Anniversary of Passchendaele commemorated

The 90th anniversary of the battle of Passchendaele has been commemorated in Belgium.First World War soldiers who died in the battle were remembered with a shower of poppies at a solemn service near the town of Leper in Belgium.A vintage biplane appeared overhead and dropped the flowers, a symbol of the War, over the dignitaries, including the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, at the Tyne Cot cemetery, where the service was being held.Peter Cleminson, the Royal British Legion's national chairman said: "On behalf of The Royal British Legion I would particularly like to thank the people of Leper, Zonnebeke-Passchendaele and countless other towns in the region who have never forgotten - not for a single day - the hundreds of thousands of men who made the ultimate sacrifice."Today we have stood shoulder to shoulder with counterparts from many countries in silence and what I hope was a united spirit of 'never again".Passchendaele was one of the great conflicts of the First World War. One hundred days of heavy fighting resulted in approximately 250,000 men being killed, injured or missing for the gain of only a few miles in Flanders.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | July 12, 2007

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