13/07/2017 House of Commons

gave their lives a century ago for the freedom they enjoy, will have

the decency to do so quietly. We now come to the general debate on

the commemoration of Passchendaele, the third battle of Ypres. Just

before I call the Minister to introduce the debate, I would most

unusually like to welcome to the Palace of Westminster the two police

officers who apprehended the murderer of our late colleague Jo

Cox. Craig Nicholls and Jonathan Wright are here with us and we would

like to welcome them and commend them for their bravery.

And it is fitting that we should do so as we are about to have a debate

commemorating those who gave their lives for freedom and democracy.

Minister Mr John Brennan. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. And I would

like to reiterate your words of welcome to Mr Nichols and Mr Wright,

and I'm sure the whole house are very pleased they are with us today.

I beg to move that this house has considered the commemoration of

Passchendaele, the third battle of Ypres. The commemoration of

Passchendaele is just one of the National events in our First World

War centenary programme as announced by the previous Prime Minister in

2012. This four year programme has seen us deliver national events to

mark the centenary of Britain's entry to war on the 4th of August,

1914. With the service for the Commonwealth at Glasgow Cathedral

and at Westminster Abbey, and in April 2015 we marked the Gallipoli

campaign in Turkey and at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

Can I also congratulate the two police officers for their bravery?

Does the Minister have any plans to come -- any other plans to

commemorate battles? That is something I will consider but no

immediate plans. Last year and made the we commemorated the famous

Battle of Jutland with events in Orkney and one month later on July

one. We remembered the Battle of the Somme with national events in

France, London and Manchester. Overnight vigils were held at

Westminster Abbey and in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and replicated

in local communities across the UK. Before I go on, I would like to

acknowledge the huge support of my honourable friend the member for

South West Wiltshire, who has shaped and steered the centenary programme.

He is a hugely valued colleague and my Parliamentary Labour. It is also

an opportunity for me to congratulate him on his appointment,

his election to the chairmanship of the Northern Ireland Select

Committee. If he brings the integrity, wisdom and hard work to

the role he has had on this project, the House will be very well served.

In addition, you would like to thank the members of the Secretary of

State's First World War centenary advisory group and provided vital

advice and guided my department through the programme every step of

the way. I was tempted to name all of them, but there are too many, but

I would like to put on record the gratitude of the Government for

their work. In just over two weeks' time, we will deliver our next

commemorative of end. Officially known as the third Battle of Ypres,

Passchendaele is one of the most famous battles of the First World

War. I will certainly give way. I'm very grateful to the Minister

and I would also add my commendation to the actions of the police

officers here. The South Wales Regiment had heroism at

Passchendaele and had members of my constituency. But also, those

soldiers were also lost in the days leading up to the battle. The second

battalion Monmouthshire Regiment moved up to the forward line on the

29th in preparation for battle on the 31st. As we appropriately

remember those who gave so much in the battle, we also remember those

whose lives were lost perhaps through injuries in the days before

as well. I'm grateful to the honourable

gentleman for that contribution and with his customary eloquence, he

makes a very wise point and it would be accurate in the sense that and it

would be echoed in the sentiments across the House. The battle was not

only famous, infamous, for the terrible conditions, but also for

the scale of the losses. In the region of 250,000 Allied soldiers

and around the same number of German soldiers, a total of at least half a

million men on both sides, were wounded, killed or missing. Quite

frankly, and believable numbers. -- unbelievable. Between July 31 and

November the tenth 1917, this battle saw the British Army attempts to

break out of the notorious Ypres assailant and troops from across

Britain and Ireland took part, along with significant numbers from

today's Commonwealth, particularly from Australia, Canada, New Zealand

and South Africa. Allied air losses played an important role, providing

vital reconnaissance. Sorry, Allied air forces played an important role,

providing vital reconnaissance for the ground forces and fighting

deadly dogfights with their German counterparts in the skies above the

trenches. The battle was conceived in part as a means of influencing

the struggle against German submarines and the Royal Naval

division fought on the battlefields of Passchendaele alongside other

soldiers. Many others contributed during the battle and in the

fighting around Ypres during the conflict, including service men from

India and the West Indies, labourers from China and of course the nurses

and medical staff who worked behind the lines to treat the wounded. For

all those who fought in that small corner of Flanders in the late

summer and autumn of 1917, including in the Belgian French and German

armies, it would prove to be one of the most gruelling experiences of

the conflict. Much of the First World War's most enduring

photography, poetry and art work was inspired by the desolate landscape

which became a featureless quagmire over the course of the battle. After

periods of intense rain, the Mont became so bad that men and animals

could be swallowed up in the swamp. Images such as the photography of

Frank Hurley or the evocative paintings of Paul Nash are a

harrowing reflection of the utter devastation. Many families, villages

and towns were touched by the fighting. In Wales, the battle is

remembered partly for the loss of the renowned poet Ellis Evans,

better known by his bardic name, who died on the opening day of the

battle. May I first of all apologise to the ministers pushed up a will

have to be briefly absent for part of the debate, but I will at the

earliest opportunity. In light of what he said about photographs and

knowing props are not always welcome in the chamber, can I showbiz of

photographs that shows Passchendaele village in June 1917 and in December

1917 -- can I show these photographs. From a distance, you

can see how entirely the landscape was obliterated by the bombardment.

I thank my right honourable friend for his very personal intervention.

I think the House will welcome that. Order! The Minister is right, the

House will welcome the honourable gentleman's illustration, but the

House will note that is a good reason why we do not use props. In

this exceptional circumstance, I have not stopped the honourable

gentleman because I know that he has shown the book with the very best of

intentions. I am not quite sure how Hansard will record a picture! But

the Minister is right to note the honourable gentleman's point.

Minister. Speaker. That day also saw the death of the Irish poet France's

lead which. And it is important to remember that many of those who

fought at Passchendaele were conscripts and this was a war that

had already led to huge changes around these islands. Women were

already playing a vital role in the war effort, particularly in the

production of munitions for the artillery, which was so critical to

the outcome of the fighting. And for many of us, Passchendaele has

epitomised the horrors of trench warfare on the Western front.

Does my honourable friend... He knows I am about to say recall that

I presented to the city of Salisbury through him and the Wiltshire

Regiment a bugle that was used by the first Regiment of the Wiltshire

Regiment. And it was I understand now in the museum as a recognition

and a memory of those people who fought in that wonderful battle.

I am very grateful to my honourable friend for reminding me and the

House of that kind gift. And I think it represents a platter of gifts and

memories that many members of this House and many constituents have

enough families concerning the First World War and the Second World War,

and it is really important that we put those exhibits outbursts of the

next generation can fully grasp what actually happened during this period

of our history. I rise because of the description of

this is a wonderful battle. To many of the people who were there,

including my father, this was a terrible, terrible tragedy as a

result of the misjudgement by the generals and others. We cannot look

at this without remembering that many of those who lost their lives,

they did not give their lives, they were told if they went there, they

would stop the homes. They went that as a result of persuasion and

propaganda -- three. To learn the proper lessons of warfare, we must

remember that, and the immense wasteful loss of human life. Well,

I'm grateful for the Underhill -- honourable gentleman's contribution

and every member will have a different emphasis and

interpretation of events and I hope the debate will give an opportunity

to reflect in our own way on how we would wish to record events 100

years ago. Let me now turn to national events. Three commemorative

events will be held in Belgium on July 30 and the 31st 2017 at iconic

locations where soldiers fought and died and died and they are

commemorated. On Sunday, July 30, we will begin with the traditional Last

Post ceremony in Ypres. This is one of the most iconic memorials. It was

an honour those who are in the First World War. And it bears the names of

more than 54,000 individuals who died there while serving with the

forces of Britain, Australia, Canada, India and South Africa. But

for whom there was no known grave. Designed by Sir Reginald Blom Gills,

it is a remarkable monument and a fitting place to start proceedings.

The Last Post ceremony has been held back every evening at 2,000 hrs

since the railing of the memorial in 1927. With the exception of the

period Second World War when the ceremony was held at Brookwood

military cemetery near Woking. It is organised by the Last Post

association and has been performed since origin. It will commemorate

the history with Belgium. A UK military band and the nationally

quiet of Scotland will perform. Reefs will be laid by

representatives of 20 Tri Nations who fought during the war. 200

invited guests will attend, as well as 200 descendants who were

successful in a public ballot and whose ancestors were named on the

many gate. After the Last Post ceremony, events will be how in

Marco Square Ypres to an estimated audience of around 6,000 members.

Here, we will creatively tell the story of the war in Ypres from 1914,

with a particular focus on the third battle of Ypres of 1917. So

projecting on the Cloth Hall, we will use a range of contemporary

digital projection techniques to bring history to life projections

which will enable the use of a broad of visual media from photographic

and film archive, to animation. These projections will be supported

by live readings of poetry and musical performance, including the

orchestra and choir. The event will add a distinctive, engaging and

contemporary element to the centenary programme which will help

to reach a wider and I hope younger audience which is a key objective of

the commemorations. So on Monday, July 31, exactly 100 years since the

battle began, a national commemorative event will be held at

the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Cemetery. And in terms

of burials, it is the largest cemetery in the world. The final

resting place of almost 12,000 Commonwealth servicemen of whom more

than 8300 remain unidentified. I will certainly give way.

I am grateful to my honourable friend. He has mentioned the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission site at Ypres and another now. Will

he join me in paying tribute to all of those not just in north-western

Europe but around the world who maintain our Commonwealth War Graves

sites with such dignity and so brilliantly maintain the memory of

those who died in the service of our country?

An extremely grateful to my honourable friend and I am about to

do that, but he has spoken quite rightly about the enormous

contribution they have made over the last 100 years.

So it is the final resting place of nearly 12,000 Commonwealth

servicemen, of whom are over 8000 remain unidentified and among them,

four German soldiers. At the heart of the cemetery is the blockhouse, a

formidable German fortification captured in the fighting and then

used as a medical post. After the war, remains were brought there from

around the surrounding battlefields, but most buried there were thought

to have died during the third battle of Ypres. When the gate was

constructed, its walls proved insufficient to bear the names of

all the missing of the Ypres salient Soviet memorial wall bears the names

of nearly 35,000 men who were killed after the 16th of August 19 17 and

whose names are not known that. Thank you for giving way. If he

troubled, as I am, by the inherent tension within the nation

commemoration, commemorative programme for the First World War,

between the need to remember the sacrifice of previous generations,

the desire to instil in current generations the need for patriotism

and potential sacrifice, but with the First World War the dreadful,

needless mass loss of all life, in a way that is perhaps different from

the Second World War? Well, I think that's a typically

thoughtful representation of the challenge in getting these

commemoration is right. I hope that the honourable gentleman will

recognise that a lot of thought and work has gone into trying to get

that balance right, and I hope when some of my colleagues, particularly

the member for South West Wiltshire, contributes later, will understand a

bit about how that has been balanced.

So I just want to reflect, as I said I would, on the sea WGC, who

commemorate the missing at the men in gate and is further 35,000 on the

wall at Tyne Cot. When the names another nearby memorials are added,

the number comes to some 100,000 soldiers who have no known grave.

Numbers, I think, that are unimaginable in modern-day warfare.

But following the ballot launched in January for free tickets, I'm

delighted that around 3900% and guests will attend the event at Tyne

Cot. The content and staging of the event will evoke, I hope, a strong

sense of place, making full use of the poignancy and historical

significance of the cemetery. There will be readings by military

personnel and descendants, musical performances by UK military bands,

acquire and solo performances and a formal act of remembrance. Readings

of soldiers' recollections, and I read some poetry will tell the story

of the third battle of Ypres, and the experiences of men who fought

there. Content will reflect the contribution of men from across the

UK and Ireland, as well as from the Commonwealth. In addition, from the

29th of July to the 31st of July, the Passchendaele centenary

exhibition will be held at Passchendaele Memorial Park. We have

been working with the memorial Museum of Passchendaele and will

include contributions from UK and Belgium museums. There will be art

and artefacts, exhibitions, living history groups and areas for

historical talks and musical performances in open and covered

areas. The Passchendaele museum will also have an exhibition called,

landscape of war, which will be open to visitors. At this point I would

like to thank and acknowledge the help and support that although local

organisations and local communities have given to us in and around Ypres

and Zonnebeke in the planning stages. Their support has been

invaluable and my thanks goes in particular to the mayors in

Zonnebeke. And visible from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,

which this year is celebrating its own centenary. This organisation is

one of our key partners and does outstanding work in ensuring that

1.7 million people who died in the two world wars will never be

forgotten. They care for cemeteries are memorials at 23,000 locations in

154 countries and territories around the globe, making sure that our war

dead are honoured with dignity. Recently the CWGC launched a new

scheme for interns who have been welcoming and guiding visitors at

major cemeteries and memorials, including at Tyn Cot this summer.

The military of defence, our key partners, contributing assets for

these events. And the BBC will be broadcasting the events on both

Sunday night and Monday. So our key themes across the entire First World

War centenary programme of remembrance, youth and education. In

terms of use and education, I'm really pleased the National youth

choir of Scotland will perform at all three commemorative events and

around 100 graduates of the National citizens service, aged 16-19, will

be part of the delivery team at the commemorations. The graduates have

undergone an educational programme about the First World War in

preparation... I would be happy to give way.

Thank you for giving way on what he has presented to the House. I

completely agree, if any right and fitting we should commemorate the

loss of life that Passchendaele. Woody answer the question about the

role of medical profession after Passchendaele and much of the trench

warfare of the First World War? Given the fact we are commemorating

those who lost their life, those who came home would have suffered, many

of them, from shellshocked and so many advances in psychology were

learned on the front line. Will it play any part in the commemoration

of those who survived? I think that in the way we remember

these events now, given the understanding we have now of many of

the impact of war psychologically, we will have those things in mind.

It is very, very difficult to go back and reinterpret events as they

were at the time and as they were experienced at the time. But I think

the honourable gentleman makes a very perceptive and worthwhile

point. I would like to add the Royal

British Legion's National Memorial in Staffordshire is holding a

special service on the 31st of July and will include a broadcast on

large screens of our national event taking place at the Tyne Cot

Cemetery. Members across the House are encouraged to attend this free

event if they can, and encourage their constituents to do so as well.

More Victoria crosses were won on the first day of the Battle of

Passchendaele than any other single day of the battle in the First World

War, and 61 VCs were awarded in the campaign as a whole. All 61

recipients will be honoured with a commemorative paving stone in the

town of their birth on the anniversary of the action for which

the Victoria Cross was awarded. The commemorative paving stone

initiative forms part of the centenary programme and in the case

of the men born overseas, their commemoratives paving stones have

been placed at the National Memorial argument. Passchendaele also a

medical officer received his second Victoria Cross. On the evening of

Passchendaele he was wounded but under heavy fire and in appalling

weather, he continued to search no no man's land to search for the

wounded. Whilst taking a rest is first aid post it was struck by a

shell. Although he had at least six injuries he managed to crawl away

and was picked up and taken to the clearing station where he died on

the 4th of August, 1917. We are also supporting Passchendaele at home, in

partnership with the big ideas company. They are over 400 graves in

the UK, very likely to belong to service men injured at the Battle of

Passchendaele, who died of their wounds afterwards. The project will

work with schools and communities across the country to identify

graves in their area and to find out more about the brave men who fought

at Passchendaele. So as you have heard, and I hope you agree, these

commemorative events, Madam Deputy Speaker, to mark the Battle of

Passchendaele, will be both educational and poignant and help us

to reflect on this terrible war and battle 100 years ago.

The question is this house has considered the Battle of

Passchendaele, the third Battle of Ypres.

Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker and can I thank the Minister for his

speech and take this opportunity to welcome him to his new post. And

also, may I add on behalf of Her Majesty's official opposition, their

gratitude and thanks, although they have left now, the two police

officers who helped apprehend the killer of Arbilla beloved late

colleague, Jo Cox, whose plaque is now here behind me and rightly

standing with all the plaques of honourable members who gave their

lives on behalf of the country in previous conflicts, including the

First World War. And across this house, we are immensely grateful for

the opportunity to commemorate Passchendaele, the third Battle of

Ypres, and the chance to speak of our military history, of Armed

Forces community and the sacrifices made and are still being made on our

behalf. I would like to take this opportunity also, on behalf of the

official opposition, to pay tribute to those who had served in our Armed

Forces and those who continue to serve in our Armed Forces. We are

all grateful for their courage, as they serve to keep us safe.

As we have heard, the Battle of Passchendaele stretched from July to

November 1917, as the Allied forces and the German Empire battled for

control of the ridges around Ypres on the Western front. It was the

first major British offensive on Ypres and the stalemate of the

Battle lasted for months, marked by battles within the battle.

Casualties on both sides, as we heard, difficult to calculate, but

well over half a million casualties when counted together, and yet the

village of Passchendaele itself was only five miles away from the

starting point of the Allied forces' action.

The battle, as we've heard, is notorious, not just for its number

of casualties but also for the conditions in which the battle was

fought. The first few days of the offensive were marked by the

heaviest rainfall in 30 years, turning the field into a quagmire

which trapped soldiers and horses and immobilised weaponry. A century

on, in the safety and grandeur of this place, it's difficult if not

impossible to imagine the mud, the blood and the horror and the sheer

scale of the losses of Passchendaele, but that is why it is

absolutely right that we do remember. 325,000 Allied casualties

is difficult to comprehend, as is their bravery, valour and sacrifice.

And in the minds of many, as we've heard, Passchendaele has come to

epitomise the senselessness, ultimately, of war. So these moments

of commemoration are important, and I'd like to join the minister in

thanking all of those involved, and including the Imperial War Museum,

the BBC, the Royal British Legion, the Commonwealth War Graves

Commission and all the other organisations, including those

mentioned by the Minister, who worked so hard to ensure that we do

not forget. Indeed, we are fortunate at the

moment to have an exhibition here in Westminster Hall, or in the Palace

of Westminster Hall, about Parliament and the First World War,

which I would encourage all honourable members to visit if they

haven't already done so. The scale of the Great War was such

that today most cities, towns and villages have a memorial which lists

the names of the local people who died while fighting for Britain in

that war. As a Welsh MP, Madam Deputy Speaker, you won't be

surprised that I would observe sacrifices made in the First World

War continue to resonate in Wales, despite the passage of 100 years.

The first significant losses of Welsh life came in October and

November of 1914. The Germans rushed for Belgian seaports but were

repelled by units of the Welsh Regiment and the South Wales

borderers, who suffered many casualties. But before the events of

that war, Passchendaele in particular, as the Minister made

reference to, is a part of Welsh cultural memory. Every village in

Wales was affected. 20,000 first language Welsh speaking soldiers

alone were killed in this battle. The soldiers of the Welsh Regiment,

the South Welsh borders on the Royal Welch Fusiliers all fought alongside

each other in the 38th division, and further, the Welsh Guards fought at

the third Battle of Ypres. That 38th division was devised by David Lord

George, who went on to become Prime Minister after it was devised and

whose statue frankly entrance to this chamber and who himself was a

first language Welsh speaker. In 1915 the division suffered very

heavy casualties on the Somme, but in 1917 it had come to be seen as an

elite division, particularly following the Battle of pilgrimage

at the beginning of the third Battle of Ypres. The cafe is not far from

Ypres has been dedicated by the owner to the many Welsh soldiers who

died in the area in 1917, and the red Dragon on a black background

worn by the 38th division is the inspiration for the shoulder flash

worn by the Royal Welsh today. I think that is a testament to the

significance, the cultural significance, of the 38th division.

It is for reasons like this public sacrifice are commemorated today and

in Wales in relation to Passchendaele. When contemplating

casualties on such a huge scale, we often turn to individual stories in

remembrance, as the Minister did in his remarks, and that is what I

would like to do in my speech. As he said, 100 years since Passchendaele

is also 100 years since the staff filed of the black chair. That is

the annual Welsh language cultural festival where people compete at

sinking, dancing and reciting poetry. Held every summer, the

sheer's in a couple of weeks, and I am pleased to say it will be a free

event held in the capital city of Cardiff where my constituency lies.

In 1916, some people called for that Eisteddfod to become salt. They did

not think it would be appropriate to spend time sinking while men were

fighting and dying on their behalf in the trenches -- to become

cancelled. David Lloyd George said, it is true that thousands of gallant

men falling in the fight, let's sing of their heroism, let's sing of our

land that gave birth to so many heroes. So in 1916, the Eisteddfod

went on. And the following year in 1917, as the Battle of Passchendaele

continued, the Eisteddfod was directly touched by the tragedy of

that battle. Evans, under a now famous pseudonym, was judged as the

winner of the chair, the highest honour of the Eisteddfod, granted to

the best poet writing in the traditional strict metre of the

Welsh language. However, when the winner's pseudonym was called in the

traditional dramatic ceremony of the Eisteddfod, nobody stood up. In the

audience, to reveal themselves as the triumphant poet. It was then

announced the winning barred had been killed in battle six weeks

prior. One of 4,000 men killed in a single morning when the Welsh Royal,

Royal Welsh usually is went over the top of Passchendaele. The poet has

become the subject of poems himself, history lessons in classrooms across

Wales and even the subject of an Oscar-nominated feature film. And

the poignant story captured the morning of a nation. So in a way, it

is doubly appropriate the front bench reads in this debate today,

the Department For Culture. In the greatest perils, it is poetry, songs

and the Arts that keep people going and miraculously, even though we

would not want this to happen, they turned the horrors of war into the

beauty of artistic inspiration. Of course, the war effort in the UK was

not only made up of the men who went to fight, there were surgeons and

nurses on the battlefields and at home, women became the backbone of

industry. And I would like to make mention of my own constituency in

1917, the Women's Land Army formed a 20,000 women and listed. Green farm

in Cardiff West is now a housing estate which was built to deliver

Homes for Heroes after the Great War. But as a farm, it was run

predominantly by female farm hands during the war and one of these

workers left domestic service to work on the farm. She said, every

morning, we would get up at five o'clock and milk 100 cows and we

would then take the milk to the hospital. So I am proud and I am

sure we are all proud of the efforts of those such as Agnes and so many

other women across the country, in her case, she is part of Cardiff

West's history, but I am proud and humbled by the sacrifices we still

see from our Armed Forces communities across the UK today. The

UK Armed Forces continue to protect us, Madam Deputy Speaker, involved

in over 30 operations in over 20 countries. Abroad, our forces work

in Afghanistan, in non-combat roles. They support the EU and the UN

peacekeeping missions in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, in Mali,

they are part of Nato's forces in Eastern Europe and they respond the

continued threat as we heard earlier today posed by Daesh. At home, they

support responses to terrorist incidents, protect aerospace and

they are supported by the entire Armed Forces community of families,

reservists, veterans and cadets. During this debate, to commemorate

the sacrifices made in Passchendaele, we should also

remember the sacrifices that have been made and are still being made

every year since then by the brave men and women of the UK Armed

Forces. The close, I turn to the words from a poem which means war. I

will read it in Welsh and then youngish translation.

The hearts to which we sang our hunger on willow boughs and their

refrain drowned by the anguish of the young whose blood is mingled

with the rain. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can

I begin by thanking the Minister for outlining the various commemorative

ceremonies that are to take place over the next two, three months to

commemorate the Battle of Passchendaele. And also, for the

spokesman for the opposition in talking about the wider impact of

the war that were also commemorating. It seems to me at

times that this commemoration is a bit like the First World War, in

that year by year, we remember another campaign, another battle. I

wanted to speak for a number of reasons. I am so old that I

interviewed dozens of First World War survivors in the 1970s for a

writing project. I publish two or three box. So I have a deep

connected memory of the First World War. Both my grandfather served in

the First World War, but I am also conscious of the fact that as a

member of the primers to's advisory panel that from the very beginning,

and this was a point and intervention by a colleague of the

Minister, about how would we get the balance right between commemoration

and not glorifying war, and how do we bring it to young people? Because

I have a personal connection. I can remember talking to survivors of

Passchendaele. But from my son aged 26, the battle of Passchendaele is

as far away from him as the Battle of Waterloo. Secondly, why are we

remembering Passchendaele? Is it just because we have got into the

habit of putting pox on our commemoration? In other words, it

was obvious in 2014, it was going to be the battle of mums. In 2015, we

did rather quiet through that. But there was of course glibly. Very

important, crucially, the Australians and New Zealanders. But

the great island -- irony is they played a far more important and

significant part as part of the British armies in Belgium and

France in 16, 17 and 18, now in 2017, we are largely, but not wholly

commemorating Passchendaele. And next year, we will end up

commemorating the great German offensives of spring. Which nearly

broke the Allied line. What was called the Hundred days, the more

mobile campaign, and the collapse of the Germans in October, November 90

18. And that is it, at the end of the First World War. But of course,

it wasn't. It wasn't because of the Minister pointed out, the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission celebrates this year its own to

worry. -- its centenary. The work of a remarkable man, Fabian Ware, too

old to serve on the front line unit in 1914, he served with an ambulance

unit, and he was then struck in 1914, 1915, by the extent of the

casualties and what was going to happen to them. And through the

adjutant general, the chief staff officer, one of the chief staff

officers in the British Army, he began to collect bodies together.

Some form of formalisation. And ultimately, in 1917, the Imperial

walk Graves Commission was established and its work began after

the Armistice in 1918. As the Minister pointed out, named after a

reference on a map, outside Passchendaele, it it became the

largest cemetery for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission

that they now look after. Nearly 50,000 men are commemorated there.

The majority of whom have no grave. So that brings me on to my next

point, that for younger people, it is the extent of the casualties of

Passchendaele. It is also associated, I suspect, in their mind

not only with poetry and literature, some of which we have heard, but

film and photographs. The great thing about First World War if there

is a great thing, we can actually see it. Cinematic film is more

difficult. But we have a raft of photographs, many of which were

taken on the front line. It was against the King's regulation. This

meant to take cameras onto the front line, most of them ignored that and

sent them back home. So we have a graphic display of that. But I find

that in explaining and talking about this with young people and children,

to try and get them to think about this, they say to me, another three

or four years and I would have been old enough to fought in it. How did

they endure that? What did the Government do to force them to fight

in the British Army's -- British armies in the First World War? It

comes as a surprise when you say there was no conscription until

1916, 90 17. The majority of the servicemen were volunteers.

Kitchener volunteers, or in the territorial Army. And whilst there

was a pretty dramatic and drastic military discipline code, and we

know that dozens of British servicemen were executed in the

First World War, some for cowardice, some for murder, what I am struck

goodbye talking all those years ago the veterans and reading their

diaries and their letters, many of them were appalled by the death of

their friends and the suffering. But they did it out of a combination of

that local interest, many of them serving with their friends based

upon volunteering to serve in Powells battalions or serving

alongside men from the same village or from the same streets. A

Victorian concept of duty. And of course, one of the most important

stimulants and determinants in battle, which will I was always told

teaching that sound Hirst by men who did this, small group loyalty. You

were not even doing this for your battalion, but for the people in

your section, half a dozen people doing that. And we have to remember

that Passchendaele, as the ministers pointed out, was not a one-day

battle. It was a series of campaigns from the end of July until November

ten. And it was only one part of the work of the British Army in Belgium

and France in 1917. The next point I want to touch upon is that one of

the questions you get not just from young people but by people

interested in the First World War is, why were the General so stupid?

A point being made by the honourable member earlier on.

I've never been in that camp, particularly. What I try to remember

is I think that they did come from a limited background, they had a

limited experience and perception of war. You also have to bear in mind

that the British expeditionary Force of 1914, maybe regular, -- mainly

regular was about a men. In 1917 the British Army at the front was

roughly 1.3 million men. An enormous expansion in the war. Many of them

are not soldiers, they were in the logistics or support side. They, to

use the modern academic term, the learning curve required to recruit,

train, deploy and fight these armies was enormous. It wasn't just the

experience in Britain but the experience in Belgium, France,

Germany and Russia. And I have to say, bear in mind the extent of the

casualties at Passchendaele, we are talking about maybe 500 or 600,000

men, give or take 10,000. That sounds appallingly inaccurate. Think

in terms of the casualties of the Second World War. I mean, just one

example is historians now tell us that the average British infantry

battalion in Normandy had more casualties than its equivalent in

France in 1917. Passchendaele was unique in one sense, but there's a

commonality in major war on a vast scale.

Then there's the question, and he was mentioned by the opposition

spokesman, of the coalition Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. And

what became the battle of the men was in for invoicing Lord George --

Lloyd George, Churchill and the generals on the other, about who was

responsible for the casualties and was there an alternative? Crudely

speaking, Lloyd George wanted, for very good reasons, to avoid engaging

the German enemy in the main theatre of operations. He was always looking

for a way to knock the props out from under Germany. And on the

whole, the generals were against that. As far as they were concerned,

the main battle within Belgium and France. We were a subordinate and

then an equal partner of the French. But there is no doubt in my mind

that Lloyd George had, in theory, the power to have halted the

campaign. After the first month when they ground to a hole in the foulest

of weather, he had that power, except he didn't, because he felt

weak up against Douglas Hague. Douglas Hague had the press on his

side, and he had them on his side until the end.

Madam Deputy Speaker, this debate is still going on today, amongst

historians, about was there on alternative? There probably wasn't

an alternative, but we didn't have in place the methods and the

organisation to have proper debates about this in the First World War.

That was the big lesson that Churchill learnt. Churchill, who

had, of course, left the Government after Gallipoli, when and served in

France and then Lloyd George reluctantly brought him back as

Minister of munitions. When he became Prime Minister, the one thing

he learned from the First World War was as Prime Minister he had to have

pretty much total power. So he made himself Prime Minister and Minister

of defence, but he also sought to have a continuous day by day debate

with the chiefs of staff over a full range of strategy, and to use

government committees to run the war. He was in many respects a

dictator, Churchill, but it was almost without exception that he had

overruled the Chiefs of staff. Lloyd George didn't have that ability. Not

only did the Navy not talk to the Army, but Lloyd George had great

difficulty pinning down the chief of the Imperial General staff, Wally

Robertson, the only man to come from working class private to becoming

the head of the Army and the Field Marshal, whose contempt for Lloyd

George was such that at one meeting he just walked out, deciding not to

continue with the debate. These are the kinds of things I try

to engage young people with, about issues that are still alive today.

My final point, Madam Deputy Speaker, is the sorrow and pity of

War. The Battle of Passchendaele, as much as anything else, I think was

defined, if you put aside the plans and the personalities of the senior

officers, by two things. The sheer weight of artillery firepower was on

such a scale that totally dwarfed anything that even had taken place

at the Battle of the Somme. We are still talking about an ability to

bring down boxed artillery firepower in very small areas. My honourable

friend from new Forest showed, illegally, photographs of what

Passchendaele looked like! And the second element was the two periods

of atrocious weather. I mean absolute downpour of rain, which

ground everything to a halt. And that's not a phenomenon that we are

able to deal with today. And if you want to think about whether the

impact of the weather, the impact of firepower, read to deduct our

colleague, the member for Plymouth's book, based on his three tours of

operation in Afghanistan, a Royal Artillery officer attached to the

Royal Marines, and sees there. But all the technology we now have, the

firepower, the helicopters, how difficult it is, and the

overwhelming desire not to kill or injure civilians.

So I very much welcome this commemorative debate. I know that my

colleagues on all sides will make contributions. Madam Deputy Speaker,

with your permission, I want to read out two short contemporary accounts

that combines the shellfire and the strain on soldiers.

The first is from Britain, from a private from the Fusiliers,

describing an attack in October 1917, in other words, halfway

through the Passchendaele campaign. Mr K, obviously a platoon officer,

came up and said, come on lads, it's our turn, and we just walked round

the corner of the pill box and up the hill. The Germans didn't have

much to fear from me that morning, there was no fire in my belly, no

nothing. I staggered up the hill and I froze and became very frightened

because a big shell had just burst and blown up a group of our lads to

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

men just blown to nothing. I just stood there. It was still misty and

I could taste the blood in the air. I couldn't move. I stood there,

staring. Then an officer came across and shouted we were far too far to

the left and had to go right. I probably would have been dead but

for him jolting me out of it. These men had just been killed, and we

just have to wait through them to get on. That's one thing I'll never

forget, what I saw and what I smelt. The second short account is from the

other side of the hill. A letter from an unknown German officer, 20th

of September, 1917. "Dear Mother, on the morning of the

18th, the dugout, containing 17 men, was shot to pieces over our heads. I

am the one who withstood the maddening bombardment for three days

and still survives. You cannot imagine the frightful mental

torments that I have undergone in these few hours. After trawling out

through the bleeding remnants of my comrades and the smoke and the

debris, and wandering and fleeing in the midst of the raging artillery

fire in search of refuge, I am now awaiting death at any moment. You do

not know what flounders means. -- Flanders means. It means endurance,

scraps of human bodies, Flanders means heroic courage and

faithfulness, even to death." I do not know whether he survived.

It is a pleasure to follow the gentleman. He made an incredibly

forensic, heartfelt and vivid speech, particularly emotional in

his two breed outs at the end. The better informed because of it. I

thank sincerely. I thank the Minister also for bringing the

debate to the House today, and in particular pay tribute to the Shadow

Minister, who himself made a very fine speech.

Madam Deputy Speaker, it was absolutely right that we commemorate

Passchendaele, as the trigger of what it meant to go through

industrial warfare. The sacrifice that was paid then of course must

never be forgotten, and we pay tribute to all of the bodies

mentioned by the Minister who will take part in the commemoration

services this year. Commemoration is, of course, important. It is

always important to commemorate the large-scale loss of human life, as

we do this week, on the 22nd anniversary of the genocide. And we

welcome the fact that the families of those who were lost in the Battle

of Passchendaele will have the opportunity to take part in these

commemorations. In Scotland, of course, there was no community,

barely a family untouched by the courage of Passchendaele. What this

tragedy highlights to us again, as many other tragedies do, is the

importance of international and institutional peace building and

cooperation, shared values, shared interests and working together to

ensure that war doesn't become the norm of our time.

Turning in particular, Madam Deputy Speaker, as I'm sure you'd expect me

to do as a Glasgow member of Parliament, I understand there is

another honourable friend from Glasgow North east who also may one

to touch on this, I would like to mention something I came across on

the Scottish football history Museum website, from Hampden Park in my

constituency. What they have is fascinating, but there is one

individual on that website that you can read more about. You can go to

the museum and read more about, and I would like to tell the House of.

That was the former Rangers player, Jimmy Spiers, one of the many men

are, of course, who never returned. His face will front the

Passchendaele centenary commemoration, remembering these

Scots who did not make it back from Passchendaele. On the 19th of

August, the unveiling of the life-size steel silhouette will

feature Jimmy Spiers, one of the many Glaswegians who never made it

back from Passchendaele. But in addition to the excellent archives

at the Scottish football history Museum is a fantastic portal at

Glasgow University. There are quite a number of very distinguished

people I could read out their biographies on telly lots about, but

there are just a small handful I would like to inform the House. The

first of which is Lachlan senior grain. Born in Glasgow on the 19th

of September 1882. His father Duncan was a well-known Glasgow leather

manufacturer with an interest in politics and public life. He was one

of the original founding members of the Glasgow Liberal club. A past

president of the eighth... And of the agricultural Society, himself a

keen cricketer and golfer. Seymour went up to the University of Glasgow

in 1900 to begin his studies for an arts degree and took many subjects,

including Latin, logic and moral philosophy. In his final years in

Hearts he discovered his strong suit and did extremely well in political

economy. In a class of Civil War law. Perhaps it was that success

which encouraged him to take up law. After graduating in 1905, he

matriculated against the Scots rock and over the next few years tragedy

put together eight PL. -- in the next year put together a PL. It was

lasting sporting his way in the legal profession that he decided to

join up. Seymour took the commission as a secondary talent in the seventh

Highland Light Infantry. It was at Passchendaele, the very name of

which invokes so much loss, which other members have touched upon this

afternoon. It was Passchendaele at which he was fatally wounded. He

died in August, 1917. Turning again, Madam Deputy Speaker,

to my own constituency, there is George Ernest Mayne. George was the

second son of and Hillman. He was also educated at Glasgow in a gusty,

starting in 1907, prior to that being educated at Glasgow Academy.

Despite excelling in political economy, he wasn't able to pass his

examinations in Latin, maths and constitutional law and actually left

without completing his degree. By the time the war had broken out, he

had begun to study for the ministry at the United free Church.

And then there's also Walter Ramsey Scott, born in 1883 in Pollokshaws,

at that point part of Renfrewshire as opposed to the city of Glasgow.

He was the son of Robert Scott, a cashier, and Margaret Scott, who

lived in Glasgow in Lanarkshire. Madam Deputy Speaker, it can

sometimes be too easy when we discuss these types of events to

remember numbers rather than people. I've selected a small number of

extraordinary Glaswegians who took part in the battle of Passchendaele

and paid the ultimate price at the Battle of Passchendaele. But behind

all of those names are not just men, distinguished in education, in

politics and public life and in military life. But there are also

their families, there are their children, their wives, sisters and

mothers who were left behind. And my honourable friend from West

Dunbartonshire makes an important point. It's absolutely correct to

remember the dead and the wounded, but what about those who supported

our brave soldiers? What about the nurses? What about the doctors and

those who were supporting people with mental health problems? Ve to

have a rightful place in any commemoration that we have, not just

on Passchendaele but on any other major conflict with an enormous loss

of life. So I pay tribute to the Government 's efforts here on this

commemoration. I'm very pleased that the first of the Government's First

World War commemorative events was indeed in Glasgow Cathedral, not a

fine cathedral to be found anywhere in the United Kingdom. I'm hearing

other suggestions. But I am very proud as a Glaswegian that that was

the place that that took place. So one day half of the people of

Glasgow, I'm sure to be reinforced by the honourable member for Glasgow

North East, we do indeed remember them, salute them and we thank their

families for the sacrifice they made. Here here. Madam Deputy

Speaker, we have a tradition in debates of this sort for fine

oratory and thoughtful contributions. That certainly has

been the case today. I was interested in the remarks by the

honourable gentleman, the Member for Barrow in Furness in his

intervention. He rightly raised the issue of Time, which of course was

the first issue that was considered right at the very beginning of this

commemorative period as the Government was drawing up its plans

for the four-year centenary. Because on that really hinges all the rest,

on tone. Commemoration and celebration are politically very

similar but semantically they are very different indeed and throughout

this period of the Government has rightly insisted that throughout

this commemoration it may certainly is not celebration. Earlier in this

commemorative period we had to adjust issues such as was this a

just war in Augustinian terms? Was it the right thing to do and was it

worth the price? And those are two very different things. In

Augustinian terms, it was a just war. It satisfied all the

preconditions for a just war and it was as well a war that was one. But

who amongst us would have signed up to such a thing if we had known in

advance what the cost would be? What the dreadful cost of this war would

have been. We are reminded of that cost every day as we arrive here

when we look at our own war memorial at the end of Westminster Hall. But

that is replicated right across this country in our war memorials, which

characterise every single settlement in the British Isles. It was a cost

indeed and one I suspect that few of past today would be prepared to

countenance. The third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, became known

as Passchendaele because Passchendaele evokes such powerful

sentiment despite the fact it was part of this campaign that was right

at the tail end of the engagement. It began relatively well. It was

preceded, of course, by the Battle of missing and we are reminded of

that particularly since last week we commemorated in a modest way the

death of a member of Parliament, Major Willie Redmond, who died at 56

at that particular battle, in Messines. He was a truly great man

and it reminds us of the great loss of life, the lost opportunity and

the Minister quite rightly in his excellent opening speech mentioned

Francis led witch, the so-called blow it -- poet of the blackbirds

and the Bard of the black chair who died at pilgrim Bridge. It's right

and I think the honourable gentleman from the opposite benches right to

point out that it is in these cultural losses, these wonderful

creative men, really brings it home what a wasteful period in our

history this was. Just think of what the world might have been had those

men left to become fathers and grandfathers and doctors and poets

and artists and fulfilled their full potential. It is almost unimaginable

and yet there we are. That is where we are left as a result of this

terrible, terrible war. According to a JP Taylor, third Ypres was the

blindest slaughter of a blind war and we've heard that between the

31st of July and the 12th of November, close on 250,000 British

and British Empire troops were either killed or injured and a

similar number on the German side. Basil Liddell Hart was writing in

the 1930s when he said that Passchendaele was synonymous with

military failure and that it was black bordered in the annals of the

British Army. And Basil Liddell Hart of course had some experience of

serving in the trenches and he was writing between 1930, 1940, and in

1934 his great works on the subject. I'm particularly moved by historians

accounts of that time because of course they could remember it. They

had it fresh in their memory and the difficulty, as Hillary Mantell has

pointed out recently in her brief lectures with history is that it

seems to change all the time. As generations go by, there seems to be

reinterpretations all the time of history. Well, Liddell Hart was

reporting a more or less in real-time with his own reflection

and a collection of how this was. With historical record, we have to

have a particular mind to those who were writing very close to the Great

War. They were there, they had seen it with their own eyes. They were

not seeing it through the fog of a century or so as we now are.

According to Liddell Hart, a lieutenant was driving up from the

front line in his staff car and was meant to have said, good God, did we

really send men to fight in that? Well, Nick Lloyd in his more

contemporary account published this year suggests that that was up until

and that may be the case. It certainly served the narrative that

this was a war is all about chateaux generals sending other men's sons to

die in terrible circumstances. And narrative, of course, that prevailed

in the 1960s when we were commemorating the 50th anniversary

of this conflict and has only recently been corrected. Public

appetite for this material appears to be pretty much insatiable and I

think the Government has been surprised by the level of interest

that this centenary has provoked. We've never done this sort of thing

before. We had no real idea at the beginning how much interest there

would actually be in this material and frankly how sustainable it was

going to be. Well, I think the public has surpassed all of our

expectations and they are proving to be incredibly receptive to this. The

evidence we have suggests that one of the legacies of this centenary

period will be greatly improved level of under standing of the

seminal period in our recent history. All the evidence suggests

that people understand better the circumstances that led up to the

Great War, the conduct of that war and as we get further and further

into this centenary, the right questions are being asked, questions

around, what does this actually mean? How does it actually impact on

how we live today? And the big question of course is, how on earth

do we prevent it from ever happening again? And when we come to examine

what it all means, what all this investment in time and effort has

been over the four years, I think we can also look at the diplomatic

deliverables that there have been. One of the things that has really

struck me is the value of commemorating shared history. Some

of this is actually quite uncomfortable and it can be

uncomfortable in surprising places. Our relationship for example with

what is now the Republic of Ireland, more than our relationship with

Germany. That has been advanced, I think, quite significantly over this

period and when you hear people in the Republic of Ireland talking

about the service of their forebears in the uniform of George V, you know

that something has changed, because they wouldn't have talked about that

openly or displayed those campaign medals a generation ago. And that is

a truly remarkable thing. Despite the fact that for many people, a lot

of this history is painful. And it kind of underscores the importance

of commemorating history, warts and all, and making sure that at no

point you attempt to airbrush or finesse it. Throughout the four

years, we've been very focused on young people for very obvious

reasons. This is the generation who 100 years ago was right at the

forefront of all this action. It is salutary to stand at a place like

time cot and watch the reaction of those young people in bus tours to

arrive, possibly cynical youth, but not when they are looking around a

place like that. Look at their faces and you can see that the penny has

dropped, because they are looking at row upon row of headstones above the

remains of people bearing age. One of the most powerful things that we

have done as part of the battlefield Tours is to make sure that there is

a contemporary servicemen wherever we possibly can, so that connection

can be made. And again, when we are looking at benefits from initiatives

that sort, it is better understanding on the part of those

young people who these days with the contraction of our armed services

perhaps don't have that burst and connection with the Armed Forces

that we might have done in generation. That in itself is an

incredibly powerful thing and brings this to life for our young men and

women. Thank you for giving way. May I begin, I am sure under half of the

whole house, by paying tribute to the work he has done personally to

help commemorate the First World War. He has put in a huge amount of

time and effort and I begins right to acknowledge that today. He was

talking about young people. I am sure he would agree that young

people today are able to learn about the tremendous sacrifice made so

that they are able to live in a free country. With that in mind, would he

join with me in celebrating these goals in my constituency who have

worked hard to ensure their students could go forward and learn about the

sacrifices made on the battlefield? The thing that impresses all about

this period is the extraordinary amount of work across the country,

some of its sponsored, assisted by the Government, some of it not, some

of it quite spontaneous in its evolution and that together form is

a wonderful patchwork of commemoratives activity. It just

shows the passion the public has for commemorating this period in our

history and suggests to me there will indeed be a very rich legacy

when we come towards the end of our four years.

I thank him so much for giving way and I commend him for the

extraordinary work is done to ensure this commemoration period is given

as wide a voice that can be. He encouraged me last year to look to

the Northumberland Fusiliers, the young men from my constituency, who

had gone out to fight in the First World War. Boys and young men the

same age as my son is now, which brings it home very bluntly to me. I

went out to Italy to lay a wreath last year in northern Italy, and by

chance a group of Italian students of 17 and 18 were visiting. They had

never been inside the cemetery before and they saw a woman in a red

coat with a wreath and was curious. They came in with their teacher and

their teacher, who spoke perfect English, asked me why was there and

why British soldiers were fighting for the country? They had had very

little education of the First World War because the way history was

taught in Italy a change. They were absolutely transfixed, are

enormously appreciative, slightly overwhelmed by the fact young men

had come from far, far away, in my case from Northumberland, to come

and fight for freedom. And just to commend that the efforts the

honourable gentleman has made, enabled us to share that with

children across the water. She is absolutely right, my honourable

friend. It is not just about the Western front, I'm very pleased she

mentioned Italy. It's very important as part of this poor yet

commemoratives period, that people appreciate the First World War was

indeed a world war and the Italian campaign was an important part of

that. Can I mention this centenary, whilst I'm talking about young

people... Question on this project, I hope, will become an important

part of our presence on what was the Western front. Important for people

wishing to visit commemoratives sites. The Canadians have been doing

this for a very long time. That is to say having young people guiding

visitors from Canada around the sights of the Western front that are

particularly important to them. It struck me, if the Canadians can do

this so well from a distance of 3000 miles, we can probably do something

rather similar from a distance of 200 miles. Right now we have

interns who will be guiding people interns who will be guiding people

around the principled sites for us, which will be initially. That under

the supervision. I hope when people and colleagues visit the Western

front and visit the sites of importance in northern France and

Belgium, they will look out for the very obvious and orange T-shirt

uniforms of our centenary interns. Those I met last week when I visited

Tyne Cot were people of exceptional quality. I'm sure people will be

very pleased to see them and to be guided, as they are tasked to do,

around those particular sites. It is remarkable, of course, that

not only was the third Battle of Ypres preceded by a victory that

encouraged Douglas Haig in his dialogue with Lloyd George, but

sixth-seeded bike camber I, which was remarkable for another reason,

introducing mechanical warfare for the first time to the Western front.

I think it was the gathering note for what became a far more kinetic

stage to what my right honourable friend referred to, the last 100

days of that particular war. But for most people in this country, what

makes Passchendaele special, as it were, is the mud and blood. It was

something quite different from the Somme, which resulted in far more

casualties than Passchendaele did, but it is that mud and blood caused

by rain, of course, but also the inundation of Flanders, the barrage

of artillery that destroyed the fort that held back the sea from that

part of the world. Francis pasture land, you can't grow crops there,

it's far too wet. The reason is capable of being utilised

agricultural purposes is it has an advanced system of water

engineering. Bombardment means it is completely destroyed. It is not for

the first time that the British Army knew the full consequences of the

destruction of that system. The combination of heavy rainfall and

the destruction of civil in that area made the thing a complete

quagmire, which gave Passchendaele its particular awfulness.

I would just like to finish on a contemporary note. In two weeks'

time, many of us will be privileged to attend the commemorations in

Ypres and Tyne Cot, and we will stand there among the row upon row

of headstones and look at the naming gate with its names carved in stone,

and we will be left with a sense of wonder. We're trying to work out

what it all means. In the context of the debate we are having today about

our future in Europe, one wonders perhaps what others think of us,

too. There are those in Europe who say that this country is somehow

less than European, that we are poor Europeans. I would just say this...

This country always has been, is now and certainly 100 years ago was

demonstrating full well that there is no country in Europe that is more

engaged in Europe than the United Kingdom. That was the case 100 years

ago, and just I would ask colleagues, as they look amongst

those headstones and gaze up at those names carved in stone, just

reflect on this country's contribution to European history,

and whether we are Brexiteers or not, I'm completely signed up

Brexiteer, we need to understand we are Europeans. That's where we have

always been. That is where we will always be, and we should take

absolutely no nonsense from those, who for their own purposes, try to

suggest that we are in some way disengaged from Europe. I'm proud of

our history. This country has always been there when Europe needs us,

when we need to face down the general disturber of the peace. And

I am confident that we will continue to do just that. In two weeks' time

it will be a solemn time for our country. The media will be most

certainly focused on Tyne Cot and Ypres. We will be among friends in

Belgium, a country that is extraordinarily sympathetic to this

country, and they are good friends of ours.

I just think it's important that whenever we have the opportunity, we

reinforce in their minds our solidarity and comradeship with our

friends and neighbours in Europe. There can be no more enduring

testament to that level of European engagement than the men engaged in

Ypres and Tyne Cot. These debates get near wreck each

time we have them to the reality of the First World War. My honourable

friend for Newport, for Cardiff West, quoted the work in Wales and

the touching symbol he used... Their blood mixed with the wind, with the

rain. We could see that in the imagery presented in the two poems

that were quoted. We must see the lesson of this terrible event of the

First World War and learn from it. I speak with dug up as there has been

one visual aid this afternoon, this is my father, a machine gunner James

Ferrin. Not a distinguished soldier but one who went, who volunteered

because he was a great compatriot and soaks up the propaganda at the

time, and went out there to sort out the hunger. He went as a volunteer

at the age of 15, he lied about his age. He went through the Somme,

Passchendaele and eventually he was captured by the Germans, to his

great relief, because he was dying after being hit by a mortar and was

in a shell hole and couldn't get out of it, and the Germans, to whom he

was eternally grateful for the rest of his life, he lived to 43, because

of the care they gave him. They carried him across no man's land

after the breakthrough by the Germans in 1918 and saved his life.

He went there to kill Germans, and went back as a great admirer of the

Germans who saved his life. I was struck, I believe, by the poem

quoted by the member of broad lands in a previous debate, because I

think it illustrates the truth of the First World War. It is one brief

stanza by ready at Kipling, who was a great cheerleader for the war and

all patriotic causes, so much so that he managed to pull a few

strings, to make sure that his son, who had defective eyesight, could

pass the test are getting to become a soldier, and then lost his life.

Kipling had a picture of what happened when he died and went to

heaven and was forced to cede those people that he'd encouraged to go to

war and lose their lives. He said," I could not did, I do not rob,

therefore I lied to police the mob. Now all my lies have proved untrue,

I must face the men ice blue. What tale should serve me among my angry

and defrauded young?" . The use of that

. They were not wicked people, they had all kinds of heroic delusions,

but we mustn't see Passchendaele through a fog of a belief of a false

idea of heroism. It wasn't like that. It rapidly became a terrible

scene of slaughter, where men died like cattle, where lives were

counted, 16 million deaths from there. What is our lesson? Have we

learned it yet? I doubt if we have, because we have heard the word"

wonderful" used this afternoon about that battle. What it can mean I've

no idea. There is no way anyone can describe the whole of the First

World War as a terrible, terrible mistake and a series of tragedies.

The use of the word wonderful in this context is about the issue of

admiration for the heroism and the courage. The honourable member for

Wiltshire North or South used the word wonder. When you look at what

happened. Today happens to be the anniversary of my own father's death

in the battle an July the 13th 1944. I have personal experience of it. I

know the honourable gentleman has referred to his, but the word

wonderful in this context is an admiration for the heroism and

courage and I will not apologise for that.

I think it is entirely true to say there is a nobility in the soldiers'

craft and sacrifice. We are grateful to it to this day, and we see acts

in Kosovo and Sierra Leone, the humanitarian work done there, which

are absolutely defensible and in matters we can take great pride. We

have had a wonderful military history and once you've been shown

the best of human nature, I would not disagree with the honourable

gentleman with that. But what are we learning today? If we look at what

happened in this chamber in 2006, where a decision was made to send

troops into Helmand at a time when only half of dozen of our soldiers

had been killed at that time, we had already been there for six years

since 2001. We went there in the belief that not a short would be

fired. The result of it was 450 of our soldiers died. We've yet to face

up to the reality... Was that a mistake by us? We know the Chilcot

Report has come out. Lord Chilcott has had to a year later, repeat some

of the lessons that he drew from it because those lessons have been lost

over. There's been a spinning of reality, of his own conclusions, and

I believe part of it is because so many people in this chamber at that

time were part of a mistake in our joining the Iraq war, we couldn't

stop the War happening but we could have stopped Britain's involvement

in it, which would have avoided the depths of our soldiers.

I'd just like to slightly pursue this point because I don't think

there's much difference between us in terms of the reasons behind what

are different arguments. I simply make the argument that although the

pity of War, as it was so aptly put it, is a terrible thing, the fact is

that we have to reflect on the simple fact that sometimes it is

necessary with unprovoked aggression, as we experienced in the

Second World War, does lead to us having to fight back that doesn't

necessarily involve the cost of peoples lives, like my father and

others, and I would simply say that we have to be very careful when

defining the boundaries of this matter to ensure we don't go

overboard in suggesting that somehow rather the whole of war is in itself

is unacceptable because unfortunately it is the fact of life

and we do have to fight for it and respect and admire the heroism of

those who take part. There really isn't any difference and I never

suggested it was a justification for war. I gave examples of what I

thought were entirely justifiable wars. What we should be recalling

what lessons we learned from Passchendaele and the First World

War in the decisions we take now in this House. I once had a five-week

enforced absence from this House for saying what I'm about to say, but I

will say it in a more delicate way, and that was, I did say that

ministers on all sides were mistaken and were by the claim they were

making to potential soldiers that they could go to Afghanistan and

reduce the threat of terrorism in this country. I think that was an

untruth because whatever the reason was that our soldiers were being

killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan was because they were there. There

was no interest from the Taliban in terrorism and that particular call

to soldiers to do that for that purpose was not true, though I still

believe we are in a position where politicians lie and soldiers die and

unless we can be frank with them, I think we're going to find a

generation who will reject war. It was interesting when general Dunnett

said recently that he didn't want people to believe what Chilcott was

saying, this was only a matter of days ago, because it would suggest

to those who have lost their loved ones in Iraq that they died in vain.

But sadly, that's probably the truth because we had nothing to gain,

unlike the First World War, whose main result was the Second World

War. It led to the Second World War. It was a terrible error. We have a

duty, I think, to look at the opinions of those soldiers who

fought at the time. None of them are alive now and the loss when he died

left us a message when he said that he thought war was legalised murder.

And there are many other soldiers whose lives were destroyed by that

war, lives were shortened, and I feel particular pain that in the

case of my own father, though his life was ruined by the war, he could

never do what he called a proper man's job again, but in 1935 his

pension was reduced by a Government that changed the pension and said

that his health problems, he went in the perfectly fit 15-year-old,

health problems went attributed to his wall wins, they were worsened by

his wall wins, a cheat by the Government and he died shortly

afterwards. We don't have a history of treating owl veterans with the --

our veterans with the respect they deserve. From the Great War, we must

learn that we never again repeat the lie that it is sweet and decorous to

die for the country. It is not true and it is an old lie, sadly, that

people would like to give new credence to. Well, thank you, Madam

Deputy Speaker. I really want to talk about the situation 100 years

ago. We have to remember that at the time, this time 100 years ago, a

quarter of the vessels crossing the Atlantic were being sunk and they

were being sunk by U-boats and those U-boats were coming from the Belgian

coast. And the Navy had warned the Government that unless something was

done about it, we might collapse in 1918. The United States had entered

the war on the 6th of April. That was really great from our point of

view. But in May and June, the French army had been massively

defeated by the Germans, with the result of a huge mutiny among all

its ranks. At the same time, the British generals wanted to break out

of the Ypres salient is. So the Germans had a very good reason to

believe that they could win the war at that time. They flout the

Americans wouldn't get into it in time -- they felt the Americans

wouldn't get into it in time. And that is understandable, because the

American army was very small, a bit obsolete and they didn't have very

many weapons. Field Marshall and hide, the person in charge of the

expeditionary force desperately wanted to break out of the Ypres

salient. They had been stuck there for years. But he also wanted to get

to the coast, because this strategic aim was to get to those U-boat pens

and stop us being throttled by being attacked by torpedoes from such

U-boats. The plan was quite simple. There was a preliminary operation

which other friends have mentioned to secure the Salman -- southern

flank of the British position. First phase, take out the railway junction

at Roulay and then swing round to the coast. That went very wrong,

despite being the plan. I want to speak about the soldiers. By 1917,

machine gunners had become what were called the Queens of the

battlefield. They were devastating. The rifle was, by comparison with a

machine gun, absolutely useless. The 1st Battalion of the Cheshire

Regiment, the battalion I was to command 74 years later, had been

equipped the year before with 16 Lewis machine guns. Now, these

machine guns were pretty heavy. They were ?28 in weight. That's not

including the ammunition. Now, our soldiers had to carry that. Nobody

really wanted to take a machine gun as they crossed the front line for

two reasons. One, they were an easy target and two, the weight they had

to carry. As space carried across no man's land, going as fast as they

could, but it was difficult to go faster in those conditions. At the

same time, by the start of the third Battle of Passchendaele, our

soldiers had been issued with that awful helmet. They called them tin

hats. I wore one when I first joined the Army. I'm that old. And they

were acutely uncomfortable and very heavy. And, again, that made it

difficult for our soldiers when they scrambled out of their front line

positions to go and because they'd had one hell of a winter. 1916 to

1917 had been incredibly cold. The soldiers only received one hot meal

a day and that was brought forward normally by the quartermaster in

boxes that were lined with straw. Fatigue -- 40, they brewed it up

themselves. They normally used old Jan tins which they filled up with

Greece and put a week in their two sort of make a flame on which they

could put some pot to heat up water. At the same time every day, the

quartermaster tried to bring up to the front line positions clean

socks, because trench but was appalling and it was so wet and the

men needed to actually try to keep their feet dry and that was almost

impossible in the conditions of the time. It was good that in my

battalion some of the soldiers had been allowed leave. They'd gone home

and come back. But they knew down well what they were coming back to.

And that's why they're heroes, because they came back. They came

back from home, where they saw normality. War is not normality. War

is disgusting and horrid. And war is something to be avoided. Heroism is

going back to that because, as the honourable member for Broadlands has

outlined, they didn't want to let their friends down. Even then, in

the middle of the war, when reinforcements were coming, the

reinforcements that were coming to my battalion, the 1st Battalion of

the Cheshire 's, where being divided -- diverted. You would think before

the battle that they would be fully manned. They weren't. They didn't

even have enough troops to go along the front. They had to do little

posts along the front line, hoping that they could cover the area in

front of the battalion position. They knew down well -- damn well

what would happen when the signal for advance was given. They had been

there long enough. On the 31st of July, very early in the morning,

3:50am, just as Dawn was breaking, the battalion 's offices blew the

whistle is. Can you imagine how absolutely terrified our soldiers

were. They must have had a hell of a night to that time. They were laden

with ammunition, they were laden with kit, they were laden with Lewis

machine guns. And some of the soldiers, as the start time was

declared, some soldiers were being delivered by train ride to the front

line. They disembarked and went straight in across the start line

into the battle. When they went into no man's land, it wasn't a run. It

wasn't even a walk. It was more like a crawl, I would think. No man's

land was full of wire obstacles which sometimes get worse by

artillery fire. And of course, within hours, that rain came. The

worst rain for 30 years. The men couldn't even get into the shallow

holes because they were full of water. So they are absolute sitting

ducks, covered in filth, trying to go forward, absolutely exhausted.

And yet, they did. Some of them sank to their waists in the mud, right

down to their waists. It took six soldiers for them to be pulled out.

Stretcher bearers couldn't move. There was no chance of stretcher

bearers moving in that mud at all. Our soldiers weren't brave, of

course they were brave, but what they really experienced was terror.

They thought within minutes, within seconds, they would be dead. Perhaps

they prayed it would be a headshot. The soldiers prayer is a headshot,

straight out. Not a wound in the stomach or a wound in the abdomen

which no one gets to them and they lie there in agony for hours. Days.

And sometimes, just slip under the mud and drown while they're at it.

I think I've got some idea of what they felt, because I have advanced

when someone beside me has been shot. I knew I had to go, because I

had to go and get some civilians, and I'm talking about Bosnia. But I

wasn't a hero. I wasn't brave, I was bloody terrified. I was so

terrified, I wet myself. That's not bravery. What mattered is that we

went forward and did our duty. Now, our soldiers did that. They didn't

want to die. That's the last thing they wanted to do. They wanted to

survive. Passchendaele was a stalemate for four months, while our

men were sitting ducks. It was a disgusting, exhausting, traumatic

experience for anyone that was there, and it cost both sides

dearly. I don't think we know exactly what the figures are, but

say the British were around 310,000, and the Germans were 260,000, dead,

dead. Three times as many casualties who survived. The ratio is one dead,

three wounded, that's what the ratio was then. Douglas Haig later

justified what happened, by saying it was necessary because we could

take more casualties than the Germans because we had more

resources on that made it worthwhile. If a general tried that

today, can you imagine that? That justification, for the mass

slaughter that occurred at Passchendaele? I thought it was OK,

because actually we could take more casualties than they could, so in

the end, we'd win. I think we remember them all, British, German,

Commonwealth, today. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for

allowing me to make my maiden speech in this very important debate.

It seems fitting to have this debate about Passchendaele. Many did not

come back home. It is not lost on me today that the sacrifices they made

those 100 years ago, have led to the freedoms, rights and opportunities

that I'm proudly expressing today. I am deeply honoured, not only to

have been chosen by the people in my constituency to represent them as a

member of Parliament, but also to be the first ethnic minority candidate

to do so. I made the journey from Kashmir to

Bradford in 1992. Soon I was married and working in a factory. Later I

became a taxi driver, which I continued to do up until my

elections to the parliament. I can honestly say the moment I arrived to

Bradford, I made it my home, but ever since it is Bedford that has

paid me and I am very grateful for that. I wanted to do more for the

community that had welcomed me, and so I became a councillor for Queens

Park Road in 2006. Earlier this year I took the next step and was

selected to set down for my party as a labour candidate. Many people said

that I stood no chance, that Labour could not possibly win back in

Bedford, but they proved them wrong. With the report of my friends and

fellow councillors, my wonderful family, I'm so thankful to my wife,

my mother and my four children and my new grandson who fought the

campaign that delivered the constituency back to radar. I'm

immensely proud to be part of the Labour bench, whose Shadow Cabinet

has the highest number of ethnic minority MPs ever, because it means

the population is more fairly represented than it ever has been

before. I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor Richard Fuller,

who has worked so hard over the last seven years for the community. The

Bedford business School, set up by Richard, has been a great success

and is a legacy that he is rightly very proud of. I would like to thank

Bedford's previous MP, Patrick, for his years of dedicated service.

There are people from more than 50 countries already living and settled

in Bedford and Kempston, which has made the area the most ethnically

diverse town in the United Kingdom, in proportion to its size. All kinds

of people have settled here, Madam Deputy Speaker, from the eastern

Europeans and Italians who arrived after the Second World War, who have

remained in Britain, to others like myself, arriving home recently. It

is this which makes my constituency so very special. Bedford is warmer,

it is welcoming, it is neighbourly and it is compassionate. Differences

and diversity of faith, colour and creed is not just tolerated but

celebrated in this town. Churches, mosques, gurdwaras, faith groups,

charitable organisations throughout my constituency work together to

build upon the diversity and to support those who have been affected

by so many years of austerity and damaging cuts. Bedford has strong

art scenes. Our cultural heritage is celebrated in Bedford with many

festivals, not least the biannual river festival that attracts a

quarter of a million people to the beautiful riverside. We are a tonne

of sports people, Bedford blues, Bedford eagles, Queens Park and

Kempston cricket clubs, we have rowing clubs, sailing clubs and our

international athletics track. We have proud Olympians and

Paralympians, and then there is someone still running the London

Marathon at the age of 88. People talk to me a lot during the

election, they talk about their concerns, about schooling, about

cuts to policing, but above all that, they talk about the NHS. At

the very heart of our town is Bedford Hospital. My children and

grandson were born there. I want to make sure that the hospital stays at

the heart of my constituency. Two years ago, Bedford Hospital saved my

wife's life when she suffered a heart attack. I could never repay

the staff for all they did for us. So let me say this now, the future

of our hospital and its services have been in doubt for far too long,

since 2011, under the Government, under this government and the last.

A string of expensive and inconclusive reviews have cast a

shadow over the hospital, lining the pockets of many wild front work

staff go without pay rises. It is hard to recruit and retain staff and

has caused many concerns for the community. As the MP for Bedford and

Kempston I will fight every day to keep the services we need in our

grand town, so many constituents don't have to travel 20 miles or 50

miles to access life-saving services, or to travel 60 miles to

access justice if plans to close Bedford courts go ahead. I want

babies to continue to be born in Bedford and Kempston, where they can

grow up in a fairer society, where they can access equal opportunities

and realise there are true potential in families that feel proud and part

of their community. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Deputy is bigger. A pleasure to follow the honourable

member of Bedford and I can rate him on his speech and I am sure it is

the first of many. Madam Deputy Speaker, the debate today has

focused on the third Battle of Passchendaele, and has been

described as a long campaign, which took place over several months.

Indeed, it is an honour to hear my honourable friend in the chamber to

describe the fear he knows first-hand, of what it's like to be

in combat. I think it was a very powerful speech, anti-has the

respect of all of us for what he said. I want to focus on a

particular area of the battle. -- and he has the respect of all of us.

At the end of August 1917, Field Marshal Haig replaced the general.

Apparently he was an efficient and methodical commander and assembled a

competent staff who are demonstrated their abilities as a team in a

previous operation in Messine. At the end of August 1917 he was

thought to lead the next big attack and took three weeks to prepare and

plan, then there was a lull in fighting Rusty gathered his

resources. -- whilst he carried his resources.

The weather turned to the advantage of the British. The continuous rain

turned the battle and that quagmire letter to ten whole days. In the

relatively dry ground, they dug trenches and repaired the roads. The

skills and techniques of the artillery were refined over the

preceding three years and they made use of this. When the artillery

opened fire on September 20, they did so in planet formation. Guns

were concentrated to provide one for every 5.2 yards of ground to be

attacked and infantry advanced behind the shelter of the creeping

barrage, one of the great innovations of the law. -- of the

war. We are today rightly discussing and

commemorating the people who sacrificed their lives on the

battlefield in this battle, but equally, in my city of Leeds, where

I am proud to represent, we have bombed Brower armouries and in the

First World War we had something called the Leeds Canaries, which

were the women in Leeds who worked making the munitions that would have

been used in this battle, so-called Canaries because the TNT turned

their skin yellow. They knew they were being poisoned. They knew they

were likely to become sterile and on Tuesday the 5th of December 1916,

there was an explosion and 35 women were killed instantly in that

explosion. I want to take the opportunity to commemorate them

again today, and they have been commemorated before, because when

that explosion happened, the War office so they couldn't release the

names of those women in their obituaries at the time, because they

did on the enemies to know where the munitions were being made. And so

over the next year, one woman a week had their own obituary in the

Yorkshire Post, and very much crossed over what they were actually

doing. So there were many casualties back home, directly involved in

these battles as there were people dying on the front line. I will...

Thank you. Richard Pinkett, a constituent in my

constituency posts regularly on Facebook the people who died in the

many different battles during World War I. Ypres is much bigger than it

was and it doesn't show it was just the people killed over there but the

families affected in the local region, and so many families, in so

many communities, who were affected by the deaths of their sons. My

honourable friend mentions the women, who very bravely helped with

that. I think we have to remember the people back home, as well as

those on the front line. There is a flag in the memorial garden that is

lowered to half-mast every time we commemorate the 100 years since one

of those young men died. I think it is a testament to local people that

we don't forget those people. I am most grateful for my honourable