Stretcher bearers bringing back the wounded through the mud
That summer was extremely wet and heavy rain turned the battlefield into a swamp. More than 30,000 soldiers died in the Battle of Pilkem Ridge. The target for the wider operation, the devastated village of Passchendaele, was not captured until the 6th November, 98 days after the start of the battle. This slow advance over little more than five miles of ground was achieved with the loss of 310,000 Allied and 260,000
German lives.
