FOR EACH 100m THEY OUR TROOPS FELL ON Ceremonies remember Battle of Passchendaele purgatory 100 years on
ONE of the bloodiest battles of World War I, that saw hundreds of thousands perish in “tragic carnage” will be remembered in a series of poignant events.
The hellish battle of Passchendaele in 1917 saw an estimated 325,000 Allied and between 260,000 and 400,000 German casualties either dead, wounded or missing in 103 days of heavy fighting that moved the front line by just eight kilometres.
Also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, the battle will be remembered today with a traditional Last Post ceremony, followed by a live performance show set to be watched by thousands.
After more than 18 months of planning, several dignitaries and royal family members from countries involved in the war will visit the small Belgian town of Ypres.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, Prince Charles and Theresa May will all take part in the memorial today alongside descendants of those who died during the battle.
The event will include a story by the creator of War Horse acted out, and extracts of The Wipers Times, a play about the newspaper written by British soldiers, performed and shown live on the BBC.
British royalty will be joined by members of the Belgian royal family for the events, which last until Monday.
David Lloyd George, who was Prime Minister of the wartime coalition government during and immediately after World War I, described the Passchendaele campaign as “tragic carnage” in his war memoirs.
Thousands of soldiers were gunned down in the mud and there was torrential rain during the battle on the Western Front, from July to November 1917.
Met with tough opposition from soldiers of the German Empire, thousands of British soldiers were gunned down in the thick mud never to be found, despite millions of shells rained down on the heavily fortified German positions.
Constant shelling churned the soil into thick mud, which the battle has become known for, alongside the sheer number of casualties.
The weather in Flanders during the offensive was also the worst in the region for 30 years, reducing much of it to a quagmire, as around five inches of rain fell during August 1917.
By comparison, the average in the UK in August in 2016 was around 3.4 inches.
To commemorate the centenary, the Royal British Legion has created a limited edition poppy pin made from brass shell fuses used in the battle and soil recovered from the battlefield.
In just three days from July 31 to August 2 the British forces advanced by just 1.7 miles and suffered 32,000 casualties during those first three days of fighting.
On Monday, exactly 100 years since the start of the battle, a service of commemoration will be held among the graves and names at the nearby Commonwealth War Graves Commission Tyne Cot Cemetery, where 11,965 – 8,369 unnamed – war dead are buried.
The Prince of Wales and the King and Queen of Belgium will then join hundreds of guests at the Exhibition Field at the Passchendaele Memorial Park to meet families and descendants of those who fought and fell at Passchendaele as well as school children learning about the history of the battle.