Teacher’s GuideThe Battles of Third Ypres Featuring detailed studies of the Battles of Polygon Wood and First Passchendaele.

www.abc.net.au/ww1-anzac/passchendaele

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Introduction Battles of Third Ypres is an iOS and Android app and part of a series about Australian involvement in World War One.

The series is published by the ABC and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and is made freely available, worldwide. It is also accompanied by an accessible website: www.abc.net.au/ww1-anzac/passchendaele

The resource is a rich collection of historical evidence, images, recollections, modern commentary and interactive graphic illustrations. Three dimensional battlefields convey the time and place of events, in particular the battles of Polygon Wood and First Passchendaele in the context of the wider offensive.

The Battles of Third Ypres has been designed for use by Year 9/10 students studying World War I history, but can be adapted for use by other year levels.

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Curriculum Links The Battles of Third Ypres resource addresses the following Australian Curriculum: History (Humanities and Social Sciences) requirements.

Year 9: Depth Study – World War I (1914–1918)

Historical Knowledge and Understanding

Students investigate key aspects of World War I and the Australian experience of the war, including the nature and significance of the war in world and Australian history.

This includes:

• An overview of the causes of World War I and the reasons why men enlisted to fight in the war. (ACDSEH021)

• The places where Australians fought and the nature of warfare during World War I, including the Gallipoli campaign. (ACDSEH095)

• The impact of World War I, with a particular emphasis on Australia including the changing role of women. (ACDSEH096)

• The commemoration of World War I, including debates about the nature and significance of the Anzac legend. (ACDSEH097).

Historical Skills

• Use chronological sequencing to demonstrate the relationship between events and developments in different periods and places. (ACHHS164)

• Use historical terms and concepts. (ACHHS165) • Identify and select different kinds of questions about the past to inform

historical inquiry. (ACHHS166) • Evaluate and enhance these questions. (ACHHS167) • Identify and locate relevant sources, using ICT and other methods. (ACHHS168) • Identify the origin, purpose and context of primary and secondary sources.

(ACHHS169) • Process and synthesise information from a range of sources for use as evidence

in an historical argument. (ACHHS170) • Evaluate the reliability and usefulness of primary and secondary sources.

(ACHHS171) • Identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past. (ACHHS172) • Identify and analyse different historical interpretations (including their own).

(ACHHS173) • Develop texts, particularly descriptions and discussions that use evidence from a

range of sources that are referenced. (ACHHS174) • Select and use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and

digital technologies. (ACHHS175).

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The key elements of the program are as follows:

Element Description

3D Narration

This is the innovative element of the website. It tells the story in graphic documentary format, with the viewer’s perspective constantly being moved between the opposing forces and around the battlefield area. The key imagery of the story is a mixture of dioramas and animation, with a linking narration and extensive sound effects.

This can be viewed as a continuous narrative, or it can be stopped and navigated in any order at any time.

This is the best way to get an overview of the dayʼs events.

Explore Each Event

There are separate time stops available during the story, and several of these stops have multiple events associated with them. Events may include: profiles (of characters mentioned), video (e.g. interviews or on features such as weapons), photographs from the time and diary extracts that can be read or listened to.

This is a great way to explore the stories of the battles and the experience of the soldiers in detail.

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Element continued… Description continued…

Campaign Overview

This is a short written summary, with accompanying illustrations on a 3D map, which explains the major strategic aims of the campaign and some of the key events. It is a useful summary of the the Third Ypres Offensive and the place of the Anzacs within it.

Personnel These include profiles of key participants from both sides, particularly military leaders and soldiers whose diary extracts are used in the resource.

Military Organisation Charts

These are useful in helping students make sense of the terminology used to describe the way military forces were organised (battalions, companies, platoons, etc.)

Military Hardware

This describes some of the key military weapons of both sides, and offers some useful information about the ultimate outcome of the events.

Video and Audio Interviews

Archival films from September and October 1917, photographed by Frank Hurley. Including Haig inspecting troops immediately before the start of the offensive, German prisoners aiding the wounded back from the front line, Anzac soldiers moving through Ypres.

There are also audio transcripts of diaries taken from soldiers’ recollections at the time, which are used in the ‘Events’ segments.

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Activity Description Curriculum Application

School Level

1. Overview of the Battles of Third Ypres

Students examine the Campaign Overview and Battlefields to appreciate the broader context of the Battle of Ypres.

History Geography English

Secondary

2. Key Events and Turning Points

A detailed review of the battlefield scenes and timelines to determine the chronology of the battles and their significance.

History

Secondary

3. A Significant Individual

Students use their research skills to create a comprehensive dossier on Field Marshal Douglas Haig.

History

Secondary

4. Military Tactics and Weaponry

Students explore the strengths and limitations of weapons, hardware and military strategies utilised during the Battles of Third Ypres. They are also asked to make a more in-depth study of the impact of poison gas on the human body when used as a weapon during wartime.

History Technologies

Secondary

5. War Poetry and Art

A whole-class analysis of Siegfried Sassoon’s ‘On Passing the New Menin Gate’ poem with a comparison to Will Longstaff’s 1927 painting Menin Gate at Midnight.

History English Art

Secondary

6. The Physical Environment

Mapping tasks using Google Maps, battlefield maps, dioramas, videos and photos are used to address questions of continuity and change.

History Geography Technologies

Secondary

7. Perspectives and Experiences

An exploration of the ways that soldiers documented their experiences of war through poetry and publications such as The Wipers Times.

History Civics & Citizenship English

Secondary

8. Commemoration

A look at the function of museums as a site for

History Secondary

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commemoration through education. Students design a pop-up museum to help other students understand the objectives, logistics and outcomes of the Battles of Third Ypres.

Civics & Citizenship English

Curriculum Links

How the resource and Teacher’s Guide address Australian Curriculum: Historical knowledge and skills for Year 9/10 students.

History

Secondary

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Activity 1: Overview of the Battles of Polygon Wood (Part 1) and Passchendaele (Part 2)

To find out about the battles of Polygon Wood and Passchendaele, you first need to know some overarching information about the Battles of Third Ypres campaign.

Instructions

Use the Campaign Overview, the Battlefield scenes and other materials from the resource to respond to the inquiry questions below. Use the side tab on the Battlefield scenes to find the exact time signatures for important events.

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Inquiry Question Response (in your own words) Where to Find Information

When did the Battles of Third Ypres begin and end?

Campaign Overview

What were the names and dates of the five battles that made up The Battles of Third Ypres?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Campaign Overview

Who were the Allies in The Battles of Third Ypres? Who were their opponents?

Campaign Overview

What was Field Marshal Haig’s original objective for the Battles of Third Ypres?

Campaign Overview

How many Australian casualties were there in the battle of Passchendaele?

18:00 In detail: The Battle of First Passchendaele The Battlefield

What does the term ‘zero hour’ mean?

The Battlefield Passchendaele Zero Hour, In Extremis 05:25 SIDE TAB

What were the problems with Major

12.25–16.00

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McDowell’s order to Captain Carr that the 35th Battalion on the blue line must hold the line ‘at all costs.’

Hold the Line ‘At all costs’ The Battlefield Passchendaele SIDE TAB

Why did the First Battle of Passchendaele fail?

17.58 Aftermath The Battlefield Passchendaele SIDE TAB

How many allied casualties were there in the Battle of Polygon Wood?

05.10 In detail: The Battle of Polygon Wood The Battlefield Polygon Wood SIDE TAB

What is ‘friendly fire’?

05.15 German Infantry Amassing under friendly fire The Battlefield Polygon Wood SIDE TAB

What were war pigeons used for during this battle?

8.46 War Pigeons in Action The Battlefield Polygon Wood SIDE TAB

Was the Polygon Wood campaign considered to be successful? What did the 15th Australian Infantry Brigade see as its successes?

19:20 Success and Consolidation The Battlefield Polygon Wood SIDE TAB

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Activity 2: Key Events and Turning Points

This activity examines key moments in each battle that influenced the final outcome. It is followed by questions that look at larger concepts, such as change and continuity in the environment or the motivations of key personnel.

Polygon Wood

Use the Campaign Overview, the Battlefield scenes podcasts and other materials from the resource to respond to the inquiry questions below. Use the side tab on The Battlefield scenes to find the exact time signatures for important events. Fill in the table below by stating what happened at Polygon Wood at each of the times given and then move onto the ‘big picture’ questions.

Time Key event Where to find information

05:50

The Battlefield: Polygon Wood

06:40

The Battlefield: Polygon Wood

07:15

The Battlefield: Polygon Wood

07:55

The Battlefield: Polygon Wood

What was at Polygon Wood prior to the battle taking place?

08: 01 – The Battle of Polygon Wood

What did Polygon Wood look like directly after the battle?

08: 01 – The Battle of Polygon Wood

What does Polygon Wood look like today?

Google Satellite

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Passchendaele

Use the Campaign Overview, The Battlefield scenes podcasts and other materials from the resource to respond to the inquiry questions below. Use the side tab on The Battlefield scenes to find the exact time signatures for important events. Fill in the table below by stating what happened at Passchendaele at each of the times given and then move onto the ‘big picture’ questions.

Time Key event Where to find information

01.30

The Battlefield Passchendaele

05.25

The Battlefield Passchendaele

06.37 The Battlefield Passchendaele

09.50 The Battlefield Passchendaele

Explain Field Marshal Haig’s strategy of ‘normal wastage’ for winning the Battle of Passchendaele.

Personnel – Great Britain – Field Marshal Douglas Haig Passchendaele Podcast

What commendations did Field Marshal Haig receive? What does this say about the regard for him during and directly after World War I?

Personnel – Great Britain – Field Marshal Douglas Haig Passchendaele Podcast

What did Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of Britain at the time, think of Field Marshal Haig? What factors might have caused him to form this opinion?

Personnel – Great Britain - Field Marshal Douglas Haig Passchendaele Podcast

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How did Field Marshal Haig’s attitude change after the war?

Personnel – Great Britain – Field Marshal Douglas Haig Passchendaele Podcast

How is Haig viewed by contemporary historians?

Personnel – Great Britain – Field Marshal Douglas Haig Passchendaele Podcast

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Activity 3: Military Personnel: Field Marshal Douglas Haig

Create a dossier on Field Marshal Douglas Haig using the information you have researched for Key Events and Turning Points (Passchendaele) and from your own additional research. Your job is to create a profile of Haig that demonstrates an understanding of both his professional and personal personas.

Accounts of Field Marshall Douglas Haig

‘He was a painstaking professional soldier with a sound intelligence of secondary quality. He had the courage and stubbornness of his race. But he did not possess the necessary breadth of vision or imagination to plan a great campaign against some of the ablest generals of the war. I never met a man in a high position who seemed to me so utterly devoid of imagination.’ Lloyd George, War Memoirs (1928)

‘Victory will belong to the side that holds out the longest...There is no other course open but to fight it out… Every position must be held to the last man… There must be no retirement… With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end.’ Haig, Order of the Day (11 April 1918)

‘I feel that everything possible for us to do to achieve success has been done. But whether or not we are successful lies in the Power above. But I do feel that in my plans I have been helped by a Power that is not my own. So I am easy in my mind and ready to do my best whatever happens tomorrow.’ Haig, Letter to Lady Haig (30 June 1916)

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Profile Name: Rank: Nickname: Conflicts served in: Positive leadership qualities: Negative leadership qualities: Family: Life after retiring from the army: Memorials dedicated to Haig: Historical Legacy: Where to find information:

You will need to research beyond the resource to complete this task.

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Activity 4: Military Tactics and Weaponry

Instructions

In the table below, identify the functions, strengths and limitations of the following hardware, weapons and tactics used in the Battles of Third Ypres.

Definition Function Strengths Limitations Bite and Hold Technique

German Pillbox

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German Maxim 08

Creeping Barrage

Where to find information

• Materials (Diaries), Werner Von Beumelberg, Description of the British tactic of ‘Bite and Hold’ described from the German perspective.

• Dioramas – Captured German Pillbox • Diorama – Australian Soldiers • Dioramas – German Hardware • Polygon Wood – Battle Campaign: Preparations for Polygon Wood • Passchendaele – 05:25, Zero Hour, In Extremis

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Mustard Gas

Read below Australian Imperial Force Private Edward Francis Lynch’s account of witnessing the death of gassed soldiers after the Battle of Polygon Wood.

‘I saw seven gassed men dying out behind a dressing station. They were in convulsions and black in the face and throat. Buckets of blood-specked foamy sort of jelly was coming from their mouths. The doctor and orderlies attending them wore gas masks. The poor gassed beggars kept grabbing at things and I saw one man grab at his own hand and smash his fingers out of joint. One man tore his mouth nearly back to his ear trying to pull the gas out of his throat. And as each man died, they threw buckets of mud over their heads and shoulders. Been far kinder to have smothered them before they died not after.’

Research the effect of mustard gas and annotate the diagram below to show the impact on the human body.

Where to find information

You will need to research beyond the resource to complete this task.

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Activity 5: War Poetry and Art

Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, Ypres The Menin Gate Memorial was opened in 1927 and dedicated to the memorial of British and Commonwealth soldiers killed in Ypres during World War I. As a class, read the following poem by Siegfried Sassoon about the memorial On Passing the New Menin Gate – by Siegfried Sassoon Who will remember, passing through this Gate, The unheroic Dead who fed the guns? Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate, Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones? Crudely renewed, the Salient holds its own. Paid are its dim defenders by this pomp; Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone, The armies who endured that sullen swamp. Here was the world’s worst wound. And here with pride ‘Their name liveth for ever,’ the Gateway claims. Was ever an immolation so belied As these intolerably nameless names? Well might the Dead who struggled in the slime Rise and deride this sepulchre of crime.

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Use the following questions to guide a class discussion:

1. How does Siegfried Sassoon feel about the establishment of this memorial? 2. What is Sassoon’s opinion of war? 3. How does Sassoon feel about commemorating the dead through monuments? 4. Based on this poem – would you be surprised to learn that Sassoon was a decorated

World War I soldier who fought on the Western Front? Why? Why not?

Now view the painting Menin Gate at Midnight, painted by Will Longstaff. Longstaff attended the opening of the Menin Gate memorial in 1927 and painted this work soon after (see https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C172234).

1. What do you think Longstaff was trying to communicate through this work? 2. Is the sentiment similar or different to Sassoon’s response to the gate? Explain your

thoughts.

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Activity 6: The Physical Environment

Environmental factors played a role in how the Battles of Third Ypres were fought.

Draw a diagram that shows three ways that environmental factors, such as weather, impacted on the battles. Label the diagram accordingly.

Where to find information

• 01.30 ‘Our Most Effective Ally’- Battle Campaign • 02.30 ‘Jump off Position’. Battle Campaign • Journey to Passchendaele • Mark IV Tank Bogged Down

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Instructions

Explore the towns of Passchendaele and Polygon Wood, France, on Google Maps.

What evidence can you see that at battle was once fought in this location? (Think about commemorative locations.) Name three pieces of evidence for each location.

Polygon Wood Passchendaele

Where to find information

• Google Maps

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Activity 7: Perspectives and Experiences

Many of the soldiers who served in the Battles of Third Ypres turned to a range of creative endeavours to document or share their experiences on the front lines.

The Wipers Times

The allied soldiers stationed in Ypres delighted in mispronouncing the name of their location as ‘Wipers.’ They subsequently created a newspaper called The Wipers Times, a publication produced on an abandoned printer.

Most of the pieces featured in The Wipers Times were examples of ‘gallows humour’ as they poked fun at the danger of war and the misery of the soldiers’ surroundings.

Examine the samples from The Wipers Times and create a short piece based on your imagined experiences as a soldier in either the Battle of Passchendaele or the Battle of Polygon Wood. The piece can be composed either as text, a cartoon or a poem.

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To the editor of The Wipers Times, Please find enclosed my submission for your next issue:

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Where to find information • The Wipers Times images can be found in the Materiel (City of Ypres) section of the

resource. • Video: ‘100 Years – The Wipers Time’ (see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww7TsgJCiL4&index=1&list=PLBasit19z4oPApusuRXkarCwINAGLVboN).

Reflections on Hardship

One of the poems published in the newspaper was called ‘With the Usual Apologies,’ which is based on the Rudyard Kipling poem ‘If.’

IF (1914 – 1918) With the Usual Apologies... If you can drink the beer the Belgians sell you, And pay the price they ask with ne'er a grouse, If you believe the tales that some will tell you, And live in mud with ground sheet for a house, If you can live on bully and a biscuit. And thank your stars that you've a tot of rum, Dodge whizzbangs with a grin, and as you risk it Talk glibly of the pretty way they hum, If you can flounder through a C.T. nightly That's three-parts full of mud and filth and slime, Bite back the oaths and keep your jaw shut tightly, While inwardly you're cursing all the-time, If you can crawl through wire and crump-holes reeking With feet of liquid mud, and keep your head Turned always to the place which you are seeking, Through dread of crying you will laugh instead, If you can fight a week in Hell's own image, And at the end just throw you down and grin, When every bone you've got starts on a scrimmage, And for a sleep you'd sell your soul within, If you can clamber up with pick and shovel, And turn your filthy crump hole to a trench, When all inside you makes you itch to grovel, And all you've had to feed on is a stench, If you can hang on just because you're thinking You haven't got one chance in ten to live, So you will see it through, no use in blinking And you're not going to take more than you give, If you can grin at last when handing over, And finish well what you had well begun, And think a muddy ditch' a bed of clover, You'll be a soldier one day, then, my son.

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Find three images (screenshots) or quotes from the resource that provide evidence for the hardships mentioned in the poem.

Line From the Poem Evidence From the Resource (Image or Text)

Your Explanation

Where to find Information

• Dioramas: Through the Ruined City of Ypres • Material: Photos – City of Ypres • Material: Diaries

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Activity 8: Commemoration

There are several locations at Passchendaele that commemorate the Battle of Third Ypres, including the Memorial Museum.

As part of a community project, you have been asked to create a travelling pop-up museum to help students in other countries understand the Battles of Third Ypres. The museum will be enclosed in a shipping container with the following dimensions: length – 10 metres, height – 3 metres, width – 3 metres.

Student visitors to the pop-up museum should leave with a basic understanding of the following aspects of the Battles of Third Ypres:

1. The chronology of a key battle. 2. Key events and turning points. 3. Military strategy and weaponry. 4. The impact of war on the physical environment. 5. Commemoration.

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Choose ONE of these elements and apply it to either the Battle of Polygon Wood or the Battle of Passchendaele. Come up with a creative and interactive way to teach other students about this element of the conflict.

You can use either analogue or digital technologies to present your concept.

Where to find information

• Campaign Overview, The Battlefield scenes and other materials from the resource. • Further research.