Love letters from Passchendaele are revealed 100 years after the bloody battle

LOVE LETTERS from First World War soldiers fighting in the Battle of Passchendaele have been revealed a 100 years after the bloody clash.

Descendants of soldiers who were killed in the battle, which was fought near the Belgian city of Ypres between July 31 and November 10 1917, are making the keepsakes public to mark the centenary commemorations.

They include letters from Private Charles Snelling to his wife Alice and daughters, and a photograph of Alice carried by Charles, which was discovered by chance in a wood in Belgium months after he was killed in action.

The image was returned to her by the corporal in the Soldiers Christian Association who found it, with a note saying “I am very sorry to say I could not find the owner of the photos. I cannot say if he has been wounded or killed”.

Among the other mementos kept by grandson Bob Snelling, from Surrey, are a lace-embroidered postcard and a letter from Charles, who served in the City of London regiment, before Passchendaele commenced when he was “merry and bright”.

“When this little picnic is finished we will have the old times over again making up for these months of parting”, he told his wife, urging her to carry on as if he was at home and not to think of tomorrow.

In a final postcard dated August 14, the day before he was killed in an attack on Glencorse Wood, during the battle, he wrote “I am quite well. Letter follows at first opportunity.”

After inquiries, Alice received news he was missing, and in October, that he was dead.

First World War Minister Rob Wilson said the letters showed love could survive even through the harrowing experiences of the Battle of Passchendaele.”

To enter the ballot for tickets for the official commemorations of Passchendaele – the Third Battle of Ypres – in Belgium, people can visit https://passchendaele100.org. The ballot closes on Friday, February 24.