Battle of Passchendaele
1917 CE · Belgium
The Battle of Passchendaele was fought in 1917 CE in Belgium between British Empire and France vs Germany; the Allies took the ridge after three months of fighting in mud, at enormous cost and for little strategic gain.
Battle of Passchendaele: quick facts
- Date
- 1917 CE
- Location
- Belgium
- Belligerents
- British Empire and France vs Germany
- Commanders
- Douglas Haig, Herbert Plumer and Hubert Gough vs Crown Prince Rupprecht
- Result
- the Allies took the ridge after three months of fighting in mud, at enormous cost and for little strategic gain.
- Casualties
- estimates range widely, but roughly half a million killed, wounded or missing across both sides
- Era
- 🪖 World Wars
- Quiz difficulty
- hard
What happened at the Battle of Passchendaele?
The Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, became the defining symbol of the senseless horror of World War I. Torrential rain turned the Flanders battlefield into a quagmire where men and horses drowned in mud-filled shell craters. After three months and over 500,000 combined casualties, Canadian forces captured the ruins of Passchendaele village—an advance of just five miles that was lost within months.
Did you know?
The mud at Passchendaele was so deep and liquid that wounded soldiers who fell off the duckboard paths could drown before anyone could reach them. Pack mules disappeared entirely into shell holes.
Sources and further reading
- Battle of Passchendaele on Wikipedia for the full account, historiography and primary sources.
- How BattleGuess compiles and checks battle facts: see the About page.
Entry last reviewed 26 September 2026.