The Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was one of the bloodiest engagements of the First World War. Canadian troops, part of the larger British Expeditionary Force, were tasked with advancing over terrain that was effectively a quagmire. Months of relentless rain had turned the battlefield into a morass of mud and water, where soldiers could sink up to their waists or be trapped by shell craters filled with freezing rainwater. In these conditions, the simple act of standing, let alone fighting, was an extraordinary feat.
