6 Jan '17

Ticket drawing to attend massive Passchendaele commemoration

Summary

Those hoping to attend the British government’s major commemorations events of the Third Battle of Ypres need to enter an online ticket drawing

 

Summer memorial

The British government is offering 4,000 free tickets to the commemoration of the Third Battle of Ypres via an online draw. The battle took place at Passchendaele in West Flanders from July to November 1917.

The Third Battle of Ypres was launched by the Allies to take control of the ridges east and south of Ypres. It was only partially successful and remains extremely controversial to this day. The number of casualties is also contested, with anywhere from 200,000 to 450,000 fallen Allied soldiers and between 215,000 and 410,000 Germans.

The commemoration begins at the Last Post ceremony in Ypres on 30 July, the eve of the start of the battle. Live performances will follow the ceremony on the adjacent square, and a film will be projected on the famous Cloth Hall.

The following day, the commemoration will move to Tyne Cot cemetery (pictured) in Passchendaele, home to 12,000 graves and 35,000 inscriptions of names of the dead whose remains have never been found.

“The Belgian government is deeply committed to supporting the commemoration of this historical event of exceptional magnitude,” said Paul Breyne, Belgium’s commissioner for the commemoration of the First World War. “It is of the utmost importance to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and peace. We look forward to welcoming those British citizens and visitors from other nations who will travel to Belgium to pay tribute to those who fought with dedication and bravery, 100 years ago, in this devastating battle.”

Photo: Gary Blakeley/Wikimedia

First World War

Claiming the lives of more than nine million people and destroying entire cities and villages in Europe, the Great War was one of the most dramatic armed conflicts in human history. It lasted from 1914 to 1918.
Flanders Field - For four years, a tiny corner of Flanders known as the Westhoek became one of the war’s major battlefields.
Untouched - Poperinge, near Ypres, was one of the few towns in Flanders that remained unoccupied for most of the war.
Cemetery - The Tyne Cot graveyard in Passchendaele is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world.
550 000

lives lost in West Flanders

368 000

annual visitors to the Westhoek

1 914

First Battle of Ypres

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