THE centenary of one of the First World War’s most infamous and deadly battles has been marked with a memorial service in Blaenavon.

The Battle of Passchendaele started on July 31, 1917 – a period of conflict which would rage on for more than three months and claim the lives of an estimated 520,000 people, ending on November 10.

Around 50 people attended the service at the cenotaph outside the Blaenavon Workmen’s Hall which started at 11am.

Cllr Phyllis Roberts, the Mayor of Blaenavon, who was born just seven years after the battle, laid a wreath during the ceremony..

She said it had been an honour to represent the town at the service.

“It was a very emotional tribute to the brave soldiers who lost their lives there, and very pleasing to see such a good turnout from the people of Blaenavon in their remembrance,” said Cllr Roberts.

The mayor added that she believes her father, Christopher Davies, was captured during the Battle of Passchendaele, and he led 20 prisoners of war from Germany into Belgium and eventually home to the UK.

“It’s a story I’ve known all my life, only it wasn’t much talked about because my father never talked about the war,” she said.

“When the war was over the Germans didn’t tell them that the Armistice had been signed.

“They just opened the doors and said, “You can go.”

“My father was a very young man but he was very intelligent. He must have been good at geography.

“There were about 20 of them he brought through Germany into Belgium.

“By the time they had walked all that way they didn’t have any shoes on their feet.”

Cllr Roberts added that her father returned to Blaenavon to a hero’s welcome, but rarely spoke of his experiences in the war.

She was joined by members of the Blaenavon Town Council at the remembrance service, as well as the three ward councillors.

The Mayor of Torfaen, Cllr Jessica Powell, was also in attendance and she also laid a wreath at the base of the cenotaph along with members of the Royal British Legion.

The ceremony started with a clip from historian Dan Snow on the battle, entitled “The First Day” and was followed by a prayer and the Exhortation.

The Workmen’s Hall then fell silent for two minutes, following the Last Post and before the Reveille and the Kohima Epitaph.

A ceremony was also held in Belgium to mark the Third Battle of Ypres, more widely known as Passchendaele was held on Monday, attended by Carwjn Jones and Alun Cairns.