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The Queen and New Zealand's Governor-General were among leaders from Commonwealth nations who laid wreaths at Passchendaele yesterday to mark the 90th anniversary of the infamous World War I battle.
By November 1917, when the fighting was over, 500,000 soldiers were either dead, wounded or missing. Among the dead were the more than 1300 New Zealanders killed in two attacks in October.
Yesterday, while bagpipes played, the royals and leaders from Australia, NZ, Canada and other nations laid floral tributes at the foot of a large white cross cenotaph that dominates the vast grave site. A 1930s biplane dropped red poppy petals over Tyne Cot in memory of the dead.
