A COUPLE of poppy wreaths were laid at the foot of Marlborough's war memorial last week as the world stood to remember the men who lost their lives to one the bloodiest offensives in the First World War.

Wiltshire Councillor Stewart Dobson and Alec Light, the Marlborough branch chairman for the Royal British Legion, laid the wreaths on Tuesday afternoon to honour the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele.

The conflict, which is officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was fought for three months from July 31, 1917, killing or injury more than half a million Allied and German solders. Many of those casualties succumbed to the thick mud, which was caused by weeks of relentless stormy weather.

"We laid a couple of wreaths to commemorate the centenary," Coun Dobson said. "It was such a terrible event and we just felt that from the Royal British Legion point of view that it was right for the branch and for Marlborough to remember those who lost their lives. It is important that we do not forget.

"It was a very poignant moment because these poor, poor men fought in such terrible conditions to gain only a few miles - you just cannot believe it."

The courage and bravery of those soldiers was also commemorated internationally in Belgium on Monday, with senior politicians and members of the Royal family joining some 4,000 relatives at the ceremony at Tyne Cot cemetery.

Speaking at the service, Prince Charles said: "We remember it not only for the rain that fell, the mud that weighed down the living and swallowed the dead, but also for the courage and bravery of the men who fought here."

The Duchess of Cambridge also laid flowers at the grave of the Unknown Soldier, while Prince Charles and King Philippe led the laying of the wreaths at the cross of remembrance.