For me personally this is a very important place that I will be visiting. The Third Battle of Ypres is one of my core World War One historical interests, and specifically, Polygon Wood is where I had spent most of my focus. It is an important turning point and one of the greatest victories for Australians in World War One. It is an important place for Australians but also British, Candians and New Zealanders who come here to remember our fallen sons.
Battle of Polygon Wood 26 to 27 September 1917
The Battle of Polygon Wood was the second of three notable attacks planned by British General Viscount Herbert Plumer.
The problem with previous overambitious attempts to advance was that the infantry sometimes went beyond the range at which their own artillery could protect them from German counterattacks. The ground captured was often lost.
Plumer was an advocate of ‘bite and hold’ tactics. This involved a short advance by the infantry behind a heavy artillery barrage followed by the infantry digging in on the position gained, while a barrage placed in front of them prevented the Germans from counterattacking. There would be a several day break to prepare for the next step, then the process would be repeated.
After the Battle of Menin Road, there was a 5-day pause. The 4th and 5th Australian divisions took over from 1st and 2nd Divisions for the next phase. In spite of a German attack south of Polygon Wood, which coincidentally occurred just as the Australians attacked, the battle unfolded as planned.
With the British on either flank, the Australians advanced 1km, clearing Polygon Wood by taking two lines of German trenches.
After the war, the veterans of the 5th Division chose Polygon Wood as the site of the Division’s memorial.
Private Frederick Knapp of the 51st Battalion was blown to pieces by a German shell on 26 September 1917. His mate, Private Joseph O’Reilly, described Knapp was a ‘very cheery jovial chap’. Signaller George Harrison later informed the Australian Red Cross that this had been Knapp’s first time in the line. He’d served in Egypt in 1915 and arrived in France in June 1916. Knapp is buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery along with 26 other men killed at the Battle of Polygon Wood.
Map phase 1 (initial positions): The map shows in detail one-quarter of the area of the Third Battle of Ypres. Its focus is east of Ypres, where the Australians fought. South-west of Passchendaele are Polygon Wood and Broodseinde, both of which featured in three remarkably successful Australian advances during Third Ypres. These were the battles of Menin Road, Polygon Wood and Broodseinde.
Map phase 2 (Allied advance): On 20 September, the Australian Corps, with British corps on both flanks, advanced 2km to capture the western half of Polygon Wood. The city of Ypres is in the bottom left (south-west) corner of the map. 6km east of Ypres is Polygon Wood. Beyond that, Molenhoek is shown. In the top right-hand corner of the map is the village of Passchendaele, 10km from Ypres. North-east of Ypres, the villages of Poelcappelle, Boesinghe, Pilkem, St Julien, Wieltje, Tyne Cot, Broodseinde, Zonnebeke are marked, with Dairy Wood and Gallipoli Farm shown to the east of Ypres.
https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/western-front/third-battle-of-ypres#2