In Flanders Fields World War One Remembered: Passchendaele


In Flanders Fields

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As dawn was breaking on the 31st of July 1917,

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an attack would be launched on the fields of Flanders

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that would begin the Battle of Passchendaele.

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That name has become synonymous with a quagmire of a battlefield

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and the scene of a terrifying massacre

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of a generation of our young men.

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the human cost was half a million casualties.

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we remember all those who lost their lives

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and those who survived but bore the terrible scars of Passchendaele.

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just a series of posts, scraped in the mud.

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The Germans would be shelling them the whole time.

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There was mud to your right and mud to your left,

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It was a terrible place, just a sea of mud everywhere.

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If you got off the duckboards, you'd got no chance whatsoever -

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you just fell in the mud, and you were drowned.

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All day long, one had nothing to do but to sit in the mud, shivering,

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wet and cold, and trying to keep up appearances

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in some way or another, as the shells arrived.

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The noise would grow into a great crescendo,

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and at a certain point, your nerve would break

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and you'd throw yourself down in the mud

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and cringe in the mud till it was passed.

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you could literally feel your heart pounding against the ground.

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In a continuous bombardment, which lasted sometimes for hours,

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the emotional strain was absolutely terrific.

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Until, when you got the order to advance,

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it was a sort of release from that bondage.

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We heard one of their big ones coming over,

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and I was too damn tired even to fall down.

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Next I had a terrific pain in the back and the chest,

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and I found myself face downwards in the mud.

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And then I suddenly realised that I was alive.

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That if these wounds didn't prove fatal,

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then I should get back to my parents, to my sister,

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to the girl that I was going to marry.

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I've seen men coming out covered in mud.

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They just scraped the mud from their eyes.

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You never wanted to go to that sector again.

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We've just heard vivid recollections

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from men who served on the front line.

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Haunting memories, but their testimonies remain strong and vital

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in reminding us of the horrors that unfolded

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and of the devastating human cost of that war.

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Today, we're in Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium,

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where almost 12,000 men are buried, making this the largest

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Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world.

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To the northeastern end of the cemetery stands the striking

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vast Memorial Wall to commemorate nearly 35,000 more servicemen

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from the United Kingdom and New Zealand who have no known grave.

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Later this morning, commemorations will be held here

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to mark the centenary of the Third Battle of Ypres,

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now more commonly known as Passchendaele.

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More than 4,000 people are expected to attend the service,

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and they started arriving in the cemetery about an hour ago.

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His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,

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and Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

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ready to welcome Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians.

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And indeed the Prince of Wales is expected

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Events to mark this anniversary began last night

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in the city of Ypres with the Last Post ceremony

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at the Menin Gate, a poignant act of remembrance

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that traditionally takes place every night.

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The historic Cloth Hall in the city's Market Square

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was the dramatic backdrop for the story of the battle,

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and there were performances from, among others, Dame Helen Mirren,

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the cast of War Horse, from the play of the same name,

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It was a very special evening, and today we'll continue

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to remember all those who fought in the battle.

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The official commemorations are due to start in an hour,

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and in fact people in the cemetery are beginning to gather

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Dan Snow is among them to tell us more.

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It's very hard to imagine on this summer morning that this site

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was once the scene of such death and destruction.

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The men of the Australian Third division were attacking up the top

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of this rich, and they found themselves in a featureless

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battlefield, shattered, destroy the landscape, shell holes which

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contained water, mud you could drown in. The unburied corpses of other

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soldiers. And among that, German positions, not trenches, like at the

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Somme, but an interlocking network of concrete positions, so the

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Australians were drowning and surrounded by German strong points.

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Unsurprisingly, the cost was extraordinarily high as the

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Australians are up this slope. At the top we have the Cross of

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Sacrifice, a memorial to the fallen built on top of a German pillbox.

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Today we will be hearing from the descendants of those who fought in

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the wider Battle of Passchendaele, but also some of the stories of the

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brave men who live the need our feet in Tyne Cot Cemetery.

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I'm now joined by two guests who took part

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I'm delighted to welcome the broadcaster and writer

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Ian Hislop and the author of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo.

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Michael, I was glued to every single second of the event, what did you

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make of it? It was unique, it stood alone, I have never seen anything

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like it. It was very difficult to perform in, because by its nature,

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you had to mean every word of it, and that is always hard. You are not

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doing it in the bubble of a drama, you are doing it in the place that

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this thing happened. And all these people died, and it was important,

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so you had to get it right, which put a lot of pressure on. But once I

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got talking, I could become who I was supposed to become, but the joys

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bid for me, I have to say, was sitting down afterwards and watching

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the extraordinary music, the lights on the hall, but also the edge -

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there was an edge to the whole thing which was so important. What you do

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not want to do is somehow smooth it over with a nice comforting cloth,

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there is nothing comforting about the First World War. We can see

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that, and there must not be, this is not a nostalgic exercise, it is an

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exercise in understanding history and what happens when people go mad.

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Ian Hislop, let's think about The Wipers Times, the play that you have

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co-written, it has been filmed as well as performed live onstage, and

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it continues to be performed in the next few months. It is an

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interesting conundrum, to think that we mark something as complex and as

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difficult and as horrific as this through performance. What you think

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is to be gained from an understanding of what was a hugely

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complex situation? I think what one can do is add another angle, and

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certainly what War Horse did, and The Wipers Times, which was a

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satirical newspaper, it actually started in Ypres, and what you can

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do, these are not just men who died - they lived first. And what we were

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trying to do was show that they lived and they laughed, and they had

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an attitude to the war, they were not uncritical, they were not

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idiots. We tend to condescend, they did not understand as well as us,

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how could they possibly? Now that the last people who were there have

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died, the job is to keep on understanding who they work. And the

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you have written, The Wipers Times, for those who have not seen it, you

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use a lot of the words and phrases and humour that was employed in

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print at the time from the front line, which seems entirely

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remarkable to me. Yes, if you want the authentic voice of someone in

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the trenches in 1917, it is in The Wipers Times, they were writing it

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that afternoon, and it is rude, it can be sentimental, it is not

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reverential, and it is not like that. And interesting point, we are

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looking at pictures of the Central Band of the RAF just making their

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way towards the Stone of Remembrance, they will be central to

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today's performance, and again, you used the word, it is important not

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to sentimentalise, but also there has to be a degree of pomp and

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ceremony to honour these people. There does, but it must not be idle

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ceremony. Ceremony is fine as long as we understand the reason for the

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ceremony. If it is simply to make us feel better and to tap our toes to

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the band and to weep a bit when the bugles play and the pipes play, that

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is not enough. All that does, in the end, was make us feel, OK, we won,

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or something. And it is not about that. I am all for the bugles and

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pipers, though, you have to help people into the emotion. I am pretty

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emotional without them! We really appreciate you both taking the time.

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The Battle of Passchendaele took the lives of tens

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of thousands of men from across the British Empire.

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Historian and broadcaster David Olusoga

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has traced the steps of those soldiers,

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many of whom were fighting a long way from home.

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every British infantry regiment was, at one time or another,

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rotated through the Ypres battlefield.

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But in this war, fought between global empires,

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the Western front also drew in men from across the world.

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The front became the most diverse place on earth,

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perhaps the most diverse place there had ever been.

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are testimony to the fact that this was a world war.

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100 years ago today, these trenches were filled

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with men from the 38th Welsh Division.

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To the south were Australians and New Zealanders,

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and to the north was the French army,

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which, in the First World War, included men from Africa and Asia.

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And at 3:50am, the men put ladders against the wall,

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whistles were blown, and they went over the top.

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I remember being told, our section being told,

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and we've got to bloody well stay here."

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Whatever happened, we had to hold that position, which we did.

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and the death toll rose for month after month,

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the shattered villages of this obscure, remote

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part of southern Belgian became associated forever

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with the men who fought and died here.

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the very worst day of the fighting for the New Zealanders,

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46 men were killed in just a few hours of fighting,

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the names of the dead are inscribed into these panels.

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It rained and rained and bloody rained.

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We were all young, fit, highly trained,

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You're not shot and killed stone dead.

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Four divisions of Canadian troops were rushed to the front

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to relieve the Australians and the New Zealanders,

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and they proved critical, because it was the Canadians

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on the 10th of November who finally captured Passchendaele.

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And they did so in a battle so desperate, so ferocious,

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that nine Victoria Crosses - the highest military honour -

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Passchendaele was a most ghastly and hopeless mess.

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It was worse than we had anticipated.

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As winter began, the Battle of Passchendaele,

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the Third Battle of Ypres, drew to a miserable close.

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but the lines had only moved by a few miles.

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And men from all over the world had come and died

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And we are looking now at the band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines

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Plymouth, possessing past the stone of the members, and their music will

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be a key part of this morning's ceremony.

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And broadcaster and historian David Olusoga is with me now,

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and I'm also joined by the author and historian Richard van Emden,

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who has written widely on the First World War.

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You spoke to so many of the men who took part, hundreds of the men.

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David, in your film, we heard one of the men say that he was told, we

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bloody well got here and we have to stay, that sense in which there was

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no option but to hold this bulge in the front line, just explain why

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that was so important. Within that area was the town of

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Ypres and if it fell to the Germans it would lead them to Dunkirk and

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the port. The British were using the port to transfer their troops and it

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would fall into German hands. The question that is asked so often, on

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and off camera, is was it worth it? When we look at these headstones,

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there can be no more concrete reminder, other than the bodies

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themselves, of the losses that British and Allied forces sustain.

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Was it worth it? I am always torn by such a question. People talk about

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the number of casualties. But we do not talk about the Battle of

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Waterloo in terms of yardage made. You have got two armies here and

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artillery is dominating the battlefield and they are in the

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trenches and at some .1 side has to go out and attack. In attritional

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warfare, which is what we have here, that will always create huge numbers

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of casualties. The veterans I have met have not said it was not worth

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it. I think it was worth it, but I have huge reservations. There is

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nothing like sitting eye to eye with somebody and listening to what they

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tell you. Tell me about that experience that you have had over

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the decades, of listening to these men and have them tell you things

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that they very often have not told their nearest and dearest. They have

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not shared these memories with their husbands, their wives or children or

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other relatives. When I interviewed these men I always wanted the family

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out of the room because I knew that they would tell me things that they

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would not say if there family was there. The best interview is when

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you forget the camera is there and you have this amazing one-to-one

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with that individual and they will explore their own emotions. I

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remember one veteran telling me about having shell shock and I could

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hear his daughter saying in the background, I have never heard this.

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And yet there was this communion that we had at that moment and it

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was an incredible memory. We are here at Tyne Cot Cemetery and we

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have so many people connected in so many ways, relatives of those people

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whose lives were lost. In half an hour we expect the Duke and Duchess

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of Cambridge to arrive at Tyne Cot, followed by the Prince of Wales and

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amongst the headstones there will be a special service of remembrance to

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commemorate the first day of the battle. The three military bands are

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getting into position. They are in fact now at the Stone of Remembrance

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and they are in readiness for the start of that ceremony. David, I

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want to ask you about the people we do not hear so much about. I was

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reading myself this morning over breakfast about the nurses. Three

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miles from the front line, this was as close as their station got to the

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front in the entirety of the war, at the Battle of Passchendaele. These

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were nice, young women with fairly sheltered backgrounds. Tell us more

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about them. They are part of this world behind the lines, nurses from

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all over the world, both men and women, who are close to action and

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in the danger zone. They are the people we do not talk about. We

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focus on the trenches and the slaughter that takes place, but

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behind the lines is another world, which is much more international and

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male and female. We sometimes forget that. Over 8000 people applied in a

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special ballot to be part of the events today.

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to give thanks and remember their fathers, grandfathers,

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uncles, and close relatives who fought in the Battle of Passchen

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Some were tragically killed in these fields,

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others survived to share their memories.

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Dan Snow is now with one of the descendants.

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Rebecca, there are a lot of descended here today, but few have

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the connection with this battlefield that you have. You have got two

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relatives commemorated here. Yes, my great-grandfather, Harry Moorhouse,

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he was acting Lieutenant Colonel when he died. And his son Ronald

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mortars, who was a captain. Together they were in the fourth Battalion,

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the Kings own Yorkshire light infantry, and they died on the same

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day on October the 9th, 1917. A father and son in the same unit and

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killed on the same day will stop it is tragic. How did the father found

:20:29.:20:33.

out his son had been killed? They were trying to take a hill called

:20:34.:20:40.

the Bellevue 's birth. It was raining and it was muggy, one of the

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worst possible conditions. Ronald was sent by Harry because he was the

:20:46.:20:51.

commanding officer to go up this hill and he was shot. But Harry did

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not know that and he got back to base, headquarters, a farmhouse down

:20:59.:21:02.

the road, and when he got back they brought his son in injured. He was

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so horrified he said, I must go and get a doctor. The other officer

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said, you cannot, it is too dangerous, there are snipers out

:21:14.:21:17.

there. But he insisted he would go and he set out with another officer

:21:18.:21:22.

across the swamp and the craters and was sadly shot very soon by a sniper

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and died in the arms of the officer who was with him. Rebecca, it is an

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extraordinary story. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. So many

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extraordinary stories this morning. So many extraordinary

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stories this morning. This morning's ceremony

:21:41.:21:43.

will take place in amongst the thousands

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of headstones here behind me, each one made from

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white Portland stone. These headstones were erected

:21:48.:21:49.

by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who today ensure every

:21:50.:21:52.

grave is cared for with the same respect and dignity

:21:53.:21:55.

that it deserves. On the Western Front in 1914,

:21:56.:22:00.

the British Army had no way of organising and recording

:22:01.:22:03.

the burial places The numbers were staggering

:22:04.:22:06.

at that stage in the war. It was clear that the death toll

:22:07.:22:11.

was only going to rise. Fabian Ware and his small team began

:22:12.:22:16.

to record the burial places of British soldiers,

:22:17.:22:20.

wherever they'd died, wherever they'd been

:22:21.:22:22.

buried by their comrades, and that gradually developed

:22:23.:22:25.

into what we know as the Commonwealth War Graves

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Commission. Today, we commemorate 1.7 million

:22:29.:22:33.

men and women who lost their lives We've got 23,000 different

:22:34.:22:36.

sites in 154 different countries and territories,

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all over the world, in every The biggest is Tyne Cot

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Cemetery in Flanders. Three quarters of them

:22:46.:22:49.

are unidentified. After the end of the war, Tyne Cot

:22:50.:23:01.

was a sea of wooden crosses, then gradually over the course

:23:02.:23:04.

of the 1920s, the War Graves Commission created

:23:05.:23:08.

the cemetery that you see today. They installed the headstones,

:23:09.:23:11.

they created the cemetery architecture, the walls

:23:12.:23:13.

and the shelter buildings and, And from those very early days,

:23:14.:23:16.

the Commission's gardeners make sure that this continues to be a place

:23:17.:23:22.

where people can come and pay their respects,

:23:23.:23:25.

reflect on what happened In the beginning, the idea was to

:23:26.:23:27.

create English country gardens for these men to lie amongst,

:23:28.:23:33.

for people to get a sense that this was a corner of England, as it were,

:23:34.:23:37.

and that was very important to families visiting immediately

:23:38.:23:40.

after the First World War, and we still try to maintain that

:23:41.:23:43.

today. My dad started working in '46

:23:44.:23:47.

for the War Graves Commission, When you are here, you feel close

:23:48.:23:51.

to the soldiers who are buried here. There's almost 40,000

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herbaceous plants, 2,500 roses It takes us two days to mow it,

:24:10.:24:14.

but then you have the pruning, It's quite a job to do it

:24:15.:24:21.

but it's done with love. Beneath the Cross of Sacrifice

:24:22.:24:28.

is the Tyne Cot blockhouse, the largest German pillbox

:24:29.:24:31.

in this area. You can still see a small area

:24:32.:24:34.

of concrete within a wreath, as a reminder of how strong

:24:35.:24:38.

a position it was. Once it had been captured,

:24:39.:24:42.

it was used as an advanced dressing station to help treat those

:24:43.:24:45.

who were wounded. The majority of the graves

:24:46.:24:49.

here are in long rows, evenly spaced, and they're

:24:50.:24:52.

the graves that were But those battlefield graves around

:24:53.:24:55.

the bunker, they are exactly where they were when they were first

:24:56.:25:01.

put there, buried by their comrades The battlefield cemetery,

:25:02.:25:04.

that's my favourite part. If you stand there, I think

:25:05.:25:09.

you can feel it a bit. I'm very happy to do something

:25:10.:25:15.

for these people who made sure that we can live

:25:16.:25:22.

in a peaceful country. These are the scenes today at Tyne

:25:23.:25:40.

Cot cemetery in Flanders. We are looking at the chiefs of staff. We

:25:41.:25:44.

have Sir Stuart pitch. the vice chairman of the

:25:45.:25:53.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and Dr Glyn Prysor,

:25:54.:26:02.

the Commission's resident historian. Anything I have needed to know in

:26:03.:26:14.

the last few days, you either man I have gone to. Tim, year round this

:26:15.:26:19.

place is kept with great care as we heard from one of the gardeners. We

:26:20.:26:25.

do it with love. On a day like today it immaculate. Why is it important

:26:26.:26:31.

that on the other 364 days of the year it looks like it does today? It

:26:32.:26:37.

is important because people come here throughout the year. We want to

:26:38.:26:40.

make sure that whenever people come here they find the cemetery in

:26:41.:26:46.

perfect condition. It is just a team of four gardeners who look after the

:26:47.:26:49.

cemetery. They have had a bit of extra help over the last few years

:26:50.:26:53.

to get it right for this important event. This is a standout event, one

:26:54.:27:01.

of the biggest events they have ever had? It is fair to say that, one of

:27:02.:27:06.

the biggest ones. We have seen on the film these beautiful, ornate

:27:07.:27:10.

carvings that represent the nations of the soldiers. Give us an idea of

:27:11.:27:17.

the nationalities. There are regimental symbols from all across

:27:18.:27:23.

the British Army, the phone of New Zealand, the Maple Leaf of Canada,

:27:24.:27:27.

the rising Sun and the Springbok of South Africa. There were Indian

:27:28.:27:33.

soldiers, members of the Chinese Labour Corps, nurses and so on, a

:27:34.:27:36.

real demonstration of the diversity of the armies of the British Empire

:27:37.:27:42.

that for at that time. What I did not expect to see where two German

:27:43.:27:48.

headstones and there are four German soldiers buried here. Tell us about

:27:49.:27:54.

that. Those headstones are exactly the same dimensions of the British

:27:55.:27:59.

Army headstones. They are treated in exactly the same way. These men were

:28:00.:28:04.

enemies in life, but in death they were brothers and they are given

:28:05.:28:07.

exactly the same respect by the gardeners as any other soldier. The

:28:08.:28:12.

memorial wall at the back that contains so many tens of thousands

:28:13.:28:16.

of names. Why is that here because we think of the Menin Gate where we

:28:17.:28:22.

see the names. We ran out of space on the Menin Gate and it was obvious

:28:23.:28:27.

there would not be enough space, so a second memorial wall was designed

:28:28.:28:34.

and created. It, if you like, acted as an overflow when we did not have

:28:35.:28:39.

any more real. As I understand it, there are still commemorations and

:28:40.:28:44.

names being engraved on that wall to this very day. Explain that to me.

:28:45.:28:51.

Every year remains are discovered. In these very fields? By farmers?

:28:52.:28:57.

Absolutely, by farmers. Each of them is treated as they work 100 years

:28:58.:29:03.

ago and they are given a burial with full dignity. If their identity is

:29:04.:29:08.

known, it is added to the memorial. It is the beauty of the commission

:29:09.:29:14.

continuing it from 100 years ago. Thank you for taking the time to

:29:15.:29:15.

talk to us today. The names of some of those will be

:29:16.:29:23.

read out today. During today's commemorations

:29:24.:29:28.

the names of some of those buried or inscribed on the

:29:29.:29:31.

Memorial Wall in Tyne Cot will be read out in tribute

:29:32.:29:33.

to all those killed This wall, with 35,000

:29:34.:29:36.

thousand names on it, is a continuation of

:29:37.:29:38.

the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, which gives a place

:29:39.:29:41.

to remember the men who died Dan Snow is with Warrant Officer

:29:42.:29:43.

William Rhodes, who has the honour of reading out

:29:44.:29:46.

one of the names. William, you volunteer to be part of

:29:47.:29:54.

this event, why did you do that? I volunteered as a descendant, my

:29:55.:29:57.

great great ankle was killed in the Battle of Passchendaele. -- uncle. I

:29:58.:30:05.

felt it was important to come out for the 100th anniversary. It has

:30:06.:30:08.

been planned for the best part of ten years now with my family, to

:30:09.:30:14.

come out, and now with the big commemorations, we have taken part

:30:15.:30:17.

in that. It sounds like it was talked about within your family, who

:30:18.:30:22.

particularly are you remembering? It is my great great uncle, he was

:30:23.:30:30.

killed 100 years ago today, the 31st of July, the first day of the

:30:31.:30:38.

battle, in the battle of St-Julien. He was part of the Cheshire

:30:39.:30:41.

Regiment. They suffered extremely large casualties. I know a little

:30:42.:30:46.

bit about him, we have been doing a lot of research, trying to gather

:30:47.:30:51.

that information together, and we have been massively helped by the

:30:52.:30:56.

military museum they have given us a lot of information from the Cheshire

:30:57.:31:03.

edge and's diaries and archives. -- the Cheshire Regiment. Enjoy the

:31:04.:31:07.

experience and the experience of remembering him as well. Thank you

:31:08.:31:08.

very much. have been told in the

:31:09.:31:11.

testimonies of soldiers and, of course, by journalists at the

:31:12.:31:15.

time and subsequently historians. However, the poets of

:31:16.:31:18.

the Great War who themselves served in the trenches

:31:19.:31:20.

have dominated the collective memory

:31:21.:31:22.

of the war in a unique war. They exist only on the pages

:31:23.:31:28.

of history books, and their victims become

:31:29.:31:35.

little more than statistics. But the First World War

:31:36.:31:38.

is different. 100 years after it was fought,

:31:39.:31:40.

it's still part of our slick upon the duck-boards:

:31:41.:31:43.

so I fell Into the bottomless mud,

:31:44.:32:02.

and lost the light. The armies of the Western Front

:32:03.:32:04.

were unlike any that had ever For the first time,

:32:05.:32:07.

the majority of soldiers, no matter what their class,

:32:08.:32:10.

could read and write. These literate men found themselves

:32:11.:32:15.

in a conflict of siege warfare - They spent much of their time

:32:16.:32:19.

in the trenches, near to the danger and the death, but protected

:32:20.:32:26.

underground, and that gave them time His brother, we can

:32:27.:32:29.

hear death's roar. Those lines, translated

:32:30.:32:55.

from Welsh, were written by Ellis Humphrey Evans,

:32:56.:33:01.

who wrote under the name Hedd Wyn. He was killed on the first day

:33:02.:33:05.

of the Battle of Passchendaele. Another poet who fought here was

:33:06.:33:12.

Francis Ledwidge from Ireland. Ledwidge died on the

:33:13.:33:17.

same day as Hedd Wyn, killed by a shell that landed

:33:18.:33:32.

about 200 yards from here. These two poets are buried

:33:33.:33:36.

in the same cemetery. Both men remembered

:33:37.:33:40.

100 years after their deaths, thanks to the words

:33:41.:33:43.

they left behind. The poetry of the First World War

:33:44.:33:50.

is just a fragment of the otherwise unwritten work

:33:51.:33:54.

of a doomed generation. It's a taste of

:33:55.:33:57.

what they might have produced, These are the scenes this morning

:33:58.:34:16.

and Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium. We are looking at the band of the Welsh

:34:17.:34:22.

Guards in their red tunics and bearskin, conducted by Lieutenant

:34:23.:34:25.

Colonel Kevin Roberts, and he has a job in hand today, because he will

:34:26.:34:30.

be in charge of all the musicians, single-handedly overseeing four

:34:31.:34:33.

different groups of musicians who will be participating in the

:34:34.:34:40.

ceremony that. Shortly. -- that will start shortly.

:34:41.:34:41.

Well, later in the commemorations, two of those poets,

:34:42.:34:44.

killed 100 years ago, will be remembered.

:34:45.:34:45.

An elegy will be sung in memory of the poet Hedd Wyn,

:34:46.:34:48.

and actor Peter Campion will perform

:34:49.:34:50.

A Soldier's Grave by the Irish poet Francis Ledwidge.

:34:51.:34:54.

And I'm joined by Belgian historian Professor

:34:55.:34:58.

Sophie de Schaepdrijver, together with broadcaster and historian David

:34:59.:35:02.

Olusoga and Richard van Emden to chat a bit more about the

:35:03.:35:06.

Richard, if I can come to you first of all, these photographs are seared

:35:07.:35:19.

on our consciousness, and we are a hundred years away from that battle,

:35:20.:35:22.

what impression did they make on people at the time you saw the

:35:23.:35:27.

images that were taken? Well, I mean, you can imagine that it had a

:35:28.:35:32.

profound effect on families back home. I mean, how could you not look

:35:33.:35:39.

at the morass... I mean, this is the worst hell you could imagine, and to

:35:40.:35:43.

see men stuck in there, fighting for their lives. There is one amazing

:35:44.:35:47.

photograph of a gentleman called Reginald Brown on this ridge, there

:35:48.:35:53.

were five men on the photograph, and the next morning four were dead, he

:35:54.:35:57.

was the only survivor. They are testimony to the most dramatic era

:35:58.:36:07.

for Britain, and the scenes are truly shocking, how could they be

:36:08.:36:12.

otherwise? Poetry seems so esoteric, but it absolutely captured not just

:36:13.:36:16.

the feelings but the brutal and vital experiences of the men on the

:36:17.:36:20.

battlefield. It is a strange thing, we don't talk about the poetry of

:36:21.:36:24.

the Napoleonic wars very much the Second World War, but the British

:36:25.:36:28.

experience of the First World War is intimately linked to poetry, and

:36:29.:36:33.

that is an anomaly. Partly it is because the men were educated,

:36:34.:36:40.

nothing quite explains this. What is critical is whether it distorts

:36:41.:36:43.

history, and many historians have written about why 4000 people are

:36:44.:36:50.

here today, the poetry draws us into this epic tragedy. Sophie, when I

:36:51.:36:57.

was talking to one of my daughters about coming here, she knew about

:36:58.:37:00.

Siegfried Sassoon, that was her way into the war, and your country has

:37:01.:37:05.

been memorialised in words by these people, rather brilliantly and

:37:06.:37:10.

beautiful. Yes, it has, British poetry in particular is a milestone,

:37:11.:37:17.

a relay station for remembrance. What is particularly interesting

:37:18.:37:22.

about the First World War is that so many people wrote who had never put

:37:23.:37:26.

pen to paper. This is across the belligerent world, you see it in

:37:27.:37:31.

Germany, everywhere, so people write poetry, they write drama, they write

:37:32.:37:36.

sketches, and they feel the need to express their war. So amidst this

:37:37.:37:43.

war, which is regimented, which takes a generation, everyone feels

:37:44.:37:46.

the need to express something subjective. Yes, there is the war,

:37:47.:37:51.

but also my war. We are looking at the British guard of honour, there

:37:52.:37:55.

will be two this morning and Tyne Cot Cemetery, the Belgian guard of

:37:56.:37:59.

honour as well, but this is the Irish Guards, 96 men, guardsman,

:38:00.:38:05.

Lund scored is and Lance Sergeant is. Back now to Dan Snow, he has

:38:06.:38:16.

been joined by Linda Parton. Your father at the most extraordinary

:38:17.:38:19.

career in the army, served all the way through to the end, did he ever

:38:20.:38:24.

talk about those experiences? A little bit, on a very light level,

:38:25.:38:28.

he never talked about the feelings, the fear, the dread. He talked about

:38:29.:38:38.

having to make their own ammunition, being continually wet, footrot, but

:38:39.:38:44.

never what it felt like. Was he happy to talk to you about it? He

:38:45.:38:49.

was 53 when I was born, so it was quite distant from his wartime

:38:50.:38:55.

experiences, and that made it easier for him. But you also have an uncle

:38:56.:39:04.

who fought at Passchendaele. Yes, my father's younger brother, Walter, he

:39:05.:39:09.

joined in 1916, as soon as he was old enough, and he was killed in

:39:10.:39:16.

1917, just 19 years old. It must be very special being here today. It

:39:17.:39:21.

is, to remember my uncle, but also to think about my father and what he

:39:22.:39:25.

went through, and to have a chance to save thanks, Dad. Dan Snow, thank

:39:26.:39:34.

you very much indeed for that. We are looking at the scenes in Tyne

:39:35.:39:40.

Cot, and splendid scenes they are indeed, the Irish Guards, and on

:39:41.:39:51.

their ensign, it includes 21 battle honours, the wreath of the Battle of

:39:52.:39:53.

Passchendaele that we see there. And that was taking place at the

:39:54.:40:04.

Stone of Remembrance, a hugely significant point in today's

:40:05.:40:14.

commemorations. Lynne, as you look at the scenes today, what is going

:40:15.:40:19.

through your head, because you have a very intimate relationship with

:40:20.:40:25.

Tyne Cot and the other Commonwealth War Graves? What I am reminded of

:40:26.:40:28.

the images of the first pilgrims coming to this place to mourn their

:40:29.:40:36.

lost relatives, images of mothers, daughters, comrades, veterans

:40:37.:40:38.

returning in the years after the war to pay tribute to lost friends. And

:40:39.:40:43.

I think seeing the images of the crowds gathering here, it mind me of

:40:44.:40:47.

1927, the images of the cemetery when it was first unveiled. We are

:40:48.:40:52.

just doing here what we have been doing for many decades. When it was

:40:53.:40:57.

first unveiled, it looked very different, I presume, it would have

:40:58.:41:01.

been wooden crosses. Yes indeed, they would have been wooden crosses

:41:02.:41:07.

laid out, and over many years the architecture was designed and

:41:08.:41:09.

created, and of those wooden crosses are very poignant, when you see the

:41:10.:41:13.

images of the German blockhouses rising up out of the ground. Today

:41:14.:41:17.

it is very peaceful and beautiful, but we have to remember that this is

:41:18.:41:21.

the work of generations of gardeners, and many of them local

:41:22.:41:25.

people, who care for this place and create what we see today. Five

:41:26.:41:34.

Victoria Cross awardees buried here. Yes, one is particularly striking,

:41:35.:41:40.

Lewis Moody, an Australian soldier who was awarded his Victoria Cross

:41:41.:41:44.

for his actions in 1917 when this area was captured by the 14th

:41:45.:41:50.

Australian division, a tale of almost reckless bravery, incredibly

:41:51.:41:56.

brutal fighting with bayonet and bomb, rather than with bullets, a

:41:57.:42:01.

reminder of the brutality of the fighting, and acts of heroism on

:42:02.:42:05.

both sides, it is important we remember that. That is an

:42:06.:42:09.

interesting point, you are nodding your head, acts of bravery on both

:42:10.:42:14.

sides, men on both sides going through, ostensibly, entirely the

:42:15.:42:19.

same experience. Entirely the same experience. Actually, if you had

:42:20.:42:25.

been here in 1927, you would have found almost 100 German cemeteries

:42:26.:42:29.

dotted across the landscape. Really? So the story that this landscape

:42:30.:42:34.

told in the 1920s is completely different from the story today, so

:42:35.:42:40.

today, it is peaceful - when it wasn't, so that is already a change.

:42:41.:42:44.

But it tells quite a lopsided story, because the Germans have been

:42:45.:42:49.

relegated to four very large cemeteries, no longer inscribed into

:42:50.:42:54.

the space as they had been. Just looking ahead, Richard, to the

:42:55.:42:58.

commemoration today, we are going to see the German Foreign Minister,

:42:59.:43:03.

there will be a German reading here today, during this commemoration,

:43:04.:43:07.

this reconciliation of the nations, that must surely have been a very

:43:08.:43:11.

nuanced and difficult thing to begin to look forward to at the time, post

:43:12.:43:18.

war. Absolutely. I mean, Britain and Germany had a lot in common in so

:43:19.:43:25.

many ways, I always be the Germans saying, you are Anglo-Saxons, we are

:43:26.:43:28.

Saxons, so there was a kind of unity, a lot of interest to keep

:43:29.:43:33.

Germany together as a unitary state out of the war, so a lot of

:43:34.:43:35.

co-operation between the British and the Germans behind the scenes. But

:43:36.:43:40.

somewhere like this, obviously it was incredibly important to build

:43:41.:43:44.

that relationship, and coming back to Harry patch, I remember how

:43:45.:43:48.

important it was for him to have that reconciliation, and when we

:43:49.:43:54.

went to the biggest cemetery for German casualties, he picked up two

:43:55.:43:59.

acorns from next to a German grave of a man was killed on the day he

:44:00.:44:04.

attacked, and he buried them in the garden, and that communion, on a

:44:05.:44:07.

very small scale, is being represented today on a much bigger

:44:08.:44:12.

scale. We were just looking at the Belgian Minister of defence, Steven

:44:13.:44:16.

Vandeput, and there will be many dignitaries this morning, we will

:44:17.:44:22.

seed Theresa May, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Prince of

:44:23.:44:28.

Wales, the King and Queen of the Belgians. We are sitting in

:44:29.:44:31.

Flanders, but this is essentially a small slice of saying this is now

:44:32.:44:38.

British soil, handed over in perpetuity. That is right, the War

:44:39.:44:45.

Graves are on land donated by the government of Belgium, a very

:44:46.:44:48.

poignant thought, this is land that will never be reclaimed, the

:44:49.:44:53.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission is the lack has a motto about

:44:54.:44:59.

perpetuity, and of course that was a very new idea at the time, the idea

:45:00.:45:04.

that these would exist 100 years on was an unprecedented way of

:45:05.:45:07.

commemorating the dead, and I think it feels so natural now, but it

:45:08.:45:15.

wasn't always like that. With that very thought, I wanted to ask you

:45:16.:45:20.

about communications at the time. How easy was it for the troops on

:45:21.:45:24.

the front line to be able to communicate with commanders and

:45:25.:45:30.

people who were so close? The wireless was in its infancy. Once

:45:31.:45:35.

the battle started it was any man's game. You could not properly

:45:36.:45:40.

communicate. You would have runners and men running back and forward

:45:41.:45:44.

across the battlefield. But you would not know what had happened to

:45:45.:45:50.

them. You had pidgins and even dogs taking messages. You say you had

:45:51.:45:56.

pidgins, of course. Tell me more about that. It was one form of

:45:57.:46:05.

communication when you had all other sorts of mechanisms. One way you

:46:06.:46:09.

could communicate was with them because you could type a message to

:46:10.:46:12.

their legs and they would go home as they were met to do and you would

:46:13.:46:16.

pick up the message. But the Germans would try and bring them down and it

:46:17.:46:21.

would be difficult. We are looking at an extraordinary vehicle of these

:46:22.:46:33.

birds in this picture. There is a lot to be said for that and the way

:46:34.:46:40.

in which these animals were remembered. They were seen as heroic

:46:41.:46:48.

agents, resistance agents, and avian resistance agent. If you look at the

:46:49.:46:51.

work of Michael Morpurgo what we are doing is the other way around. We

:46:52.:46:55.

are looking at the human experience through the eyes of the animals.

:46:56.:47:03.

Indeed and we saw a performance of war horse last night in Ypres in

:47:04.:47:08.

front of Cloth Hall. At the forefront of our mind today I had

:47:09.:47:15.

the men who died and we see pictures of the horses being sucked into the

:47:16.:47:19.

mud. Man and horse worked together and people who worked with the

:47:20.:47:23.

horses were very close to them. It must have been a terrible tragedy

:47:24.:47:27.

for the troops on the front like to see their horses going. The

:47:28.:47:32.

closeness men had with their animals was intense. I always remember one

:47:33.:47:37.

veteran talking about coming up here with his mule. Mules were better

:47:38.:47:42.

because they have smaller feet. He said he was exhausted and the mule

:47:43.:47:46.

was exhausted and he tried to clamber onto the mule and it

:47:47.:47:53.

collapsed. He said he was trying to pull his mule out of the earth and

:47:54.:47:57.

it looked at him as if to say, why did you do that? He said it had

:47:58.:48:03.

haunted him all his life. With friends dying around him, this had

:48:04.:48:07.

haunted him. That closeness between man and animal was extraordinary in

:48:08.:48:13.

the First World War. And a word or two on the situation with the mud,

:48:14.:48:18.

Sophie. There was a unique confluence of circumstance which

:48:19.:48:22.

meant the mud was significant in Flanders. If you go to the stone

:48:23.:48:29.

quarries around here you see this layer of rubbery clay. You could see

:48:30.:48:32.

immediately it would be impossible for what to penetrate that. For

:48:33.:48:39.

centuries this was an area where you had all these small canals and

:48:40.:48:42.

drainage ditches, so there was a very intricate water economy if you

:48:43.:48:50.

will. It was blown to bits by all of those shells. Then when the rain was

:48:51.:48:56.

added to that, you have a perfect catastrophe. David, the rain that

:48:57.:49:02.

was added, it was twice the rainfall they normally expect at this time of

:49:03.:49:10.

the year. It rained almost everyday in the first month of the battle.

:49:11.:49:15.

You have a land battle in which soldiers literally drowned. One of

:49:16.:49:20.

the reasons why we have so many unknown victims, men whose bodies

:49:21.:49:25.

were never found, was because people sank into this mire. That is the

:49:26.:49:34.

unique horror of Passchendaele. We can see their name live Earth for

:49:35.:49:37.

evermore and those were words that were approved at the time by people

:49:38.:49:47.

themselves. Why did they need this to be approved? It was so sensitive.

:49:48.:49:56.

You look at the Commonwealth War Graves records and people are

:49:57.:50:03.

writing in and saying, why are there not crosses? Everyone was so per

:50:04.:50:07.

tune as to what remembrance was going to take place. We see the

:50:08.:50:12.

Belgian guard of honour just lining the roads back to Tyne Cot Cemetery.

:50:13.:50:18.

We believe this is the arrival of the British Prime Minister, Theresa

:50:19.:50:24.

May. She has been an two of the three ceremonies so far and indeed

:50:25.:50:28.

her grandfather served in the First World War in Flanders in the second

:50:29.:50:39.

Battle of Ypres. Oh, well, and there is a surprise for all of us. It is

:50:40.:50:44.

the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arriving.

:50:45.:51:07.

And Sir Tim Lawrence and the welcoming committee making them

:51:08.:51:15.

welcome at Tyne Cot Cemetery. There has been bad traffic on the way

:51:16.:51:20.

here, so maybe the British Prime Minister Theresa May is stuck in

:51:21.:51:25.

that. But the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are here. It has been a

:51:26.:51:29.

time of great change for the Duke himself as he carried out his last

:51:30.:51:34.

ever shipped last Thursday with the East Anglia air Ambulance Service.

:51:35.:51:39.

His most recent visit to Belgium was at the beginning of June when he

:51:40.:51:43.

attended the British and Irish commemorative service to mark the

:51:44.:51:51.

Centenary of a battle at the Ireland peace Park.

:51:52.:52:01.

It is worth noting that there are over 15,000 Canadian casualties at

:52:02.:52:09.

Passchendaele and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recently

:52:10.:52:12.

conducted a tour of Canada. That was in October of last year. The Duke of

:52:13.:52:28.

Cambridge is having a chat with the Mayor of Zonnebeke.

:52:29.:52:56.

There has been meticulous organisation, of course, that goes

:52:57.:53:02.

into making sure that for these three major events people arrived,

:53:03.:53:07.

people leave, and the person in charge is Lieutenant Colonel David

:53:08.:53:12.

Hann of the Irish guys, part of the Queen's has division and it has been

:53:13.:53:17.

his job, and it is no small job, to make sure that everybody gets to

:53:18.:53:21.

where they are meant to be. I will wait with you and find out who is

:53:22.:53:29.

going to be in this car. The welcoming party is made up of Karen

:53:30.:53:37.

Bradley, the UK Secretary of State for Culture and I was chatting

:53:38.:53:40.

earlier to Sir Tim Laurence, the vice-chairman of the Commonwealth

:53:41.:53:45.

War Graves Commission. He is part of the welcoming committee for this

:53:46.:53:57.

morning's VIPs. And indeed Theresa May is now with us. She is the MP

:53:58.:54:09.

for Maidenhead and has been since 1987. That is significant because

:54:10.:54:13.

the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is headquartered in her

:54:14.:54:16.

constituency. She visited their offices in June of last year. She

:54:17.:54:22.

said, the commission does vital work in ensuring that our fallen soldiers

:54:23.:54:27.

are never forgotten and that respect is shown to all those who died in

:54:28.:54:31.

the world wars. She will see first hand this morning the work that the

:54:32.:54:41.

commission does. That is at Tyne Cot Cemetery.

:54:42.:55:17.

And we believe now that given the flag on the car, this is the German

:55:18.:55:22.

Foreign Minister. He has served as Vice Chancellor of

:55:23.:55:40.

Germany since 2013. His current position is as foreign minister

:55:41.:55:42.

since January of this year. And so the Duke and Duchess, it

:55:43.:56:18.

looks like they have decided to become part of the welcoming

:56:19.:56:22.

committee, which will be a lovely surprise for anybody who gets out of

:56:23.:56:28.

their car this morning. The Duchess is no stranger to commemorative

:56:29.:56:32.

events such as these. She accompanied the Duke and the King

:56:33.:56:35.

and Queen of the Belgians to a series of events in 2014 and that

:56:36.:56:39.

would seem a very good reason as to why they are waiting outside. They

:56:40.:56:44.

will welcome the King and Queen of the Belgians to Tyne Cot Cemetery

:56:45.:56:48.

when they arrived in just a moment or so.

:56:49.:57:08.

And of course we see the arrival of the Prince of Wales who will be

:57:09.:57:32.

joining their Royal Highness is to welcome the king and the Queen of

:57:33.:57:36.

the Belgians. In so many ways for so many of the dignitaries and VIPs who

:57:37.:57:43.

are taking part in the ceremony, there are highly personal

:57:44.:57:46.

connections to Passchendaele and to the First World War. The Prince of

:57:47.:57:52.

Wales' great grandfather, George V, was involved in the design of this

:57:53.:58:02.

very Cemetery. It was George V who ordered the Cross of Sacrifice be

:58:03.:58:05.

built on top of a captured German pillbox. You will see in some of the

:58:06.:58:11.

wide shots that we show you this morning that that is the highest

:58:12.:58:13.

point of Tyne Cot Cemetery. And just beyond them, the Belgian

:58:14.:58:56.

guard of honour will be lining the route in preparation for the arrival

:58:57.:58:57.

of their king and Queen. And so the Royal Highness is welcome

:58:58.:00:07.

the King and Queen of the Belgians to Tyne Cot Cemetery, King Philippe

:00:08.:00:15.

and Queen Mathilde. King Philippe was commander-in-chief of the

:00:16.:00:19.

Belgian army, and after leaving school, he attended their Royal

:00:20.:00:21.

Military Academy and joined the Belgian air force.

:00:22.:00:49.

And the Queen of the Belgians' grandfather was a Sergeant in the

:00:50.:00:55.

eighth Regiment of the Belgian army. And the King's great-grandfather,

:00:56.:01:18.

King Albert I, he was nicknamed the King soldier, he took command of the

:01:19.:01:23.

Belgian army in the field. He led them to victory against German

:01:24.:01:25.

forces. The Prince of Wales, no doubt,

:01:26.:01:42.

enjoying the music of the Welsh Guards, a key part of today's

:01:43.:01:46.

ceremony, in terms of the music they are making, and the Prince of Wales

:01:47.:01:52.

is Colonel of the Welsh Guards, a position he took up in March of

:01:53.:01:53.

1975. Now, there were 15,600 Canadian

:01:54.:02:29.

casualties at Passchendaele, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, they

:02:30.:02:35.

recently conducted a tour of Canada, highlights included meeting Justin

:02:36.:02:38.

Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, and hosting an event for

:02:39.:02:43.

members of the Canadian military at Government House.

:02:44.:03:14.

The Prince of Wales, of course, not in regimental dress today, as this

:03:15.:03:20.

is a commemorative ceremony, but he has a very special relationship with

:03:21.:03:28.

the military, 12 UK regiments in particular and ten across the

:03:29.:03:33.

Commonwealth. This includes being Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute

:03:34.:03:36.

Regiment, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Gurkha Rifles,

:03:37.:03:39.

Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, and the Royal Colonel of the

:03:40.:03:44.

Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh and of Scotland. -- the Royal

:03:45.:03:47.

Regiment of Scotland. So very shortly the ceremony will

:03:48.:04:11.

begin and it will include first person testimony read by individuals

:04:12.:04:16.

who all have links through their family to the Battle of

:04:17.:04:18.

Passchendaele, which began in 100 years ago today.

:04:19.:04:48.

And some of the choral music that we will enjoy today will be the

:04:49.:04:55.

National Youth Choir of Scotland, conducted by Colonel Roberts of the

:04:56.:04:59.

Welsh Guards, overseeing all of the splendid music that we are enjoying

:05:00.:05:04.

today. And their voices will mark the beginning of this very special

:05:05.:05:06.

commemoration. # In Flanders fields

:05:07.:05:44.

the poppies blow # Between the crosses,

:05:45.:05:51.

row on row # That mark our place,

:05:52.:05:57.

and in the sky # The larks still

:05:58.:06:04.

bravely singing fly # Scarce heard amid

:06:05.:06:12.

the guns below. # Private Edward Michael Batten

:06:13.:06:32.

of the D Company, 13th Platoon, 45th Battalion,

:06:33.:06:38.

Australian Infantry. Killed in action on the 12th

:06:39.:06:44.

of October 1917, aged 40. Second Lieutenant

:06:45.:06:59.

Frederick Falkiner MC, 17th Service Battalion

:07:00.:07:05.

of the Royal Irish Rifles. Killed in action

:07:06.:07:11.

flying over enemy lines near Ypres

:07:12.:07:14.

on the 21st of August 1917. Private James Munro,

:07:15.:07:24.

1st South African Infantry Regiment. Killed in action on

:07:25.:07:32.

the 20th of September 1917. His commanding officer wrote home,

:07:33.:07:38.

"Your son was a general favourite, and we shall all miss

:07:39.:07:41.

his cheerful personality." Killed in action

:07:42.:07:50.

on the 24th of August 1917. His son, my grandfather,

:07:51.:08:05.

was only three years old. My great-great-uncle

:08:06.:08:14.

Private Walter Stevenson of the 4th Battalion

:08:15.:08:17.

Grenadier Guards. Killed in action on

:08:18.:08:20.

the 29th of July 1916. Private Dafydd Griffith

:08:21.:08:30.

of the 7th Battalion the King's Shropshire

:08:31.:08:36.

Light Infantry. Killed in action on the 26th

:08:37.:08:38.

of September 1917. His younger brother was killed

:08:39.:08:43.

three months later. My great-great-uncle and namesake?,

:08:44.:08:50.

Sergeant William Rhodes, Cheshire Regiment, awarded

:08:51.:08:54.

the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Killed in action on

:08:55.:08:58.

the 31st of July 1917. 100 years ago today, the Third

:08:59.:10:04.

Battle of Ypres began. At ten to four in the morning, less than five

:10:05.:10:11.

miles from here, thousands of men, drawn from across Britain, France

:10:12.:10:14.

and the Commonwealth, attacked German lines. The battle we know

:10:15.:10:20.

today as Passchendaele would last for over 100 days. We remember it's

:10:21.:10:31.

not only for the rain that fell, the mud that weighed down the living and

:10:32.:10:34.

swallowed the dead, but also for the courage and bravery of the men who

:10:35.:10:42.

fought here. The advance was slow, and every inch was hard-fought. The

:10:43.:10:49.

land we stand upon was taken two months into the battle by the third

:10:50.:10:57.

Australian Division. It would change hands twice again before the end of

:10:58.:11:10.

the war. In 1922, my great-grandfather, King George

:11:11.:11:14.

Polona Hercog, came here as part of a pilgrimage to honour all those who

:11:15.:11:17.

died in the First World War. -- King George V. Whilst visiting Tyne Cot,

:11:18.:11:24.

he stood before the pillbox that this Cross of Sacrifice has been

:11:25.:11:30.

built upon, a former German stronghold that had dominated the

:11:31.:11:41.

ridge. Once taken by the Allies, the pillbox became a forward aid opposed

:11:42.:11:47.

to treat the wounded. Those who could not be saved were buried by

:11:48.:11:52.

their brothers in arms in makeshift graves. These became the headstones

:11:53.:12:02.

that are before us today. After the end of the war, almost 12,000 graves

:12:03.:12:11.

of British and Commonwealth soldiers were brought here from surrounding

:12:12.:12:20.

battlefields. Today, a further 34,000 men who could not be

:12:21.:12:24.

identified or whose bodies were never found have their names

:12:25.:12:32.

inscribed on the memorial. Thinking of these men, my great-grandfather

:12:33.:12:41.

remarked, I have many times asked myself whether there can be more

:12:42.:12:46.

potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to come than this

:12:47.:12:55.

massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war. In 1920,

:12:56.:13:03.

war reporter Philip Gibbs, who had himself witnessed this, wrote that

:13:04.:13:10.

nothing that has been written is more than a pale image of the

:13:11.:13:16.

abomination of those battlefields, and that no pen or brush has yet

:13:17.:13:21.

achieved a picture of that Armageddon in which so many of our

:13:22.:13:28.

men perished. Drawn from many nations, we come together in their

:13:29.:13:35.

resting place, cared for with such dedication by the Commonwealth War

:13:36.:13:40.

Graves Commission, to commemorate their sacrifice, and to promise that

:13:41.:13:54.

we will never forget. KIRSTY: The Welsh poet was killed on

:13:55.:14:01.

the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele.

:14:02.:14:03.

We will now hear Rhodri Jones sing a tribute to him.

:14:04.:14:20.

# Y bardd trwm dan bridd tramor - y dwylo

:14:21.:15:08.

# Wedi ei fyw y mae dy fywyd - dy rawd

:15:09.:15:44.

# Tyner yw'r lleuad heno - tros fawnog Trawsfynydd yn dringo

:15:45.:16:23.

# Trawsfynydd tros ei feini - trafaeliaist

:16:24.:16:51.

A tribute in song to the Welsh poet Hedd Wyn, who is buried

:16:52.:18:23.

at Artillery Wood Cemetery alongside the Irish poet, Lance Corporal

:18:24.:18:27.

Francis Edward Ledwidge of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

:18:28.:18:33.

Ledwidge was an Irish nationalist who enlisted

:18:34.:18:36.

Both poets were killed in action, one hundred years ago today.

:18:37.:18:47.

A Soldier's Grave by Francis Ledwidge.

:18:48.:18:52.

Then in the lull of midnight, gentle arms

:18:53.:18:57.

Lifted him slowly down the slopes of death

:18:58.:19:00.

Lest he should hear again the mad alarms

:19:01.:19:03.

Of battle, dying moans, and painful breath.

:19:04.:19:10.

And where the earth was soft for flowers we made

:19:11.:19:14.

A grave for him that he might better rest.

:19:15.:19:18.

So, Spring shall come and leave it sweet arrayed,

:19:19.:19:22.

And there the lark shall turn her dewy nest.

:19:23.:19:36.

Sergeant Walter Hubert Downing, 57th Battalion Australian Imperial Force.

:19:37.:19:42.

Men fell silent, or spoke casually, or made surly jests,

:19:43.:19:45.

Occasionally we stirred to brush the dirt from our necks

:19:46.:19:56.

Dry, heavy clods of earth flew on the air.

:19:57.:20:05.

Shells roared and moaned incessantly across the floor of heaven.

:20:06.:20:08.

Private C Miles, 10th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.

:20:09.:20:18.

The moment you set off you felt that dreadful suction.

:20:19.:20:22.

It was forever pulling you down, and you could hear the sound

:20:23.:20:25.

of your feet coming out in a kind of sucking "plop" that seemed

:20:26.:20:28.

much louder at night when you were on your own.

:20:29.:20:33.

In a way, it was worse when the mud didn't suck you down,

:20:34.:20:36.

when it yielded under your feet you knew that it was a body

:20:37.:20:39.

Private Leonard Hart, 2nd Battalion Otago Regiment.

:20:40.:20:54.

Dear Mother, Father and Connie, in a postcard which I sent

:20:55.:20:57.

you about a fortnight ago, I mentioned that we were on the eve

:20:58.:21:01.

of a great event, and that I had no time to write you a long letter.

:21:02.:21:06.

Well, that great event is over now, and by some strange act of fortune

:21:07.:21:11.

I have once again come through without a scratch.

:21:12.:21:16.

The great event mentioned consisted of a desperate attack

:21:17.:21:18.

by our Division against a ridge, strongly fortified and strongly

:21:19.:21:22.

For the first time in our brief history as an army

:21:23.:21:28.

the New Zealanders failed in their objective

:21:29.:21:31.

with the most appalling slaughter I have ever seen.

:21:32.:21:35.

My Company went into action 180 strong and we came out 32 strong.

:21:36.:21:42.

Still, we have nothing to be ashamed of as our commander afterwards told

:21:43.:21:46.

us that no troops in the world could possibly have taken

:21:47.:21:50.

the position, but this is small comfort when one remembers

:21:51.:21:55.

the hundreds of lives that have been lost and nothing gained.

:21:56.:22:01.

Sister Jean Calder, Casualty Clearing Station at Remy Siding.

:22:02.:22:12.

We'd had boys coming in all week, of course, and we'd been busy

:22:13.:22:16.

but the ones we got at the weekend were in a shocking state

:22:17.:22:20.

because so many of them had been lying out in the mud before

:22:21.:22:23.

they could be picked up by the first-aid orderlies.

:22:24.:22:26.

They didn't look like clothes at all.

:22:27.:22:31.

We had to cut them off and do what we could.

:22:32.:22:34.

In a civilian hospital, even an army hospital,

:22:35.:22:39.

the man had a home quite near and relations possibly,

:22:40.:22:42.

but the wounded man on the battlefield is miles away

:22:43.:22:45.

He's in pain and he's amongst strangers, and I think that was why

:22:46.:22:54.

sympathy went out from one to the other.

:22:55.:23:10.

MUSIC: "Lux Aeterna" by Edward Elgar

:23:11.:23:15.

Private Bert Fearns, 2/6th Lancashire Fusiliers,

:23:16.:26:29.

describing an attack in October 1917 on the land we are

:26:30.:26:32.

Mr Kay came up and said, "Come on, lads, it's our turn," and we just

:26:33.:26:37.

walked round the corner of the pillbox and up the hill.

:26:38.:26:41.

The Germans didn't have much to fear from me that morning.

:26:42.:26:43.

There was no fire in my belly - no nothing.

:26:44.:26:48.

I staggered up the hill and then dropped over a slope

:26:49.:26:50.

It was here that I froze and became very frightened because a big shell

:26:51.:26:57.

had just burst and blown a group of our lads to bits.

:26:58.:27:00.

There were bits of men all over the place, a terrible sight,

:27:01.:27:02.

It was still and misty, and I could taste their blood in the air.

:27:03.:27:12.

Then an officer came across and shouted we were too far

:27:13.:27:20.

left and must go half right, I would have probably been dead

:27:21.:27:23.

These men had just been killed, and we just had to wade

:27:24.:27:28.

That's one thing I'll never forget, what I saw and what I smelt.

:27:29.:27:44.

Private F Hodgson, 11th Canadian Field Ambulance,

:27:45.:27:46.

The doctor and his helpers were in one, and we stretcher

:27:47.:27:57.

bearers were in another about a hundred feet away.

:27:58.:28:00.

We put the stretcher-case in a depression in the ground.

:28:01.:28:03.

He was very frightened, the wounded boy.

:28:04.:28:06.

He said to me, "Am I going to die, mate?"

:28:07.:28:09.

I said, "Don't be stupid, fella, you're going to be all right."

:28:10.:28:13.

"As soon as Heinie stops this shelling, we'll

:28:14.:28:16.

have you out of here, and they'll fix you up OK."

:28:17.:28:19.

"You'll be back across the ocean before you know it."

:28:20.:28:21.

The shelling eased off, and we picked him up

:28:22.:28:24.

He died before we got to the dressing-station.

:28:25.:28:29.

On the way back we passed the remains of our number one squad.

:28:30.:28:34.

There were nothing but limbs all over the place.

:28:35.:28:38.

We lost ten of our stretcher-bearers that day.

:28:39.:28:42.

# In Flanders fields the poppies blow

:28:43.:29:04.

# Between the crosses, row on row

:29:05.:29:10.

# That mark our place: and in the sky

:29:11.:29:16.

# The larks still bravely singing fly

:29:17.:29:27.

# Scarce heard amid the guns below. #

:29:28.:29:47.

My great-uncle, Rifleman Harold Emmens, Rifle Brigade.

:29:48.:29:53.

Missing in action on the 8th of September 1917.

:29:54.:30:08.

Second Lieutenant Alexander Currie Goudie

:30:09.:30:11.

of the 9th Service Battalion Scottish Rifles.

:30:12.:30:13.

He joined the Scottish Horse in 1914, before transferring

:30:14.:30:17.

Missing in action on the 20th of September 1917.

:30:18.:30:28.

Private Hugh Dalzell of the Royal Irish Fusiliers.

:30:29.:30:32.

Identified by a photograph he was carrying of his mother.

:30:33.:30:38.

Missing in action on the 16th of August 1917, aged 20.

:30:39.:30:49.

Private Albert James Ford, C Company, 14th Service Battalion,

:30:50.:30:52.

the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, husband to Edith and father to six.

:30:53.:30:59.

In a last letter to his wife he wrote,

:31:00.:31:01.

"Know that my last thoughts were of you,

:31:02.:31:04.

in the dugout or on the firestep, my thoughts went out to you,

:31:05.:31:09.

the only one I ever loved, the one that made a man of me."

:31:10.:31:13.

Killed in action on the 26th of October 1917.

:31:14.:31:30.

X Corps Cyclist Battalion, Army Cyclist Corps.

:31:31.:31:36.

Dear friend, I am addressing you as friend

:31:37.:31:46.

as any friend of my boys is my friend.

:31:47.:31:48.

I thank you for sending us word of how our dear Ernest died.

:31:49.:31:51.

It is dreadful, though, to lose our dear boy in this way.

:31:52.:31:55.

We would not believe it till we had the letter from someone who saw him.

:31:56.:32:00.

Did you see my boy after he died, could you tell us how he was?

:32:01.:32:06.

I should like to know what time of the day or night

:32:07.:32:09.

I am sure we are all the while thinking of you dear lads,

:32:10.:32:17.

hoping and praying for you to be kept safe, and then when

:32:18.:32:21.

these awful tidings are sent us, it shakes our faith.

:32:22.:32:28.

But then again when we get calm we know

:32:29.:32:30.

that God is still in his heaven and he orders all things for the best.

:32:31.:32:36.

I sent Ernie a parcel off on 21st August.

:32:37.:32:38.

will you share what is good between you and his friends.

:32:39.:32:45.

I shall never forget you and hope you will write often to me.

:32:46.:32:50.

Letter from an unknown German officer, September 1917.

:32:51.:33:14.

Dear Mother, on the morning of the 18th, the dug-out,

:33:15.:33:18.

containing 17 men, was shot to pieces over our heads.

:33:19.:33:21.

I am the only one who withstood the maddening bombardment

:33:22.:33:24.

You cannot imagine the frightful mental torments

:33:25.:33:30.

I have undergone in those few hours.

:33:31.:33:34.

After crawling out through the bleeding remnants of my comrades

:33:35.:33:38.

and the smoke and debris, and wandering and fleeing

:33:39.:33:41.

in the midst of the raging artillery fire in search of refuge,

:33:42.:33:45.

I am now awaiting death at any moment.

:33:46.:33:49.

Flanders means blood and scraps of human bodies.

:33:50.:33:57.

Flanders means heroic courage and faithfulness unto death.

:33:58.:34:02.

KIRSTY: And now the German Foreign Minister will be joined by the Queen

:34:03.:34:34.

of the Belgians and the Duchess of Cambridge, and they are going to

:34:35.:34:38.

collect posies from three local children. They are children that

:34:39.:34:43.

live locally in the community, the municipality of Zonnebeke.

:34:44.:36:13.

# The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended

:36:14.:36:20.

# Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

:36:21.:36:48.

# We thank thee that thy church unsleeping

:36:49.:36:54.

# While earth rolls onward into light

:36:55.:37:03.

# Through all the world her watch is keeping

:37:04.:37:13.

# The voice of prayer is never silent

:37:14.:37:44.

# The sun that bids us rest is waking

:37:45.:38:02.

# Our brethren 'neath the western sky

:38:03.:38:11.

# And hour by hour fresh lips are making

:38:12.:38:18.

# So be it, Lord, thy throne shall never

:38:19.:38:36.

# Like earth's proud empires, pass away

:38:37.:38:44.

# Thy kingdom stands and grows for ever

:38:45.:38:52.

# Till all thy creatures own thy sway. #

:38:53.:39:18.

Faithful God, compassionate and merciful,

:39:19.:39:27.

Hear us as we remember those valiant hearts

:39:28.:39:29.

and died here in the mire and clay of the trenches.

:39:30.:39:34.

We honour the examples of selfless service,

:39:35.:39:37.

of comradeship and care, that shine out of the loss and waste.

:39:38.:39:44.

We remember the proud and sorrowing lands from which they came,

:39:45.:39:49.

those who returned wounded in mind and body,

:39:50.:39:54.

and all here who suffered the loss of home and community.

:39:55.:40:05.

Guide the nations, united today in sorrow,

:40:06.:40:08.

into the light of freedom, contentment and glorious hope,

:40:09.:40:14.

and hear the longing of our hearts for peace.

:40:15.:40:20.

We ask this for the sake of your world

:40:21.:40:23.

KIRSTY: And we will now hear from the British Prime Minister, Theresa

:40:24.:40:46.

May, she is going to be reading from Ecclesiastes, and you can listen out

:40:47.:40:52.

for the phrase, their name liveth for evermore, carved on the Stone of

:40:53.:40:54.

Remembrance here at Tyne Cot. All these were honoured

:40:55.:41:04.

in their generations, There be of them, that have left

:41:05.:41:07.

a name behind them, that their praises might

:41:08.:41:12.

be reported. And some there be,

:41:13.:41:15.

which have no memorial, who are perished,

:41:16.:41:18.

as though they had never been, and are become as though

:41:19.:41:23.

they had never been born, whose righteousness hath

:41:24.:41:27.

not been forgotten. With their seed shall continually

:41:28.:41:37.

remain a good inheritance, and their children are

:41:38.:41:41.

within the covenant. Their seed standeth fast,

:41:42.:41:46.

and their children for their sakes. and their glory shall

:41:47.:41:53.

not be blotted out. Their bodies are buried in peace,

:41:54.:42:01.

but their name liveth for evermore. They shall grow not old,

:42:02.:42:21.

as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them,

:42:22.:42:39.

nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun,

:42:40.:42:45.

and in the morning Private Robert Stokoe,

:42:46.:42:48.

Private Edward Wright and Private Peter Hulland of

:42:49.:46:57.

the East Lancashire Regiment. Killed in action on

:46:58.:47:03.

the 27th of November 1917, Private William Dominey,

:47:04.:47:09.

21st Battalion Canadian Infantry. Killed in action on 3rd or 4th

:47:10.:47:26.

of November 1917, aged 18. My great-grandfather,

:47:27.:47:39.

Private Albert James Goff agricultural labourer

:47:40.:47:43.

and father of eight. Killed in action on the 26th

:47:44.:47:50.

of October 1917, aged 38. Private Henry Morris,

:47:51.:47:58.

2nd Battalion Aukland Regiment, Killed in action

:47:59.:48:05.

on the 4th of October 1917. A tribute to him read,

:48:06.:48:14.

"In a hero's grave he sleepeth." "How little we thought when we

:48:15.:48:18.

parted, it was the last farewell." of the Duke of Wellington's

:48:19.:48:25.

West Riding Regiment. Throughout my childhood

:48:26.:48:33.

I was intrigued by his portrait A soldier of the Great War,

:48:34.:48:38.

known unto God. And so as part of the laying of the

:48:39.:56:47.

reads this morning we saw the combatant nations taking part, their

:56:48.:56:53.

representatives, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany,

:56:54.:56:56.

Ireland, Malta, New Zealand and South Africa. In a few moments' time

:56:57.:57:05.

we will be witnessing a fly past by the Belgian air component. We will

:57:06.:57:11.

see four F-16 planes and they will be flying approximately 1500 feet

:57:12.:57:18.

above Tyne Cot Cemetery in Flanders. They will be flying in the missing

:57:19.:57:23.

man formation, a classic aircraft manoeuvre, and it is used to honour

:57:24.:57:28.

the dead or the missing. Take note as one aircraft breaks away from the

:57:29.:57:33.

rest of the formation, leaving one single gap.

:57:34.:58:08.

And well they might look up. Clear skies today above Tyne Cot Cemetery,

:58:09.:58:19.

to enjoy that moment. Four F-16s from the Belgian air component.

:58:20.:58:34.

All of the splendid music we have enjoyed today has been under the

:58:35.:58:41.

charge of the conductor, Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Roberts. He has

:58:42.:58:46.

single-handedly overseen four different groups of musicians

:58:47.:58:48.

participating in this commemorative ceremony. And the buglers that we

:58:49.:59:00.

saw and heard performing the Last Post were led by Bugler John Sumner

:59:01.:59:08.

and Bugler John Challis was played under his charge, and Mike Thomas.

:59:09.:59:27.

And so we see Prince Philip along with the King of the Belgians, I beg

:59:28.:59:35.

your pardon, Prince Charles along with the King of the Belgians, King

:59:36.:59:42.

Philippe. And Queen Mathilde along with the Duchess of Cambridge, her

:59:43.:59:45.

husband behind. And so as the royal guests depart

:59:46.:00:00.

from Tyne Cot that brings to an end to the official commemorations here

:00:01.:00:06.

in Belgium. The battle 100 years ago on the fields of Flanders left

:00:07.:00:09.

behind the shattered, broken landscape and in its wake of a

:00:10.:00:14.

million men killed or wounded. Passchendaele touched the lives of

:00:15.:00:18.

so many families from all corners of the earth. They lost fathers,

:00:19.:00:20.

brothers, Experience the power

:00:21.:01:43.

of the BBC Proms. # Oh, lullaby of Birdland,

:01:44.:01:46.

that's what I... # to jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald

:01:47.:01:52.

and Dizzy Gillespie,

:01:53.:01:57.

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