. (TENSE MUSIC) The Battle of Passchendaele I still New Zealand's darkest hour, our greatest loss of life on one day. 843 soldiers killed in just a few hours. Those famous place names in Belgium and everything to do with World War I fascinated me when I was a boy. I loved visiting the museum with my grandfather ` a veteran from the second war ` trying to imagine what I felt like living as a soldier in the trenches. I actually know very little about Passchendaele. I know` I've heard the name. I have a vague understanding of what happened there, but not really. But when I think of Passchendaele and the Western Front going around there, that, sort of, to me is... it does conjure up images of my idea of what the war was, which was mud and trenches and just,... sort of, awful environment. I'm an actor and also a photographer. For my international exhibitions, I've tried to recapture the essence of the old war photography through a modern lens. I've never stood on the Western Front, but I've always wanted that chance. The photographs, for me, they started scratching the surface of what an experience might have been. It was a way of, sort of, me trying to understand how the history really affects us today, and it really made me even more curious. There's a record of five Kiwi brothers, young men who struck out for Europe, as soldiers did in the Great War, seeking adventure. Cornelius, James... What we share is a surname, O'Gorman. But I've no idea whether we share the same bloodline. It says he was killed. It's not very specific. I need to find out a bit more. 100 years after Passchendaele, I'm looking for a way to understand that loss. What does our nation's blackest day mean now? Are these missing men my great uncles or distant cousins? What did war give to five loyal Catholic lads and the O'Gorman family who lost all but one of them? Captions by Antony Vlug. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 The O'Gorman family lived in Wellington. Marie Arnold is a great-great-granddaughter and one of the holders of the family history. Yeah, this is it. This is the final resting place for Bridget and Thomas. There's the names of the four brothers. The names of the boys. John was a government stationery clerk, Thomas a tunneller, Cornelius a plumber and Timothy was a labourer. The saddest thing is that Bridget would never have visited their grave, which means she never had that opportunity. It seems like a final, sort of, insult to injury by not only losing your sons, but then not really having the closure of knowing where their bodies are. Exactly. Nowhere to go to grieve for them, really. Cos they don't have a known grave, even over there, do they? No. Not over there, no. Down in the Archives are copies of the war records. Timothy, John, James and Thomas all went to Belgium, but the only photo of the boys is James. This is a photo taken on his enlistment. He was one of the lucky brothers to survive the` He was one` He was the lucky brother to come home. ...to survive the war. Did they enlist, like voluntarily, or were they conscripted? Yes, they all volunteered, all five of them. OK, so they all wanted to go? Yes, they were desperate to get away. James had at least three goes at volunteering. He had a first go in 1915 and was rejected. Because he was too short. He was too short? (CHUCKLES) Yeah. How`? He was only 5'2", and` Really`? That's really` That's very short. Yeah. 5'2". Later on in 1916, they lowered the height restriction. Two days after they changed the criteria,... Yeah. he grew half an inch and therefore qualified to go. He grew half an inch? He grew half an inch. So, this is Thomas, and Thomas had a couple of goes at enlisting. He had minor health issues. He had bad teeth and varicose veins. And that was enough to stop him`? Enough to stop him. Unfit at present. Right. But by the time 1916 came along, they were desperate for men to enlist. Sure. We have little information to go on with these files, but we do have some burial coordinates. We're not sure, though, whether this was where he's buried. Hmm. Or the coordinates of where he actually was killed. Right. Well, hopefully when I go there, I can... I can get some answers for you. That would be brilliant, yes. And find out` Get some closure on it in a way. So, this is the archives? Down in the archive vaults, they're pretty impressive. It's massive. We're lucky enough to look through the company records from the day Thomas was fatally injured in the Battle of Broodseinde, just a few days before the Passchendaele attack. These would have been written, presumably, from a dugout? Dugout` Be on the front line? Yeah, exactly. One particular piece of paper says that 'I'm being shelled from everywhere'. Written at 9.40am on the fourth of the 10th. Thomas' company commander was clearly in dire straights. I see he's written down, I' have about 35 to 40 men.' Yes. 'All sergeants, with exception of one knocked out. 'A lot of wounded lying out on the track and require attention. 'I have only about 500 rounds of ammunition. I would like more as soon as possible.' So that's him putting in a request. Hmm. From the front? From the front line. That's incredible. Yes. So, you know, it's an hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute situation that's happening here. 'I've only got two stretcher bearers left. Urgently required.' And that's 1.25pm on the fourth. 4.45. 'Will you please let me know when the stretcher party I asked for in the previous report. 'As there a number of wounded, even here, who won't carry on, and I only have two bearers left.' Right. That's at 5pm in the evening. So, he's been waiting all day? All day. I mean, I really think when I get to Belgium, I'll be able to put this into a geographical context, because you do get a sense of urgency here, but to actually see what they saw. Yeah, and the conditions. Yeah. One more quick stop in Wellington, where another descendant, Con O'Gorman, has the service medals of the four brothers who lost their lives. Con. Hey, Dean. I'm Dean. Nice to meet you. How are you? Mate, how are you? Good, good. So, these are awarded to the soldiers who had died in the war, is that right? Yeah, yeah. Right, so there's Cornelius, and there's Thomas and Timothy and John. John. You know, these were given to the families,... All right. so I guess it's something for the family to remember. I mean, they all look the same, don't they? But if you look at on the edge, you can actually see a little inscription there. Oh, yeah, I see. That shows who it belongs to and what regiment they went to. We're looking for more than just names, though, so Con sends off a DNA test to check whether we could be directly related. When I head off to Belgium, I'm hoping to get some more answers for, not only myself, but you guys. So hopefully I can bring a little more information, cos at the moment, this is, kind of, all you really have, eh? Yeah. Yeah, no. It doesn't feel right. Right. Cos I've never been overseas, so` So for me, they would` It would make it more complete. Yeah, appreciate that. Dean. (CHUCKLES) So, it's been really good getting to know more information about the O'Gorman brothers and consequently more about the environment for them at the time when they enlisted, and it's` I think it's been really important to me, Marie and the family, like Con, because it's just a reminder that some of this history really is still present in people's lives, and it still has an emotional resonance with them, so I'm... I'm really quite keen now to get to Belgium and start trying to put together more pieces of the puzzle. . It's confronting to be in Belgium. It's a discordant idea that these terrible battlefields are also just fields and belong to local people. I imagine they were beautiful before the war. On the surface, they are beautiful again now, a homeland, in the many senses of the word. I like the idea of, you know, taking a photograph and being able to show people and people just think it's a Flemish scene, but actually, there's so much more hidden within the photograph. So, a field like this, in a way, captures both. It's both a horrible waste of life, and it's also a compelling piece of history that is shrouded` or hidden beneath the... quite a lovely landscape. Four of the O'Gorman boys were on the Western Front during 1917, when these paddocks were being dug over by soldiers and gangs of engineers. Some estimate that 25,000 miles of trenches were scrapped out during the Great War. So, we're here at the British trenches. Actually, what they did is put a reinforced eight frame with duckboards on it. So the duckboards keep their feet dry. But I've still seen photographs where the water has still come up even higher, is that right? Yeah, absolutely. So this is actually a model of an ideal trench. Yeah. But of course when they were, for example, attacks, also these` and shells coming in, these trenches were also destroyed and were the duckboards. So, this is a communication trench, and then you come on a fire trench. So facing the enemy is that way? Yep, absolutely, so this is the trench, the fire step. Yeah. So once soldiers have to fire their arms, they stood up the fire trench` the fire step, and they could shoot. Right. And then they went down as soon as they could, of course. And as you can see, it's really a complicated network of trenches, so we are` It's not one straight line. And the reason is, for example, if the enemy artillery could find your exact location and fired all their guns on one straight line, then it would be easy to find your trench system. And the other reason is, for example, if soldiers are standing here, and there is a grenade or a shell coming in, then all these men would be wounded or killed, but a man who was standing behind these corners would be spared, because the splinters of the shell would only be in this system. It's minimising the casualties? Absolutely. And these are German trenches, are they? These are German trenches. You can recognise it on the wooden mats that were used, so what the Germans, for example, used as well is this steel plate. Oh, right. And so, they'd put rifles through here or what happened? Put your rifle through here as well. So this was actually used by the snipers. And that's why it was so dangerous to have your head above the trench, actually. One of the few times you could look through, maybe, with a little bit of safety. Today, I can't quite imagine a countryside criss-crossed with dugouts and trench systems, but in the summer of 1917, the allies were digging in 20km south of Passchendaele, ready to attack Messines, firstly, by digging long tunnels, then placing massive mines under the ridge. This was the O'Gorman brothers' first major offensive. So, Timothy and John were more than likely involved in the preparations of this front line... Yep. ...trench? Yep. Like for instance, they did whole practice runs. That's the beauty of ` you can say beauty ` is that they had months of time of preparation. Right. And here, this is not really an immediate area that's more just over the border in France, like 10km from here. Yeah. But you see the New Zealand troops preparing this battle. They go in formation already, but you can see, of course, the practice run, because it's in daytime. Yeah. And some of them have a pipe, and they walk very casually. (CHUCKLES) And this was a practice for this ridge here? It's for the attack here in Messines itself. Cos the land, it doesn't look like it's that steep. But I guess in relation to everything else, it was higher. Yeah, I can imagine for people from New Zealand, this is like a mole-heap. Yeah. But you can imagine a whole front line of German machine guns ready to welcome them. Yeah. So it was very hard when you go uphill. It's really easy for the Germans to really annihilate the attack. Then, this is a New Zealand Roman Catholic priest is giving holy communion to soldiers. And these are New Zealand soldiers? These are, yes. It's quite possible that John and Timothy were amongst them. You see how afraid some of them are. They were really, really well aware of what was expected of them, and what was going to happen to them, maybe. So, this would've been the day before? Yeah, the fifth or the sixth of June, something like that. OK. What was it like for John and Timothy and their brothers in arms sitting in jumping-off points one summer morning, waiting for zero hour? At 3 in the morning, 455 tons of underground explosives ripped this town apart, instantly killing or causing the capture of up to 10,000 German troops, not even safe in their heavily fortified positions. So, where we're standing now, this is where the German fortifications were, looking back down the ridge, towards the New Zealanders, so where Timothy and John built in... Yep. that front-line hopping-off trench? This is, really, in front of us, the trench system, and then you have these pillboxes. On top of them, you had machine guns. So this is one of the entrances of such a bunker. Take a look. You can see it's not very comfortable. So how long would the troops spend inside one of these? Sometimes they stayed in it for a longer period, and they could sleep in it, but they were not used as sleeping quarters. They were really used as protection in the front line. I think I'd rather be in one of these things than one of those trenches down at the bottom. They're both not very comfortable, and they're both not really protective. (GROANS) Yeah, this is awful. It's really claustrophobic. I mean, it already feels like you're in a coffin. With the shells and the artillery going off, I can imagine that being in one of these things would be just terrifying. So, I take it back, what I said before. I wouldn't want to be in here at all. And when you're up here, you can really see how much they had the advantage. Yes. Looking down. So if it wasn't for the preparation and, I guess, the good planning of the New Zealand and British, then they would never have captured this. Nope. Like, how long did it take them to get up to here? From zero hour, 3.10, until here, 10 minutes. And then they were off to the town centre. It was such a surprise for the Germans, they couldn't give an appropriate answer. Yeah. So they were easily overrun. It's` I'm really... I find it, um, sort of, disturbing and fascinating at the same time, that so much happened in 10 minutes. Yeah. How can we now truly understand what it was like being in their shoes? Relatively new on the front, advancing quickly on dry ground to win an important victory, but devastating so many other lives. And now it feels like there's very little to show, except for one of those massive mine craters ` the Pool of Peace. It's very hard to imagine something as huge and horrendous as this huge mine going off here. It's almost hard to relate to it, because... I mean, what I definitely ` you can get a sense of, though ` is just how powerful this explosion must have been, because this pond here is really big. A local priest wrote in his diary about that June night. READS: 'It was just 3 o'clock, and the first glimmers of dawn were appearing, 'when all at once, I saw the most enormous and also the most horrifying 'beautiful firework display that was ever set off in Flanders.' 'It was as if the whole of the south-east was spewing out fire. 'If it wasn't a slaughter of men, one would call it beautiful. 'Yet one cannot resist looking at such a spectacle 'and would like to be even closer to it to get a better view. 'For us onlookers, it is nothing, but what it must be for the 100,000 men 'who are living in` writhing in that lake of fire.' Trying to imagine, or trying to picture, what it would have been like is difficult, and I think that... what I'm... excited about being here, is that I'm learning so much information that can help me piece together a more clear view of what it was like back then. Like I said, if you didn't know, this would just seem like quite a peaceful little pond in the middle of Belgium. It's deceptive. Because it doesn't` In a way, it doesn't really echo now what it would've been like. . I'm next to Gravenstafel Spur, where the Kiwis fought in early October, just across the way from Passchendaele. Thomas O'Gorman died here. The locals do get closer to the truth of the war every year as they turn the soil. Small nuggets of the history come to the surface, hinting at the reality. Honorary Kiwi captain and local historian, Freddy Declerck introduces me to what they call the iron harvest. 200,000 to 300,000kg of live ammunition. Live? Every` ammunition every year. So sometimes there's an accident. I working with the machine for drain making. Drainage. Drainage. Drainage. And I hit one, German, on 70cm under the ground. It blew up, did it? Did the ground come up and`? Yeah, I have jump on my cabin. Yeah. A couple of years ago, he found a... A body. ...a body. Really. A body. Just from here. Everything. His stones are in his shoes` The bones. The bones were in his shoes. Really? Yeah, and we find his... Belt. His belt. And was he German or was he...? Not his nameplate. Not his name. His watch. And when you find these bodies, what happens? We call the police. First the police is taking the body with them. When they release the body, they give it to the Commonwealth Warriors Commission, Yeah. and they are trying to identify it. Identification is very difficult. I think that only one on 10 or 20 could be partially identified or identified. 100 years ago, O'Gormans fought here too, eh? Yeah. Do you think of that? When you're coming here? Well, I... Yeah. And I find that the more I'm here, the more I'm able to get a sense of what that would've been like. You'd never have this experience in New Zealand, because there are areas where there is our history, but it's not so prevalent and so close to the surface as it is here. So... it's, you know... It is a really unique experience to be able to... dig up the stories that we're talking about. Like, literally. Another one of the Kiwi successes occurred here, where the bright New Zealand memorial on Gravenstafel Spur marks the front line after an advance towards Passchendaele, now called the Battle of Broodseinde. James and Thomas were here on the fourth of October. James was in the front line in the first wave, and they had to come over different farms that has been used by the Germans to make strongpoints. Right. They put bunkers in it. From on top of those bunkers, they were shooting with machine guns 500 rounds a minute. Wow. In that direction for 2.5km. So, everything was destroyed, also the drainage system. And the water table was going up, and by the shelling, it was all mixed. It was like liquefaction. But they had also a very good artillery support. About 200 yards in front of them, you had a curtain of shells, and every five minutes, they did another 50 metres. So they were well protected. And how long did it take from that front line up to here? They were here in about 1.5 hours. Is that considered fast? That's fast, yes. That is fast. They were lucky for another reason, because the Germans were planning also an attack that day, but they were 15 minutes later planned. And because of the opening barrage, a lot of Germans who were here waiting to attack has been killed. I see. By the opening barrage. During this successful attack, Thomas was one of many who were wounded. Perhaps James knew his brother was missing in action, stranded out on the battlefield. Are these are copies of original...? These are copies. Yes. You see it's secret ` in those days. Not today any more, of course. And we are here at Gravenstafel. This was the place where James had to come when he attacked. So, he had to dig in here on that line. And Thomas should have been here somewhere in the middle of that sector. So, Thomas was wounded here. And he is brought over to this place. You cannot see anything any more, but we are standing here at the end of a dugout. A dugout is an underground construction that has been built during the war. This one in particular has been used to treat people. It was an advanced dressing station. So Thomas would have been wounded, and then he would've been brought back to the station here. But it would've taken` I imagine it would've taken a long time? That was a` in fact, an awful job. Four men were taking the stretcher. Sometimes four other people to help them to pull their legs out of the mud. But of course, this was done mostly after the attack. So sometimes they were the whole day on the battlefield or longer. Right. And then in night, they were brought in, and it was hours and hours to come here. And` So, I` We have the coordinates for Thomas. Yes. He was buried... The coordinates would be here on the corner. It doesn't really make sense that he would be buried here. In my eyes, it's not possible. They have put those coordinates in his file, because he has been brought here. Right. But it was not the exact place where we has been buried. Hmm. To get even some sense of what those bunkers felt like, what Freddy can show me is another replica. Minus the screams, the rats, the inescapable smells, it's convincing, but not real. This is a dressing station. Which is what Thomas would've been brought into. Yes. Thomas has been treated like that. You see, you had the doctor. You had a priest also if it was necessary to give the last sacrament. So, for a lot of men, and I guess Thomas included, this would've really been the last place they saw? Yeah. If they didn't make it. Yes, well, for a lot of people, it was the battlefield itself that was the last place that they saw. But lots of them died on the stretcher, where they have been treated. And has then been buried outside somewhere. So that is most likely what happened to Thomas? It may be he never got his treatment. We will never know. Hmm. I feel like finding Thomas O'Gorman's grave would give me something tangible. Hello, mate. A focal point to see whatever we might call real. The Flanders Museum has done some amazing work to map out the details of battlefields in the area. Can you just tell me what we're looking at here on this photograph? You're looking at the totally devastated landscape of Passchendaele. The photograph was taken a couple of days after the offensive was officially stopped. These are all shell holes, is that right? Each of those circles is a shell hole filled with water. Water. So, this is the landscape in which they would have attacked. So, there's no real` There is no real front line, in a way? It's just people using the landscape to take cover in and make fortifications, is that right? At that point, the front line was something virtual. It's not virtual. There is a real front line, but it's not like there is a front-line trench` No trench? There is no trench. All right. So they dug themselves in within a crater. Really? If you look at photographs taken during the time, you would see what the front line would look like ` flat plain, no trees, no houses. So, that's what they were doing. They were attacking, digging in. But it's digging in a hole. That's putting some sandbags on top of it. Yeah. Making the shell hole a little bit deeper, a little bit more comfortable. But that's it. There's no trenches in this part of the war. These are Thomas O'Gorman's war records. So, the fourth of October, you think he was wounded, and then the sixth of October, he passed away. But there are coordinates on this file. Yeah, sure. Is it possible to find it? Those coordinates which relate to this field over here. And if you look at the present-day landscape, it would be this area, in a town called` small hamlet called Wilchem. And there's no cemetery to be seen on this spot on the photographs. What the photographs do show is in the area, is over here, we can see the traces of a cemetery. You can see one, two, three` dozens of lines. And those are lines of graves. They're exactly 2m wide, and they correspond with a place of a modern-day cemetery. This is certainly the closest cemetery to this coordinate. So it's possible that Thomas O'Gorman would be buried in this cemetery? There is an opportunity that you will find him in those plots. There is also an opportunity that there will be a lot of unknown soldiers, so that would be a good starting point. Hmm. Thanks to that, we have very specific information of where Thomas was buried` or is hopefully buried, so I'm gonna be able to go there now and find out for myself, and I think that's gonna be a really important part to help connect me more to the story as we go along, and I'm really interested to see if we are able to find his grave marker and what that will be like. I think this is the part of the cemetery which the aerial photography was relating to. I think this must be the older part of the cemetery, cos the dugout is just over that way. So Thomas, very likely, could've been brought and buried here. What I find poignant now, which I wouldn't have prior to going on this journey, is that now I know about the fourth of October, and I can see that these men all died on the same day, and I've actually been to the place where they most likely were killed, and it makes it a much more poignant experience. Right, OK, so, these are two unknown graves. So potentially these are the ones that we were talking about earlier. So judging by what I learnt from that aerial photography, these are the only two unknowns here. And it's most likely that Thomas was buried here, so... I mean, I can't say. I guess, that's the frustrating thing, but I would say that most likely that it's one of these two graves is where Thomas was buried. Which would be good for the family to know, so it's nice to be able to have a much better idea about it. . In a land where people have rebuilt their farms, gone back to work, built houses and lives, it's not always easy to grasp the reality of the war. At Pond Farm, though, Stijn has taken the iron harvest to a whole new level. Well, Dean, this is... Wow. my man cave. Is that your man cave? Yes. This is all stuff that you've collected? And that's all stuff that has been found here, around the farm, all the with tractor and the plough or sometimes with my metal detector too. You find it exciting to find this stuff? Like, what does it mean to you to find all this stuff? Well, it's just` with every object, there's a story behind it. Yeah. And that's the most special thing for me. I know what you mean. I feel the same way. The idea that this is connected to something in history... Yeah. is fascinating, and it's hard to... It's hard to really imagine something until you can see it in the flesh. And then you start imagining how it was used and who was affected by it and all these things. Like I have over there, by example, a gas shell. And the bottle is upside down in the shell. Oh, so it's just a little glass bottle in the shell. When the shell explodes, the bottle breaks, and the gas went out. Yeah. And normally there's phosgene gas in it, so then your lungs will be burnt. Even just looking at that now makes me feel strange. Yeah. And then later on, they had such a gas mask with the filter on it to protect them from the gas. I do know that artillery was used a lot in the first world war, but I don't really know how they work. This is a shrapnel shell, so they put the complete thing in the cannon. And the cannon hits the shell case. The thing is rotating. And when it's rotating, it flies a lot further and a lot preciser. And while the shell is flying in the air, then the fuses are starting. Open it. Every ring is filled up with black powder. And that flame is turning around, going into the other one, turns around again. And that's the time the flame needs to go from one to the other. So they had to calculate it to where they wanted it to explode? Is that right? Yes, because the shrapnel can't explode just before` or just above the soldiers. And this thing explodes, and then because of the pressure, 180 shrapnel balls, they fly out just before they hit the ground. Cut down by a storm of metal balls, a high-explosive shell or ripped apart by machine gun bullets. Their brother Thomas, only freshly buried, John, James and Timothy O'Gorman were part of that disastrous final push to Passchendaele on October 12th. We are here at the starting line, the jump-off line on the 12th of October here, and what we see over there is the church of Passchendaele, so this was the objective for the day for the New Zealand division. Was it potentially a little bit similar to what it is today? It's cold and rainy. Yeah. John and Tim were here. And they were ready to attack in the morning, about 5.30. Where were they? Were they hunking down in a trench or were they...? No` Whatever was available? Whatever was available. Shell holes, a little bit of trenches. So this whole area, again, would've just been mud. That's all mud and shell holes. In fact, and there you have the stream, and they had to go over, and there they had to go to Bellevue Spur. Bellevue Spur is about 1km from here. So, the objective is actually, again, it's quite a close... It's very close. It's very close. So, the image here of the New Zealanders would have been, they would've gone over the top here? Yes. They would've had the whistle? Yes. And they would've gone over? Yeah. The boys that were coming out of the trench, going in that direction, more than one in two was wiped out by machine gun fire, by artillery fire and also by own friendly fire in the beginning of the attack. If you were shot in the arm or leg and you were falling down into a shell hole, then you drowned, you was finished, because nobody could help you. Your comrades could not stop to help you, because they had to go forward to attack. So, we're walking now where Timothy and John may have gone on that day? Yes. And we are following exactly in their trail. That's so` It's` That's very surreal. I feel strange. I can't believe that. It's hard to imagine. At least, yeah, 300, 400 people are still here in this ground, eh? And now 100 years later, we're just walking over the top. Yeah. Autumn rains had set in, and the ground was a deadly mess of shell holes. Positions near Gravenstafel Spur were only a few hundred metres from Bellevue Spur in Passchendaele town, but the bombing had destroyed this small stream that drained the low-lying fields, creating a bottomless quagmire 50-metres wide. When the soldiers got to here, like John and Timothy, it would have been almost impossible to cross. It was almost impossible. Given the circumstances. Most of them had been killed or wounded just before or on the stream itself. I'm just trying to imagine it. So in a way, this stream would have become almost like a traffic jam? Yes. They were all stuck. Of people, because they all couldn't` Yes, they were all stuck. ...go any further. They could not go. So, they were altogether stuck here. With their own artillery sinking, with shells landing short and advancing under heavy machine gun fire, each wave of Kiwi troops came to a virtual standstill out in the open. In pouring rain, they dug in until commanders finally called a halt 10 hours after the dawn attack. And then it was said, 'OK, stop,' and they` So the people had to shelter where they could in the fields, and they had to wait until the night to retreat. And then they had to go all the way back again? Those who could, eh. Which would have been a very demoralising experience. Yes. Well, it depleted` Also the spirit of the division was broke. Yeah. I think this has, for me, been one of the most powerful moments. To know that thousands of men lost their lives here, and to think on the October 12th, they came up, crossed this flat land and they ended up here, and then were trapped here for the whole day under the continual fire and bombardment from the Germans. I mean, it's quite hard to comprehend. And I was just looking around on` on the earth before, you know, and I found little bits and pieces. They're just strewn everywhere. I mean, the history of this place is so alive, and it's a much more visceral experience being here, and, you know, I've read lots of books about it, cos I've always been interested in it, but to actually be here and to stand on this land, it's a very different experience. (CHURCH BELLS TOLL) John O'Gorman died aged 31. One of the 843 Kiwis killed and over 2500 injured one morning trying to reach Bellevue Spur, where Passchendaele's church has now been rebuilt, looking out over the killing fields. No one knows how John died. You kinda have to imagine that on the 12th of October, and then later when the Canadians finally did take this objective, it's just a pile of dirt. You know, and the whole town's gone. There's just mud and craters. For the O'Gorman brothers, this... this really was the final chapter, not only literally, as so many lost their lives, but also, I think, mentally, this must have been a crippling blow for the New Zealand soldiers not to have achieved that objective, and not only to not get to it, but to suffer such loss. I mean, I can't imagine how they would've been feeling. It took Canadian troops two weeks and nearly 16,000 casualties to take the town. But that's another chapter of this story. 12,000 soldiers are buried at Tyne Cot Cemetery, but most of the graves are unidentified. John O'Gorman may lie here or he may still lie in the fields. There's no way to know. So, there are 35,000 names here. That's a lot of names. And there are` Yes. And there are about 12,000 gravestones, and only one-third is known. One-third is so... such a small number. Yes, yes. There's a special part of this wall of missing. Here is recorded all the names of the New Zealanders that have been lost in October 1917 in this area. So Bellevue, Gravenstafel, and there are two names of the brothers on it also. So, they will be here, won't they? They will be here. Almost 1200 people. So, there's the Wellington, and then there's the O` There's the Otago... One should be here. There it is. Yes, there it is. O'Gorman. John, O'Gorman. And then Thomas over there. And then Thomas. Who died on the fourth of October, didn't he? Yes. You know, when I` You know, I've seen a lot of memorials and a lot of names, but it's, you know` having to` coming here and then, sort of, following the O'Gormans through their, um` through their trials and tribulations, it means so much more now to look at these names. Absolutely. So behind every one of these names is a story that you could follow. After Passchendaele was finally won, James O'Gorman survived the campaign in France. Cornelius died of gunshot wounds at Bapaume. 11 months after losing Thomas and John, their mother, Bridget, appealed to authorities for her oldest son on active service, Timothy O'Gorman, to be sent home. She wants to bring her son home, and then the chairman says, 'Does he not want to be at the finish?' And I guess they mean at the finish of the war. Finish of the war, because they knew` Which is the idea of glory, and all that sort of stuff, isn't it? And then mum says, 'I don't know.' And the chairman says, 'The finish looks very close now, doesn't it?' She says, 'Yes, perhaps so, but my son may be finished before the war is finished.' This is very strong, eh? To say that as a mother. Yeah. And unfortunately she was right, because Timothy` He did die. He died. The order to release Timothy tragically was issued too late or wasn't carried out in time, so a fourth O'Gorman body was buried in France a year after the final attack at Passchendaele and just a couple of weeks before Armistice Day. Three weeks, it seems so` It's a tragic story. Four of the five brothers died here on the Western Front on the utmost ends of the Earth. And the mother had never` They never came here to mourn over the graves or the place. No. There's places` all the memorials like here. They never go do that, and that's a pity. That's a` Yeah. That's a shame. So, I've just been emailed the results of the DNA test to see if I'm actually, um,... related to the O'Gorman brothers. I'm just opening it up now. I feel quite excited, actually. More than I thought I would be. Maybe a little nervous. Um... Um, obtained` results are consistent with individuals that do not share a common male lineage, so... Hmm, you know, actually, I feel disappointed. I really, kind of, had hoped that I would be related. Um, but I did wonder about this, and I think, for me, the journey is really finding out about what these soldiers went through. And I think that being able to follow the O'Gorman brothers, anyway, has given me a chance to really explore it, and for it to only matter if you're related to someone, um, is maybe a little selfish. The nearby town of Ypres is home to the impressive Menin Gate, where another 55,000 names record men who have no known grave. A nightly service still brings hundreds of mourners from all around the world. Yeah, so sort of overwhelming, really. There's already a big crowd here. Yeah. So, normally, we have in between 730 to 1500 people coming to attend every night. I think that's really... I think that's really special. Every night, and there's this many people. That's amazing. (ALL SING ROSES OF PICARDY) # And the roses will die # with the summertime. # And our roads may be far apart, # but there's one rose # that dies not in Picardy. # 'Tis the rose that I keep in my heart. # And there will it always be. That was emotional. Yeah, it snuck up on me, actually. You know, and I think it's hard not to feel anything when you're standing in this beautiful gate and there's all these people around, and I think it's really` I think it's really lovely to see all these young people here, and I think... Yeah, it's special. (LAST POST PLAYS) Captions by Antony Vlug. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 (ALL PLAY LAST POST)