Battle of Passchendaele: The horror of World War One in the soldiers' own words and photographs

Left: Officers of the Queen’s Bays with cameras more sophisticated than most taken overseas. Right: The ubiquitous Vest Pocket Kodak, by far the most common used camera by both officers and men.

Stretcher bearers at work: battlefield conditions meant that it could take several hours to extricate one wounded man.

Tanks stuck or knocked out in the mud close to the Menin Road, on 31 July.

A new book tells the story of Passchendaele through the words and photographs of soldiers in the trenches.

German soldiers looking pensive. The prolonged British bombardment drove many of the enemy to the verge of madness

A tank stuck fast in Inverness Copse, 25 September.

Rescued just in time: a man is pulled from a collapsed dugout during the Battle of Arras.

A shell dump, one of hundreds in the fields around Arras – an obvious target for the Germans.

A shell dump, one of hundreds in the fields around Arras – an obvious target for the Germans.

Captain George Birnie, photographer and medical officer, attached 8th East Surrey Regiment.

Captain George Birnie, photographer and medical officer, attached 8th East Surrey Regiment.

Second Lieutenant Rolland Franks (centre), 8th East Surrey Regiment, during a pause in the fighting. He was killed on 12 October near Poelcappelle.