Flanders Fields

Today we went on a day tour to Flanders.  My belief up until this point was that Flanders Field was just an area called Flanders where poppies grew.  Well I stand corrected.

Flanders is a large region which is the Flemish region of northern Belgium.  It's huge.  What we were touring today were monuments from World War I.  An area around a beautiful town called Ypres. (Pronounced Epreh).  We saw so many cemeteries and monuments.  I have only posted a few.

The four years of war (1914-1918) was appalling.  The death rate staggering.  250,000 German deaths and 250,000 Allied troops in this area alone.  Canada played a part in this war and we visited the memorial.

The Canadian War Memorial.  Canadian soil was actually brought in and Canadian trees planted.

 

Our tour guide showing an us an unexploded shell (has been disarmed).  These and many other objects were left behind from the war and reek havoc for the farmers.  They say it will be another 100 years before the area is cleared.  One of the worst things was the gas warfare.  The remnants of mustard gas still affects people today.  It gets into the soil.

Just a fraction of the graves.  Some marked, some not.  Some soldiers were buried together in groups.  Identification was a problem as their dog tags were usually leather or cardboard.  Even if they used metal it was very cheap and was not durable.

The grave of an unidentified Canadian soldier.

One of the most fierce battles, as it changed hands several times, was Hill60.  Huge explosives were used in tunnels dug beneath the German lines.  When they set off the explosives it could be felt all the way to London.

Some of the uneven ground at Hill60.  Peaceful looking now!  This is like a mass grave.  It is preserved so that it will never change.  Thousands of bodies still lie here under the "Hill".

Beautiful horse wondering what we're all doing.

An Allied bunker on Hill60.

Marlene down in the trenches.  Back during the war these were filled with water and clay mud making life in the trenches miserable.  They had terrible weather which made it all the worse.

Poppies growing.  There are very few.  For some reason they don't grow like they used to.

We visited the medical bunker where John McRae worked as a surgeon.  The day after losing his best friend to the war at this bunker John wrote the poem that is so famous today.

Back in Ypres.  What a lovely town.  It was completely destroyed during World War I.  Unfortunately the museum was closed by the time we finished our tour but we got to see a private museum along the way which was really informative.

It was a long day so we stopped for a beer.  This time I decide to try a beer only made in Bruges.  The Bruges Zot!  Was good....a little light for my taste!

And then a delicious dinner of Flemish stew.  This is a Belgium specialty....so are the fries!

This is the Menin Gate.  We return to the gate at 8 pm for the last post.  This is done every night!  Very moving.