Welcome to Blood and Mud, Educational Resource & Passchendaele Centennial Competition (2017) for New Zealand Schools : Winning Entry

Blood and Mud is a free educational resource, primarily designed for students from Years 7-10, however, the NCEA page is intended to cover Levels 1-3 (students in Years 11-13).

This site, ‘Blood and Mud,’ was originally developed by Tony Wu, Conor Horrigan, Dylan Woodhouse and Lucy Tustin in 2017 for the Passchendaele Society’s centennial competition. ‘Blood and Mud,’ was a prize winning entry in the competition which asked candidates to develop an interactive resource about the Battle of Passchendaele for use in New Zealand schools. The Passchendaele Society now maintains the site for use in New Zealand schools. ‘Blood and Mud’ is currently administrated by Dylan Woodhouse, director responsible for educational resources at the Passchendaele Society.

We would also value your support through membership, click the link below:

Begin your journey by following the events that led up to the Battle of Passchendaele below, then, discover the personal stories of those that fought at Passchendaele and Adopt an Anzac.

How to use this site:

NOTE: At any time, you can return to the home page by clicking on the title in the top left at the top of the page you are on.

To get started, learn about the background of the Battle of Passchendaele on the home page. After this, explore the lives of people who fought at Passchendaele, starting with Hemi Maaka. At the end of these pages, try the interactive activities for each person. Next, learn about the British commander at Passchendaele and decide his fate, villain or victor?

If you want to learn about the various aircraft that flew the Belgium skies, check out the planes pages. Want to see the weapons carried into battle by our veterans or learn about gas and artillery? The weapons of war page will satisfy your curiosity. Tanks were a major innovation used by the British at Passchendaele, learn about their presence on the Belgian front on the tanks page.

Many people dealt with the trauma of the war through artistic expression—take a look at the pieces they produced. While you're there, enjoy listening to the British and German marching songs that boosted the morale of the men.

How does Gallipoli compare to Passchendaele? Visit the page to find out. Once the Battle was over, what was the fallout? Learn about the consequences of the event on the Consequences page.

Build a connection with the past—Adopt an ANZAC. The Adopt an ANZAC page shows you how to learn about the lives of our Kiwi veterans and explore what they did during the Great War. Send us your stories, what did your ANZAC do before the war? Were they a high or low rank and where were they deployed? While you are researching for your ANZAC, don't forget to find them on the online cenotaph if they are there, and lay a poppy for them. On the cenotaph, you may even find a picture of your ANZAC.

Visit the Community page to view the contributions of students to the site, see the ANZACs they've researched and the activities they have completed. The Community page is also the place to visit to find the views of students and teachers on our site.

Enjoy your time exploring the site and engaging with the lives of our ancestors and the world they were thrown into.

Scroll down to learn more about how the Battle of Passchendaele started and what happened during this dark time for our young nation, carry on reading to view our top performing Facebook posts about the Battle of Passchendaele and the Great War.

Overview

Located in Western Belgium, Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was a defining battle in the push back East. Beginning on the 31st of July, 1917, the objective of the battle being to capture the strategic ridge-lines around the Belgian city of Ypres. One key unit that was involved throughout the battles was the 2nd ANZAC Corps. Composed of the New Zealand, the Australian 3rd, and the British 25th Divisions at the time of the Battle of Passchendaele, it played an instrumental role in these engagements. 

Battle oF Messines Ridge

Before the assault on Passchendaele, was the Battle of Messines Ridge. The ridge provided easy overwatch for German forces on the town of Ypres, allowing for observed artillery fire that would be deadly accurate. British forces through the past few years had been filling mines under Messines with 454 tons of explosives, and to officially start the campaign for Passchendaele, blew them on this day – ‘It was a white incandescent light – we knew that the temperature was about 3000 degrees centigrade. The Germans there went up as gas.’ – Lieutenant Bryan Frayling of the Royal Engineers. ANZAC troops took the ridge within a day. Ground that the German 4th Army had held since the First Battle of Ypres.

Battle of Gravenstafel Spur

Beginning on the 4th of October, ANZAC forces were instrumental in the first assault on the defences around the village of Passchendaele. The objective for the New Zealand Division was Gravenstafel, made important by the push of their Australian comrades, who were attacking Broodseinde Ridge, to the south-east of Gravenstafel at the same time. NZ forces were to cover the Australian assault; Broodseinde being a buildup to the main offensive on Passchendaele. Beginning at 06:00, artillery bombardment, combined with a recent change in German tactics – packing frontline trenches rather than spreading the troops – made the October 4th attack extremely effective. NZ troops quickly advanced 1000 meters to secure Gravenstafel, and captured 1000 prisoners. The attack came at some cost, however, with the New Zealand Division suffering 1600 casualties, of which 500 were killed.

'The Blackest Day'

The Battle of Bellevue Spur was the deadliest in New Zealand military history since 1840. A five-stage plan, the objective was ambitious; the 4th Australian Division given the objective of Passchendaele, and the New Zealand Division again given the role of flank support. Zero hour was at 05:25 on the 12th of October, with a planned creeping barrage leading the infantry push. However, the barrage was greatly disorganised, with several shells even landing on NZ forces. The 3rd Brigade, pushing on the left, became marred in machine-gun fire, while the 2nd Brigade, on its right flank, was blockaded by barbed wire. Both Brigades lost their momentum, resorting to creating defences against German counter-attack. There they remained; pinned down by heavy fire and shot down in the dozens. Those wounded spent the whole night out in no man’s land, many died of their wounds. The following day, a truce was called allowing the New Zealanders to recover their wounded with the Germans holding fire. The push was a total failure; troops eventually fell back to positions near their starting line. Only on the 18th of October were NZ troops relieved, leaving Passchendaele to the Canadian Corps taking their place. New Zealand suffered 3700 casualties on the 12th of October, with 846 men dead, more died later of wounds received on that day.

Explore the lives of those who participated in Passchendaele.

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