WITH A POPPY AND A PRAYER. Officers died at Passchendaele 31st July – 10th November 1917

If there were such a thing as a gold medal for a work of outstanding merit in the field of research, collation and presentation then this most remarkable publication would top the list of my recommendations. The author‘s intention is not to add any appraisal nor to comment on the progress or conduct of the operations, but to provide a period by period account of officer casualties during the 103 days of the Third Ypres offensive, detailing the units they were serving with at the time of death. In all 3295 officers died with the highest toll during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge (the first three days of the offensive) when 518 lost their lives. The book is divided into eighteen sections, each section covering a specific period, one of the eight battles or periods between battles; every day of the 103 days is catered for. With each section there is a troop location map showing corps, divisions and brigades and front line positions accompanied by a table giving details of troop deployment, and a Roll of Honour which names every officer who died during the relevant period and the unit he was with. Fifty-one black and white plates contain passport-size photos of 540 officers and two show portraits of the seven posthumous VCs awarded with their headstones or place of memorial.
There are six very useful and informative appendices: the first is an alphabetical register of officers died showing their unit, date of death, any decoration, location of grave or memorial and a comment column showing such details as place or cause of death if not in action; the second gives the divisional order of battle for the Third Ypres offensive; the third is a table showing periods spent in the front line by divisions and brigades; the fourth is the summary of casualties by regiment, corps or unit; the fifth is a medal locator showing awards made and the last known location of these awards; and finally there is a register of officer casualties not present at Third Ypres but who were killed or died of wounds during the period of the offensive. Finally there is a most comprehensive bibliography and a list of regimental war diary references.