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Post by flyjoe180 on Jul 13, 2007 10:25:14 GMT 12
www.thestar.com/News/article/235294After five months, the Passchendaele Battle ended with the loss of half a million dead, wounded or missing. It was also the first battle in which mustard gas was used as a weapon. 
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 13, 2007 10:47:02 GMT 12
Was it at Passchendaele that the New Zealand Division suffered over 600 casualties in about 2 hours?
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jul 13, 2007 10:52:03 GMT 12
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Post by Bruce on Jul 13, 2007 11:36:00 GMT 12
My Great Uncle Alf Moffat was amongst them. a truely miserable battle.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jul 13, 2007 12:34:03 GMT 12
Yes, another example of a high command blunder, the weather turned to rain as the assault took place and they were faced with concrete German bunkers and pill boxes. The tanks were also useless to the Allied force as they got bogged down in the mud and were shelled. Here's a link to the New Zealand Memorial at Messines, with photos of two preserved German pill boxes. www.firstworldwar.com/today/nzmemorialpark.htm |
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Post by corsair67 on Jul 13, 2007 13:02:38 GMT 12
Yes, they should have called it off before it started. I guess they thought they had to do something to help take the pressure off the French Army, even if that meant losing a great deal of lives doing so. Hurley's photos of the terrible conditions faced by the troops:    |
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jul 13, 2007 20:06:07 GMT 12
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Post by phas3e on Jul 13, 2007 22:07:34 GMT 12
My great grandfather who was wounded at the somme, lost a brother at Passchendaele.
That place must have been hell on earth.
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