Bruges (or Brugge as the locals spell it) in north-western Belgium, is 130km west-southwest of Hoogstraten.
Ypres is about 45km to the southwest of Bruges, almost to the French border. Though Ieper is the Dutch and only official name, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I when only French was in official use in Belgian documents, including on maps . The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge , Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke , and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to some 34,900 inhabitants. During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces; because Ypres was hard to pronounce in English, British troops nicknamed the city "Wipers". |
After being totally flattened in WWI, Ypres was rebuilt to medieval plans; the city is home to imposing Menin Gate Memorial to the missing soldiers, complete with 55,000 names, erected on the spot where the soldiers left the city for the frontline.
Unlike the cemeteries of the Allies (Commonwealth), this is tended to by German volunteers - on the day we were there, some members of the German army were doing tidy-up.
The cemetery is very different to the Commonwealth cemeteries we visited, as the headstones are dark, and laid flat on the ground, with oak trees growing throughout the cemetery.
One of the ladies on the tour got stuck in the toilet - the door simply wouldn't unlock. Fortunately, I came up on her as she and her daughter were trying to work out how they would get her out; she ended up climbing over the door and the two of us caught her head-first and lowered her to the ground.
Once everyone was safely back on the bus, we went to the simple yet impressive monument to the Canadian forces at "Vancouver Corner" as it is known.
The name "Tyne Cot" is said to come from the Northumberland Fusiliers, who thought that the German concrete pill boxes , 5 of which still stand in the middle of the cemetery (the British used one as a field dressing station) looked like typical Tyneside workers' cottages – Tyne Cots.
"We can truly say that the whole circuit of the Earth is girdled with the graves of our dead. In the course of my pilgrimage, I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace upon Earth through the years to come, than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war."
Fine words; however, for brevity, poignancy and pointedness, I defer to he family of Second Lieutenant Arthur Conway Young, on whose headstone his family had the personal inscription added:
"Sacrificed to the fallacy that war can end war".
Quite moving to see this cemetery with so many headstones; their is something quite special in the simplicity and repetition of the design.
Most of the cemetery is laid out in the shape of a "salient", which is a bulge in an army line, to represent the Ypres Salient, which moved back and forth across this land (by a matter of mere kilometres) over the course of WWI. However, at the rear of the central memorial, which sits atop one of the German pill-boxes, there is no order, as this was the resting place of a number of men who didn't make it out of the field dressing station alive; this includes four headstones for German soldiers, who must have been treated here.
The cemetery is quite large, and is one which was made after the Armistice. It contains the graves of many soldiers recovered some time after they had died; thus, although there are 2,103 burials here, only 428 of these are identified. This menas that over three quarters of the burials are men 'Known Unto God'. Most of those buried here died in 1917.
Above is the view of the memorial to the 5th Australian Division, sitting proudly atop the butte; and below is the view of the cemetery from the memorial:
The British (by which I really mean the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company) tunnelled some 750 metres all the way from their lines, under No-Man's Land, to under this hill, as well as other strategic locations (24 in all), and laid dynamite in vast quantities. The mines were exploded in a coordinated fashion, although two did not explode (one did many years later in the 1950s, when a tree growing above it was struck by lightning and the electricity went through the roots and detonated the explosives under the ground - fortunately farm-land), which devastated the German lines and provided an opportunity for a successful advance in the area, after a short battle of about half a day. The operation was planned and executed over 18 months!
Today, rather than a hill, there is more of a crater, with many other smaller divots within the crater - thanks to the area being subjected to a massive artillery campaign that saw an average of 3 shells per square metre per day. The site is to be preserved for all time, as it was at the end of the war, other than natural revegetation; unfortunately however, poor planning decisions have led to housing development allowed right up to the site, including in front, obscuring the view to what would have been the Allied lines.
The Menin Gate stands at the site where those going to the front left Ypres, as they headed along the Menin Road.
There are some names where it lists their name and "served as" with another name - this is for those who in some instances were too young to enlist, but did so under another name (so that they would not be found out), or perhaps they had a criminal past and were looking to start a new life under an assumed identity, which would come with records: however, in many cases it came with a far higher cost!
Seeing this many names over the walls is a stark reminder of the numbers who lost their lives during the "Great War"; it also gives family somewhere to come to - which obviously some do, given the number of personal messages on crosses, as well as clearly deliberately-placed poppies in remembrance.
Kim commented recently that she heard that the Australian average height went down after WWI, as a result of the tallest, biggest, fittest men being the first to serve, and so many of them not returning, or returning in a far worse state than when they left; not only were so many of them cut down, but this also affected the gene pool for a period after the war.
After the Menin Gate, we visited an archaeologically accurate reconstructed trench, of about 67 metres in length - this was completed by volunteers; unfortunately, it sits in the middle of an industrial estate, so it's not in the most pleasant of spots. It is an original trench, but with new materials, such as concreted "sand bags" to ensure they have a longer life. There is also an extensive dugout system under the ground, but due to water ingress, this cannot be visited.
This is one of the most-visited graves in Flanders' Fields; many school groups come here, and apparently it is when the children are at their quietest, as they can relate to someone of their age who was killed while fighting here.
This field dressing station is also the spot where, on 3 May 1915, Canadian surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel John McRae (who died of pneumonia in 1918) penned the famous poem "In Flanders Field", after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer.
McRae noted that poppies quickly grew where burials had taken place - in fact, they are something of a weed here, and it is known that they quickly grown anywhere that the soil has been disturbed. It is from this poem that the tradition of red poppies being a symbol of remembrance comes from.
In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
And so, after a long day, it was back to Bruges. Fortunately, Philippe was able to drop me right at the door to my accommodation. As it was late (around 7pm) I had missed the opportunity to buy any food, but my host Secil came through with enough to give me a salad for dinner, and some eggs for the morning.
If you are ever in this part of the world, I can highly recommend the personalised service of Quasimodo Tours: www.quasimodo.be - a small company run by husband and wife team Philippe (who comes from the region) and Sharon (with a name like that, you have to know she's Australian).