The Canadians didn’t want to go to Passchendaele. They had been to Belgium’s Ypres Salient before and they knew the near impossible task that lay ahead.

The British under General Sir Douglas Haig had been slogging through an offensive in the area since the summer of 1917. In June, they had detonated nearly one million tonnes of explosives buried under German lines at Messines Ridge. On July 31, they officially launched the Third Battle of Ypres. Heavy German counterattacks, as usual, limited the success of British attacks during the month of August.

Throughout September and October, the British, Australians, and New Zealanders used a series of short, rapid attacks to make some gains, but their objective of capturing Passchendaele ridge — the only high ground in the region — remained elusive. Months of battle and the onset of rain in October transformed most of the battlefield into a quagmire of mud and water that devoured men and material. Nearly every identifiable landmark that could help direct the troops had been ground into the mud.

The Canadians were tasked with capturing what remained of the town of Passchendaele. General Arthur Currie, the Canadian commander, devised a series of four set-piece attacks over a two-week period that would allow them to capture the ridge.

The Canadians advanced through the wasteland toward Passchendaele, slowly clearing each German pillbox and machine gun strongpoint. By capturing Passchendaele, they managed to bring an end to one of the most controversial battles of the war. British commander Haig claimed victory, but the human cost was unimaginably high. Over the course of four months of fighting, the Germans suffered more than 220,000 casualties, while British and Commonwealth soldiers endured more than 260,000 dead and wounded, including 17,000 Canadians. As if to underline the futility of fighting, nearly all of the territory the Canadians captured in 1917 was recaptured by the Germans during their spring advance of 1918.

— Text by Joel Ralph