The Battle of Passchendaele, also referred to as the Third Battle of Ypres, was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, for control of the ridges south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders, as part of a strategy decided by the Allies at conferences in November 1916 and May 1917. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres, 5 miles (8.0 km) from a railway junction at Roulers, which was vital to the supply system of the German 4th Army. The next stage of the Allied strategy was an advance to Thourout–Couckelaere, to close the German-controlled railway running through Roulers and Thourout (which did not take place until 1918). Further operations and a British supporting attack along the Belgian coast from Nieuwpoort, combined with an amphibious landing (Operation Hush), were to have reached Bruges and then the Dutch frontier. The resistance of the German 4th Army, unusually wet weather, the onset of winter and the diversion of British and French resources to Italy, following the Austro-German victory at the Battle of Caporetto (24 October – 19 November), enabled the Germans to avoid a general withdrawal, which had seemed inevitable in early October. The campaign ended in November, when the Canadian Corps captured Passchendaele, apart from local attacks in December and the new year.