Wednesday 2 August 2017

Newspaper column 2 August 2017 - Remembering the Battle of Passchendaele

This week I thought it was appropriate to pause and reflect on the centenary of the start of the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Battle of Ypres - one of the bloodiest of World War One.

Passchendaele was fought between 31 July and 6 November 1917 in the West Flanders region of northern Belgium. The allied objectives were to narrow the front of combat in Belgium and also to capture the coast back and deny the Germans access to the sea, where they had several U-boat bases, which were causing havoc to shipping to the UK.

About 275,000 Allied troops and 220,000 Germans were killed, wounded or went missing in this time, a loss of life that to me is beyond comprehension. To put this into perspective almost as many people died as who currently live in Cornwall today.

In the past I have written about former Member of Parliament Captain Thomas Agar-Robartes, whose constituency encompassed much of the present St Austell and Newquay constituency, and whose memorial in St Austell has just been listed. Captain Agar-Robartes’ name is rightly remembered for his heroic actions and death on the field of combat in the earlier Battle of Loos in 1915.

However, many, many more people from Mid-Cornwall died during the Great War.

While writing this column I came across the story of Edward Saunders who was born in Mid-Cornwall in 1898.

It is likely that Edward was conscripted under the Military Service Act which introduced conscription for all unmarried men aged 18-41 at the start of 1916. Edward fought at Passchendaele from July through to October 1917. By the end of October the battle had broken down into a bloody stalemate with massive casualties on both sides.

The battle fell into a daily routine with artillery bombardment followed by skirmishes and then the main attacks. On 22 October, Edward Saunders died in one of these preliminary skirmishes. He was 19 years old. Edward had no known grave and because of this he joins 35,000 similar British casualties incurred after August 1917 in the Battle of Passchendaele who are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial which today stands in the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium.

Looking back at the Battle of Passchendaele it is difficult not to see this loss of life as anything but futile. While the front was narrowed, the Germans kept their U-boat bases. Writing after the war, then Prime Minister Lloyd George wrote,

"Passchendaele was indeed one of the greatest disasters of the war ... No soldier of any intelligence now defends this senseless campaign ..."

However these soldiers followed orders and fought and died for their country. It is important that we remember the sacrifice of everyone who fought and served in conflicts like the Great War, as their actions then have allowed us our way of life today.

As always, my team and I are here to serve the whole constituency and work hard to make a real difference to the lives of everyone needing support. If there is an issue you would like my assistance on then please contact me on either 01726 829379 or office@stevedouble.org.uk. Additionally, I hold regular, appointment only, advice surgeries across the constituency. Dates of these can be found at: www.stevedouble.org.uk/events