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Chapter One Family Roots, Empty Graves Chapter Two Into the Line of Fire Chapter Three Truth Buried & Reburied Chapter Four Dead Voice from the Ground Chapter Five The Final Journey About
NZ
Additional Chapter Content
The Family Archives
The Anna Durie Story
Non-Repatriation
Letters From George
NEXT: Chapter Two

Into the Line of Fire

The northern summer of 1917 was relatively kind to the New Zealand and Canadian troops, with victories in other parts of Belgium (Messines) and France (Arras and Vimy Ridge).

These victories, however great, were still won with high casualties and under atrocious conditions. The O’Gorman brothers had arrived in 1916 and had fought in some of these battles, before the fight in Passchendaele. The Stratford boys had a shared experience in some of their earlier battles of Ypres, Belgium. Upon seeing the conditions and destruction of war, these men realized they may never return home.

How did this experience, and killing for the first time, affect these young men?

Canada's Story

Robert travels to Ypres, Belgium to retrace George’s journey. He finds George’s name listed at the In Flanders Fields Museum and at Menin Gate. Robert learns that by the time George would have arrived to fight, most of the town was in ruins.
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New Zealand's Story

In Belgium Dean tries to imagine the horrors of the front line. He explores trenches, mine craters and visits the site of the O’Gorman boys' first gruesome campaign win.
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