Just after sunrise on 16 June 1915, two infantry brigades of British 3rd Division leapt out of their shallow trenches and charged out into No Man’s Land. Their objective was a spur of German-occupied high ground on the low-lying hills commanding the eastern approaches to the medieval town of Ypres, known as Bellewaarde Ridge. Ongoing enemy occupation of this tactically vital sector afforded the Germans almost unbroken observation of movement within the salient and seriously imperiled the nascent British positions therein. What followed, on that hot summer’s day, was a somewhat typical British disaster of the early fighting on the Western Front; almost 4,000 casualties were suffered for a very limited territorial gain that saw German retention of the dominant ground. Worse than that, it appeared that many of those casualties had fallen victim to friendly fire as the British artillery failed to appreciate the progress of the infantry, and rained shells down onto the recently occupied German trench system.
It is easy to cast the blame, for the disaster that unfolded on Bellewaarde Ridge, on inept British leadership. The common perception is that senior officers, oblivious to the emerging challenges of the trench stalemate and comfortably quartered in safe rear areas, sent thousands of ill-equipped, brave British soldiers to face barbed wire, machine guns and heavy artillery fire without a plan, or even so much as a steel helmet for protection—small wonder so many failed to return. The reality, however, was considerably more complicated and is worthy of detailed examination if we are to prevent an injustice to the memory of the participants.
The action at Bellewaarde was conducted by a British Army that was struggling to undertake an unprecedented expansion and re-arming programme, whilst simultaneously fighting to maintain the integrity of a precarious coalition, the fragmentation of which could have lost Britain the war in short order. It was authorised and coordinated to provide support for a considerably more extensive French operation, already underway in Artois, that had in turn been launched, in part, to support the beleaguered Russian Army, still reeling from the onslaught of a recently initiated and bloody German offensive in the east. Only in the wider context of the prevailing coalition warfare can events at Bellewaarde be properly assessed.
This study offers a detailed analysis of the enormous challenges faced by the British Army in the middle of 1915, and the risks it faced in undertaking operations while poorly equipped to do so, versus the risks posed by inaction. The decisions made to launch the offensive are analyzed, along with the efforts made to mitigate the risks. While the outcome was dreadfully costly in human lives, it will be shown that serious attempts were being made to improve tactics, and to implement technology, in a bid to confront the almost insurmountable challenges of overcoming a strongly entrenched enemy in a frontal attack. While British attempts were continually, and effectively, thwarted by simultaneous improvements in German defensive methodology, they still represented the first tentative steps on a long and arduous course of improvement that ultimately led to the transformation of the British Army into the effective all-arms-force that played a significant role in the final victory of 1918.
Michael McLaren was born and educated in Glasgow. On leaving school he studied for a degree in pharmacy at the University of Strathclyde. Following graduation in 1991, he completed his training at a Glasgow hospital before joining his family’s business in Clydebank, where he has worked ever since as a community pharmacist. A desire to learn about the military aspects of his family history led to an enduring interest in the Great War and in 2014 he graduated from the University of Birmingham with an MA in British First World War Studies. In his spare time, Michael enjoys researching all aspects of the Great War and especially visiting the battlefields of France and Belgium. His interest in the First Action at Bellewaarde stems from researching his grandfather’s elder brother who was killed in action, age 21, on 16 June 1915 while serving with the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Beyond military history Michael enjoys the outdoors and particularly walking with his dogs. He is married, has three daughters and lives in Glasgow.
