messines

Preparing for Passchendaele

The assault on Passchendaele was part of a vast Allied offensive launched in mid-1917. British Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig hoped to keep the pressure on the Germans after the great struggle on the Somme the previous year. Haig’s plan involved seizing the Pilkem Ridge and the Geluveld–Passchendaele plateau to open the way for a drive on the town of Roulers. Once this important transport hub was in Allied hands, the British would drive north to the coast to neutralise the German U-boat facilities there.

Prime Minister William Massey and Joseph Ward inspect the New Zealand Cyclist Corps.

The New Zealand Cyclist Corps, part of the 2nd Anzac Cyclist Battalion, was heavily involved in the Belgian offensives of 1917. Bicycles were useful for transporting men and light equipment over large distances in much less time than it would take troops on foot – despite often being hampered by the terrain and muddy conditions, they could easily cover 60 kilometres a day. Cyclists also performed tasks such as traffic control, tree felling, cable laying, trench repairs and reconnaissance.

At Messines the battalion prepared an 1800-metre track from the Allies’ reserve line across the former no-man’s land and through abandoned German trenches to a point called Middlefarm to enable the mounted troops to get through. Several members of the battalion were killed, and 19 were wounded carrying out this dangerous work.

This transcript is from a letter sent on 18 August 1917 by Major W.H. Cunningham, – Leslie Andrew's commanding officer, – to Colonel R. Hughes in Wanganui on 18 August 1917. The letter includes the following endorsement of Andrew being awarded the Victoria Cross: