May Taking Break From Holiday to Attend Passchendaele Service

Prime Minister Theresa May will take time out of her three-week summer holiday to attend a WW1 centenary service.

Mrs May said she will be "honoured" to join thousands of descendants of soldiers who fought at Passchendaele.

The Prince of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will also attend, paying their respects to those who fell in the Third Battle of Ypres, which began on July 31 1917 and lasted until November that year.

Families of men who fought in the battle were invited to enter a ballot for 4,000 tickets earlier this year.

Serving military personnel and descendants will read out letters and diaries from their ancestors as part of the service at Tyne Cot Cemetery.

Mrs May said: "The name Passchendaele resonates with anyone with even a passing knowledge of the First World War.

"It is on those fields where hundreds of thousands of men of all nations fought and died in appalling conditions.

"This event will be a fitting tribute not just to those men but also to the families and communities affected by their loss.

"I am honoured to be attending alongside the descendants of those who took part in the battle.

"The anniversary is a timely reminder of the horror of the First World War and the need for friends and allies to continue to work together in the pursuit of peace."

The battle lasted three months, one week and three days and resulted in massive loss of life on both sides.

By the time British and Canadian forces finally took the village of Passchendaele around a third of a million British and Allied soldiers had been killed or wounded.