5 October 2007
The most disastrous day in New Zealand’s military history will be marked by two ceremonies on 12 October in Belgium.
The ceremonies, to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, will be attended by New Zealand Defence Force personnel including the Chief of Army Major General Lou Gardiner who will be joined by Rugby World Cup supporters and RNZRSA representatives.
The Battle of Passchendaele on October 12 1917 was the most tragic day in New Zealand’s military history; in just two hours more than 2800 men were killed, wounded or listed as missing in action. Casualties on both sides were so bad that an informal ceasefire was granted for stretcher bearers to allow the wounded to be cleared from the battlefield. Recovering the New Zealand wounded from the battlefield took two and a half days.
“October 12 is a significant date in New Zealand’s history where more people died on a single day that any other day in our history. It is important that we remember the courage exhibited by the soldiers who fought and died here,” said General Gardiner.
“The courage, commitment and comradeship of the New Zealand soldiers at Passchendaele is an example to all of us serving today,” he said.
A dawn ceremony will be held at 6.30 on 12 October at Tyne Cot Cemetery which will be followed by a New Zealand wreath laying ceremony at the New Zealand Memorial at 's Graventafel at 11.00am.
ENDS
For further information please contact Ally Clelland, Defence Public Relations 006421 569 130.
Passchendaele 90th Anniversary image gallery
Background
The name Passchendaele is synonymous with images of sinking mud, shell holes filled with water, and vast expanse of barren wasteland.
The Third Battle of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele, was one of the major battles of World War I, fought by British, ANZAC and Canadian soldiers against the German Army in 1917. The aim of the battle was to break through the German defences and capture Passchendaele Ridge then drive north to the Belgian coast and capture the German submarine bases there. After three months of fierce fighting the town was finally taken by the Canadian forces, but the allies suffered almost half a million casualties, and the Germans almost a quarter of a million.
Allied soldiers who lost their lives at Passchendaele are commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing and at the Tyne Cot and neighbouring Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries. Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world with nearly 12,000 graves, including 519 New Zealanders, 322 of them unidentified.