip that was no more than seven miles deep. George Coppard, a machine gunner at that battle, explains the end of the battle very accurately. "The next morning (July 2nd) we gunners surveyed the dreadful scene in front of us......it became clear that the Germans always had a commanding view of No Man's Land. (The British) attack had been brutally repulsed. Hundreds of dead were strung out like wreckage washed up to a high water-mark. Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground, like fish caught in the net. They hung there in grotesque postures. Some looked as if they were praying; they had died on their knees and the wire had prevented their fall. Machine gun fire had done its terrible work. "
Somme River, France
The outcomes of this battle were 420,000 casualties for the British, 200,000 for the French, and nearly 500,000 for the Germans. The Allied Forces gained a thirty-mile strip that was no more than seven miles deep. George Coppard, a machine gunner at that battle, explains the end of the battle very accurately. "The next morning (July 2nd) we gunners surveyed the dreadful scene in front of us......it became clear that the Germans always had a commanding view of No Man's Land. (The British) attack had been brutally repulsed. Hundreds of dead were strung out like wreckage washed up to a high water-mark. Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground, like fish caught in the net. They hung there in grotesque postures. Some looked as if they were praying; they had died on their knees and the wire had prevented their fall. Machine gun fire had done its terrible work. "