All posts tagged Belgium

The Battle of Passchendaele

It is 100 years since The Battle of Passchendaele.

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Stuff: Passchendaele – 100 years since New Zealand’s darkest day of the First World War

“I died in hell (They called it Passchendaele),” is how the poet Seigfried Sassoon described the three month battle that left 500,000 casualties and became synonymous with the slaughter of the First World War.

It’s exactly 100 years since the name of the tiny Belgian village on the Western Front name became linked to New Zealand’s “darkest hour” of the 1914-18 conflict.

On October 12, 1917 an Allied attack on heavily-defended German lines snuffed out the lives of 845 Kiwi soldiers in a quagmire of liquid mud, barbed wire and machine guns. The total rises to 950 after soldiers succumbed to their wounds in the following days. Some 1860 were injured.

NZ History: New Zealand’s ‘blackest day’ at Passchendaele

Last year Missy wrote some posts about her visit to Ypres (which is near Passchendaele):

 

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by Pete George on October 12, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on October 12, 2017

https://yournz.org/2017/10/12/the-battle-of-passchendaele/

Bombs in Brussels

A reminder of the continual threat of terrorism in Europe with three reported bomb blasts in Brussels, with a current reported death toll of 34, and many more serious injuries.

There were two blasts at Zaventem Airport in Brussels, and one train was bombed at Malbeek Metro Station.

Around 35 killed in Brussels attacks claimed by IS

A series of explosions claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train Tuesday, killing around 35 people in the latest attacks to bring bloody carnage to the heart of Europe.

Two huge blasts, at least one of which prosecutors said was likely caused by a suicide bomber, rocked the check-in hall at Zaventem Airport, strewing the scene with blood and mangled bodies and sending hundreds of terrified travellers fleeing in terror.

More than 200 people were wounded in Tuesday’s bloodshed, which came just four days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam — the prime suspect in the Paris attacks — after four months on the run.

An online news agency affiliated with IS said the group was behind the attacks.

“Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital Brussels, a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State,” the Aamaq news agency said.

I don’t think ISIS involvement has been confirmed yet.

Belgium had a close association with terror attacks in France last year.

This will raise the fear levels again. With travellers being targeted it will have an impact on tourism as well as on Belgium itself.

 

 

by Pete George on March 23, 2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Pete George on March 23, 2016

https://yournz.org/2016/03/23/bombs-in-brussels/