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10 November 1917: 2 Skipton POWs captured on final day of Passchedaele

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Four days after the village itself was secured, Canadian troops were able to capture the remainder of the Passchendaele Ridge and bring an end to 103 days of hell. The date was 10 November 1917.

Just two ‘Skipton’ prisoners were captured that day. Second Lieutenant Hans Holtz was born in the port of Stralsund which lies on the Baltic Sea. He was 24 years old and with the 140th Infantry Regiment.

Hans Meske, a second lieutenant and company leader was born in Rummelsburg in what is now Poland. He was 30 years old and with the 205th Reserve Infantry Regiment.

THE GERMAN ARMY ON THE WESTERN FRONT, 1914-1918 A German soldier seated on wooden track between Ypres and Passchendaele. Two notice boads read: ' Track leading to Crest Farm and Passchendaele' and (possibly) 'Hamburg Battalion HQ'. Copyright: © IWM (Q 57535).

The stop-go nature of the fighting left the German High Command convinced there would be further British attacks, but the British had had enough of Flanders for one year.