My great uncle lays somewhere in Flanders fields. The only time I saw my hard nosed grandmother cry was when she talked about her 'baby brother'. She polished his death penny everyday, so much so the name is barely visible now.
My Grandfather fought in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, with the New Zealand Division, taking part in the capture of Messine, then later in the attacks of 4th October and 12th October 1917, a date that is still regarded as the blackest day in New Zealands history. My Grandfather had already fought as a 16 year old at Gallipoli and the following year on the Somme.
My Great-Uncle fell at Passchendaele.In 2015 I became the first member of my family to honour him by laying a wreath at his name on the Menin Gate.RIP Edwin Hodges.
Thank you for making this report. My grandfather was a member of the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles and was hit by shrapnel at Passchendaele on 30 October 1917, losing a leg. I visited the Canadian memorial at Passchendaele on 11 November 2022, 105 years after he had been there. Seeing the picture of Clifford Oulton, age 15, was especially poignant. Not only was he he boy soldier, my grandfather might well have known him, as they were in the same unit.
My grandfather fought as a corporal Lewis gunner in the war, but like so many others, he never ever spoke of it. It was only years later I found out that he was wounded three times and gassed twice, although as a child I did know there was something wrong with his lungs because he was often coughing and bringing up phlegm. A few years ago I was able to make a pilgrimage to the battlefields and cemeteries and although I held it together pretty well it was at the Thiepval memorial that I just became a puddle. You can say the numbers and it doesn't resonate, but when you see them, that's when it hurts. I often wonder how all these cemeteries survived the Second World War, too.
I’ve gotten stuck in mud once in the Army so thick and deep up to my knees- I had to be pulled out by a buddy. Walking in mud is so exhausting, and just caked layer on layer on your boots. …thank goodness no one was shooting at us.
The Battle of Ypres (Passchendael) has always fascinated me, and the low chance of me every having the time or money to visit means this video is a godsend to me.
I highly recommend a book by Lynn Macdonald called “They called it Passchendaele” it has over 1000 interviews with combatants from both sides who fought there. A truly outstanding book.
so unreal seeing you 10kilometres from where im typing this right now!! been watching your videos for so long its really awesome to see you at Belgium i hope you like your stay with us!!
Beautiful work. I just hope younger generations make the effort to understand the enormous sacrifices these soldiers made under simply horrifying conditions and led by mediocre leaders 50 miles behind...
My Great Uncle was missing presumed dead on 30 October 1917 at 3rd Ypres while serving with 7th Bn Royal Fusiliers. His father tried to trace him after the war and received a letter back from a LCpl in his Platoon saying that he was wounded and was last seen making his way back to the Dressing Station. It is presumed that he died in the mud and is lying somewhere under the fields of Passchendaele. Great video Chris, thank you for the excellent videos you create during your on site visits.
Wow. The more and more I learn about the first World War, the more and more heartbreaking it gets. This is some truly powerful stuff. When people think of heros, nowadays, they often think of Iron Man or Batman, etc... But men like J.P. Robertson are the real heros and to hear their stories are absolutely incredible. Thank you, Chris for creating content like this that keeps the real life stories and memories of the surviving and dead heroes, alive. God bless you and God bless these men.
Thousands of feet march to the beat, it's an army on the march Long way from home, paying the price in young men's lives Thousands of feet march to the beat, it's an army in despair Knee deep in mud, stuck in the trench with no way out
I was standing near where you were looking up a Passchendaele Ridge while standing in front of a drainage ditch hearing a lecture about the battle. Then in the sky a biplane started practicing stunt maneuvers and rolls in the sky above the ridge. Reminded me of the opening scene of "The Blue Max" where the infantryman in the trenches looks up from the mud and blood to the machine in the blue sky and then transfers to pilot training.
I was thinking as I watched, "wow! how many bodies are under those nice houses in that little neighborhood. " I wonder about the horrors of builder digging foundations in that mud of what they may find.
Finding unexploded shells is an everyday part of life there, especially for farmers ploughing their fields. Some farmers don't even bother calling the police or ordnance disposal, they just pick up these shells and pile them next to their fields to be picked up later. Luckily, finding human remains is not as common, but it's definitely not unheard of, especially on larger infrastructure projects.
My Great, Great Uncle was killed on 5th October 1917 at Polderhoek Chateau. He served with 15th (Service)(2nd Birmingham) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He is listed on the Memorial to the Missing at Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele.
My great uncle fell at Langemark on 16th Aug 1917. It was phase 2 of the Passchendaele campaign. He was blown to hell along with most of C. Coy 2nd Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers even before they left the trenches. The 5th Army of which the 16th Irish and 36th Ulster divisions were part of were massacred that day thanks to the top brass. The German artillery knew where their reserve trenches were and opened up 15 minutes before they went over the top. He is remembered on panel 146 in Tyne Cot cemetery and has no known grave. The missing up to the 15th of Aug 1917 are remembered at the Menin Gate memorial. From the 16th Aug onwards they are on the panels of the missing at Tyne Cot.
I remember when The Great War Channel covered the Allied offensive that took Paschendaele in 1918 towards the end of the war. To all intents and purposes, they retook all that ground within a few days at most. It must have been a somewhat cruel irony for those that had fought there the previous year to advance so quickly past landmarks and objectives you spent weeks fighting over.
Good work again. It took me a while to look into and start appreciating your original content, but it's growing on me. You are able to tell a story and make it come alive, while also providing actual understanding of the events. Like, I had heard for ages how WW1 trench warfare was a muddy mess, but never knew that it was a consequence of the Flemish nature and the collapse of drainage infrastructure in the area. In the future, will you do something on how things were on the German side?
You should definitely put together all the episodes as a multi-hour long video for more views like the Somme series. I would definitely rewatch it all again.
My gt gt grandfather was part of 2ND Anzacs,66th Div (some bodies of said div troops were found in Passchendaele by the Canucks once they took the place) and got gassed(survived with 50% disability) sometime between 7th and 19th October 1917. I've never been but am planning to in the near future.
Seeing the harrowing images of the battlefield makes you wonder how the hell you could ever be able repair such a hell on earth yet it looks like any other piece of European countryside now.
Walked the battlefield from ypres to passedale. Spent 4 days on my own walking the area. As churchill said. There is no more sacred place for the british empire than here. Ive visited many places on this earth. This is the place that touches me. Tread softly, heroes lie here
Thank you for making these videos. I love that you include enough of the overall picture to understand the battle mixed with the human element. Great work!
Hi, Chris, that was brilliant, your on site videos are exceptional, while watching I kept thinking back to the events of July 1914 and the many opportunities to prevent the war at that time. It also made me think of something I read which while not entirely true probably has an element of truth in it it said the war was inevitable because of the jealousy felt by one of Queen Victoria's grandchildren towards another. I would just take this opportunity to give another mention to a video by The History Chap about Dr Noel Chavasse the only double VC winner of WW1, he received his second at the 3rd Battle of Ypres and its an inspiring tale. The video is just under 20 minutes long.
My granny her cousine Albert Bosmans fell there in october 17 yr 1917 His grave are in province Brabant town Buizingen every yr i go to him are the 3e génération that honor him
When i was a child a man lived near us ,who had one leg ,his trouser leg was rolled up keot in place by a safety pin . Being a child i asked what had happened to his leg ,he said i lost it at Passiondale pet ,i didnt know as a 6yr old what Passiondale was ,i asked my dad ,he just said a big battle in ww1 . Years later wgen the man died an old lady told me that he was 19yrs when he was wounded,all those decades he'd used a cruch to get about ,he was in his 80's when he died . I used to put flowers on his grave,until i moved away .
Hey, Greece celebrated its Independence day on March 25th! It's War of Independance from the Ottoman Empire was a pretty crazy story. Kings and Generals have a wonderful, if not a bit long video on the topic. I'd love to see a reaction! Is anyone else interested?
Nice video, that said i have a couple of complaints: When you mention that the germans had the highground a panoramic shot where you break down the differences in elevation. Also a look at the drainage system or at least some schematic would had been nice.
You say half a million men fell, not all were killed that the approximate total of casualties for both German and Allied. The Allied deaths were c53,000.
Kinda feel like Douglas Haig is massively misunderstood I think a lot of historians are trying to change the view of Haig in common perception of him being a butcher.
The veterans of the First World War generally thought well of him. Political opponents like Lloyd George were quite critical in his lifetime and in the 1960s books like Clark's "the Donkey's" and shows like "Oh What a Lovely War" cemented the negative reputation (along with the War Poets). However, Passchendaele was probably his worst performance and the attack was continued too long for little return. But he was often motivated to continue attacks in his sector to relieve pressure elsewhere in the war.
@@sartanawillpay7977 Most of the Generals who were not willing to learn how to fight that like French were let go. The ones that did eventually learn made the difference. Haig learned to rely on those Generals who were willing to learn like Plumer, Byng, Rawlinson, Currie and Monash.
@@tommcdonald1873 Absolutely. The British Army (and the Dominion troops) under Haig sought to develop new tactics and technology to "solve the riddle of the trenches." There had been flashes of what was to come at battles like Vimy Ridge and Cambrai and during the 100 days campaign it all came together. Unfortunately, the tragic reality was that no victory or lesson came cheaply during the First World War.
@@tommcdonald1873 People always say Haig was stuck in his ways yet at the Somme Haig knew what was happening and request to wait until more experienced troops arrived he knew how green the lads he had under him were but commanders said no Haig was also one of the first people to realise immediately the strategic effectiveness of the tank despite people like to say.
The Canadian victory at Passchendaele was truly impressive and added to our nation's growing reputation as having the best offensive fighting force on the Western Front.
The Canadians, led by one of the few truly concenious commanders of not just that war, but any. But successfully created into the equivalent of the Imperial Guard for the British Expeditionary Force. And then for ninety years, forgotten by those in their homeland, now finally revered as true heroes and their General as a legend.
I have an idea for a video you can do. Since you know so much about the American Civil War, make a video of yourself in a hypothetical world of how you as President would've handled reconstruction
An excellent summary. BUT - I do wish you wouldn't present your commentary in the present tense. It becomes very confusing when you're speaking in the present, yet presenting the past.
As I'm learning more about history and specially WW1, it's so shocking to me that Paaschendale isn't taught in high school. If there's ever an example of the futility of World War 1, it's this. One of my favorite songs from Sabaton is Price of a Mile. It's so heartbreaking to even start to think what these poor soldiers must have gone through. They really do summarize it "Half a million lives are, six miles of ground has been won"
