Oldham Historical Research Group

'THE GREAT WAR',     'THE WAR TO END WAR',     'WORLD WAR 1'
'What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
- Only the monstrous anger of the guns.'
                                                                                                  
from 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' by Wilfred Owen

The Battle of 3rd Ypres - Passchendaele

GALLERY

Below is a selection from the hundreds of photographs taken during the Battle of 3rd Ypres
and to be found on the IWM Website.
Thumbnails, with IWM descriptive caption, link you to a larger image

CO 2241
CO 2241
Canadian Assault on Passchendaele
12 October - 6 November:
A derelict tank stuck in the mud.

CO 2252
CO 2252
Canadian stretcher bearers
carrying a wounded soldier through
the mud of the Ypres Salient, 1917.


CO 2253
Assault on Passchendaele
Canadian Pioneers laying tape
through the mud for a road to Passchendaele.

E(AUS) 1122
E(AUS) 1122
Horses and men of 1st Anzac Corps
on their way past the ruins of the
Cathedral and Cloth Hall in Ypres.

E(AUS) 1222
E(AUS) 1222
Assault on Passchendaele
Line of infantry marching to a forward
area along a muddy corduroy track
strewn with debris at Westhoek.

E(AUS) 1233
E(AUS) 1233
Assault on Passchendaele
A soldier running along a corduroy
track through Chateau Wood.

E(AUS) 3864
E(AUS) 3864
Battle of Broodseinde 4 October:
Men huddled in funk holes with
corpses in front of them in a
railway cutting at Broodseinde.


Q 2864
A British Vickers machine gun crew
in action during the Battle of Menin
Road Ridge, 21 September 1917.

Q 2902
Q 2902
Battle of Passchendaele.
From a captured German pill-box,
during the Battle of Polygon Wood.

Q 5856
Q 5856
British troops drawing bombs from
a store in a reserve trench near
Pilckem, 9 August 1917.

Q 5862
Q 5862
Artillery supply column crossing a
pontoon bridge over the Yser Canal
near Boesinghe, 9th August 1917.

Q 5872
Q 5872
Carrying up sleepers for a light
railway in Wytschaete.
11 August 1917.

Q 5931
Q 5931
Regiment entraining between
Brielen and Ypres on coming out
of the trenches, 27 August 1917

Q 5969
Q 5969
Battle of the Menin Road Ridge.
Men of the 13th Battalion, Durham
Light Infantry, resting in trenches
during their advance on Veldhoek,
20 September 1917.

Q 6055
Q 6055
A packhorse being loaded with
duckboards at Wieltje,
12 October 1917.

Q 6458
Q 6458
12-inch Mark 1 Howitzer on a
railway mounting of the 104 Siege
Battery, RGA at Salvation Corner,
3 August 1917.

Visit the Imperial War Museum Website HERE to see more pictures.
(the link takes you to the search results for 'Passchendaele 1917)
To view the selection of pictures identified in the gallery below, replace the search term, 'Passchendaele 1917' on the IWM page,
with the individual catalogue number shown below.

CO 2202
Stretcher-bearers bringing in a wounded man over muddy ground at Passchendaele, 14 November 1917.
CO 2246
Men of the 16th Canadian Machine Gun Company holding the line in a landscape of mud and water-filled shell holes, November 1917.
E(AUS) 941
Exhausted stretcher bearers from the 3rd Australian Division rest in the mud and drizzle of Broodseinde Ridge, during the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), 11 October 1917.

E(AUS) 962
A mule team of the 1st Anzac Corps stuck in the mud at Potijze Farm..
E(AUS) 1071
Assault on Passchendaele 12 October - 6 November: Most of the men (about forty only) left in the 8th Australian Battalion after the opening push of the second battle of Passchendaele on 26 October. Photograph taken as they were on their way
E(AUS) 1211
Assault on Passchendaele 12 October - 6 November: Men of the 50th Australian Battery clean their 18 pounder guns after a heavy strafe. Guns of the 1st Brigade occupy the top of Anzac Ridge in the distance, second battle of Passchendaele
E(AUS) 1220
Australian troops walk along a duckboard track through the remains of Chateau Wood, Third Battle of Ypres
Q 2906
Men of the Royal Garrison Artillery use a gantry and winch to load a shell into a 15-inch Mark II howitzer, 27th September 1917, during the Battle of Polygon Wood part of the Battle of Passchendaele.
Q 2913
Transport for an Royal Field Artillery battery and other units mustering to move up the line from Poperinghe, during the Battle of Polygon Wood, 26 September - 3 October, part of the Battle of Passchendaele.
Q 2915
British soldiers rest on a dump of shell-cases, beside the Ypres-Menin road, 30th September 1917, during the Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Battle of Passchendaele. In the background is passing a horse-drawn gun limber of the Royal Field Artillery.
Q 2916
Motorised and horse-drawn artillery transport on the Ypres-Zonnebeck road. In the background enemy shells explode, trying to locate the battery, 30 September 1917, during the Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Battle of Passchendaele.
Q 2917
Motorised transport on the Ypres-Zonnebeck road, alongside which wrecked transport are seen with their split loads of shells, etc. 30 September 1917, during the Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Battle of Passchendaele. In the background men are...
Q 3001
An ammunition limber on a road near Ypres, 6th September 1917.
Q 3007
Battle of Poelcappelle. Manhandling an 18-pounder field gun through the mud near Langemarck (Langemark-Poelkapelle),
Q 3008
First Battle of Passchendaele. Two guardsmen bringing in a wounded comrade on a stretcher. Near Langemarck (Langemark-Poelkapelle), 12 October 1917.
Q 3012
First Battle of Passchendaele. Guardsmen, including men of the 4th Battalion, Coldstream Guards, with a telescope and Lewis Gun resting on wooden post about to open fire on a German aeroplane, near Langemarck (Langemark-Poelkapelle), 12th October 1917.
Q 3207
Ruined train on the railway line at Nieuport Bains. A man of the 2nd Manchesters is holding a post. 8 September 1917
Q 3241
Two tanks passing through Oosthoek Wood near Elverdinge, 11 September 1917.
Q 3252
Men of the 124th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery manhandling a 9.2 inch howitzer over muddy ground at Pilkem near Ypres, 14 September 1917.
Q 5707
British troops laying a light railway line near Boesinghe, 28 July 1917.
Q 5708
British troops laying a light railway line near Boesinghe, 28 July 1917.
Q 5712
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Men of a Pioneer Battalion in light railway trucks and others moving away towards the line. Brielen, 31 July 1917.
Q 5713
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Men of a Pioneer Battalion getting out of light railway trucks. Brielen, 31 July 1917.
Q 5714
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. A wire-carrying fatigue party pf one of the Guards battalions crossing the Yser Canal by a duck board bridge. Near Boesinghe, 31 July 1917
Q 5721
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Scene on captured ground near Hooge. British troops digging trenches, a fatigue party wearing Yukon packs going up and wounded being brought down. 31 July 1917.
Q 5730
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Wounded men are tended by medical staff as they lie on stretchers on the grass at an RAMC advanced dressing station near Boesinghe (on the left flank of the British Fifth Army). One man has his arm in a sling. 31 July
Q 5767
British soldiers cleaning up after coming out of the trenches. Near Ypres, 3 August 1917.
Q 5768
British soldiers cleaning up after coming out of the trenches. Near Ypres, 3 August 1917.
Q 5769
British soldiers cleaning up after coming out of the trenches. Near Ypres, 3 August 1917
Q 5771
Battles of Ypres, 1917. Men of the Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) cleaning their rifles after coming out of the line, 3 August 1917.
Q 5772
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Wrecked artillery limber and dead mules of the 36th Division on the road at Saint-Jean, 31 July 1917
Q 5864
Pack mules taking up ammunition in wicker carriers. Note a shell-burst in the background. Pilckem Ridge, 16 August 1917.
Q 5890
Battle of Langemarck. Shell bursting in the ruins of Boezinge Station. The remains of a train can be seen in the distance. In the foreground, a smashed up trench in the revetting of which railway sleepers were used, 17 August 1917
Q 5902
A group of horses are led down a muddy road near Zillebeke. In the left foreground is a large puddle in a shell crater. In the distance, a shell burst can be seen in the sky and a few damaged trees are visible on the skyline, 22 August, 1917.
Q 5903
Working party draining captured ground. Culvert on the Ypres-Comines Railway, near Zillebeke, 22 August 1917
Q 5931
Men of the Midland Regiment (Middlesex Regiment ?) entraining between Brielen and Ypres on coming out of the trenches, 27 August 1917.
Q 5932
British working party passing a shell dump on a light railway outside Ypres, 27 August 1917.
Q 5936
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Royal Engineers carrying wood for a bridge across the Yser Canal. Note the mud and the wearing of waterproof sheets. Near Boesinghe, August 1917.
Q 5939
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Shell-carrying pack-horses splashing through the mud on a road north of Ypres, crossed by railway line, 1 August 1917.
Q 5940
Battle of Pilckem Ridge. Shell-carrying pack mules moving forward through the mud. Note a railway line in the background. Near Ypres, 1 August 1917.
Q 5971
Battle of the Menin Road Ridge. A signals section of the 13th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, equipped with telescopes, field telephone and signalling lamps, watch the battalion's advance on Veldhoek on 20 September 1917.
Q 6039
Men of the Gloucestershire Regiment breaking stones for road making, Zillebeke, 5 October 1917.
Q 6327
A knocked out British tank half submerged in mud and water near St Julien, 12 October 1917.
Q 6454
Men of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry fusing Stokes mortar bombs near Ypres, 1 October 1917
Q 6459
Battle of Polygon Wood. Infantry moving up the line past camouflaged tanks at Clapham Junction close to the Menin Road, three and a half miles east of Ypres, 26 September 1917.
Q 3995
A Vickers machine gun team from the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) wearing PH Type anti-gas helmets in action near Ovillers during the Battle of the Somme, July 1916
Q 2868
A view of the newly captured ground taken from the main road to Zonnebeke during the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, 20 September 1917. Shells can be seen bursting in the distance.
Q 91758
Members of No.1 Section, 131st Machine Gun Company, receiving training on the Vickers machine gun at Belton Park Camp, Grantham, Lincolnshire in 1915.
Q 91759
Members of No.1 Section, 131st Machine Gun Company, receiving training on the Vickers machine gun at Belton Park Camp, Grantham, Lincolnshire in 1915.
Q 23665
Personalities: General Sir Herbert Plumer, Commander of the Second Army, General Sir Herbert Lawrence, Chief of the General Staff and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig standing on the steps of General Headquarters, Western Front.

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