International remembrance services to be held at Tyne Cot Cemetery and the Menin Gate in Belgium overnight mark the start of commemorative activities for the 90th anniversary of the Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, on the Western Front during World War I. Minister for Veterans' Affairs Bruce Billson said the Governor-General, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC, is representing Australia at these ceremonies which honour the soldiers of all nations who fought in Flanders Fields. "It is 90 years this month since the start of Passchendaele, part of the 1917 Flanders offensive which resulted in 32,600 Australian casualties, including more than 12,000 who lost their lives," Mr Billson said. "It is 80 years since the dedication of the Memorial to the Missing at the Menin Gate on which is inscribed the names of more than 54,000 British Empire and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres area in World War I, and have no known grave."

Tonight's services will be followed by other commemorative activities in Belgium which, for Australians, will culminate in Anzac Week in October coinciding with the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Broodseinde. The battle was fought on the site of Tyne Cot Cemetery. During the Anzac Week commemorations, there is also a plan to re-inter the remains of five Australian World War 1 soldiers which were recovered during gas line excavation works last year. "On 15 July, a new interactive exhibit, Australians at Passchendaele, developed by my Department will be opened at the Tyne Cot Visitor Centre. The display provides insight into the battles fought by Australians around Ypres, as they advanced towards Passchendaele and provides the stories behind the graves," Mr Billson said.

"Australians can learn about the Third Battle of Ypres in a new book published by my Department. 1917: Ypres is the third in the Australians on the Western Front series and tells the story of the battle in which courage, honour and mateship share the pages of history with horror, bleakness and 'many the byways to hell' endured by the men. "Australia suffered its greatest losses in our wartime history on the
Western Front, and I urge all Australians to remember the courage and determination of our soldiers on this significant anniversary," Mr
Billson said.