Battle of Oppy Wood: Casualties were Less than 2,000

The Battle of Oppy was fought May 3 and June 28, 1917, in Arras, France. (This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year, available wherever eBooks are sold.)

The skirmishes were part of the large Battle of Arras. Capturing the highlands was of strategic advantage, offering a view of the surround area.

The nations involved were Canada, Great Britain and Germany.

“Two infantrymen stand to the left of the dug-out entrance, one of them on the firestep looking over the parapet into No Man’s Land,” Imperial War Museums describes John Nash’s painting of the battle. “There is a wood of shattered trees littered with corrugated iron and planks at ground level to the right of the composition. The sky stretches above in varying shades of blue with a spectacular cloud formation framing a clear space towards the top of the composition.”

Major Battle Events

The May 3 attack had mixed results. The British were stopped by German resistance, but the 1^st Canadian Division captured the town of Fresnoy.
The June 28 attack resulted in the British surprising the Germans and capturing Allied objectives.
Casualties were less than 2,000.

The WWI Trilogy by Melina Druga: Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year

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Updated: 23 October 2020

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Melina Druga

Melina Druga is a multi-genre author with a lifelong love of history, books and the English language.She pens historical fiction, chick lit and nonfiction.