Ypres Salient
Apr. 28th, 2018 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbit I got back late yesterday evening from the Battlefields of WWI tour (All Quiet on the Western Front), which was excellent. Very informative and tiring. Over the next few days I shall be blogging about what I saw. This will be a personal reflection and a record for me, as well as sharing with anyone who is interested.
First visit was to Tyne Cot. I've read about the WWI cemeteries, but seeing one for the first time is mind-blowing. This is a memorial to 12,000 men, and practically impossible to comprehend:
In the middle of the fourth picture you may just be able to make out a picture of The Daughter (TD) in the centre - I was standing at one side of the cemetery, she's in the middle and there's the same again the other side of her.
From there we went onto Langemark - one of the German cemeteries:
Passchendaele (the third battle of Ypres) is known for its mud. Outside the cemetery a Belgian farmer was ploughing, so I took a picture of the heavy clay to give an idea of what it's like:
On the way to our next destination we passed a monument to the Welsh:
And then we got to visit some trenches:
From there we continued to Hyde Park Corner Cemetery:
It's very strange when you find your own name on a memorial (yes, it's my married name, but I've had it for well over half my life).
And onto Ypres and the Menin Gate:
Nearly 55,000 names are listed on the gate. I've pictured men for the county I live in, someone who could have been one of my father's relatives, and my own name again. By searching for specific names - even if we don't know of them - it became more relevant. And somewhere on one of the battlefields there are certainly going to be relatives.
We stayed for the Last Post Ceremony, which is held nightly at 8pm at the Menin Gate. It was the day before ANZAC Day, so there were a number of Australians present, some of whom laid wreaths on behalf of their relatives who had fought and died there. TD and I had an interesting conversation with a Dutch lady who was present. The ceremony was a fitting end to the day.
First visit was to Tyne Cot. I've read about the WWI cemeteries, but seeing one for the first time is mind-blowing. This is a memorial to 12,000 men, and practically impossible to comprehend:
In the middle of the fourth picture you may just be able to make out a picture of The Daughter (TD) in the centre - I was standing at one side of the cemetery, she's in the middle and there's the same again the other side of her.
From there we went onto Langemark - one of the German cemeteries:
Passchendaele (the third battle of Ypres) is known for its mud. Outside the cemetery a Belgian farmer was ploughing, so I took a picture of the heavy clay to give an idea of what it's like:
On the way to our next destination we passed a monument to the Welsh:
And then we got to visit some trenches:
From there we continued to Hyde Park Corner Cemetery:
It's very strange when you find your own name on a memorial (yes, it's my married name, but I've had it for well over half my life).
And onto Ypres and the Menin Gate:
Nearly 55,000 names are listed on the gate. I've pictured men for the county I live in, someone who could have been one of my father's relatives, and my own name again. By searching for specific names - even if we don't know of them - it became more relevant. And somewhere on one of the battlefields there are certainly going to be relatives.
We stayed for the Last Post Ceremony, which is held nightly at 8pm at the Menin Gate. It was the day before ANZAC Day, so there were a number of Australians present, some of whom laid wreaths on behalf of their relatives who had fought and died there. TD and I had an interesting conversation with a Dutch lady who was present. The ceremony was a fitting end to the day.
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Date: 2018-05-01 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-05-02 12:12 pm (UTC)