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| Europe |
| Hell on Earth: The never before seen colour photographs of the bloody battle of Passchendaele |
| 2007-07-18 |
| They are the most remarkable pictures of one of the most hellish places on earth. Never seen before, these astonishing photographs, lovingly hand-touched in colour to bring to life the nightmare of Passchendaele, were released this week to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the battle that, between July and November 1917, claimed a staggering 2,121 lives a day and in total some quarter of a million Allied soldiers. What was once pretty countryside around the Belgian village that gave the battlefield its name was reduced to an infernal swamp where the ground oozed with foul-smelling slime, and mustard gas that blistered the skin and made the lungs bleed. Today, the Queen will attend a Last Post ceremony in Passchendaele at the Menin Gate, where a memorial arch is engraved with the names of the 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died with no known graves. She will also visit the Tyne Cot cemetery, where 11,952 graves are laid out in neat concentric circles, their tombstones white against the green grass, in peaceful defiance of the brutal battle that took their lives. One of the major conflicts of World War I, it was conceived by British Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig as a "big push" that would, finally, bring a breakthrough in the stalemate in Flanders. Officially named the Third Battle of Ypres, the hope was that by breaking through German lines at this point on the Western Front, the Allies could reach the Belgian coast and capture the German submarine bases there. The Allies prepared the way with a massive two-week bombardment in which 3,000 heavy guns sent more than four million shells pouring into the German lines. Then, on July 31, the troops poured into a No Man's Land that within days and under torrential rain had become a sodden bog. It became so deep that men, horses and pack mules drowned in it. What was supposed to be a breakthrough became a battle of attrition. By November, the British and Empire forces had advanced just five miles at terrible cost, to take the village of Passchendaele - which at least provided an excuse for them to call a halt. Their one consolation was that the Germans had also suffered grievously. THE RAINDROPS ON YOUR OLD TIN HAT The Mist hangs low and quiet on a ragged line of hills, There's a whispering of wind across the flat, You'd be feeling kind of lonesome if it wasn't for one thing The patter of the raindrops on your old tin hat. An' you just can't help a-figuring--sitting there alone-- About this war and hero stuff and that, And you wonder if they haven't sort of got things twisted up, While the rain keeps up its patter on your old tin hat. When you step off with the outfit to do your little bit, You're simply doing what you're s'posed to do-- And you don't take time to figure what you gain or lose-- It's the spirit of the game that brings you through. But back at home she's waiting, writing cheerful little notes, And every night she offers up a prayer, And just keeps on a-hoping that her soldier boy is safe-- The Mother of the boy who's over there. And, fellows, she's the hero of this great, big ugly war, And her prayer is on the wind across the flat, And don't you reckon it's her tears, and not the rain, That's keeping up the patter on your old tin hat? One of the most famous poems composed by a World War I Doughboy, Raindrops... was written by Lt. Wickersham the night before the St. Mihiel Offensive began. The next day, after being severely wounded by artillery fire, he continued leading his platoon despite a great loss of blood. He eventually died on the battlefield, receiving the Medal of Honor for his leadership, posthumously. His poem first appeared in Captain Billy's Whiz Bang. |
| Posted by:Delphi |
| #12 Continuous artillery barrage doesn't improve drainage. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2007-07-18 23:04 |
| #11 It is recorded that after the battle, Haig's chief of operations when to the battlefield for the first time, looked around, then broke into tears, saying "Dear God, we sent men to fight in that?" |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-18 22:50 |
| #10 the first photo is a set from Hell.. the "living" characters in Hell... the photos and poems are among the great works of art IMO |
| Posted by: RD 2007-07-18 22:11 |
| #9 wow..... |
| Posted by: RD 2007-07-18 22:02 |
| #8 I've seen pictures of horses with gas masks in battle zones that are hellish... |
| Posted by: borgboy2001 2007-07-18 20:50 |
| #7 I've had the pleasure of speaking to a family friend who live through WWI. He was a child and so was his sister, but he remembered vividly his parents took him to a church for they believed the kids would be safe. They were in France for some reason or another. Day by day the shelling was drawing nearer and nearer. He descibed a hell on earth scene and for weeks they were at the Church knowing that it was coming closer and closer. He recalled having to leave on a kart, going through the shelled out remains the only thing standing still the chruch, up and down through the mud and craters. He said it should have taken them a few hours to reach where they were going after leaving the church. Instead it was days and days, and all the while behind them, the shelling was getting closer and closer. It was an amazing story, he was quite old when he told, but the whole time his eyes were closed and I could see the re-living on his face. I cannot even pass on the detail he described. It is tough to relay here, but he recalled so vividly and my recollection was pictures like this. |
| Posted by: bombay 2007-07-18 19:48 |
| #6 10,000 troops killed in 20 minutes. That is how long it took for the US 1st Cavalry to sink three Japanese troop carriers that had anchored to unload re-inforcements in what they thought was a bay occupied by Japanese troops. US intel decoded a message of the pending arrival of the transports and first cav took out the Japanese troops in that bay. And waited behind the Japanese gun emplacements. So yes, 4,000 in 6 years is really not even close to a one day battle per WWII standards... |
| Posted by: Elmomoth Javitle4523 2007-07-18 18:13 |
| #5 Glenmore, we have had less than 4000 killed in Iraq/Afghanistan in almost six years, and people complain. As the Allies in WWI could have said, 4000 dead was just a slightly bad couple of days. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-07-18 15:31 |
| #4 Over 2000 killed per day for months! For essentially no reason. Today 2000 per year, even for cultural survival, is not bearable. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-07-18 14:48 |
| #3 Pictures two and three are bad. Picture one is enough to curl a body's toenails. |
| Posted by: kelly 2007-07-18 14:14 |
| #2 The photos are simply amazing. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-07-18 13:08 |
| #1 It wasn't trains who caused the mud. It was that teh zone was floodable and the shells broke the dikes. It was that the generale daigned to inbspect the battle scene after the battle. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-07-18 12:17 |