"Passchendaele- Zero Hour" Dawn Service

[BatterySergeantMajor]

As far as I know, the start of "Third Ypres/ Passchendaele" has never been commemorated on the day itself, let stand alone on the moment.

Therefore, I gathered some friends and started preparations to guarantee there will be a ceremony on the day and hour of the Centenary of the start of the Battle on 31 July 2017. Although everyone will be welcome, we are not really worrying about the turnout. Whatever the number of participants, 30 or 300, with our without VIP, the purpose of the commemoration will be to remember this most important battle and the men (and, indirectly, women) who were involved in it at the exact moment of the beginning of "Passchendaele".

The provisional planning is to start the ceremony at 05.30 AM, in order to include and mark the very moment of the launch of the attack at 05.50 AM.

However, before setting the timing in stone, I want to double check this important aspect. As the battle started at 03.50 AM in 1917, we calculated that we have to add one hour for the conversion from GMT to CET and one hour to make up for the winter/ summer time. We will observe the moment of dawn at 31 July of this year to check if this calculation is correct but would be grateful for any additional thoughts or reflections on this from the specialists on this forum, as the timing is a crucial element.

Although the "Passchendaele- Zero Hour" Dawn Service will take place at the very meaningful site of the Welsh National Memorial Park at Pilkem Ridge and will contain some Welsh elements, it will NOT be a Welsh, but a general commemoration to remember ALL those involved. Later in the day, two other very specific Welsh ceremonies will take place.

[Ian Riley]

My understanding is that the BEF worked on GMT in 1917 so I assume your two hour correction is right. I may, Deo volente, be on the start line at Wieltje. Good to see that there is some active thinking on this although I have not yet fully recovered from last year's Bellewaarde/Hooge centenary in June when the original planned party of 50 eventually became a group of about 350 eighteen months down the line with traffic control and centralised parking arrangements.

[clive_hughes]

if it's not a distraction, what/where are the other Welsh events you mention please?

Clive

[BatterySergeantMajor]

@Ian: another year to recuperate !

@Clive: there will be a main Welsh Centenary commemoration at the Welsh National Memorial Park later in the day, as well as an Hedd Wyn-ceremony at Artillery Wood Cemetery , so both on 31 July. We (the National Memorial & Hedd Wyn Society) will speak with the Welsh Government in order to seek cooperation, after which the timings will be decided. FYI, there are some off-shoot projects in the pipeline as well.

More information will follow when things are developping at https://www.facebook.com/welshmemorial/

[BatterySergeantMajor]

We were a bit in doubt about the vague description of "dawn" (some will call this the start of the twilight period, others will refer to it as the moment of sunrise, ...) and want to be sure to be sure to know if it is correct to add the + 1 hour summer time , as this hour roughly covers the twilight period, an interesting timespan to launch attacks.

What brings us to the assumption that 03.50 AM in 1917 is equivalent to 05.50 AM in 2017, is that the British had introduced GMT in their front area by then and, in addition, went to the summer time from 1916 till after the end of the war.

[Yorke Scarlett]

Ref Post No. 2 - and a very good job you did in the organization - Ian

Many thanks

[clive_hughes]

Thank you BSM for that link - some interesting events planned!