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They Called It Passchendaele
The third battle of Ypres, culminating in a desperate struggle for the ridge and little village of Passchendaele, was one of the most appalling campaigns in the First World War. In this masterly piece of oral history, Lyn Macdonald lets over 600 participants speak for themselves. A million Tommies, Canadians and Anzacs assembled at the Ypres Salient in the summer of 1917, mostly raw young troops keen to do their bit for King and Country. This book tells their tale of mounting disillusion amid mud, terror and desperate privation, yet it is also a story of immense courage, comradeship, songs, high spirits and bawdy humour. "They Called It Passchendaele" portrays the human realities behind one of the most disastrous events in the history of warfare.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
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About the author
Lyn Macdonald
17 books86 followersOver the course of her career Lyn Macdonald established a popular reputation as an author and historian of the First World War. Her books are They Called It Passchendaele, an account of the Passchendaele campaign in 1917; The Roses of No Man's Land,, a chronicle of the war from the neglected viewpoint of the casualties and the medical teams who struggled to save them; ,Somme, a history of the legendary and horrifying battle that has haunted the minds of succeeding generations; 1914, a vivid account of the first months of the war and winner of the 1987 Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award; 1914-1918: Voices and Images of the Great War, an illuminating account of the many different aspects of the war; and 1915: The Death of Innocence, a brilliant evocation of the year that saw the terrible losses of Aubers Ridge, Loos, Neuve Chapelle, Ypres and Gallipoli.
Her superb chronicles of popular history were notable for their extensive use of eyewitness and survivor accounts, and she drew on oceans of contemporary letters and diaries as well as capturing the memories of a dwindling supply of veterans. In doing so, she cast a unique light on the experiences of the ordinary ‘Tommy’ in the wider context of the First World War, documenting the innocence of a lost generation and bringing to life the disillusionment, the questioning and the heroism of the men of the British Army. “My intention,” she said, “has been to tune in to the heartbeat of the experience of the people who lived through it.”
Her superb chronicles of popular history were notable for their extensive use of eyewitness and survivor accounts, and she drew on oceans of contemporary letters and diaries as well as capturing the memories of a dwindling supply of veterans. In doing so, she cast a unique light on the experiences of the ordinary ‘Tommy’ in the wider context of the First World War, documenting the innocence of a lost generation and bringing to life the disillusionment, the questioning and the heroism of the men of the British Army. “My intention,” she said, “has been to tune in to the heartbeat of the experience of the people who lived through it.”
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December 18, 2020You can imagine the structure of this book as the events of the battle of Passchendaele forming a bare framework to which are attached excerpts mostly from diaries or accounts written by British (and a couple of colonial) servicemen (maybe there are a couple from women nurses too), the only exception to this are some excerpts from the diary of a Belgian Priest. Although Canadian and ANZAC soldiers were numerically significant in the campaign their voices don't feature much - except in the case of the Australians to disrupt British army parades. These excerpts are almost all from officers and men on the ground, or more literally, in the mud - the weather during the fighting was unusually wet, to the point that movement away from duckboards was extremely slow.
This is entirely valid and fair but from the outset we can note the perspective is warped in two different ways, it is Anglo-centric and focused on those attempting to carry out orders, the strategic and organisational side is not something that Macdonald looks at, it really is a soldier's story.
It begins with a plan - though perhaps hopeful intention might describe it better - to breakthrough the German line by Ieper (Ypres) to capture Ostend and Zeebrugge in order to relieve pressure on the French and to prevent German U-boots from operating from those ports. This was to be achieved by exploding 22 massive mines under the Messines Ridge and then advancing Infantry with tank support.
At zero hour on the 7th of June 3.10AM, 20 of the mines exploded (one exploded in 1955, the remaining one hadn't by the time Macdonald published this book in 1978 ) allowing British forces to advance a few miles by November 1917 when Macdonald closes her account. It is very much an account of 'the pity of it all' and veers towards a 'Lions led by donkeys' view of the war. I felt nauseous reading at times seeing the immense amounts of artillery and munitions deployed and the extent of the destruction.
Tactically, apparently parts of the infantry assault were rehearsed in advance, behind the lines. Which was interesting to read. Strategically the operation in Macdonald's account comes over as a complete mess - the process of mining and the detonation of the mines took place before Haig received permission from the cabinet to launch an offensive in Flanders, while in London Lloyd George was committed to supporting the Italian war effort rather than to repeating the experience of the 1916 battle of the Somme. The absence of a co-ordinated allied war strategy and planning was shocking, from the point of view of the cabinet in London they were tricked into allowing a Flanders offensive, while equally the British Generals in France felt they were being unjustly deprived of men and equipment. In the end like the man chasing after two rabbits, the allies achieved neither a breakthrough on the Italian front nor in Flanders.
It is a gruesome story, briskly narrated.
This is entirely valid and fair but from the outset we can note the perspective is warped in two different ways, it is Anglo-centric and focused on those attempting to carry out orders, the strategic and organisational side is not something that Macdonald looks at, it really is a soldier's story.
It begins with a plan - though perhaps hopeful intention might describe it better - to breakthrough the German line by Ieper (Ypres) to capture Ostend and Zeebrugge in order to relieve pressure on the French and to prevent German U-boots from operating from those ports. This was to be achieved by exploding 22 massive mines under the Messines Ridge and then advancing Infantry with tank support.
At zero hour on the 7th of June 3.10AM, 20 of the mines exploded (one exploded in 1955, the remaining one hadn't by the time Macdonald published this book in 1978 ) allowing British forces to advance a few miles by November 1917 when Macdonald closes her account. It is very much an account of 'the pity of it all' and veers towards a 'Lions led by donkeys' view of the war. I felt nauseous reading at times seeing the immense amounts of artillery and munitions deployed and the extent of the destruction.
Tactically, apparently parts of the infantry assault were rehearsed in advance, behind the lines. Which was interesting to read. Strategically the operation in Macdonald's account comes over as a complete mess - the process of mining and the detonation of the mines took place before Haig received permission from the cabinet to launch an offensive in Flanders, while in London Lloyd George was committed to supporting the Italian war effort rather than to repeating the experience of the 1916 battle of the Somme. The absence of a co-ordinated allied war strategy and planning was shocking, from the point of view of the cabinet in London they were tricked into allowing a Flanders offensive, while equally the British Generals in France felt they were being unjustly deprived of men and equipment. In the end like the man chasing after two rabbits, the allies achieved neither a breakthrough on the Italian front nor in Flanders.
It is a gruesome story, briskly narrated.
April 12, 2018
Douglas Haig’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Sir Lancelot Kiggell visited the battlefield near the end of the campaign and was reported to say “Good God! Did we really send men to fight in that?”
Author Lyn Macdonald does a great job of taking the reader to the 3rd Ypres battlefield to revisit the battle known as Passchendaele through the eyes of the men of the British Empire that fought it. The author found a way to string together hundreds of firsthand accounts to tell the story. In the margin of the book Macdonald lists the name, rank, military occupational specialty and unit of the person telling the short one or two paragraph anecdotes. I have never read a book quite like this. Most authors will paraphrase or use a few quotes and maybe borrow a few first-hand accounts but Lynn Macdonald weaves together eye witness accounts of ministers, nurses, riflemen, engineers, pioneers, machine gunners, artillery, tankers, quartermasters, and bicycle troops from lowly privates up to field grade officers in order to tell the story of the battle. Through these first-hand accounts, I was able to experience some of the horror of Passchendaele. It really put me in the mud, wet, cold, and terror of the battlefield.
Why were so many missing? Simple! When a man was wounded or killed they slumped over in the quagmire and settled deep in the mud. Why does Belgium have to have military teams destroy ~100 tons of ordinance per year, every year since the battle was fought 100 years ago? Because thousands upon thousands of unfired artillery rounds and ammo dumps of every sort would disappear deep in the mud all over Flanders.
Eye witnesses tell hair raising stories in their own words. Stories like that quartermaster that was attempting to deliver 600 rations to the front to feed a Battalion only to be told inside a concrete bunker that was rocking like a boat in a storm from shell fire that the 600 men no longer exist. Mules, horse teams, artillery, and soldiers disappear in the mud. Never have so many sacrificed so much to gain so little ground. This is disgusting.
The eye-witness accounts do flow and the author adds paragraphs to help tell the story. Lyn Macdonald also provides several maps with great detail but at the end of the day it is all still a bit confusing. But darn it of course it is confusing because that is what war is. I guess the best example is when the British advance to capture a concrete bunker that was just earlier occupied by the Germans. A few hours later the new occupants of the bunker are startled with a request in German to enter the bunker. It was a German Sergeant that had just received a pass to go on leave and all he needed was a signature from his Captain who hours before was inside that bunker. The German Sergeant enters the bunker and to his dismay realizes that it is now occupied by troops of the British Empire. The German immediately starts crying and swearing the litany. He has to be consoled by his captures. Several officers actually consider letting the poor bastard go on leave. War is like this.
You will get some strategy. Macdonald does briefly visit the strategy and the motivation behind the campaign. The French were on the verge of collapsing and Haig’s strategy was to take pressure off the French and capture a key rail hub in Belgium and Germany’s submarine pens on the Belgian coast. However, this isn’t a book to discuss deep strategy in detail. This is a book about the men sent to execute the strategy and the horrendous difficulties they had trying to overcome the endless rain, bottomless quicksand-like mud, while dodging bullets, gas, and artillery.
I have read several WWII books where senior officers made more frequent visits to the front and exposed themselves to greater danger than their seniors did in WWI . They did this because of their experience as junior grade officers in WWI. To have Kiggell make a statement like that after a quarter million casualties and several months of fighting is mind boggling and almost criminal.
Author Lyn Macdonald does a great job of taking the reader to the 3rd Ypres battlefield to revisit the battle known as Passchendaele through the eyes of the men of the British Empire that fought it. The author found a way to string together hundreds of firsthand accounts to tell the story. In the margin of the book Macdonald lists the name, rank, military occupational specialty and unit of the person telling the short one or two paragraph anecdotes. I have never read a book quite like this. Most authors will paraphrase or use a few quotes and maybe borrow a few first-hand accounts but Lynn Macdonald weaves together eye witness accounts of ministers, nurses, riflemen, engineers, pioneers, machine gunners, artillery, tankers, quartermasters, and bicycle troops from lowly privates up to field grade officers in order to tell the story of the battle. Through these first-hand accounts, I was able to experience some of the horror of Passchendaele. It really put me in the mud, wet, cold, and terror of the battlefield.
Why were so many missing? Simple! When a man was wounded or killed they slumped over in the quagmire and settled deep in the mud. Why does Belgium have to have military teams destroy ~100 tons of ordinance per year, every year since the battle was fought 100 years ago? Because thousands upon thousands of unfired artillery rounds and ammo dumps of every sort would disappear deep in the mud all over Flanders.
Eye witnesses tell hair raising stories in their own words. Stories like that quartermaster that was attempting to deliver 600 rations to the front to feed a Battalion only to be told inside a concrete bunker that was rocking like a boat in a storm from shell fire that the 600 men no longer exist. Mules, horse teams, artillery, and soldiers disappear in the mud. Never have so many sacrificed so much to gain so little ground. This is disgusting.
The eye-witness accounts do flow and the author adds paragraphs to help tell the story. Lyn Macdonald also provides several maps with great detail but at the end of the day it is all still a bit confusing. But darn it of course it is confusing because that is what war is. I guess the best example is when the British advance to capture a concrete bunker that was just earlier occupied by the Germans. A few hours later the new occupants of the bunker are startled with a request in German to enter the bunker. It was a German Sergeant that had just received a pass to go on leave and all he needed was a signature from his Captain who hours before was inside that bunker. The German Sergeant enters the bunker and to his dismay realizes that it is now occupied by troops of the British Empire. The German immediately starts crying and swearing the litany. He has to be consoled by his captures. Several officers actually consider letting the poor bastard go on leave. War is like this.
You will get some strategy. Macdonald does briefly visit the strategy and the motivation behind the campaign. The French were on the verge of collapsing and Haig’s strategy was to take pressure off the French and capture a key rail hub in Belgium and Germany’s submarine pens on the Belgian coast. However, this isn’t a book to discuss deep strategy in detail. This is a book about the men sent to execute the strategy and the horrendous difficulties they had trying to overcome the endless rain, bottomless quicksand-like mud, while dodging bullets, gas, and artillery.
I have read several WWII books where senior officers made more frequent visits to the front and exposed themselves to greater danger than their seniors did in WWI . They did this because of their experience as junior grade officers in WWI. To have Kiggell make a statement like that after a quarter million casualties and several months of fighting is mind boggling and almost criminal.
April 16, 2023
Rightly a classic. Lyn Macdonald brings the voices of those who talk part in the battles of Passchendaele to the reader. One of the early authors to approach history through the accounts of so many participants. This is an important book for anyone interested in the First World War.
This isn’t historical analysis, but an important gateway to understanding the perspective of frontline soldiers involved in the battle. Accessible to those new to the subject and experts alike.
This isn’t historical analysis, but an important gateway to understanding the perspective of frontline soldiers involved in the battle. Accessible to those new to the subject and experts alike.
October 16, 2018
Fantastic. Lyn Macdonald largely ignores the finer details of tactics and troop movements. Instead she tells the human story of Passchendaele, from the allies perspective, drawing extensively on first hand accounts, letters and reports. In the words of 2nd Lieutenant H.L. Birks, Tank Corps:
”The salient was a dead loss. I cannot think how the one or two officers there who had brains let the thing go on. Of course, they were helping the French out which makes a big difference. One doesn't know what the higher strategy was. But from the tactical side it was sheer murder. You had this Ypres-Yser Canal and you got the strangest feeling when you crossed it. You'd almost abandon hope. And as you got further out you got this awful smell of death. You could literally smell it. It was just a complete abomination of desolation. I wept when I came into the salient.”
”The salient was a dead loss. I cannot think how the one or two officers there who had brains let the thing go on. Of course, they were helping the French out which makes a big difference. One doesn't know what the higher strategy was. But from the tactical side it was sheer murder. You had this Ypres-Yser Canal and you got the strangest feeling when you crossed it. You'd almost abandon hope. And as you got further out you got this awful smell of death. You could literally smell it. It was just a complete abomination of desolation. I wept when I came into the salient.”
November 29, 2009
Lynn MacDonald is one of my all time favourite World War One authors. I have read all of her books, '1914', '1915', 'Somme' and this volume covering Passchendaele. She has the ability to bring to life the voices of those involved in this terrible, terrible conflict. This was one of the worst battles fought during a war known for its carnage. She tells the story through the letters, reports and accounts of those involved and she tells it very well. I found this book and her account of the Somme very hard to put down and I have no hesitation in recommending this title to anyone who has a love for military history or a good story.
October 19, 2014
Walking through the centre of Belgian Ypres now, 100 years after the outbreak of World War One, one cannot imagine this town ever suffered from the fighting. Beyond the town borders, the numerous cemeteries, where row upon row of white stone mark the grave of “a soldier of the Great War, known unto God”, tell the tale of the endless fighting. But Ypres itself is alive. Constantly remembered the fight with its museums and the nightly last post at the Menenpoort, but alive nonetheless, seemingly unharmed.
Yet every building, no matter how medieval or baroque in its appearance, shows one clue on its façade. “Anno 1922”. “Anno 1920”. “Anno 1929”. Not a single stone, of a single house, in the entire town is original. Everything is a duplicate, a carefully recreated and inhabitable monument of what once was.
It’s one thing to know that the farm fields outside the towns of Ypres, Passchendaele and Zonnebeke were blown apart by years of relentless and desperate shelling. To realize the same happened to entire cities, makes this conflict all the more horrific.
Though many a fictitious work has been published on the matter, the staggering brutality, horror, despair and loss of the First World War has never been captured as vividly and real as it has been done by Lyn Macdonald in “Passchendaele: The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres 1917”. By looking up and interviewing hundreds of men who have found during the war, she builds up a panoramic view of the doomed and appalling campaign fought in the muddy remains of Belgium.
The final result jumps back and forth between her research in her own words, and the words of the soldiers themselves, and forms a surprisingly coherent and readable whole. Events like the attack on the Messines Ridge – where the subterranean detonation of several thousand pounds of explosives finally broke the German lines – or the final push into Passchendaele are described with such thrill and flair, that no other work of fiction, movie or photograph would ever capture the excitement or fear of that moment in the way this book does.
The only real shortcoming of this book might be that, though epic in scope thanks to all the people who helped her, Macdonald only examines the British side of the battle. The French, Canadian, Anzac and – perhaps most importantly – German side of the story never gets mentioned. Rather, the men of these nationalities show up a anonymous entities whenever a British account asks for it. But their efforts, experiences and pain never get but a fraction of the attention that the British get, making for a rather one-sided report of the events.
With the centenary this year of the outbreak of the Great War, museums, studios and publishers are doing whatever they can to show those living today what it was like to live – and die – back then. A noble and important case, surely, but the tales and efforts of those who found (not only in and around Ypres, but everywhere on Earth) should be remembered and read about for much longer. Though it was supposed to be the war to end all wars, man has shown to have learned little in these 100 years, despite the cautionary tales of “Passchendaele: The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres 1917”.
Yet every building, no matter how medieval or baroque in its appearance, shows one clue on its façade. “Anno 1922”. “Anno 1920”. “Anno 1929”. Not a single stone, of a single house, in the entire town is original. Everything is a duplicate, a carefully recreated and inhabitable monument of what once was.
It’s one thing to know that the farm fields outside the towns of Ypres, Passchendaele and Zonnebeke were blown apart by years of relentless and desperate shelling. To realize the same happened to entire cities, makes this conflict all the more horrific.
Though many a fictitious work has been published on the matter, the staggering brutality, horror, despair and loss of the First World War has never been captured as vividly and real as it has been done by Lyn Macdonald in “Passchendaele: The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres 1917”. By looking up and interviewing hundreds of men who have found during the war, she builds up a panoramic view of the doomed and appalling campaign fought in the muddy remains of Belgium.
The final result jumps back and forth between her research in her own words, and the words of the soldiers themselves, and forms a surprisingly coherent and readable whole. Events like the attack on the Messines Ridge – where the subterranean detonation of several thousand pounds of explosives finally broke the German lines – or the final push into Passchendaele are described with such thrill and flair, that no other work of fiction, movie or photograph would ever capture the excitement or fear of that moment in the way this book does.
The only real shortcoming of this book might be that, though epic in scope thanks to all the people who helped her, Macdonald only examines the British side of the battle. The French, Canadian, Anzac and – perhaps most importantly – German side of the story never gets mentioned. Rather, the men of these nationalities show up a anonymous entities whenever a British account asks for it. But their efforts, experiences and pain never get but a fraction of the attention that the British get, making for a rather one-sided report of the events.
With the centenary this year of the outbreak of the Great War, museums, studios and publishers are doing whatever they can to show those living today what it was like to live – and die – back then. A noble and important case, surely, but the tales and efforts of those who found (not only in and around Ypres, but everywhere on Earth) should be remembered and read about for much longer. Though it was supposed to be the war to end all wars, man has shown to have learned little in these 100 years, despite the cautionary tales of “Passchendaele: The Story of the Third Battle of Ypres 1917”.
May 20, 2019
Was this a good book? Yes and no..
Yes because, I have never read any book about the First World War where you get dragged into the battle you are reading about. Lyn Macdonald did an outstanding job telling the stories of 600+ officers and regular soldiers who were there at the Battle of Passchendaele. Usually these kind of books are just not as personal as this one since you can almost feel the soldiers suffering in their daily life at the frontline fighting the enemy and this terrible mud.
No because, as often in English literature about the First World War this book lacks the entire point of view of the Germans in this battle. Therefore the title of the book should not be the story of the Third Battle of Ypres..
So don't read this book if you want a comprehensive oversight of the Third Battle of Ypres, but if you want to experience the battle through the eyes of the Allied soldiers, then this book is an absolute must read. This was my first book I ever read from Lyn Macdonald and I am definitely going to read her other books about the First World War.
Yes because, I have never read any book about the First World War where you get dragged into the battle you are reading about. Lyn Macdonald did an outstanding job telling the stories of 600+ officers and regular soldiers who were there at the Battle of Passchendaele. Usually these kind of books are just not as personal as this one since you can almost feel the soldiers suffering in their daily life at the frontline fighting the enemy and this terrible mud.
No because, as often in English literature about the First World War this book lacks the entire point of view of the Germans in this battle. Therefore the title of the book should not be the story of the Third Battle of Ypres..
So don't read this book if you want a comprehensive oversight of the Third Battle of Ypres, but if you want to experience the battle through the eyes of the Allied soldiers, then this book is an absolute must read. This was my first book I ever read from Lyn Macdonald and I am definitely going to read her other books about the First World War.
June 2, 2021
4.5* Verdient dit puur en alleen al door het werk dat er in dit boek zit, echt.
Ik had het geplaatst als fictie-boek voor ik het begon te lezen maar ik had het beter wel als non-fictie genomen want het was zwaarder om te lezen dan verwacht, best wel een tijdje over gedaan. Volledig klaar voor een luchtig boekje ook nu.
Het boek zelf, amai. Enorm veel bijgeleerd over die periode, zeer interessant om delen eens in detail te lezen maar ook enorm confronterend. De beschrijvingen, het besef hoeveel doden er daar constant vielen. Ik kan het me niet inbeelden.
Zeker aan te raden aan iedereen die wat interesse heeft voor de Eerste Wereldoorlog.
Ik had het geplaatst als fictie-boek voor ik het begon te lezen maar ik had het beter wel als non-fictie genomen want het was zwaarder om te lezen dan verwacht, best wel een tijdje over gedaan. Volledig klaar voor een luchtig boekje ook nu.
Het boek zelf, amai. Enorm veel bijgeleerd over die periode, zeer interessant om delen eens in detail te lezen maar ook enorm confronterend. De beschrijvingen, het besef hoeveel doden er daar constant vielen. Ik kan het me niet inbeelden.
Zeker aan te raden aan iedereen die wat interesse heeft voor de Eerste Wereldoorlog.
March 7, 2023
I wasn't sure if I was going to like a book written in this way, as I had never read one like this before. When I was recommended Lyn MacDonald by others who were heavily interested in WW1 and its history, I picked up this book. At first, it took a moment to get into it, but once I was in the thick of it and getting into the style, I couldn't stop reading. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the chronological accounts of the soldiers/nurses. I liked the overall view from different battalions, crews, corps., and fronts.
Now, going into more novels and books written about/around the First World War, I shall have a bit more knowledge of it.
Now, going into more novels and books written about/around the First World War, I shall have a bit more knowledge of it.
December 18, 2018
Review to Come
Book read for paper for German history class. I have had this book sitting on my shelves for years without picking it up. Since I enjoy reading about Tudor, Renaissance, Georgian, and Victorian Britain the history of World War I feels too "new" for me. I wanted to read more about Passchendaele after reading mentions in a few historical fiction books since I knew nothing about it. I'm glad my German history class gave me the motivation to do so. Lyn Macdonald pulled no punches in describing how horrible the third battle of Ypres actually was, it's all there in graphic detail. How awful life in the trenches was, how much the seasoned soldiers disliked having those just out of training on the front line, and just how horrible gas attacks could be. I liked how she did her best to show some of the lighter sides of the war, times in the cinemas if there were any standing, singalongs in the various bars and messes for the soldiers, and the snippets of letters back home. It was a good book and a great starting point to learning more about The Great War in Europe.
Book read for paper for German history class. I have had this book sitting on my shelves for years without picking it up. Since I enjoy reading about Tudor, Renaissance, Georgian, and Victorian Britain the history of World War I feels too "new" for me. I wanted to read more about Passchendaele after reading mentions in a few historical fiction books since I knew nothing about it. I'm glad my German history class gave me the motivation to do so. Lyn Macdonald pulled no punches in describing how horrible the third battle of Ypres actually was, it's all there in graphic detail. How awful life in the trenches was, how much the seasoned soldiers disliked having those just out of training on the front line, and just how horrible gas attacks could be. I liked how she did her best to show some of the lighter sides of the war, times in the cinemas if there were any standing, singalongs in the various bars and messes for the soldiers, and the snippets of letters back home. It was a good book and a great starting point to learning more about The Great War in Europe.
May 27, 2014
Fine piece of scholarship. Lyn Macdonald calmly sets out the unbelievable (and I do mean unbelievable) horrors of the marathon slugging match of Passchendaele in graphic and often really moving style, often simply quoting the words of the soldiers who fought and died there. Very powerful.
I have two "if only" comments. One feels a bit curmudgeonly to list the criticisms of such a good piece of work. But that's what a review is for I suppose. The first concerns sex. Sex sex sex. I freely acknowledge that Lyn M is the one who did all the research and not me. But as it happens, pretty much the only thing my own grandfather ever told me about the carnage of WWI - he wouldn't talk about it often - was that the men were under such relentless stress and so inured to the probability of dying: that they devoted a lot of their recreational time to the brothels.
My logic tells me that was probably so, and indeed Lyn M does touch on this tentatively here and there. Maybe it's just me, but she seemed to succeed only in conveying a certain sense of "no sex please we're British", and that's a pity. If my grandfather was right - and surely he was - then a key dimension of the madness has been censored out by ladylike gentility.
And finally, not really a criticism, more just a comment. The book does exactly what it says on the cover: an account of the British and allies in Passchendaele. In that sense she achieved precisely what she set out to do (apart from the sex anyway). But it is by definition therefore only a partial account, because it barely touches on what went on behind the German lines, only a few hundred yards away. This can be misleading, because a relentless concentration on the butchery that went on amongst the British soldiers tends to convey that they were getting beaten. In one way of course, they were - but my point is that they were also beating the Germans at the same time. It came as a slight surprise towards the end of the book to learn that the Germans probably lost just as many young men.
This isn't a question of 'being nice to Germans' (though why not). It's a question of scholarship and balance: you simply can't give a full account of, say, the World Cup football final by concentrating exclusively on how well Brazil kicked the ball around. You need to mention the other team too. That book still needs to be written!
I have two "if only" comments. One feels a bit curmudgeonly to list the criticisms of such a good piece of work. But that's what a review is for I suppose. The first concerns sex. Sex sex sex. I freely acknowledge that Lyn M is the one who did all the research and not me. But as it happens, pretty much the only thing my own grandfather ever told me about the carnage of WWI - he wouldn't talk about it often - was that the men were under such relentless stress and so inured to the probability of dying: that they devoted a lot of their recreational time to the brothels.
My logic tells me that was probably so, and indeed Lyn M does touch on this tentatively here and there. Maybe it's just me, but she seemed to succeed only in conveying a certain sense of "no sex please we're British", and that's a pity. If my grandfather was right - and surely he was - then a key dimension of the madness has been censored out by ladylike gentility.
And finally, not really a criticism, more just a comment. The book does exactly what it says on the cover: an account of the British and allies in Passchendaele. In that sense she achieved precisely what she set out to do (apart from the sex anyway). But it is by definition therefore only a partial account, because it barely touches on what went on behind the German lines, only a few hundred yards away. This can be misleading, because a relentless concentration on the butchery that went on amongst the British soldiers tends to convey that they were getting beaten. In one way of course, they were - but my point is that they were also beating the Germans at the same time. It came as a slight surprise towards the end of the book to learn that the Germans probably lost just as many young men.
This isn't a question of 'being nice to Germans' (though why not). It's a question of scholarship and balance: you simply can't give a full account of, say, the World Cup football final by concentrating exclusively on how well Brazil kicked the ball around. You need to mention the other team too. That book still needs to be written!
August 7, 2019
This is an exquisite work, crafting the right degree of author written context, background and historical facts into the interweaving of the actual written accounts of the men and women of the United Kingdom forces engaged in the 1917 battle known as Passchendaele. Equal to the outstanding work of Bill Gammage in his The Broken Years, this work too takes the reader into the letters, diaries and lives of those who served as the front line combat and supporting forces engaged in this chapter of the First World War in the salient around Ypres Belgium and the surrounding areas.
The industrial scale slaughter of WW1 is well documented and portrayed in numerous works.
The shear brutality, futility, idiocy and fragrant waste of human life in the execution of this the 3rd battle of the salient is seldom brought home to the reader as it is here. The German forces in elevated defensive positions on the higher ground, the swamplands turned to churned by mud pooled ground upon which the British, Scottish, New Zealand, Canadian and Australian forces attacked. The rains of August 1917 that with high explosives turned sodden ground into a genuine sea of mud in which men drowned sinking below the surface, where materials and supplies also sank and where an estimated 1 in 4 artillery shells sank without detonating. (Today, 100 yrs later these metal items at least still rise to the surface as the farmland is ploughed every August resulting in what is locally know as "the iron harvest".)
The sheer scale of this battle, within such a small physical area. The sheer pathalogical actions of the British and German high commands. The sheer waste, suffering and extinguishing of generations of young men. The sheer horror that those who survived were destined to carry for their remaining lives. The sheer loss of those who lost love ones.
A exquisite work, without glorification, apologia or judgemental statements.
If you want to seek an understanding of why, what, who, when and how the 3rd battle of Ypres/ Passendale occurred look no futher than here.
The industrial scale slaughter of WW1 is well documented and portrayed in numerous works.
The shear brutality, futility, idiocy and fragrant waste of human life in the execution of this the 3rd battle of the salient is seldom brought home to the reader as it is here. The German forces in elevated defensive positions on the higher ground, the swamplands turned to churned by mud pooled ground upon which the British, Scottish, New Zealand, Canadian and Australian forces attacked. The rains of August 1917 that with high explosives turned sodden ground into a genuine sea of mud in which men drowned sinking below the surface, where materials and supplies also sank and where an estimated 1 in 4 artillery shells sank without detonating. (Today, 100 yrs later these metal items at least still rise to the surface as the farmland is ploughed every August resulting in what is locally know as "the iron harvest".)
The sheer scale of this battle, within such a small physical area. The sheer pathalogical actions of the British and German high commands. The sheer waste, suffering and extinguishing of generations of young men. The sheer horror that those who survived were destined to carry for their remaining lives. The sheer loss of those who lost love ones.
A exquisite work, without glorification, apologia or judgemental statements.
If you want to seek an understanding of why, what, who, when and how the 3rd battle of Ypres/ Passendale occurred look no futher than here.
February 10, 2019
I couldn't put this book down, it was so well put together and kept my interest constantly. After reading countless books about WWI, I can safely say, Lyn Macdonald has a true talent to really make you connect with those men and understand the emotional and physical trauma that bit more than the rest.
I am much more confident in my knowledge regarding the "third" battle of Ypres and the geography of the movements.
Quite unbelievable to think that for all those months of fighting for the ridge of Passchendaele, it was lost again just a few short months later.
I am much more confident in my knowledge regarding the "third" battle of Ypres and the geography of the movements.
Quite unbelievable to think that for all those months of fighting for the ridge of Passchendaele, it was lost again just a few short months later.
August 18, 2017
Lynn McDonald is one of the pioneers of a certain style of writing historical narratives - one where personal accounts are crafted into an explanatory historical narrative.
In my opinion, she does this brilliantly and seamlessly blends fascinating personal accounts from servicemen who were there, many of whom she interviewed herself, with a well crafted explanatory historical narrative. The result is a very readable & highly enjoyable book.
In the authors foreword you get an idea of this style when she says :
IIn addition to the personal experiences she provides some very good maps showing you where each of the participants were at any one point in the action she is describing. She takes a number of these personal accounts from different parts of the battlefield and uses them to describe how the battle proceeded over the ground covered by the advance.
The words and testimonies she shares illustrate the absolute horror of this campaign as shown in some of these extracts :
In my opinion, she does this brilliantly and seamlessly blends fascinating personal accounts from servicemen who were there, many of whom she interviewed herself, with a well crafted explanatory historical narrative. The result is a very readable & highly enjoyable book.
In the authors foreword you get an idea of this style when she says :
"If this book reads like a novel, or even at times like a horror story, please do not blame me. It is all true, or rather it is compiled from more than 600 true stories and eyewitness accounts of men and women who were there in the blood-bath of Ypres."
IIn addition to the personal experiences she provides some very good maps showing you where each of the participants were at any one point in the action she is describing. She takes a number of these personal accounts from different parts of the battlefield and uses them to describe how the battle proceeded over the ground covered by the advance.
The words and testimonies she shares illustrate the absolute horror of this campaign as shown in some of these extracts :
Private W. Morgan, No. 24819, 10/ 11th Btn., Highland Light Infantry
"By the time I got back, the battalion was away up towards the next objective. As I went on, over the place I’d left them, over the ground where I knew they must have crossed to get to the third line, there was nothing but dead bodies lying all around. There were shells exploding everywhere and bullets flying around as if the devil himself was at the guns, and when I got up to the front there was this terrible fighting. I could see troops in front of me crawling and jumping up and crawling again and dodging into shell-holes. Away ahead, it was all smoke and explosions and bullets flying out of Lewis guns like streams of fire all around these buildings they were attacking. I couldn’t see anybody belonging to my lot at all. Eventually I managed to make my way forward a bit and I found Sergeant McCormack with Lieutenant Burns. We were really held up at this place but the bombers were at it, attacking it from the flanks. There were boys there with buckets of bombs, and one lad in particular I saw crawl up to the wall and reach up and chuck bombs in at the window of the gun emplacement. They were all going at it, hammer and tongs. They were still going at it when it started to rain. They were still going at it an hour later, and by that time we were practically up to our knees in water. Lieutenant Burns said to me, ‘You’d better get a message back, Morgan, and let them know what’s happening. We must have reinforcements.’ We were standing in this wet shell-hole and he was just handing me the message when the machine-gun bullet got him. He fell right over on to me and we both went right down into the water. I managed to pull him a bit up the side of this crater and laid him down and knelt down beside him. His eyes were open and he looked straight up at me and he said, ‘I’m all right, Mum.’ And then he died. He was younger than me. I was twenty. Sergeant McCormack crawled across, and looked at him. Then he looked at me. ‘Get back with the message, Morgan,’ he said."
W. Lockey, No. 71938, 1st Btn., Notts & Derbyshire Regiment (The Sherwood Foresters)
"It was a terrible sight, really awe-inspiring, to see the barrage playing on the German front lines before we went over. It was an inferno. Just a solid line of fire and sparks and rockets lighting up the sky. When the barrage began to lift we went over like one man towards what had once been the German front line. It didn’t exist. There was not a bit of wire, hardly a trench left, that hadn’t been blown to smithereens by our barrage ... The chap on my right had his head blown off, as neat as if it had been done with a chopper. I saw his trunk stumbling on for two or three paces and then collapsing in a heap. My pal, Tom Altham, went down too, badly wounded, and Sergeant-Major Dunn got a shell all to himself.
Rifleman G. E. Winterbourne, No. 551237, 1st Btn., Queen’s Westminster Rifles
"In a lull in the shelling we heard cries, and there was a poor chap about fifty or sixty yards away. He was absolutely up to his arms in it, and he’d been there for four days and nights –ever since the last attack –and he was still alive, clinging on to the root of a tree in the side of this shell-hole full of liquid mud ... All we could do was leave a man behind to look after him. It was another twenty-four hours before he was rescued."
December 31, 2023
A military and social history of the Third Battle of Ypres, heavily supported by material from the soldiers who were there – the Allied soldiers only, which is a shame, as it would have been nice to hear the defenders' perspective too.
It's trite to say that the story is horrific. Were it not that it's so well-known in outline, it would be unbelievable that anyone could live through such a battle, or survive at all on the moonscape that Flanders was reduced to by then. The soldiers' own stories, which Macdonald both quotes from memoirs and obtains from interviews, emphasise the sheer randomness of the deaths. There are so many stories of one man being killed when the man standing right next to him survives, or leaving a trench or shell-hole only for a shell to immediately kill everyone else who remained.
There's a common trope aboutthe unfeelingness of senior officers towards their own men, but that isn't on show here – with the possible exception of Douglas Haig, who adopted a deliberate strategy of attrition that accepted casualities as long as the other side was taking them too. The divisional commanders, however, are shown to have protested many times about the timing and purpose of attacks, with one (in charge of the Canadian divisions who eventually took the Passchendaele ridge) refusing to attack at all until he had positioned all the supports and artillery he needed – and then succeeded when others had failed.
There's terrible irony to the whole campaign. At the end of the battle, the Allies were left in possession of ground that they'd lost in the First Battle of Ypres when the defenders had been Belgian and French (and some of their bodies, still in fine uniform, are surfaced by the shellfire). And later, when the final German attack of 1918 happens, the troops are pushed back to a line that had first been proposed by their own commander in 1915 – for which suggestion he was cashiered. It's a fitting summary of the pointlessness (in hindsight) of much of the First World War.
It's trite to say that the story is horrific. Were it not that it's so well-known in outline, it would be unbelievable that anyone could live through such a battle, or survive at all on the moonscape that Flanders was reduced to by then. The soldiers' own stories, which Macdonald both quotes from memoirs and obtains from interviews, emphasise the sheer randomness of the deaths. There are so many stories of one man being killed when the man standing right next to him survives, or leaving a trench or shell-hole only for a shell to immediately kill everyone else who remained.
There's a common trope aboutthe unfeelingness of senior officers towards their own men, but that isn't on show here – with the possible exception of Douglas Haig, who adopted a deliberate strategy of attrition that accepted casualities as long as the other side was taking them too. The divisional commanders, however, are shown to have protested many times about the timing and purpose of attacks, with one (in charge of the Canadian divisions who eventually took the Passchendaele ridge) refusing to attack at all until he had positioned all the supports and artillery he needed – and then succeeded when others had failed.
There's terrible irony to the whole campaign. At the end of the battle, the Allies were left in possession of ground that they'd lost in the First Battle of Ypres when the defenders had been Belgian and French (and some of their bodies, still in fine uniform, are surfaced by the shellfire). And later, when the final German attack of 1918 happens, the troops are pushed back to a line that had first been proposed by their own commander in 1915 – for which suggestion he was cashiered. It's a fitting summary of the pointlessness (in hindsight) of much of the First World War.
July 30, 2025
I guess it’s safe to say that Lyn Macdonald does not approve of the way the Third Battle of Ypres was run. Douglas Haig would seem to be the worst bad guy, although the Prime Minister and his cabinet don’t get much praise from her either. She seems to like Currie (Canadian) and maybe Plumer, but not very much. Gough? I’m not sure. Basically, the whole thing was a shit-fest, from start to finish, though I’m not sure what she’d have done differently except to call it all off. I know she doesn’t like the rain.
Rain is a very strange phenomenon around Ypres. Could anyone have predicted the amount of rain they were likely to get for that 5-month battle? Monthly rainfall averages about 65mm/month, and it doesn’t vary much above or below that throughout the year. May-June-July are basically at average, while in terms of number of days of rain per month, June-July-August are at the low end of the range. Should attacks have been called off on account of rain? And what would the BEF have done instead so as to have done its fair share to keep Fritz occupied? Send more troops to the periphery, since Gallipoli had been such a tremendous success?
I don’t know.
I don’t think Lyn MacDonald knows either, and since she doesn’t seriously address strategy or strategic options, her posture regarding how the battle was run is without value.
Still, the book is great for giving a chronological structure to the battle and as a compilation of individual anecdotes and memories of participants’ horror and suffering. No one who was not there can even begin to imagine what those who were there experienced. What I wouldn’t give to be able to travel through time…
But this book is a valuable data point. About as good as it gets.
Rain is a very strange phenomenon around Ypres. Could anyone have predicted the amount of rain they were likely to get for that 5-month battle? Monthly rainfall averages about 65mm/month, and it doesn’t vary much above or below that throughout the year. May-June-July are basically at average, while in terms of number of days of rain per month, June-July-August are at the low end of the range. Should attacks have been called off on account of rain? And what would the BEF have done instead so as to have done its fair share to keep Fritz occupied? Send more troops to the periphery, since Gallipoli had been such a tremendous success?
I don’t know.
I don’t think Lyn MacDonald knows either, and since she doesn’t seriously address strategy or strategic options, her posture regarding how the battle was run is without value.
Still, the book is great for giving a chronological structure to the battle and as a compilation of individual anecdotes and memories of participants’ horror and suffering. No one who was not there can even begin to imagine what those who were there experienced. What I wouldn’t give to be able to travel through time…
But this book is a valuable data point. About as good as it gets.
November 6, 2017
Less than a year after the costly Somme offensive, the British, Empire and French armies found themselves in another titanic and bloodsoaked struggle. This time the aim was too push the well-ensconced Germans from the high ground overlooking the Ypres area from where they wee able to observe everything the primarily British force was up to. The battle's popular name, Passchendaele, comes from one of the villages that stood on that ridge before it was blasted almost out of existence during the the 100 days of hostilities. Passchendael's rubble (and body) strewn streets must have seemed a poor reward for the losses incurred in taking them and the surrounding areas. But the occupiers were now able to look out onto the open countryside beyond. Behind them lay a wasteland of shellholes mostly filled almost to the brim with water, the result of the abnormal amounts of rainfall since the start of the battle. There can have been few, if any, worst terrains for men to fight in, ever. Lyn Macdonald's books have been criticised for lack of strategic grasp. Arguably, her books are partial and her description of a battle focused around the eye-witness accounts that she uses. But her purpose is to convey to the reader a sense of "being there" and in this book, as with her others, she succeeds magnificently.
August 29, 2017
Not really sure what to say. It was boring to read but interesting to have read it. It was very well written and seemed to be well researched, with lots of testimony from participants, from a wide range of ranks.
It's definitely one for the World War 1 geeks, rather than history generalists, and perhaps I'm not enough of a geek to appreciate it properly. Yet, a strength was that it didn't get bogged down with pages and pages of military strategy, yet was at its strongest describing the logistics involved in a long battle - and how much at risk were the engineers, stretcher bearers, ration carriers and so on, just as much as the PBI.
I got fed up of reading of what seemed to be almost casual deaths. Another one goes west, another gets a bullet in the head, another one with his guts hanging out. Just so awful. Thinking of some of the terrible events this year - Terror attacks and the Grenfell fire in Britain, and other similar events elsewhere, the media pour over the event, the lives lost, the causes, and at their best make me feel that each life matters. So the contrast with this was very difficult to take. Lives that didn't matter, all just part of the equation. Cannon fodder, suicide squads.
The more I read the less I am able to imagine.
It's definitely one for the World War 1 geeks, rather than history generalists, and perhaps I'm not enough of a geek to appreciate it properly. Yet, a strength was that it didn't get bogged down with pages and pages of military strategy, yet was at its strongest describing the logistics involved in a long battle - and how much at risk were the engineers, stretcher bearers, ration carriers and so on, just as much as the PBI.
I got fed up of reading of what seemed to be almost casual deaths. Another one goes west, another gets a bullet in the head, another one with his guts hanging out. Just so awful. Thinking of some of the terrible events this year - Terror attacks and the Grenfell fire in Britain, and other similar events elsewhere, the media pour over the event, the lives lost, the causes, and at their best make me feel that each life matters. So the contrast with this was very difficult to take. Lives that didn't matter, all just part of the equation. Cannon fodder, suicide squads.
The more I read the less I am able to imagine.
February 9, 2024
This is a hell of a book. Literally. It is the narrative of an appalling battle that cost an estimated 430,000 British and Allied casualties, killed, wounded and missing. And a similar number, quite possibly, of the German army. All in a relatively small area in Flanders in what Haig labelled a campaign of attrition. Mass murder might be another term.
This book is not about military strategy or tactics. It is mainly the accounts of mostly ordinary people stuck in appalling conditions who survived the chaos, the privations and the traumatic day to day existence often in extreme weather conditions. Most were striving to survive the constant efforts of the enemy to kill or be killed whilst fighting the environment and the landscape. This was a grotesque shell-pocked and muddy landscape with astonishing numbers of dead lying sometimes for months on the battlefield.
It is impossible to imagine the horror of war. Such accounts as this, primarily in the words of those who were there, help illuminate our understanding of what happened. But also make us question why progress in our so called civilised society over the last hundred years has not been accompanied by a massive decrease in war and violence.
This book is not about military strategy or tactics. It is mainly the accounts of mostly ordinary people stuck in appalling conditions who survived the chaos, the privations and the traumatic day to day existence often in extreme weather conditions. Most were striving to survive the constant efforts of the enemy to kill or be killed whilst fighting the environment and the landscape. This was a grotesque shell-pocked and muddy landscape with astonishing numbers of dead lying sometimes for months on the battlefield.
It is impossible to imagine the horror of war. Such accounts as this, primarily in the words of those who were there, help illuminate our understanding of what happened. But also make us question why progress in our so called civilised society over the last hundred years has not been accompanied by a massive decrease in war and violence.
August 12, 2019
This book was incredible.
My great-grandfather found himself at Ypres and was lucky enough to emerge with minor wounds after it.
Earlier this year I toured the Ypres region for the second time, first time as a child, and it was powerful to be able to connect the places I had been with the battles describe in this book. I wish I had read it before. It would have probably given me a much deeper appreciation for the place I was.
The sheer loss of life in this area over a 3 month period, on both sides, is un-imaginable. 250,000 commonwealth soldiers killed, missing or wounded and a similar amount on the German side. It’s reflected in the amount of memorials and cemeteries that surround the area. I feel privileged to have visited many of them and to have paid my respects at each.
This book takes interviews and excerpts from soldiers diaries and gives vivid detail of the horrible conditions and terrifying reality of the war. It’s a startling reminder that so many paid the ultimate price so long ago.
We will remember them.
Ake! Ake! Kia Kaha E!
My great-grandfather found himself at Ypres and was lucky enough to emerge with minor wounds after it.
Earlier this year I toured the Ypres region for the second time, first time as a child, and it was powerful to be able to connect the places I had been with the battles describe in this book. I wish I had read it before. It would have probably given me a much deeper appreciation for the place I was.
The sheer loss of life in this area over a 3 month period, on both sides, is un-imaginable. 250,000 commonwealth soldiers killed, missing or wounded and a similar amount on the German side. It’s reflected in the amount of memorials and cemeteries that surround the area. I feel privileged to have visited many of them and to have paid my respects at each.
This book takes interviews and excerpts from soldiers diaries and gives vivid detail of the horrible conditions and terrifying reality of the war. It’s a startling reminder that so many paid the ultimate price so long ago.
We will remember them.
Ake! Ake! Kia Kaha E!
January 27, 2021
Brilliant, Ms. Macdonald tells the story of the the men who; on both sides of this mass slaughter which the battles of Ypres became. She explains how the Allies struggled to maintain the upper hand, when all was against them. The constant shelling, the hunger, the fear and wet and permanently damp living conditions above and underground.
Also how units/ Battalions were form for specific-task such as the the Tunnel Companies and Pioneer Battalions, who had almost impossible tasks to perform while using explosive devices/ equipment that could blow up at any moment and under constant enemy fire. How wave after wave of attacks the once beautiful French Villages, Country side and Surrounding Towns were obliterated.
The Book has been written in the form of a Novel which makes it easier to read and digest the information it provides. I can’t Recommend this enough. All stories of this immense battle/s are from first hand interviews of the brave Veterans of WW1, and she does a credit to their memory.
Also how units/ Battalions were form for specific-task such as the the Tunnel Companies and Pioneer Battalions, who had almost impossible tasks to perform while using explosive devices/ equipment that could blow up at any moment and under constant enemy fire. How wave after wave of attacks the once beautiful French Villages, Country side and Surrounding Towns were obliterated.
The Book has been written in the form of a Novel which makes it easier to read and digest the information it provides. I can’t Recommend this enough. All stories of this immense battle/s are from first hand interviews of the brave Veterans of WW1, and she does a credit to their memory.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2025
Heartbreaking…
I would imagine that Lyn Macdonald’s description of life in the trenches for our beloved Tommies is probably the closest you can get to the reality of it without actually being there. This description is aided by those who were there, 600 veterans who had never before been inclined to speak of their experiences until they met Lyn Macdonald. Lyn Macdonald provides a voice for our forbears who did it so we wouldn’t have to. A superlative account of the horrors of trench warfare, and a narrative that should be a must for every school curriculum. A brilliant but heartbreaking read that should melt the stoniest of hearts. 5 stars.
I would imagine that Lyn Macdonald’s description of life in the trenches for our beloved Tommies is probably the closest you can get to the reality of it without actually being there. This description is aided by those who were there, 600 veterans who had never before been inclined to speak of their experiences until they met Lyn Macdonald. Lyn Macdonald provides a voice for our forbears who did it so we wouldn’t have to. A superlative account of the horrors of trench warfare, and a narrative that should be a must for every school curriculum. A brilliant but heartbreaking read that should melt the stoniest of hearts. 5 stars.
December 9, 2017
A brilliant and well researched insight into one of the Great Wars most heinous battles. I have been educating myself over the last couple of years with the individual battles that involved our Canadian forces and this one is probably the most gruesome in environment that the lads had to endure. This being a concentrated read involving just this period in the war; I found Ms. McDonalds edition an easy to follow reenactment of the carnage that is called Passchendaele.
February 22, 2017
The book depicts how soldiers would behave or fight during World War 1. The main setting or battle in this book is the battle of Ypres. The book gives many accounts and evidences that you might even feel as if you are studying a piece of history. The author, Lyn Macdonald has included maps, journal entries of soldiers and pictures of the frontlines.
September 19, 2017
Excellent quality book, well researched, including numerous eye witness accounts by those unfortunates who were there and fortunate to survive. Absorbing from the first page and at times depressing humorous but above all sad at what these people had to endure. Not a pleasant read but one I am glad I did.
February 23, 2021
Very moving, the more so because this book includes a lot of first hand accounts of the battle. A couple of points for anyone reading this after me - it would have been helpful if Ms MacDonald had given headings to the sections in the first chapter about the 1st and 2nd battles of Ypres. A list of abbreviations would also have been useful.
June 13, 2021
This is a non-fiction history book that reads more like a novel. It tells the story from the point of view of those who lived it, in details that made me better understand their experience than anything else I've read. Immediately after finishing this book, I ordered four more by Lyn Macdonald. She's incredible.
July 20, 2021
Haunting. Unimaginable that men fought and died in such conditions. What struck me was the matter of fact way many of the interviewed soldiers described what it was they did and saw. Lest we forget ..
September 3, 2021
A captivating account of the Battle of Passchendaele (or the Third Battle of Ypres). Descriptive personal accounts of the horrors of the mud, death, and constant artillery is a must-read for WW1 buffs
October 2, 2018
Really great compilation of personal stories which create a rich and engaging history of Passchendaele
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