Centennial of "Blackest Day in NZ's Military History"
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At 5.30 am on 12/10/1917 NZ Division went over the top at Passchendaele. By the end of the day 843 were dead, many of them drowning in the thick mud that covered no mans land.
There are numerous accounts of that day and its immediate aftermath and a series of commemorations underway.I have a personal connection My great uncle Edward was a private in the 2nd battalion of the Canterbury Regiment. Hailing from Kohukohu he had followed his older brother to Flanders and unfortunately just as his sibling had 12 months earlier, he died on, or possibly in, the battlefield having only been in Belgium 3 short weeks.
Edward's body was never recovered. He has a memorial at Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth War grave in the world.
In 1914/15 the Hokianga Historical Society visited the graves of all 116 WWI dead from the area, took photos and laid a flax poppy.
Lest We Forget
