Media Release

12 October 2012

Battle of Passchendaele Remembered 95 Years on

A national commemorative service to mark the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele was held today at the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Wellington.

The ceremony was attended by The Honourable Chester Borrows, Major General Tim Keating, MNZM, Chief of Army and foreign representatives from Britain, Germany and Belgium. Wreaths were laid in remembrance of New Zealand troops who served in the Battle of Passchendaele.

The Battle of Passchendaele was part of the final stages of the Third Battle of Ypres, and took place in Belgium on 12 October 1917. Within the first few hours New Zealand suffered 2,700 casualties, with 845 of these servicemen killed.

The Third Battle of Ypres began on 31 July and lasted until 6 November 1917, when the village of Passchendaele was eventually captured. On October 12, a planned attack on Bellevue Spur near Passchendaele was poorly organized, and extreme weather conditions meant that preparation for the attack could not be completed in time.

Artillery could not be positioned correctly due to mud, meaning the planned creeping barrage was weak. In the early hours of 12 October, New Zealand troops from 2nd Brigade and 3rd (Rifle) Brigade attempted to advance on German positions towards Bellevue Spur. The New Zealand artillery fire failed to destroy German machine-gun posts and the New Zealand troops were exposed to German machine-gun fire, leading to significant causalities.

The battle had a significant impact on the New Zealand Division, and on New Zealand as a country. To have such dramatic losses in the scope of a few hours from a population of about one million meant that many families and communities in New Zealand were touched in some way by the tragedy of the battle.

ENDS

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