image-1 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/2.jpg
title-1 = The private
description-1 = Studio portrait of 3129 Private Harold Thomas Sell, 33rd Battalion of Granville, NSW, who fought at Ypres. (Source: Australian War Memorial, H06663)
status-1 = 1
image-2 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/1.jpg
title-2 = Robert Henry Noble
description-2 = Studio portrait of 2913 Private (later Lance Corporal) Robert Henry Noble, 36th Battalion, who fought at Ypres. (Source: Australian War Memorial, P05413.069)
status-2 = 1
image-3 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/3.jpg
title-3 = 7th Battalion AIF
description-3 = Group reunion of the 7th Battalion AIF. (Source: AWM, P09772.007)
status-3 = 1
image-4 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/9.jpg
title-4 = A ruined motorcar near Passchendaele
description-4 = The ruins of a transport vehicle near Passchendaele (1917)
(Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
status-4 = 1
image-5 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/11.jpg
title-5 = Medics at work
description-5 = Medics at work in Passchendaele.
(Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
status-5 = 1
image-6 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/10.jpg
title-6 = Gunmen
description-6 = An artillery position near Passchendaele (1917).
(Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
status-6 = 1
image-7 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/12.jpg
title-7 = An unidentified group of men at Ypres, Belgium
description-7 = A photograph of an unidentified group of Allied soldiers near Ypres, dated to 1917.
(Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission)
status-7 = 1
image-8 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/7.jpg
title-8 = ANZAC day dawn service
description-8 = Personnel from the Australian Defence Force, the New Zealand Defence Force and the Belgian Armed Forces stand at ease during the Anzac Day dawn service at Buttes New British Cemetery, Belgium.
status-8 = 1
image-9 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/8.jpg
title-9 = Forest near Ypres, Belgium
description-9 = A clearing near Ypres in recent years. Located near the Menin Gate Memorial.
(Source: ADF Image Gallery)
status-9 = 1
image-10 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/4.jpg
title-10 = Centenary of the Battle of Polygon Wood, Belgium.
description-10 = The ADF participates in a headstone dedication service for Lance Corproal James Launchbury and Private Charles Williams at the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium on 26 September 2017. This was part of the 100th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of Polygon Wood. (Source: ADF Image Gallery)
status-10 = 1
image-11 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/5.jpg
title-11 = Headstones marking fallen Australian soldiers in the Buttes New British Cemetery, Belgium.
description-11 = Headstones marking fallen Australian soldiers in the Buttes New British Cemetery, Belgium. (Source: ADF Image Gallery)
status-11 = 1
image-12 = images/Battle-of-Ypres/6.jpg
title-12 = Family tribute
description-12 = Musician Fiona Wilkins, from the Australian Army band, visits the grave of her great uncle, Private Edward Burnell Wilkins, at a cemetery near Ypres, Belgium. (Source: ADF Image Gallery)
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Photo Essay: Battle of the Ypres, Belgium (1917)
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It was one of the defining battles in the latter part of the quagmire that had become the Western Front and yet another desperate attempt to break the stalemate – the Battle of Ypres was a series of subsequent engagements during 1917, which served to galvanise the Australian reputation as a premier fighting force.
It was one of the defining battles in the latter part of the quagmire that had become the Western Front and yet another desperate attempt to break the stalemate – the Battle of Ypres was a series of subsequent engagements during 1917, which served to galvanise the Australian reputation as a premier fighting force.
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Straddled between France and Germany, Belgium formed a crossroads between Allied and Axis powers during both World Wars.
Over the course of the First World War, fighting took place at Ypres on a number of occasions. These include:
- First Battle of Ypres (19 October – 22 November 1914), during the 'Race to the Sea'.
- Second Battle of Ypres (22 April – 15 May 1915).
- Battle of Passchendaele (31 July – 10 November 1917) also known as the Third Battle of Ypres.
- Battle of the Lys (9–29 April 1918) also known as the Battle of Estaires or the Fourth Battle of Ypres.
- Fifth Battle of Ypres (28 September – 2 October 1918)
There were five separate engagements ranging from 1914 to 1918, the most notorious of which was the Battle of Passchendaele. Also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, this was one of the most deadly battles of the First World War.
An offensive launched from Ypres in Belgium by celebrated British strategist Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, the Allies hoped to drive the Germans from the surrounding ridges in a bid to push them back to the Belgian coast.
The attack was launched on 31 July, and Australian infantry divisions would join it at Menin Road on 20 September 1917. Joint advances of the 1st and 2nd Australian divisions allowed the Australians to push up to Polygon Wood, before the 4th and 5th divisions took over.
The photos document the lives and deaths of Australian troops on the front lines of Passchendaele.
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