The Night action of 1/2 December 1917 during the First World War, was a local operation on the Western Front, in Belgium at the Ypres Salient. The action was a British Fourth Army (re-named from the Second Army on 8 November) attack on the German 4th Army. The Third Battle of Ypres (31 July – 10 November) proper had ended officially on 20 November but the attack was intended to capture the heads of valleys leading eastwards from the ridge, to gain observation over German positions.
On 18 November the VIII Corps on the right and II Corps on the left (northern) side of the Passchendaele Salient, took over from the Canadian Corps. The area was subjected to constant German artillery bombardment and its vulnerability to attack led to a suggestion by Brigadier Cecil Aspinall that the British should either retire to the west side of the Gheluvelt Plateau or advance to broaden the salient towards Westroosebeke (now Westrozebeke). Expanding the salient would make the troops in it less vulnerable to German artillery-fire and provide a better jumping off line for a resumption of the offensive in the spring of 1918.
The British attacked towards Westroozebeke on the night of 1/2 December, dispensing with a preliminary bombardment as a ruse, the artillery remaining silent until eight minutes after the infantry advanced. The ploy failed because the noise of the British assembly and the difficulty of moving across muddy and waterlogged ground had alerted the Germans. In the moonlight, the British troops were visible when they were still short of the German defences. Some ground was captured and about were taken but the attack on the redoubts failed and observation over the heads of the valleys on the east and north sides of the ridge, was not gained.
Background
Strategic developments
With the failure to capture Passchendaele and the ridge on 12 October, the grand strategic objectives of the Third Battle of Ypres were abandoned. Attacks continued, to secure a winter line from Passchendaele to Westroosebeke to hold German troops in Flanders before a British offensive at Cambrai due on 20 November and to provide jumping-off points for a resumption of the offensive in 1918. On 20 November 1917, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) formally ended the offensive. Haig took the decision because of an acute shortage of infantry, orders to send five divisions to Italy in the British Expeditionary Force (Italy) and the need to take over more of the Western Front from the French. Command of the former Second Army sector in Flanders was transferred to General Henry Rawlinson and the Fourth Army HQ, which also took over command of II Corps (Lieutenant-General Claud Jacob). General Hubert Gough and the Fifth Army headquarters were transferred to Artois, in command of the divisions relieving French army south of the Somme. It was desirable for the Fourth Army to mount minor operations to improve its positions and to continue to keep German troops away from Cambrai, once the Battle of Cambrai (20 November – 7 December 1917) had begun.
Tactical developments
Fifth Army
After the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge on 20 September, British attack planning had reached a stage of development where plans had been reduced to a formula. The Second Army operation order of 7 November was written on less than a sheet of paper. Corps staffs produced more detailed plans, particularly for the artillery and more discretion was allowed to divisional commanders than in 1915 and 1916. The tactical sophistication of the infantry had increased during the battle but the chronic difficulty of communicating between front and rear during an attack, could only partially be remedied.
Practical forms of communication relied on sight, which was dependent on the weather and the time of day. Due to the German system of pillbox defence and the impossibility of maintaining line formations on ground full of flooded shell-craters, waves of infantry had been replaced by a thin line of skirmishers leading small columns, that snaked around shell-holes and mud sloughs. The rifle was re-established as the primary infantry weapon and Stokes mortars were added to creeping barrages; "draw net" barrages were introduced, where field guns began a barrage beyond the German front line and then moved it towards the German positions several times before an attack.
4th Army
German counter-attacks, from the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge on 20 September to the end of the Flanders campaign, had become "assaults on reinforced field positions", due to the British infantry making shorter advances, after torrential rains in August had turned much of the ground into a swamp. The difficulty the British had in co-ordinating infantry advances, artillery-fire, tank and aircraft operations in such weather, left the infantry vulnerable to the German defensive tactic of (immediate counter-attack). A dry spell in September greatly increased the effectiveness of British air observation and artillery-fire and from 20 September, German had been smashed by dug-in British infantry, often on reverse slopes and in contact with their artillery. On 9 October, the 4th Army ordered the dispersal of the battalions of front line regiments again and moved reserve battalions back behind the artillery protective line. divisions were moved closer to the front line, quickly to counter-attack and counter-battery fire was increased to protect the divisions from the British artillery.
Behind a (outpost line) an outpost zone deep, was occupied by a few sentries and machine-guns. When the British attacked, the troops in the and the outpost zone were swiftly to retire to the main line of resistance () and the artillery was quickly to bombard the . The rear battalions of the ground-holding divisions () and their division would advance to the and conduct a (improvised counter-attack) if this was impossible, a (methodical counter-attack) would be substituted, after taking to arrange the co-ordination of infantry, artillery and aircraft. The length of front held by a was reduced by half to with a depth of , because of the difficulties caused by the weather, devastating British artillery-fire and German infantry casualties. Infantry battalions were relieved after two days and the divisions every six days. The concept was soon altered because the British were able to pick off isolated outposts and lift prisoners. A (safety line), to be retired to at night, was built to stop the British raiding the . The was about further back, comprising fortified farms, pillboxes, blockhouses and shell craters. (The around Passchendaele was captured by the Canadian Corps on 10 November and the perforce became a linear defence, protecting the eastern slope of Passchendaele Ridge.)
Second Battle of Passchendaele
After the Canadian Corps attacks in late October and the capture of Passchendaele village on 6 November, the Canadians attacked the crossroads and remaining high ground near Hill 52 to the north on 10 November. The junction was north on the Passchendaele–Westroosebeke road and Hill 52 was beyond. Capture of the features would give the Second Army observation over German positions to the north-east. The Germans had used the lull after 6 November relieve the 11th Division with the 4th Division and the 44th Reserve Division.
The Canadian infantry jumped-off from Mosselmarkt and captured the crossroads and Venture Farm. In the II Corps area to the north, the advance by the 1st Division was foiled, when one of its two attacking battalions lost direction; a German counter-attack got between them and forced the survivors back to their start lines. Canadian troops filled the gap and formed a defensive flank along the corps boundary but this ended the Canadian advance. The Second Army was still short of Westrosebeek, from which the Germans had observation over the Passchendaele Salient. In the Fifth Army area, the XIV Corps had been relieved by XIX Corps on 29 October, II Corps took over from XVIII Corps on 2 November and on 14 November, VIII Corps in the Second Army area began the relief of the Canadian Corps.
Weather
In August 1917, rainwater had dried relatively quickly; swamping had been caused by the unusually large rainfall and still air. When the autumn rains began in October, intermittent sunny spells were insufficient to dry the ground. Carrying parties were needed to move supplies to the front line and conditions for the artillery became so bad that pack mules were used to carry ammunition. Heavy guns had to be strung out in lines along plank roads, which made them easily visible from German positions. Haig was kept informed of conditions and the amount of sickness among the troops in Flanders but judged that conditions for German troops were even worse. The strategic objectives of the British offensive were abandoned in early October and Haig ordered that, once the weather had improved, Passchendaele Ridge was to be captured as a winter position. On 21 October, the 4th Army reported that its troops were close to collapse, because of the constant British artillery-fire, exposure to the weather in mud-filled shell-holes and with no time to recover because of the tempo of British attacks.
Passchendaele salient +Weather1 November – 6 December 1917 DateRainmm °F 10.251dull 20.756dull 30.052dull 40.047dull 50.049fog 61.052dull 71.448dull 82.644cloud 91.650cloud 1013.446 — 111.848 —12——fine13——fine14——rain15——fine16——dull17——dull The British salient was about deep, wide and was overlooked from German positions at Westroosebeke to the north, the highest point on Passchendaele Ridge. The Ravebeek stream, flowing from the church ruins in Passchendaele to Zonnebeke had overflowed and become another swamp of decomposing flesh and detritus. Troops had to struggle through miles of barbed wire, tree stumps, a swamp of rotting corpses, shell craters full of bodies and broken equipment. The ground was glutinous and also slippery; when trodden on, gas fumes rose to mix with the stench of the dead. The mud held men's boots so tight that they had to be pulled free and if a soldier tried to detour, he could disappear in the mud or blunder into German positions.
There was one duckboard track into the salient, easily visible to German observers and under frequent shell and gas bombardments. Roads from Broodseinde and Zonnebeke were also constantly fired on. When the 33rd Division took over from the 3rd Canadian Division on 6 November, the only places proof against German shells were captured pillboxes and blockhouses. The locations of these structures were obvious to the Germans, who continuously bombarded them with gas shell, making them near uninhabitable.
Once the British plan to continue the advance to Westroosebeke had been cancelled, the salient was fortified against a possible German attack and troops were crammed into it. To provide shelter, the VIII Corps HQ had two shafts dug with galleries at the bottom big enough for two companies in each. Primus shaft was dug on the Keerselaarhoek rise next to the Passchendaele road and the other shaft was excavated at Crest Farm, the assembly area for troops who were to be ready to counter a German attack. The shelters needed continuous pumping but still had about a foot of water in them and were overrun by rats. Engineers and pioneers managed to double the duckboard track and as troops were relieved they were formed into working parties to complete the "mule track", about long, from Frost House to Tyne Cottages (Tyne Cot).