Major commemorations to take place this summer to mark centenary of one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Major commemorations will take place in Belgium in the summer to mark the centenary of one of the bloodiest battles of the first world war, the UK culture secretary has announced.

Four thousand free tickets will be made available to descendants of British soldiers killed in the battle of Passchendaele for the events to be held in the town of Ypres, 100 years since the offensive was launched.

More than half a million troops – 325,000 Allied troops and 260,000 Germans – died in the battle, officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, in the West Flanders region of northern Belgium in 1917.

Among those to fight in the battle – described as “hell” by war poet Siegfried Sassoon – was the “Last Tommy” Harry Patch, who died in July 2009, aged 111.

The events will mark 100 years since the battle started and the wider four years of fighting in the Ypres area – known to British troops as “Wipers”.

Announcing the events, Karen Bradley said: “As we continue to commemorate the centenary of the first world war, it is important that we remember the horrors of the battlefields of Ypres and honour the many who lost their lives.

“Some of the first world war’s most defining images of futility, mud, gas attacks and trenches come from these very battlefields.”

Passchendaele was intended to be a major breakthrough for the British, a year after the horror on the Somme, 70 miles to the south in northern France.

But appalling weather, including the heaviest rain in 30 years, and dug-in German defences conspired to create an attritional battle in which the Allies gained just five miles in three months.

Previous shelling had turned the area into a quagmire and in places soldiers, horses and pack mules drowned in the mud because it was so deep while guns, tanks and other machinery seized up.

Patch, aged 19, served as a private in the 7th Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry until he was wounded by shrapnel on 22 September 1917.

Speaking in 2005 about his experience he said: “War is useless – that’s what my message would be. We lost thousands of men [at Passchendaele] to settle what? Nothing.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tyne Cot cemetery at Passchendaele, near Ypres. Photograph: Brian Harris/Alamy

Sassoon’s poem Memorial Tablet, written in the voice of a dead soldier, includes the line: “I died in Hell. They called it Passchendaele.”

The commemoration will see a traditional Last Post ceremony take place at the Menin Gate memorial to the missing in Ypres on 30 July, the eve of the centenary of the start of the battle, followed by live events in the Belgian town.

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The following day, there will be a ceremony at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Tyne Cot cemetery, outside the town, where 12,000 troops killed in the battle are buried.

The 4,000 tickets for the public are available via a public ballot open online at www.passchendaele100.org until 24 February. There is also a smaller ballot for a very limited number of tickets for the event at the Menin Gate memorial.

Both events will be shown on large screens in the centre of Ypres for those unable to get tickets, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said.

Paul Breyne, the Belgian general commissioner for the first world war commemoration, said: “The Belgian government is deeply committed in bringing support for the commemoration of this historical event of exceptional magnitude.

“It is for the Belgian people and the Belgian government of utmost importance to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and peace.

“We are looking 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.”