Jan Theuninck
PASSIONDALE
badly shell shocked
can’t find my dugout
damned generals
where’s my pillbox
shells rain
craters remain
insanity or death
what’s the difference
©Copyright 2006 by Jan Theuninck

The destroyed landscape of the Passchendaele battlefield. Image: Library and Archives, Canada. The Second Battle of Passchendaele was the culminating and final attack during the Third Battle of Ypres of the First World War. The battle took place in the Ypres Salient area of the Western Front, in and around the Belgian town of Passchendaele, between 26 October 1917 and 10 November 1917. The Canadian Corps was tasked with relieving the exhausted II Anzac Corps, continuing the advance started with the First Battle of Passchendaele and ultimately capturing the town of Passchendaele itself.