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The 36th Division joined the Second Army under General Plumer - a senior officer old-fashioned in appearance but with the deserved reputation both for meticulous battle preparation, and, in what had become a war of attrition, a keen regard for the saving of the lives of the men under his command. On a frontage of about 1,200 yards the Ulstermen took position south-west of the heavily fortified village of Wytschaete and, with the 16th (Irish) Division on its left, prepared for the day of attack - 7th June. At 3.10 a.m., with a roar clearly heard in London, nineteen monstrous British mines containing a total of 600 tons of high explosives were detonated under the defenders on the ridge. Beneath an intense artillery barrage the men of Second Army attacked the dazed and demoralised Germans and, by mid- afternoon, the entire ridge was in British hands. Wytschaete had held out for some time but after a fierce struggle it was captured by the combined efforts of the Irish and Ulster Divisions.
After its success at Messines the 36th was withdrawn for rest and to prepare for its next battle.
Perhaps even more than the "The Somme", "Ypres" is a name which recalls all the waste of life, horror, and squalor of the Great War. The old walled Belgian town of Ypres is situated about forty miles east of Calais and throughout World War One it was defended by the indefatigable bravery of British soldiers and the obstinacy of their high command. On a shallow plain which barely rises above sea level, the clay soil of the land was drained by an intricate network of ditches; while to the east, north, and south a series of low ridges overlooked and commanded the town. From November, 1914 the Germans held the ridges and by July, 1917 the British "Salient" extended eastwards in an arc of about two to three miles in depth. Able to see almost every movement in the Salient and the town itself, the Germans had shelled the area continuously for years until all buildings were reduced to unrecognisable rubble and every field into an impassable quagmire pitted with millions of overlapping shell holes always filled with stinking liquid mud and often the decomposing remains of animals and the occasional bodies of dead soldiers.
It was through, and then out of, this area that Haig intended to make a massive and war-winning attack striking eastwards from Belgium and towards Germany. The implementation of the plan was given to Fifth Army, commanded by General Gough who, unlike Plumer, had a reputation for poor staff work and a lesser regard for the care and safety of his men. In early July the Ulster Division moved near to St. Omer again and into the command of Fifth Army.
The Battle of Third Ypres started on 22nd July when 3,091 British guns began a bombardment of the German positions which lasted until 31st July by which time some four and a quarter million shells had been fired. Then, at 3.50 a.m., in torrential rain twelve divisions made their attack on an eleven-mile wide front. Initially, on the left, some gains were made but on the right the attack slithered quickly to a halt. Thus things remained, for in the rain, which continued unabated day after day, neither man nor animal nor tank could move.
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