Who fought in the Gheluvelt Plateau actions?
Gheluvelt Plateau actions, July–August 1917
The Gheluvelt Plateau actions, July–August 1917 took place from 31 July to 27 August, during the Third Battle of Ypres (31 July – 10 November 1917) in Belgium, in the First World War. The British Fifth Army and the German 4th Army fought for possession of the plateau, at the highest part of the ridges to the south-east, east and north-east of Ypres in West Flanders. The 4th Army had been building defensive positions in the Ypres Salient since 1915 and the Gheluvelt Plateau was the most fortified section of the front. The Fifth Army had made the plateau its main objective during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (31 July – 2 August) but the II Corps advance was contained short of its objectives and German counter-attacks later recaptured some ground.
Gheluvelt Plateau actions, July–August 1917
The front battalion commander of Reserve Infantry Regiment 239 had been captured on 10 August and said that the men had been so demoralised by their casualties from 31 July to 9 August, that he had reported that they could not hold their ground.[81] The commanders of the 54th and 55th brigades in the 18th Division attack wrote that the artillery arrangements against a counter-attack had been inadequate and that one RFC aircraft for counter-attack reconnaissance was insufficient.[82] On 12 August, Heneker asked that Nonne Bosschen and Glencorse Wood be captured as a preliminary, to avoid casualties like those of 31 July and that the artillery for 56th (1/1st London) Division should be reinforced. The sloping ground from the Menin road down to the Hanebeek Valley meant that if the attack on the southern flank failed, the 8th Division would again suffer enfilade-fire from the higher ground on the right flank. The suggestion was rejected but the day before the attack, the 53rd Brigade from the 18th Division was attached to the 56th (1/1st London) Division as a reinforcement.[83]