Original WW1 Battle Footage Passchendaele 1917 Pont des Arts

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• published: 09 May 2009
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Purchase this song on itunes https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/columns-of-stone/id723201789?i=723201797 or through our website http://pontdesarts.ca/buy.html Pont des Arts are a Pop/Alternative duo from Toronto. We composed the song "Columns of Stone" for this video. Thanks for looking! Lyrics: I remember her there, with the sun in her hair A powder blue sky up above Its the picture I carry right next to my heart in my pocket a lock of her hair In the end, each man rests alone Row upon row upon row Remember my comrades, my friends and the foe All buried neath columns of stone We raise up the flag as we shoot through the haze Sing to bravery, glory and pain But the banners are tattered And glory a matter of living just one extra day My dear theres nothing here But blood and death and the fear Remember my comrades, my friends and the foe All buried neath columns of stone When theres nothing to fight for To lose or to die for Perhaps, Ill make my way home But the distance from here spans fields soaked with tears I fear there may be no return In the end, each man rests alone Row upon row upon row Remember my comrades, my friends and the foe All buried neath columns of stone I dream of her there, with the sun in her hair A powder blue sky up above But even my dreams, are shattered it seems By the rolling thunder of guns My dear theres nothing here But blood and death and the fear Remember my comrades, my friends and the foe All buried neath columns of stone The Battle of Passchendaele, or Third Battle of Ypres was one of the major battles of World War I. The battle consisted of a series of operations starting in June 1917 and petering out in November 1917 in which Entente troops under British command attacked the Imperial German Army. The battle was fought for control of the village of Passchendaele near the town of Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. During the battle, British troops launched several massive attacks, heavily supported by artillery and aircraft. However, they never managed to make a breakthrough in well-entrenched German lines. The battle consisted of a series of 'Bite and Hold' attacks to capture critical terrain and wear down the German army, lasting until the Canadian Corps took Passchendaele on 6 November 1917, ending the battle. Passchendaele could be regarded by some as a re-play of the Battle of the Somme a year earlier, that is as a giant offensive aimed at causing a breakthrough in trench warfare that gradually broke down and evolved into a bloody attrition battle that resulted in enormous casualties for minimal gains. The battle even occurred within an almost-identical time frame of the Somme Offensive, starting in July and ending in mid-November 1917, by which time the Allies had crawled forward eight kilometres and had taken over half a million casualties for strategically worthless terrain in the process. Though the German losses were smaller around 350,000 they were also irreplaceable, unlike those of the Allies. After the war, Canada placed memorials at eight sites where the Canadian Corps had made significant contributions to the fighting in the Great War. The Canadian Battle of Passchendaele Memorial is located at the former site of the 'Crest Farm' on the southwest fringe of Passendale village. The memorial is on a street named Canadalaan, which leads from the village further southwest to the final resting place of many of the Canadians killed in the battle, Tyne Cot Cemetery. Purchase this song on itunes https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/columns-of-stone/id723201789?i=723201797 or through our website http://pontdesarts.ca/buy.html Any questions? barry@pontdesarts.ca or hugh@pontdesarts.ca Web: pontdesarts.ca