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King's Own Royal Regiment Museum Lancaster |
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The Battle of Passchendaele 1917 The King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment had several battalions serve at the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, and a few thousand soldiers of the regiment fought in the battle. The following is a statement from the Passchendaele Archives, Belgium: 'Did your granddad fight in Passchendaele 1917? Did he give his life?' The Passchendeale Archives are a project of the Memorial Museum in Passchendaele. Passchendaele 1917 was one of the biggest battles of the Great War. In 100 days of heavy fighting 245,000 British, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and South Africans were put out of action for a progress of only five miles. In Passchendaele, the back walls of Tyne Cot Cemetery contain the names of 35,000 missing from 16 August 1917 onwards. The Menin Gate commemorates another 55,000 soldiers missing before that date. About half of them have a grave with the inscription 'A Soldier of the Great War'. Others are still buried somewhere in Flanders Fields..... No matter how impressive a visit to Tyne Cot or other cemeteries is, one can only fine gravestones and engraved names on missing memorials. With the 'Passchendaele Archives' we want to put a face and a story on those names by building up personal archives with photographs, family information and copies from military sources. In order to avoid a duplicate of the excellent Commonwealth War Graves Commission database, we only start up a file if a photograph is available and if the man fell between 12th July and 15th November 1917. Aims 1. building up personal archives with thousands of files to be
consulted in the Memorial Museum We Need Your Help Did a relative of yours fight in Passchendaele 1917? Did he give his life? If you have a photograph, please contact us. We do not desire any original, a good copy is sufficient. You may copy or scan that yourself, but we can also do it for you. In return for your cooperation we will try and find out what exactly happened to your relative. You will receive a copy of a trench map with the approximate place where he was killed or mortally wounded. With this comes a short report based on the war diaries of his unit. The Passchendaele Archives Email: archives@passchendaele.be Website:
http://www.passchendaele.be |