Hidebound?

[mmbennett]

The best chance of immediate follow up to Messines was Plumer's Second Army offer of three days to reposition the huge number of guns already on his front. Presumably (I'll have to check) Plumer was in any case taking about attacking from the position just won (ie south of the Menin Road, down to Ploegsteert) and not from the Ypres canal towards Passchendaele. You could by this means grab the high ground south of the road, and outflank the Passchendaele Ridge. I believe this is exactly what they should have done - and indeed Haig returned to this after the attack north of the Menin road bogged down and it was all too late.

OK, this is how I see it:

If Haig had accepted Plumer's offer to reposition the guns of the Second Army (which would have taken three days) for an attack SOUTH of the Menin Road, as opposed to the Northern route, the possibility of outflanking the Passchendaele Ridge was high. In reality however, the plan called for a thrusting attack against the North of the German line in a sweeping motion. Consequently, this took far longer to prepare, allowing the weather to catch up with the planning of the High Command.

Am I right?