The summer of 1917 marks the start of the most destructive and bloody event of the war in this region: the battle of Passchendaele. On July 31, the Brits start their attack. Their goal is to drive away the Germans in three weeks and then liberate the Belgian coast. But after more than one hundred days of exhausting fights, the battle got deadlocked in the rubble and ruins of what used to be Passchendaele. The third part of your museum visit, The Passendaele Experience, will provide more information on this battle. Meanwhile, the soldiers' outfits have improved. The woollen uniforms that Brits wore at the start of the war do not withstand the Flemish rain and their only protection comes from a waterproof canvas. In the summer of 1917 the Brits are given a waterproof poncho, at last. It defies mud and rain and also offers them protection against mustard gas. The sticky substance doesn't stick to the poncho as well as it did to wool. That's why this piece of garment is nicknamed ‘gas poncho’.