ロイヤル・ファミリーのインスタグラム(theroyalfamily) - 7月31日 19時11分

General Hubert Gough writes of his troops' struggles to 'beat the Bosch before the Winter' in this letter to Clive Wigram [Assistant Private Secretary to King George V], dated 27 August 1917. He describes the heavy rainfall 'which is just damnable!'. Passchendaele became known as the 'Battle of the Mud' because of the appalling conditions which the men had to live and fight in.
My Dear Clive,
……..We are struggling here against many difficulties but are gradually beating & hammering the Bosch into a pulp.
But he is fighting hard, & has bought up all his best troops here, as he knows what a threat this is to him.
Our real difficulty lies in the fact that we have to swing forward our right along a narrow & very dominating ridge to Zonnebeke & Passchendaele. Round this right flank he can & has concentrated a semi circle of guns - Yet we must clear this ridge before we can get our left & centre forward.
Added to this difficulty is the rain, which is just damnable! More rain fell in the first fortnight of Augst (86 m.m) than falls in the whole of the wettest month of the year (i.e. Nov) whose average is 78 m.m. !! We got an inch more of it yesterday.
However, Maxse's Corps is attacking at this moment & I am anxiously awaiting the news! I think it will go well, for it will come as a surprise, as we are attacking at 2. pm – a most unwonted hour!
The men are splendid, but we do want more! It is so important now to maintain the pressure hard. If we can do that now, we may beat the Bosch before the Winter. Energetic action is cheapest in the long run!
Yours ever
H Gough

Letter: Royal Archives © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Photograph: Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017

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