Passchendaele: The Anatomy of a Tragedy.

• Author: McGibbon, Ian
• Position: Book review

PASSCHENDAELE

The Anatomy of a Tragedy

Author: Andrew Macdonald

Published by: HarperCollins Publishers (NZ) Ltd, Auckland, 2013, 303pp, $44.99.

The word 'Passchendaele' symbolism the agony of the Western Front, New Zealand's most bloody campaign. In two and a half years of combat New Zealand deaths exceeded 12,000, more than were lost in the whole of the Second World War. One unsuccessful attack, on 12 October 1917 accounted for 845 of the fatalities.

The main outlines of this tragedy, the worst military disaster in New Zealand's history, have long been known. Eight days after their first attack at Passchendaele--a signal success--the New Zealanders (and Australians) were thrown in again, following a disastrous British effort on 9 October. The artillery, struggling to get their guns forward and to operate them in the quagmire caused by incessant rain, failed to cut the barbed wire or destroy the pillboxes on Bellevue Spur leading to Passchendaele. This left the hapless infantry at the mercy of German machine gunners, who cut a murderous swathe through them. The troops went to ground in a sea of mud. For the first time in a major attack, the New Zealand Division had failed to secure its objectives.

What has long been a matter of dispute, however, is the responsibility for this tragedy. This question is at the heart of Andrew Macdonald's analysis of the battle in Passchendaele, The Anatomy of a Tragedy. He lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of the commander of II Anzac Corps, in which the New Zealanders served at Passchendaele, Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Godley, the British officer who also commanded the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Not the least of the merits of this history; which is based on Macdonald's PhD thesis, is the deep research in the primary sources on which it is based. Macdonald has explored the archives in the United Kingdom, especially the records of II Anzac Corps, Canada and New Zealand. 3his alone sets his book apart from the most recent other study of the battle, Glyn Harper's Massacre at Passchendaele: 7he New Zealand Story, which was informed by no archival sources outside New Zealand. Macdonald's account is the most authoritative to appear so far. Although it is a study of II Anzac Corps' role, the New Zealand Division features heavily in his account. He is careful, nevertheless, to outline the context and the performance of other divisions, British, Australian and Canadian, involved in the battle.

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