Battle of Passchendaele

Careful investigation of records of more than eighty years showed that in Flanders the weather broke early each August with the regularity of the Indian monsoon: once the Autumn rains set in difficulties would be greatly enhanced....Unfortunately, there now set in the wettest August for thirty years.
...there is no reason to suggest that the weather broke early in the month with any regularity.
...during the summers preceding the Flanders campaign August days were more often dry than wet.
On the left bank, close to the Meuse, one division had failedĀ ... and yet both here and in Flanders everything possible had been done to avoid failureĀ ... The French army was once more capable of the offensive. It had quickly overcome its depression.