Despite initial successes, the attack soon became bogged down and hampered by rain which turned the battlefield into liquid mud. Passchendaele began at 3.50am on 31 July 1917 when Gough’s Fifth Army launched their attack over a 15 mile front. The National Youth Choir of Scotland will perform at all three commemorative events and around 100 graduates of youth empowerment programme National Citizen Service (NCS), aged 16 to 19, will be part of the delivery team at the commemorations. Welsh poet Hedd Wynn, who was killed on the first day of Passchendaele, will be honoured in the commemorations, along with Irish poet, Francis Ledwidge, who was also killed in action on 31 July 1917. We hope that with Michael Morpurgo’s specially written short story alongside Joey’s appearance at the commemoration of Passchendaele, we can remind people of the cavalry action and the bravery of both men and animals during the First World War.
We are absolutely delighted to be bringing War Horse to Ypres for this historic event. Lisa Burger, Executive Director of The National Theatre of Great Britain said: This story has gone from the Western Front to the West End, and now it is returning to where it all began. It captured the defiant black humour of the British Forces in the face of overwhelming adversity. This satirical trench newspaper was born in the ruins of Ypres and named Wipers by the Tommies who could not pronounce it. It is a great honour for the Wipers Times play to be included in the commemoration of Passchendaele. That is what we must not forget, which is why we must continue to tell the story, to pass it on.īroadcaster Ian Hislop, who co-wrote The Wipers Times with Nick Newman, said: It is a moment to reflect on their lives, and on the terrible nature of that war and of all wars, and on the importance of maintaining peace. We are now a hundred years on from the battle of Passchendaele, one of the most appalling battles of the First World War, in which thousands upon hundreds of soldiers suffered and died. It is easy to forget that so many of those who came before us, fought and died to defend the liberties we enjoy today. We are inclined to take for granted our freedoms and our rights. It is ever more important in this complex world for young people to know the roots of their history. Serving military personnel and descendants will read out letters and diaries from their ancestors as part of a service of remembrance to those who fought at Passchendaele.Īll our yesterdays help us to comprehend our present. On Monday 31 July, thousands of descendants of the men who fought, and those with a connection to the battle, will attend a ceremony at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest CWGC cemetery in the world, where almost 12,000 men are buried. As part of the ceremony, representatives of combatant nations will lay wreaths under the Gate. The event will be preceded by the traditional Last Post ceremony which has taken place every evening at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial since 1928.
It is important for us to commemorate and remember not only those who never returned home from the Western Front, but the families and the communities they left behind. This battle has become synonymous with the horrific conditions of the trenches, and the futility of the war. Karen Bradley, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said:Ī century on from the horror of Passchendaele, the nation will come together to remember the sacrifice of those who were there. Recordings of interviews with First World War veterans and first-hand accounts from soldiers, nurses and loved ones will also be read out and projected onto the Cloth Hall. Images from the War will be projected onto the town’s Cloth Hall, which was famously destroyed and later rebuilt. The commemorations will also feature extracts from The Wipers Times, the play by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman based on the satirical trench newspaper published by British soldiers fighting on the Ypres Salient. His live reading of the story will be accompanied by an appearance by the much-loved horse puppet Joey from the acclaimed National Theatre stage adaptation of War Horse. The work by Michael Morpurgo has been specially written for the national commemorations on Sunday 30 July.