The silence of a solemn gathering at an Ipswich park next Monday will be broken by whistles marking the centenary of the start of the Battle of Passchendaele.
The battle, which raged on the Western Front, began on 31st July 1917 and exactly 100 years later members of the public are invited to join the Mayor of Ipswich, Sarah Barber, in Christchurch Park at 7.15am.
The commemoration has been organised by the Royal British Legion, and veterans and cadets will stand in silence as whistles are blown at 7.30am to mark the “going over the top”.
The Battle of Passchendaele (officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres) began in July 1917 and lasted until November, with dreadful weather bringing a sea of mud to the Flanders trenches.
The casualties at Passchendaele were horrendous – 275,000 dead or wounded on the British and Allied side and 220,000 German victims.
Historians still argue over the success of the campaign, which ended after the British and Canadians won a hard-fought victory at the Belgian village of Passchendaele. However, all the land won by the Allies at Passchendaele was evacuated in the face of an impending German attack in 1918.
Issued by the IBC press office, tel: 01473 432035
