Last Updated on July 31, 2025 by Matt Staff
On July 31st, 1917, the fields of Flanders became the setting for one of World War I’s most infamous and nightmarish battles: the Third Battle of Ypres. The Battle of Ypres is more often remembered simply as Passchendaele. What began as a push to break through German lines quickly turned into a months-long struggle through rain, shellfire, and mud so deep it claimed lives without a shot being fired. Entire units vanished into the mire. Horses, artillery, and even tanks became stranded in the thick earth.
The cost was staggering: more than half a million casualties, all for a few miles of ruined ground. And yet, amid the chaos, photographers managed to capture glimpses of life in the trenches and on the shattered battlefield, moments that still speak volumes over a century later. Here are 19 vintage photos from the Third Battle of Ypres.
1. British soldiers crossing over the mud, Passchendaele, 1917
2. Canadian soldiers taking cover behind a pillbox at the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917
3. British troops sliding over a frozen pond, Ypres, November 1917
4. Hauling an 18-pounder gun through the mud during the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917
5. An aerial view of the village of Passchendaele before and after the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917
6. Canadian soldiers after taking Hill 70 near Ypres, 1917
7. “My Great Grandfather and his best friend after the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917”
8. A German medic with a makeshift gas mask at the Third Battle of Ypres
9. Australian infantrymen fighting off poison gas with their small box respirators, Ypres, Belgium, September 1917
10. British soldiers in a silhouette march toward the trenches near Ypres, July 1917
11. Australian troops on their way to take the front line position during the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917
12. British 381mm Mk.II Howitzer during the Third Battle of Ypres, September 1917
13. The mud of Passchendaele would swallow tanks whole, 1917
14. Soldiers crossing a bridge through no man’s land, the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917
15. Australian Army machine gunners of the 4th Division after capturing a trench mortar in the trenches near Garter Point, September 27, 1917
16. Ypres looked like it had been hit by a tsunami after the Battle of Passchendaele, 1917
17. Troops of the 1st Australian Division walking on a duckboard track near Hooge, in the Ypres sector, 1917
18. British troops sharing some much-needed coffee after the Battle of Passchendaele
19. The Third Battle of Ypres was also known as the Battle of the Mud
Want to see more vintage military content?
Check out 20 Vintage Photos Of Soldiers In The Trenches, or take a look at 20 Colorized Photos of Soldiers in the 1910s. Finally, if you want to gain a new perspective on WWII, take a look at 35 Vintage Photos From World War 2.