On 31st July 1917 outside the Belgian city of Ypres, the British Expeditionary Force launched a massive assault to finally capture the vital high ground overlooking the ‘salient’, the key to which was the little-known village of Passchendaele. In one of the bloodiest battles of the entire First World War, in mud and rain, the British ground their way forward for 105 days towards their objective. Using veteran accounts, the latest technology and previously unseen wartime footage, this video will follow the story of the men of the Hertfordshire Regiment who opened the fighting on the very first day of the Third Battle of Ypres.

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Written References:
• D. Hill & P. Johnson, Hertfordshire Soldiers in the Great War (2019)
• D. Hill, ‘Herts Guards’, Unpublished Manuscript (2023)
• B.J. Gripper, Unofficial Regimental History (c.1923)
• J. Sainsbury, the History of the Hertfordshire Regiment (c.1990)
• Various Personal Accounts, The Herts at War Archive (2023)
• L. McDonald, They Called it Passchendaele (???)
• Various Record Sets, War Diaries of the Battalions (2018, Naval & Military Press)
• G. Fisher, Herts Old Contemptibles Association ‘B Coy’ Records (unpublished .1960)

Audio/Video References:
• The Hertfordshire Regiment, Famous Regiments of the Empire (1917), IWM_1099
• C. Lane, IWM Sound Archive, Oral History
• B. Wing, IWM Sound Archive, Oral History
• L. Field, IWM Sound Archive, Oral History

General Sources:
• Herts at War Archive (HAWA)
• Imperial War Museum Sound Archive (IWMSA)
• US National Archives (NARA)
• National Library of Scotland Image Collection (NLS)
• Australian War Memorial Image Archive (AWM)
• War Diaries of the Battalions (NMP)
• British Newspaper Archive (BNA)
• The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
• Google Earth Pro & Web Versions
• Memory Maps, Trench Maps of the First World War
• Maptiler Pro (Desktop Version)

Credits:
• Research: Dan Hill
• Script & Narration: Dan Hill
• Editing: Shane Greer
• Thumbnail Design: Linus Klassen
• Image Colourisation: Doug Banks
• Music & Sound Effects: Epidemic Sounds