UK ceremony of remembrance ‘Centenary of Passchendaele, Third Battle of Ypres’
-
On 31 July there will be service of commemoration set amongst the graves and names at the CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery. Members of the Royal Family and the King and Queen of the Belgians will attend the commemorations. During the Battle of Passchendaele, an estimated 245,000 allied and 215,000 German casualties (dead, wounded or missing) fell after approximately 100 days of heavy fighting for a movement of the front line of only 8 kilometres . See link: http://passchendaele2017.org/en/evenementen/herdenkingsplechtigheid-100-jaar-slag-bij-passendale-op-tyne-cot-cemetery/
PS The Battle of Passchendaele was initiated by British troops on 31 July 1917. During the preparatory artillery phase of two weeks, no fewer than 4.2 million projectiles were fired. The battlefield was thus transformed into a quagmire. The Battle of Passchendaele was a true bloodshed estimated to have cost more than 450,000 casualties for a movement of the frontline of only eight kilometres. The battle soon took on mythical proportions and still has a significant symbolic value today.
Posted
-
by
cyngast
moderator
Torrential rains also coincided with the start of the offensive, which only added to the mud and the misery of the troops.
Posted