One of the bloodiest battles of World War One is being remembered 100 years after it began.

Prince Charles paid tribute to soldiers who fought at Passchendaele alongside 4,000 of their relatives at the Tyne Cot cemetery in Ypres yesterday.

In three months of fighting, more than half a million Allied and German soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing.

Canadian forces entered the fray in October of 1917 and succeded in capturing the Passchendaele Ridge at a cost of some 16,000 causalities.  Nine Canadians were awarded Victoria Crosses during the siege