Article

2007-07-18 Europe

Hell on Earth: The never before seen colour photographs of the bloody battle of Passchendaele

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Posted by Delphi 2007-07-18 10:28|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 It wasn't trains who caused the mud. It was that teh zone was floodable and the shells broke the dikes. It was that the generale daigned to inbspect the battle scene after the battle.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2007-07-18 12:17|| 2007-07-18 12:17|| Front Page Top

#2 The photos are simply amazing.

Posted by Mike 2007-07-18 13:08|| 2007-07-18 13:08|| Front Page Top

#3 Pictures two and three are bad.

Picture one is enough to curl a body's toenails.

Posted by kelly 2007-07-18 14:14|| 2007-07-18 14:14|| Front Page Top

#4 Over 2000 killed per day for months! For essentially no reason. Today 2000 per year, even for cultural survival, is not bearable.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2007-07-18 14:48|| 2007-07-18 14:48|| Front Page Top

#5 Glenmore, we have had less than 4000 killed in Iraq/Afghanistan in almost six years, and people complain.
As the Allies in WWI could have said, 4000 dead was just a slightly bad couple of days.

Posted by Rambler">Rambler 2007-07-18 15:31|| 2007-07-18 15:31|| Front Page Top

#6 10,000 troops killed in 20 minutes. That is how long it took for the US 1st Cavalry to sink three Japanese troop carriers that had anchored to unload re-inforcements in what they thought was a bay occupied by Japanese troops. US intel decoded a message of the pending arrival of the transports and first cav took out the Japanese troops in that bay. And waited behind the Japanese gun emplacements.

So yes, 4,000 in 6 years is really not even close to a one day battle per WWII standards...

Posted by Elmomoth Javitle4523 2007-07-18 18:13|| 2007-07-18 18:13|| Front Page Top

#7 I've had the pleasure of speaking to a family friend who live through WWI. He was a child and so was his sister, but he remembered vividly his parents took him to a church for they believed the kids would be safe. They were in France for some reason or another. Day by day the shelling was drawing nearer and nearer. He descibed a hell on earth scene and for weeks they were at the Church knowing that it was coming closer and closer. He recalled having to leave on a kart, going through the shelled out remains the only thing standing still the chruch, up and down through the mud and craters. He said it should have taken them a few hours to reach where they were going after leaving the church. Instead it was days and days, and all the while behind them, the shelling was getting closer and closer. It was an amazing story, he was quite old when he told, but the whole time his eyes were closed and I could see the re-living on his face. I cannot even pass on the detail he described.

It is tough to relay here, but he recalled so vividly and my recollection was pictures like this.

Posted by bombay">bombay 2007-07-18 19:48|| 2007-07-18 19:48|| Front Page Top

#8 I've seen pictures of horses with gas masks in battle zones that are hellish...

Posted by borgboy2001 2007-07-18 20:50|| 2007-07-18 20:50|| Front Page Top

#9 wow.....

Posted by RD 2007-07-18 22:02|| 2007-07-18 22:02|| Front Page Top

#10 the first photo is a set from Hell.. the "living" characters in Hell...

the photos and poems are among the great works of art IMO

Posted by RD 2007-07-18 22:11|| 2007-07-18 22:11|| Front Page Top

#11 It is recorded that after the battle, Haig's chief of operations when to the battlefield for the first time, looked around, then broke into tears, saying "Dear God, we sent men to fight in that?"

Posted by Anonymoose 2007-07-18 22:50|| 2007-07-18 22:50|| Front Page Top

#12 Continuous artillery barrage doesn't improve drainage.

Posted by Super Hose 2007-07-18 23:04|| 2007-07-18 23:04|| Front Page Top

23:59 Eric Jablow
23:55 Mark E.
23:48 Super Hose
23:48 USN, ret.
23:36 Cromert
23:33 Barbara Skolaut
23:32 USN, ret.
23:27 Barbara Skolaut
23:25 Barbara Skolaut
23:22 RD
23:16 Super Hose
23:07 RD
23:06 Super Hose
23:04 RD
23:04 Super Hose
23:03 Super Hose
22:55 Super Hose
22:53 trailing wife
22:52 DarthVader
22:50 Anonymoose
22:48 Super Hose
22:47 DarthVader
22:47 Anonymoose
22:43 DarthVader