Sixth Phase
(October 22—November 6, 1917.)
After a short rest, during which the new positions were consolidated—in view of enemy counter-attacks—the battle broke out afresh on October 22.
The attack of the 22nd was, in reality, only of secondary importance, but thanks to the progress made, it was possible to carry out the operations of the 26th on a larger scale than originally intended.
In order definitely to consolidate the captured positions, it was still necessary to take the village of Passchendaele, which stands on the high ground dominating the plain of Flanders to the east of Ypres and from which Roulers is visible.
A fresh offensive was accordingly begun at dawn on October 26.
In the French sector, the troops, after wading through the St. Janshoek and the Corverbeek streams with the water up to their shoulders, stormed the village of Draeibank, Papegoed Wood, and many fortified farms.
The next day fresh progress, to a depth of more than a mile, was made on both sides of the Ypres-Dixmude Road, along a front of two and a half miles. The villages of Hoekske, Aschhoop, Merckem, and Kippe were captured, and the western edges of Houthulst Forest reached.
On the 28th, the advance continued on the left, in co-operation with the Belgians. The French took the village of Luyghem, and the Belgians Vyfhuyzen.
The British, on their part, advanced in the direction of Passchendaele, as far as the southern slopes of the village, capturing a whole series of positions east of Poelcappelle.