George Edmund Butler, Polygon Wood and the Butte, 1918
Ref: AAAC 898 NCWA 451
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Polygon Wood (Polygoneveld, or Bois de Polygone), named for its shape, was a large wood near the Ypres-Menin road at Veldhoekn (north east of Ypres). A prominent artificial mound in the wood, called the Butte, had been used by the Belgian army as a shooting range prior to 1914. Fought over during the First Battle of Ypres in October/November 1914, it thereafter remained in German hands until Third Battle of Ypres (aka The Battle of Passchendaele) in 1917. The New Zealand Division was involved in the fighting here in October, 1917.
Charcoal wash, 300x470mm
Western Front
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the NZ-division was not
the NZ-division was not involved in the battle at polygon wood in 1917, it was the 5th Australian division who captured the butte in september 1917, the 4th Australian Division was attacking on the left hand side of the 5th. The NZ division was on 4 October at 's Graventafel en on 12 October at Bellevue spur.
The NZ division went to Polygon wood during the winter of 1917-1918. They did the attack on Polderhoek Chateau on the right hand side of Polygon Wood on 3 December. It was a very cold winter. NZ suffered about 3000 losses during that winter in Polygon Wood. End February 1918 they have been relieved.