Yesterday was the centenary of the death of Victor Bias of Birsay, a gunner in 1st Australian Field Artillery Brigade and a Gallipoli veteran.  The preliminary artillery bombardment for the Third Battle of Ypres (now known as Passchendaele) started on 16th July 1917.  The BEF used a total of 2,868 guns and howitzers, while the Germans had 1,556 to oppose them.  Victor's gun was an 18-pounder field gun, one of 1,098 in action during the artillery duel.  When his gun was hit by German fire on 21st July, Victor and five gunners were killed, also an officer.  Victor's story can be downloaded as a pdf from the Birsay section of the website, or directly using the link below.