Two Hours at Passchendaele - The Death of a Regiment (WW1 Documentary)
On 31st July 1917 outside the Belgian city of Ypres, the British Expeditionary Force launched a massive assault to finally capture the vital high ground overlooking the ‘salient’, the key to which was the little-known village of Passchendaele. In one of the bloodiest battles of the entire First World War, in mud and rain, the British ground their way forward for 105 days towards their objective. Using veteran accounts, the latest technology and previously unseen wartime footage, this video will follow the story of the men of the Hertfordshire Regiment who opened the fighting on the very first day of the Third Battle of Ypres.
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Written References:
• D. Hill & P. Johnson, Hertfordshire Soldiers in the Great War (2019)
• D. Hill, ‘Herts Guards’, Unpublished Manuscript (2023)
• B.J. Gripper, Unofficial Regimental History (c.1923)
• J. Sainsbury, the History of the Hertfordshire Regiment (c.1990)
• Various Personal Accounts, The Herts at War Archive (2023)
• L. McDonald, They Called it Passchendaele (???)
• Various Record Sets, War Diaries of the Battalions (2018, Naval & Military Press)
• G. Fisher, Herts Old Contemptibles Association ‘B Coy’ Records (unpublished .1960)
Audio/Video References:
• The Hertfordshire Regiment, Famous Regiments of the Empire (1917), IWM_1099
• C. Lane, IWM Sound Archive, Oral History
• B. Wing, IWM Sound Archive, Oral History
• L. Field, IWM Sound Archive, Oral History
General Sources:
• Herts at War Archive (HAWA)
• Imperial War Museum Sound Archive (IWMSA)
• US National Archives (NARA)
• National Library of Scotland Image Collection (NLS)
• Australian War Memorial Image Archive (AWM)
• War Diaries of the Battalions (NMP)
• British Newspaper Archive (BNA)
• The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
• Google Earth Pro & Web Versions
• Memory Maps, Trench Maps of the First World War
• Maptiler Pro (Desktop Version)
Credits:
• Research: Dan Hill
• Script & Narration: Dan Hill
• Editing: Shane Greer
• Thumbnail Design: Linus Klassen
• Image Colourisation: Doug Banks
• Music & Sound Effects: Epidemic Sounds
My British Grandfather took his fifth and final wound there; shot in the foot. He remembered lying in a shell hole, nearly drowning and a German leaped in to take cover. The Jerry pulled Pop's greatcoat off hjs pack and covered him with it against the cold and rain and told him in excellent English to hang on, his pals would counter attack soon and find him.
Yes my dafought in.third battle Ypres I still have his glengarry "(the Gordons) He told me that some of the German soldiers were the nicest people one could meet .They a ll suffered together for what? 30 oooh killed and wounded in.a few days fighting for muddy ground _wow!
@@gordoncochrane6325Goes to show you the danger of a society of blind followers. Wars like this would never happen if people were willing to challenge toxic mantras made by warlords. The military likes to put things in the heads of soldiers like “never dispute an order” and BS like that. And that’s exactly why so many millions died. Imagine how many lives could have been saved if every soldier who didn’t want to be there set down their guns and told their commanders to go fight themselves if they want to take that ground so bad. I guarantee there would be no war, with no soldiers willing to blindly follow orders from warmongering generals. Next time a general tries to start a war, if every citizen/soldier refuses to take part, I guarantee there’s no war. You just said it yourself the German soldiers didn’t want to be there, the allied soldiers didn’t want to be there, so why did the war happen? Because of followers showing blind loyalty to war mongers, the minute you pick up a gun and agree to fight for those generals, you’re just as responsible for the war as the generals are. There’s never been a war without soldiers willing to fight. But we might also just be doomed to repeat war forever if one of the new theories being passed around is true, that about 90% of our species is followers and they even started to theorize that’s why only 1 of 2 million people have a genius IQ. It’s not typical in other animals for essentially 1:20 of every one of them to be genetically smarter and therefore more likely to lead except in species that also have a large “drone” % of their population (ants, bees, etc.) you also gotta think about shit like politicians and presidents, and emperors and kings before that and the slave trade in itself (Which is still going on in the form of sex slaves) and you gotta wonder if our species was instinctively meant for a small portion to try to control and use the rest as pawns
❤
Great story. Both hero’s. They were not the Nazi’s.
@@TrevorChurchill-yj5er My meternal grandfather was German and he fought in WW1, was a member of the NSDAP and SA, a Brownshirt. He was a prison camp guard in WW2 and was transferred for giving extra bread to Russian POWs and refusing to beat them as he said that was against Army regulations and the Hague Convention. They sent him to the Todt Organization as he was a fitter and turner and he helped build the Atlantic wall. After the war he tried to escape over the Alps with the escape route run by the Catholic monastries but Oma knocked him out with a frypan as she didn;t want to be left alone with 3 kids and the Russians and he missed the bus. They also hid a Jewish family in their garden shed in Berlin for 2 years as they had been helped by them during the Depression and Opa and the man were in WW1 together. He was a Nazi and no saint but still a decent bloke.
In the early 1980s I did some work for an old English gent who was living in a house in Auckland New Zealand. We got to talking after a day or so and in conversation it transpired he had been in the British Army and at Passchendaele in the first war. He related this story , He and some fellow soldiers were walking along a road just back from the front lines and a shell exploded close by, killing most of the group, he was (relatively) uninjured, apart from having an eyeball blown out from the shock/pressure of the explosion. The eye was still attached and functioning and he had to walk back to an aid station to be attended to. I asked him how he ended up in New Zealand and his reply was "to get as far away from that bloody place as possible" an absolute classic response.
it litterally is the other side of the world, I wonder if he ever visited it again though
Was his eye reattached or did he lose it? It sounds like it could've been out back in since it was still functional but I'd assume it was removed due to the state of medicine at the time.
Isn’t New Zealand a shit-hole politically….
@@peggedyourdad9560I was totally wondering the same!
That is a classic response. We once had a jewish couple from Germany who had survived the holocaust come in to speak at our school. They said they came to New Zealand "because if we travelled any further, we'd be on our way back again".
My great grandfather died in battle first day of Passchendale. I guess it’s a blessing he didn’t have to live through too much of the terror. Left behind a wife and son. RIP John Fife Campbell.
My great grand uncle survived Passchendale but he was later killed in action third day of the Amiens.
Good strong Scottish name there.
RIP
My Grandad was York & Lancs regt, he was involved before the third battle with a particular tunnelling company though he was infantry. He was wounded on his birthday, 5th October during the third battle, he received a serious gunshot wound, luckily he was rescued from the mud and taken to the field hospital where he was told the limb would be amputated as it was fairly well severed. By a miracle his doctor from home was serving at the hospital and they recognised each other, the doctor promised he would try everything to save his arm and he did though it was paralysed mostly. Saving his arm cost him, he was awarded a lower War pension than an amputee, he had also shrapnel injuries and had lung issues due to gas, he lived to his 80’s though spoke little of it, he had said he had seen men decapitated by shell fire and the body kept running, and the smell of captured German trenches was a mix of Sauerkraut and decomposing bodies. Corned beef made him feel nauseous because they ate so much of it. I wish I knew him when I was older and could have spoken to him about it. I have his medals which I treasure.
God bless you. My great grandad was in the 4th Territorial Battalion KOYLI (Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry). They were there at Passchendaele too and had also been at the Somme. My goodness it was a hell hole. Ypres and Passchendaele were often referred to as the meat grinder because the campaigns there had consumed so many men.
My uncle was a U.S. Marine combat veteran of the veitnam war. He was my HERO!!!! He didnt like to talk about his war either. Its really unfortanate. As a kid, he was the most amazing man i ever met and knew. I wish he would have told me more. Ive had to do the reaserch mostly on my own. History books are real quick to tell us about generals and admerials, but the men that did all the fighting get largely forgoten. As a man that has undying admireration for men that sacraficed so much, i wish we had more stories like this video and like your story. God bless.
The New Zealand troops...960 killed. That from such a small population.
@@daveware4117 Here in Udon Thani, Thailand I knew a man named Bill Stromberg. Out of an intake of one hundred, he was one of only two that passed the course to become a Green Beret. He came from the Tank Corps, was over six foot tall and, although old at the time I knew him, you could see that he had been a very strong and thick set man in his prime. Bill was a sergeant in the Green Beret's, and led cut and slash missions generally into Vietnam and Laos where his platoon would identify targets and call-in air strikes. He was generally point man. I asked him why. He responded by telling me that in the jungle there are no features that you can fix on to gain a bearing where you are. He was the best at reading the compass, so that is why he was appointed point man. He additionally had a sharp eye and was an expert at identifying and taking out booby traps. On his first tour Bill got wounded in the hand. It was a flesh wound that soon healed up. In his second tour he and his platoon were walking down a straight road through the middle of a village, I think in Laos. As they entered the top end of the village, a man in a white T shirt crossed the road. After that all hell let loose, and they hit the deck and took cover as they came under multiple automatic gunfire. Bill got shot through his hand again! He also got shot up the ass, which he attributed to someone in his own platoon being overzealous!! But his worse wound was a bullet that passed into the top muscle of his right arm. He showed me this, and the path of the bullet could clearly be seen, and most of his upper arm muscle had gone. He was medevac'd out and spent the rest of the war in Japan. Three of his platoon were killed, and sixteen NVA were killed in that firefight. I tried to talk about missions, but Bill would have none of it. As he said, a great many of the missions he went on are still classified, even today. He could not talk about specific missions, but what he did say is that on many occasions his platoon did not know whether they were still in Vietnam or had crossed the border into Laos. What is more, he hated a lot of the gung-ho Vietnam shoot em' up films and said that none of them really encapsulated what the guys there did. Yes, there was fighting, but Bill noted that the US army helped people too. The only film that was almost realistic was the jungle scenes in the film Platoon. Bill said that this was very realistic, and how he remembered it being too. I respected Bill very much. Always a big but quiet sort of guy, he would only speak if what he had to say was worth saying. I liked that. He confirmed, having arrived at Udon Thani Airbase when he first entered the Vietnam War, that Udon Thani was the headquarters for Air America in SE Asia who were flying in the main C-123 Provider two engine aircraft up Vietnam, but mainly into Laos. This airport was additionally the loading point for aircraft carrying agent orange defoliating agent, the base for Spooky and Specter gunships, as well as Phantom jets (the 13th Panther Pack of the 479th TFW flying F4-D's - Robin Olds was at one time the base commander and regularly flew on missions becoming a fighter ace), and the place where Laotian pilots took off from to launch attacks on communist forces in Laos using T28 Trojan prop aircraft. It was a very busy airbase indeed. Bill was soon moved out of Thailand and into Vietnam. In downtown Udon at that time were some 76 go go bars! In addition, there was The Champagne Rooms (where the Air America gang hung out) and The Bamboo Bar where a great many other servicemen hung out. I am still trying to track these places down. I do not think that there is a single go go bar in Udon Thani today, although there are still places where you can pick up women. How times have changed.
My Grandfather was a Sapper in the Royal Canadian Army. He was in Ypres at least by April 1915. What you said at the end of your post, I feel the same way. He passed when I was 4.
During my training to become a coldstream guard we visited this battlefield the advances where so small for so much life given
Agreed!
@@BattleGuideVTlet everybody
They were in such a rush! Nothing like our wars/governments today
@@natecote1971 Not so sure that's true. Now, all they hafta do is push a button, and a drone drops a bomb on a school. War is hell, period. No matter the time or difference in circumstances.
My great grandfather, a maori from New Zealand, fought there. Part of the Pioneer Maori Battalion Te Hokowhitu Atu, The One Hundred and Forty of The God Of War, Tumatauenga.
My great grandfather was there. 4th Territorial Battalion KOYLI (Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry). The battlefield was a quagmire. Nothing but mud, water filled shell holes, body parts and destruction everywhere. Ypres itself had been blown to blazes. The whole town was nothing more than a few ruins and heaps of rubble everywhere. As they marched on the way up to Passchendaele, it rained and rained. Day and night it rained. My great grandfather called it nothing more than a slaughter of good fine men on both sides, a sea of blood, a complete and total waste of human life. No wonder that there is so much growing there today on the old battlefield. That ground was once drenched in a sea of human blood. Great grandfather had never talked about the war too much outside of a close circle of friends, veterans of the war, he met regularly at the pub every Sunday. But as he recounted his experiences at Passchendaele to my father, the tears streamed down his face. I was only a small boy, and hidden away, but I still heard what was said and I glimpsed his face. 'Can you tell me where the glory is in men shot dead, men blown to pieces, and men maimed for life? Of men drowning in mud in water filled shell holes in full pack, of wounded men calling out for help slowly slipping into water filled shell holes and drowning. Where is the glory in that?' I remember that being said as the tears streamed out of his eyes. He was not just upset, but annoyed. Annoyed that the military in their infinite wisdom had by their strategies and actions procured the death of so many good fine men. This place was literally hell on earth. The battlefield littered with stinking rotting corpses and body parts. They were even in the trench walls. See the veterans of WW1 hardly ever talked about what they had experienced with their wives and relatives. And do you know why? Because these people would either tell them to shut up or intimate that they were telling a pack of blatant lies because it never could have been that bad. But these people had not been there, never seen the conditions, and had swallowed the lies they had been fed by others. So, a veteran normally would only converse about WW1 with a veteran, because both of them knew that what they were conversing about and their experiences in that damned bloody war were completely true. God bless those men that survived and died in that damn war. They were prepared to sacrifice everything. When they returned, they came home to unemployment, poverty, and pity. That and a few medals was their reward for all they had done, seen, and suffered. And the footage here has not been seen for years. And do you know why? There was miles of film footage of WW1. But most of it was never seen on television, the reason being that someone might see a friend , relative, or loved one who never returned. The first time any footage was seen mainly was in the BBC's Great War series in the 1970's, by which time many of the mothers, fathers, wives and sweethearts of the fallen men would have passed away themselves.
Hell Fire Corner was on the Menin Road on the way to Hooge .... not en route to Passchendaele. Fabulous post non the less.
You sure have a profound memory as a child. I was significantly older when my father told me about Vietnam and I don’t remember in even remotely the same detail
@@3vimages471 Sorry, that was my mistake. Probably arrived at through many other conversations I heard as a young boy with the veterans. I have put this to rights in my commentary.
@@fraser311 My memory is vivid, and so it should be. Every Sunday I was towed along by my great grandfather for crisps and pop at the local bar. Here he met up with his friends, just about all of which were veterans of WW1. I met and talked with many of them on multiple occasions. I was only a young lad, but I was always tab hanging and listening in on their conversations. They discussed many aspects of the various campaigns that they had been involved with, likes and dislikes of the general staff, and much more. I soaked it all up. My great grandfather only talked to my father once about Passchendaele. But there were other things too. On Guy Fawkes night in UK we build bonfires and set off fireworks. Great grandad would hide away in his bedroom too scared to come out. One time he was found cowering and shaking frightened under the stairs and had to be escorted upstairs to his bedroom. My great grandmother knew some things, but generally talking about his experiences at Passchendaele was not allowed, especially in front of me and other members of the family. If he ever got close to talking about it at home, he would generally be told this, 'Shut up, we are not interested, and do not want to know about it.' You see the war was long over, but for these men it never left them. Some would talk and talk about it but never got it out of their system. Some simply refused to talk about it and considered it as a blank in their life. Others when questioned would become belligerent and annoyed, and so you had to be careful about what you said and to who. I asked great grandma why great grandad never attended the fireworks on Guy Fawkes night (November 5th). She told me that the fireworks reminded great grandad of the battlefield at night, especially rockets, screech owls, and roman candles. Rockets going up and exploding sound like star shells. Screech owls sound like whizz bangs, which were fragmentation shells that were launched over trenches where they exploded in the air throwing steel fragments downward. Roman candles shoot up coloured flares into the sky. On the battlefield at night the Germans would first throw up a star shell. If they saw any activity, they would next shoot up a green flare. That meant commencement of bombardment and the guys out in no man's land knew they had been sighted and the artillery shells would soon be on their way.
@@MrMoggyman never met my gt grandfather who fought at Ypres, 31st July at Klein Zillebeke and 20th September at Tower Hamlets. My father recounts are similar to yours. It was dry zero hour 31st July, according to 20th DLI war diary, rain started later that day and didn't stop. Being waste deep in muddy water. He was a runner and got separated from his company and ended up fighting with the Royal West Kent's, the flank bn on the right at Pilkhem ridge, because he wasn't allowed to rejoin his company as they had been wiped out by gas, told to go back where he came. Hours of meticulous research allowed me the opportunity to put my father on the spot his grandfather fought at Klein Zillebeke in 2018.
Wow the story of the German soldier returning the photo is amazing. Thank you for sharing this often forgotten piece of history!
Very welcome!
He must have lived in what was then East Prussia, now Śląnsk, mostly in Polish Silesia.
I found this to be very passionate and powerful. Too badd he never found out his efforts were successful.
Wilczek is polish surname so that soldier was a pole serving in german army. Poles were forced to serve in the armies of countries that partitioned Poland. My great grandfather also served in the german army. I still have his memoirs with a lot of photos of him posing in german uniform etc. He was fighting on western front. Later he fought in 20's for Poland in Silesian uprisings.
@@johnjephcote7636why do you assume that?
You’ve probably heard that expression “it’s a small world”. My great uncle Sidney, dad’s father’s brother was killed in action at Passchendaele, South Staffordshire Regt. Five days later my wife’s grandfather Frederick, 31 Bn (Alberta) was badly wounded on the same patch of land. Those two men are part of our shared family. That was more than 100 years ago and they lived almost 7000km from each other.
It is, indeed, a small world. My Paternal Great-Grandfather was KIA while serving with the Alberta 31st Bn. My Maternal Granduncle was also KIA at Passchendaele.
Rest in peace 🙏
Small world indeed, my great gtandfather's brother's cousin's son probably did something in WW1. Amazing coïncidence.
A few years ago my (now ex) girlfriend was researching her family tree. We discovered that her Great Uncle is buried in the Saint Omer war cemetery in France. He's buried 3 graves along from my Great Grandfather. They died within a a few days of each other.
Incredible timing. I'm off to clean some soldier graves and two that have memorials to 2 of the 846 New Zealanders killed at Passchendaele on the 12th of October, 1917.
Thanks Denise... and thank you for your care of the graves. Some of our team are also volunteers tending war graves.
Do I have to ask the CWGC permission for that or can you just pick one and get started?
@@jasonnicholasschwarz7788 check out the CWGC Eyes On Hands On Project for more details.
My great-grandfather fought in Passchendaele, aged just 18 having had his birthday in the trenches. He was lucky enough just to get shot in the shoulder. He was shipped back to a hospital in England and ended up proposing to the nurse that looked after him. She was my great-grandmother and my family kept the bullet that was extracted from his shoulder as a good luck charm.
In a foreign field he lay Lonely soldier, unknown grave On his dying words he prays Tell the world of Paschendale Relive all that he's been through Last communion of his soul Rust your bullets with his tears Let me tell you 'bout his years Laying low in a blood filled trench Kill time 'til my very own death On my face I can feel the falling rain Never see my friends again In the smoke, in the mud and lead Smell the fear and the feeling of dread Soon be time to go over the wall Rapid fire and end of us all Whistles, shouts and more gun fire Lifeless bodies hang on barbed wire Battlefield nothing but a bloody tomb Be reunited with my dead friends soon Many soldiers eighteen years Drown in mud, no more tears Surely a war no-one can win Killing time about to begin Home, far away From the war, a chance to live again Home, far away But the war, no chance to live again The bodies of ours and our foes The sea of death it overflows In no man's land, God only knows Into jaws of death we go Crucified as if on a cross Allied troops they mourn their loss German war propaganda machine Such before has never been seen Swear I heard the angels cry Pray to god no more may die So that people know the truth Tell the tale of Paschendale Cruelty has a human heart Every man does play his part Terror of the men we kill The human heart is hungry still I stand my ground for the very last time Gun is ready as I stand in line Nervous wait for the whistle to blow Rush of blood and over we go Blood is falling like the rain Its crimson cloak unveils again The sound of guns can't hide their shame And so we die on Paschendale Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire Running straight at cannon fire Running blind as I hold my breath Say a prayer symphony of death As we charge the enemy lines A burst of fire and we go down I choke a cry but no-one hears Feel the blood go down my throat Home, far away From the war, a chance to live again Home, far away But the war, no chance to live again Home, far away From the war, a chance to live again Home, far away But the war, no chance to live again See my spirit on the wind Across the lines, beyond the hill Friend and foe will meet again Those who died at Paschendale
Credit: Iron Maiden (Steve Harris/Adrian Smith)
I thought I was reading a poem from one of the war poets and I was stunned to see it is a song from Iron Maiden, this is an amazing piece of work and so descriptive that I teared up a little, I must listen to song now, incidentally the rock band Motorhead wrote a beautiful and sad WW1 song titled "1916", 😢😞
Thank for sharing, let's all try to avoid this bloody mess, share a beer instead
@@nigelhearne8368 if it interests you Sabaton made cover of 1916
The version of "The Green Fields of France" by the Dropkick Murphys also always brings tears to my eyes. Never forget.
My grandfather fought with the Post Office Rifles at Passchendaele and was wounded there by shrapnel. He was sent back to England and given less than 6 months to live. He died in 1982 aged 87.
Did he die there?
@@hudson7354 Try reading the comment before posting.
@@jacketrussell so he died here ? The war was over in 1982 wasn’t it
@@hudson7354 Yes.......and he was 87. The doctors got it wrong. Duh.
Wow! Impressive to see at what lengths people are ready to go just to prove they know better than the doctors! 😊
My grandfather's brother, Bertrand Nihell, was killed at St Julien on 9th September 1917 at "Hackney Villa" , the British name for the German bunker Kaserne 2 Herzog Albrecht, that is briefly shown in the video. He is buried in the St Julien Dressing Station Cemetery, 330m away from where he died. I therefore found this video very poignant and thanks for all your efforts.
My grandfather's elder brother died on the 28th September. He was a sergeant aged 21 years old. It shows how absolutely terrific the casualty rate was in the Great War when such a young man could hold a quite senior NCO rank at such an age. The book 'six weeks' describes the fate of young Subalterns being posted to the front ... Six Weeks being the life expectancy having taken up their appointment, it's too sorrowful to comprehend.
Brilliant video. My grandfather took part in this battle as a member of the Auckland regiment from New Zealand. He made it home having been wounded here. I visited Tyne Cot cemetery near Passendale in 2017, thousands of soldiers' graves representing countries from all over the world. It was a somber and memorable visit, I'll never forget it.
It really was a World War...
How old are you?
My grandfather and his twin brother were with the Canterbury regiment in 1917 , the shell that took my grandfather's legs Also killed his twin brother next to him
My Grandfather from Wellington was also there. He was a rifleman and survived the initial advances but became ill with Rheumatic Fever that he contracted in the mud of the trenches and was invalided out as it affected his heart. He never fully recovered but did live long enough for me to meet him when I was a child
Brilliantly put together! As a Brit who was brought up in Belgium and having lived in the vicinity of Ypres for 25 years, you cannot help but be absorbed by WW1 history. Harry Patch, the last tommy, fought at Pilkem ridge. Subscribed!
Hard to root for Brits but these guys were just poor kids. They werent the real world colonizers
@ThatSB they were British and very proud of being so but like every other ordinary soul they were doing what they were told and had no choice at all. Colonisers are usually the higher echelons of society but the PBI'S (poor bloody infantry) always paid the price
Harry Patch was that guy.
My great great uncle had already been killed 13months prior to this battle at the battle of Estaires (Worcestershire Regiment - Private Aged 22), first battle to use a rolling barrage. I have walked most of the battlefields and stood in the field where he was killed. So humbling, just to sit in the graveyards and reflect the sacrifice that was made. Great well presented video. Looking fwd to more.
😢😢😢
106 years ago today ! Thank you.
Indeed... very poignant.
My grandfather was at paschendale, he was on artillery, deaf in one ear as I knew him, he loved gardening and spent all his time gardening, this was in the 70's and he was in his 70's but incredibly active, he never mentioned the war but my granny told me, I was in awe of my grandfather.
Maybe he became obsessed with gardening in an attempt to create as much life as possible to undo the death he had seen.
I think that's probably true, he was a bit scary sometimes, had a stare that went through you
Men who lived through war tend not to talk about it. My granddad never spoke of it. Even though he was not a soldier, even a child at the time of the second world war. His older brothers got sent to Germany to work the factories and only half of them came back. Lived through the winter of 44 when all people had to eat was flower bulbs and leather belts. All I have now is pictures. There's one of him and a hundred other kids in a soup kitchen, just days after the Germans surrendered in the low countries. I respected his decision not to speak more of it, and still do now, but I do wish I knew more. He also loved his garden and especially the grapes. We still have that grapevine at his house, which I now live in. He was a kind man.
My Great Grandfather was in the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles at Passchendaele. He was awarded the Military Cross for his leading a platoon in overtaking a pill box and rescuing prisoners. Thank you for making this documentary. It helps many learn more about their history and their families.
My grandfather was in the same regiment,Joseph Trombley he survived the war.
Touching lecture. Honorable Josef Wilczek. High morality is doing the right thing even if no one sees it. War brings out the worst and the best in people!
Just a shame he never got to hear wether or not the letter showed :(
@@martinjacobsen2992 Yes you ar right. Animals die, friends die, finally we ourselves die; but never dies the memory of a noble man's deed!
Since religion and Christianity has been rejected by society there is very little grace of this caliber. That’s why all these feral nineties babies want to tear down monuments and statues erected to honor both sides as a way to provide healing and honoring sacrifice. Grace.
Josef Wilczek saw the right thing to do, to honor the last wish of a fellow soldier. The respect men had for one another, even in the worst of times is something we all need to be reminded of.
Yes Josef Wilczek, an honorable soldier and man in so many respects. In fact it was noted by my great grandfather that towards the end of WW1 the German soldiers started surrendering in droves. But rather than sit on their behinds and do nothing, they actually volunteered as medical orderlies to go out into the battlefield and bring in wounded soldiers. For this purpose their steel helmets were painted white or red so that they could be easily identified as none combatants. One can only respect and admire those German soldiers for that action which they were under no obligation whatsoever to undertake.
Well done Battle guide. What an incredible documentary on the absolute hell that is Passchendale. My Great Grandfather Joseph Lawrence Long was killed there along with 842 other New Zealanders on our worst day of losses in any conflict. October 12th, 1917. My Grandfather, a veteran of the Boer War in South Africa, left behind his wife and my 6 year old Grandfather. His body was never recovered and his name can be cound in the centre rear wall of Tyne Cot cemetery in the NZ section. Visiting Tyne Cot is the most sobering place I have ever visited. The rear wall with over 60,000 British soilders names stretches across the whole cemetery. A tragic reminder of the incredible waste of these young mens lives. The amount of untold stories must be staggering but Im glad I could share that of my Great Grandfather. R.I.P
Well done. Terrible loss of life.
My Great..great uncle Clarence? Goodall, my Great grandfathers brother was another Kiwi bloke taken by Paschendaele and the machination of industrial genocide. 😢
Hedge row trench cemetery in de palingbeek, the nicest piece of garden, a cementary they know is there, a piece of garden they know who lies there, but never recovered any whole bod, … If you know the story a cementary is is easy to see how it became, Tyne cot the field dressing where is all started at the centr bunker, whit a lot of names on a few stones, later wit the cleanup operations it became a central cementary you can see it by then they where layer down in rows. The mindblowing thing how many fel it’s not only tyne cot is a whole line cementary. Just take a mak and start tonmark. And you will see the frontline rising before you, Tyne cot is a small part of history…. It was a hell off a war…
Wonderfully done, bravo. I've walked those roads and fields several times and peered uncertainly down the slope from Tyne Cot, but as with most of us, found it all impossible to imagine. This really helped put the savage human cost into perspective. Real people who loved their wives or had bad teeth (that poor fellow!) or tossed coins to see who would find the regiment so they might have hot food in the teeth of murderous shell-fire. I don't know how they endured it. A different generation certainly. Great post. I am much moved! Subscribed.
Thanks very much and glad you enjoyed it!
My Great Uncle died of his wounds on the 5th August 1917 aged 19 years. He served in the 17th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters which was part of the 117th Brigade and was part of the 39th Division along with the 116th and 118th Brigades. Your graphics show the 117th and the 116th going in first with the 118th going on to the third line. I found your video very moving because I could see what my Great Uncle would have experienced. If any of your viewers know more about the role of the 117th Brigade and the 17th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters in those early days I would appreciate hearing from them. I am confused about the distinction between a Battalion and a Regiment. Thank you for the time and effort you have all put into making this video.
Usually a number of battalions make up a Regiment... in this instance there was only 1 fighting battalion in the Regiment.
The quality if this doc is astounding. Thank you for all the work you do
My farm in S Africa was named Ypres by a Mr Haw , the original owner, who was at the battle himself.
My grandfather served with the 33rd batallion for the Australians. The record shows that they dissappeared when they got to the line but as it was when they arrived the artillery was practicing creeping barages with shrap and the battaliin thought they had already started and they followed in a panic. As it turned out they got to their finish point only to find no support from any other battalions who "melted away". They then had to retire as they started taking casualties in no mans land, they took enormous casualties. Grandfather was wounded by their own shrapnel getting to close so although surviving had to get wounded support.
My greatgrandfather was among the approx. 350 German soldiers who fell on the 31. July 1917. The tragic irony being that he actually belonged to the Danish minority in the Northern part of the duchy of Schleswig (at that time a Prussian province) who a few years before the war had opted for Prussian citizenship in order to be allowed to by a house. A house to be paid for at a high price: His death at 37 from a wife and several children. My grandmother, born 1908 had very few memories of him as he had very few and very short furloughs away from service at the front. Her youngest sibling was born some months after his death. That girl spent the last half year of the WW2 in the KZ of Ravensbrück for her resistance against the nazi regime of Germany occupying her homeland.
One of the Canadian Corps famous battles, the battle sends shivers through a person.
Hi Dan, you know of my grandfather's story, Pte. Harold Martin of Bishops Stortford. This day was his 20th birthday and he managed to reach as far as anyone else that day before being wounded in the head and leg. When the counter attack came, he made his way back to St. Julien and was told to join the Cambridgeshire lads, in reserve, as so few Hertfordshire boys made it back. Thanks for this video. Nick
Hi Nick, a pleasure, thanks for sharing his remakable memories and I hope we did his story justice in the video. All the best.
My father's eldest brother died on that day, aged 23 years, in the Third Battle of Ypres, at Klein Zillebeke, Ypres. He served as a Corporal in the 20th Bn. of the Durham Light Infantry. His body was not retrieved and his name is remembered on the Menin Gate, Ypres. Several years later our family received a memorial plaque (Death Penny) and a scroll, issued by the war office. We still have the plaque, but not the scroll. He had enlisted in 1915 and married in 1916. My father never talked of his brother and I knew nothing of this event until a few years ago when a book 'Durham Men in the Great War' came to my attention. It is shocking to see and read about this battle and others, even more so when you know that one of your relatives was killed in these circumstances and his body never recovered. The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) museum in Durham City was closed in 2016 by the then Labour-led Durham council, saying that there was a lack of interest in the attraction. This was a very shameful and disrespectful act, as families had spread the ashes of relatives who had served in this war in the grounds of the DLI museum and it was always busy when I went there. Fortunately, the equipment and records held at the former DLI museum was put into storage and the current Durham council are incorporating some form of gallery dedicated to the DLI into a council records building currently under construction.
My Grandmother's first husband Sargeant James Byrne of the Kings Regiment Liverpool was killed at Passchendaele in September 1917. My Grandfather fought alongside him.
So after your grandmother's first husband died, his comrade (your grandfather) married her?
That is correct...they married in 1923.
@@JamesSullivan-hy4xg Okay.
Yes same happed with me. My Nans first husband was killed in 1915 and she married my GD his mate in 1918. Lest we forget.
During the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge (20 September 1917) I think, strictly speaking. One of the three great victories of the autumn.
Watching this with tears in my eyes.. Extremely well told and bringing “ordinary” people to the for. How they went forward into battle (knowing what was waiting) like that is something the majority will never comprehend. My Great Grandfather was “lost” in France his name forever etched on the Cenotaph here at home. The suffering and loss they all went through is heartbreaking😔
Thank you for watching.
❤❤😊
Thank you for posting. My Great Uncle was in the 3rd Btn Worcestershire Regiment and was killed on the 11th of August near Westhoek.
So many stories to tell... thanks for your kind words.
@@BattleGuideVTa local guide once told us that Paschendale was called “the hottest place on earth”. One intersection had screens set up to try and keep hostile fire away from their movements
@@jonnyqwst The road junction just outside of Ypres is still known as 'Hellfire Corner' to this day.
I find this story like so many others from WW1, utterly heartbreaking. This is made all the more poignant by the inclusion of the results of the battle on actual individuals. Normal people whom gave their lives while the survivors were more than likely scarred for life. I too spent time as a serving British squaddie and we are not so different now to those that fought in WW1.
A superb description and illustration of a very tragic event and technically excellent, particularly the superimposition of contemporary photographs on present day drone footage. These brilliantly aided the understanding of what happened on that tragic day. The stories of some of those who participated were most moving and these are what, I think, people will remember the longest. Many thanks for an excellent piece of film making and story telling.
Thank you for the kind comment!
@@BattleGuideVTapart from showing french 75s artillery guns as used by Americans and American infantry climbing from their trenches, not knocking Americans but this was not their battle and I don’t think they fought on the western until October 1917
Thank you .... I have been to Wipers many times and always visit the amazing yet sad Tyne Cott cemetry. I have read a lot .... especially about the incomparable Noel Chavasse .... this videowith its drone footage is amazing. I will certainly find the Herts Memorial from 2017 on my next visit and pay my respects. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for the kind words.
"They shall not grow old." Well done lads.
Thanks for the kind words.
Superb timeline and presentation!😊
Thanks a lot 😊
Dude your channel and videos are so awesome. The mix of historic photos mixed with modern aerial shots gives so much clarity to what the battles were like. Incredible.
Impeccably done: impeccably timed. Thank you
You're very welcome!
Fantastic use of satellite images, drone shots and historical photos. You've done the memory of these men proud.
Thank you.
Not during 3rd Ypres, but my great grand uncle was killed at Ypres in July 1915. He was an 'Old Contemptible' of the 1st East Lancashire Regiment. Mortally wounded along with a quarter of the battalion after enduring 5 days of constant sustained heavy bombardment. This was just south of Ypres on a section on the Yser canal. It is hard to imagine what these men went through. Bless them all.
Thank you so much - exceptionally well done.
I love this analysis it's always been hard to picture the battlegrounds but you've made it clear!
My Grandfather Peter Duffy DCM MM was awarded his DCM at this battle. His Citation read " With complete disregard for his own safety he stretcher bore non stop for 36 hours during an attack, saving countless lives. His courage and bravery was an inspiration to the men"
What a brave man!
Thank you@@BattleGuideVT
I am from Hertfordshire. My Great Grandfather on my mum's side was a Telephonist for an artillery battery, in an Observation post on the day of the assault. His diary talks about the attack and he was in the area where the Herts began their push.
Excellent. Very informative and empathetically delivered. Bravo
This was amazing the detail the period photos next to the contemporary and the overhead photos brought this to life. Great work great great work.
This was so good! I hope to see more videos like this.
More to come!
Excellent documentary - far better than anything you get on the BBC these days! Your use of overlays on drone/ satellite images to show the positions and the contemporary images and film used were all first class.
Thankyou... an immense amount of work goes into their creation so we are glad they are appreciated so much!
Wow. That was the best video I have seen about a small part of a very big war. Your use of visuals, focusing in on a few people involved and a comprehensive look at the battle, made this an encyclopedic storytelling. Thank you for all the hard work in its creation and for posting it on KZhead.
This is one of the most comprehensive and compelling histories i have seen. Your use of maps is fantastic. Well done! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you for this balanced and informative narration of the first bloody day of battle. My paternal grandfather, William, was one of the 'lucky' ones who was returned to the UK after wounds received at Passchendaele. Knowing of his presence there, I found my visit to the battle-site to be very emotive but as you note, it was smaller than I expected. So many lives lost in such a small parcel of land. Tragic.
One of the best WWI accounts I have ever seen. Outstanding work that brings that war to life.
Thanks!
This is brilliant, I think it's fantastic the way you have combined map data, satellite imagery from now and reconnaissance photos from the war. The personal stories really bring it alive. Well done!
Oh wow another great video from this Channel! The maps, the graphics, the narration, the research, the personal stories, everything! Well done!
Excellent job you people are doing. Very watchable and presenting the subject in an interesting and engaging way. The story of Percy and the card sent to his wife was very moving. Being British-Austrian I hope our two countries never go to war with each other again. Honi soit qui mal y pense.
This is one of the best video presentations on any war/battle that I've watched. Clearly and concisely retold and supported by expertly applied drone footage and contemporary maps/photographs that place the men and each stage of the battle in perspective. I wish more documentaries were produced to this standard!
Thanks for the kind words.
Brilliantly done, especially with the drone shots and blend of current and wartime pictures
Excellent account. Your presentation style is so watchable; the informative annotated graphics held on screen long enough to take in, the merging of historic photographs with present day views helping to take the viewer back to that time. Your detailed account of what happened that day is enthralling, and the personal stories of men involved add so much to understanding the human cost of this battle. Good work. I'm subscribed.
Superb video. Precise information with excellent graphics and clear diction. Thank you so much for this. 👏👏👏
Thank you for the kind words.
First time I stumble upon your channel. Very interesting and thorough video. Definitely will watch more! My great grandfather was a WW1 veteran, although he fought in the Balkan theater. My grandpa always told me stories about him, so much respect for all the things those men had to endure.
Thank you... very glad you enjoyed it.
The rollercoaster of emotions whilst watching this video….bravo sir to your storytelling and RIP to those who gave everything
Incredibly well made video. Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely stunning depth and superb quality video, the kind of which is rare among the sea of ones, that are only scratching the surface. Though I'm neither British nor German, still I'm sincerely grateful for the content you created. These men and women deserve to be remembered, and I think you honored them with your work.
Thank you for the kind comments.
Dan and the team. I found this to be a thoroughly well produced, informative and emotive piece. You have done them, and yourselves, proud. My congratulations on a job well done. Kind regards from a serving officer.
Thanks very much Jonny.
One of the best made military documentaries I have watched on KZhead- and I’ve watched a lot!
Truly amazing production value. Excellent video, showing some of the individuals stories like I've never seen, and the aerial photography is fascinating.
These stories are outstanding
Thank you so much for the hard work you put into this video. My Great Uncle was killed by a shell on the 12th of October during the attack on a German blockhouse at Requete Farm, he was with the short lived Household battalion.
Thank you for the kind words.
By far the best war documentary Channel on KZhead. Keep up the good work.
Incredibly well done. Puts these battles into perspective by allowing the viewer to directly connect with both the battlefield and the struggles the average soldier needed to overcome in the worst of times. Thank you for your effort and excellence in research, writing and presentation.
Great story. Well made, well researched. Good work.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for a great presentation. The Kaiser lived in luxury in the Netherlands after the war. Old men start wars, and young men die in them. "All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal”. John Steinbeck
Rich man's war, poor man's fight
Well done, well put together.
i’m glad i found this channel !! wished i could have sooner !!! Absolutely love history and the military stories they tell of their experiences! True Hero’s!! thank you for this video my friend !!!
Love this Chanel great in depth information great video thankyou
Thanks for watching!
Woah. Great work. The super imposed photos are amazing. That and drone footage? Great narration and very personal, hard not to get emotional. Wow. Really good stuff. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words.
Thank you for the excellent video. You have kept the memory alive of such brave men for another generation.
you did an amazing job. so many historical accounts don't give a visual pre-amble nor do they provide an idea of who is going where.
Wow amazing and a wonderful account of the Herts.
Thank you.
Both my Grandfathers fought at Passchendale & I have been to Ypres myself.. it's still an eerie part of the world, you can feel the weight of the deaths there. There's an odd feeling at dawn, hard to explain.
Yes it does have a sort of sadness about it. I’m going again in December.
Looks like a field
Gettysburg in the US has that same feeling.
What an outstanding production, and so respectful to the men who served. Well done to all involved
A great video - many thanks for your work! Hertfordshire is just a couple of miles North of me.
Thank you for this video. It was the best dissection of an infamous battle I have seen. Lest we forget. Respect & thanks
Thanks for the kind words!
I visited Ypres. To pay my respects.. It was so sad.. Trench war fare. Rest in peace . Never forgotten.
I also visited Ypres in 2016 to pay my respects. So very sad RIP
For quite some time I'm interested in the Great War, and this is one of the best videos I've seen about the Third Battle of Ypres. Great visuals and narration. Keep up the good work my friends!
Exceptional video! thank you and keep up the great work 🙏👏👏👏
Very well done narration. Well researched. The losses were unimaginable. All films taken at that time in the various combat zones, should be released. More than that, they ought to be reprocessed in HD and colorized.
Fascinating video, best I saw ! 👍
Many thanks!
Kudos! This is absolutely the best documentary video I’ve seen on any WWI battle.
My Grandad was in Sudan with Kitchener my mum told me when he was young then he served in both South African campaigns. In 1914 he was an Irish Guard. He was at Mons until the end of WW1 where he was gassed but recovered. He was then back in Ireland and served in The Free State army through the civil war. I never met him as he died aged 82 before I was born. I bet he could have told me some amazing stories.
Amazing work you did. So much doged research laid in front of you. I wish to Thank you, and bid you and your work continued success.
Much appreciated!
Tears are a proper response. Peace to all those in khaki or feldgrau. They more than earned it.
That was incredible. Thank you so much for that. Whatever the war, whatever the equipment, medical facilities and training, when your mate falls you blame yourself. That was so well produced and so moving.
This is so well made. Amazing work.
Might it be possible for you guys to make some videos on Austro-Hungarian forcesin regions of Italy (Monte Grappa) and supposedly the Eastern Front with russia,somewhere around Budapest? I'm very interested in those battles,but can't seem to find much about them... Would be lovely of you to cover at least one of them if possible...thanks in advance or either way for even going such great lenghts to be more showing of the happenings,so people could easily understand how something happened,rather than just reciting the walls of texts over war footages... YOU GUYS ROCK!!! Through your ways of being more showing than just talking I BET people will appreciate and understand the battles more,than just having to listen and watch unrelated footages,like in the most documentaries...
Thank you for the kind words.
I am incredibly fascinated by World War I. The struggles of the men. While an American, i do not take the stance "we saved you". While it was timely that we were able to provide fresh troops and material to an incredibly long struggle, it was fought, HARD, by the men of Europe. Long before America arrived on the scene. Thank you for sharing your hard work.
You didn’t save us. We weren’t occupied. But we do appreciated the 6 moths you came to help us.
@@sugarkane4830 - i never meant to say that that i do... i meant to say that i do not. *sighing at myself*. I have edited my post to reflect my true intent. France, Britan, Italy, and many, many more, fought hard, and earned the victory. IMO, Germany was on the verge of collapse in my opinion. The only thing the arrival of American troops and equipment achieved, was an acceleration of that victory. America did not win that war. Those that came before did.
Read up on the Battle of Hamel. A successful combined arms attack by General Monash. The Australian Army involved the US Army infantry, it wasn’t meant to happen, but did due to “mis” communications on that day.
Tremendous work. A wonderful tribute to those fallen and those who survived. I visited the Somme in 2016. Lest We Forget.
X-tremely well done !!!! I most liked the aerials with the historic aerial overlay !