Yesterday we travelled to Ieper, home of 'Flanders Fields'. Ieper is its Dutch name, Ypres is its English name, and "Wipers" was the name given to the city by Allied soldiers due its obliteration by artillery fire in WWI. It's now a small city near the border with France, and had to be totally rebuilt after the war because it was completely destroyed. The Western Front extended from the Belgian coast right the way down through France to Switzerland, and there were unimaginiable casualties the whole way along it. On the train to Ieper alone we saw so many memorials dotted throughout the countryside.
This is what was left of the Ieper at the end of WWI (it was damaged again in WWII also). Those sticky-uppy bits in the centre are the remnants of the Medieval Cloth Hall / City Hall / Belfry Tower which used to be one big massive complex. It was rebuilt the same.
This is what it looks like today, after being rebuilt. It's fairytale beautiful.
View from a different angle. Shows the Grote Markt / Central Square of Ieper.
There were many things we wanted to see in Ieper. Firstly, to visit the NZ memorials (which, unlike other countries, NZ soldiers were buried at the sites where they fell rather than all together), the Flanders Fields museum which is in the Cloth Hall, and also to see the Menin Gate with its nightly Last Post ceremony. We took our faithfull steeds Isobel and Poor Sod on 4 different trains to get there and back, as we had decided to see the memorials by bike. We bought a map for the 'Peace Route' (Vredesroute in Dutch) which is a 45km loop from Ieper to Zonnebeke, Passchendaele, Langemark and back again.
Zonnebeke is the site of 2 NZ cemetaries (along with other Commonwealth soldiers); Polygon Wood and Buttes New British Cemetary. At Passchendaele is the largest Commonwealth cemetary in the world; Tyne Cot (almost 12,000 graves). Also, there is a NZ memorial there ('s Graventafel). So those are the 4 that we set out to see. Also at Langemark is the German memorial and cemetary, but we didn't have time to visit it. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the memorial at Messines to the south of Ieper either, where there is a memorial to the missing.
The Vredesroute was amazing. It consisted mostly of special bike paths through the country-side, with occasional stints along roads. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
The country side was so lovely, its all farms now (crops and beef). You'd never know what had happened there almost a hundred years ago now.
I loved the wheat fields
Hamish reports that he has never known a cow to sit like that. It was so strange, a cow just chillin' out, sitting there on hind legs instead of lying down.
Our first stop was at a place known as Hill 60 (photo above). This was the site of the most sustained and savage battles along the Ypres Salient. It is an artificially created hill that was heavily fought over for about 4 years. There is terrible history here, as during this time massive explosives and poisonous gases were introduced as techniques of warfare.
The forest behind these houses is part of an area known as Hill 62 - used as a haven on the edge of the Salient where soliders were sent to rest and recuperate. However, it wasn't used for long as the German line advanced right up to it, and a massive battle took place which resulted in huge Canadian casualties. Hence the road at the back is now called Maple Avenue and is lined with Maple trees in memorium.
This is Buttes New British Cemetary. The Obelisk that you can see in the centre through the trees is for the 5th Australian Division who stormed these woods in 1917. There is also a Greek temple which commemorates the dead of the NZ Division.
The beautiful thing about this particular place was that it was planted in NZ ferns.
Hamish at the NZ Division memorial
We then moved across the road to Polygon Wood cemetary.
You can see the road between where this photo was taken (Buttes) and Polygon Wood. Polygon Wood has 5 walls (hence polygon) and contains about 100 graves. They are not laid out in the usual cemetary rows as they were hastily dug and filled under fire. The way these cemetaries and memorials look now is certainly very different from the photos in leaflets we have of what they looked like during the war. I'm going to post them home if anyone is interested in having a look at some of the info we got.
We then biked on to Tyne Cot cemetary, near Passchendaele. It is completely overwhelming. Almost 12,000 graves, plus a massive memorial to the missing containing the names of 35,000 soldiers who were never found. There is a little museum centre which has information on the battles that took place there. It has a video which plays, with photos of soldiers who rest there being shown while their name and age is read out. There are speakers outside too. One of the most sobering experiences ever.
The NZ names in their own little enclave
We then moved on to the NZ Memorial called 's Graventafel. Someone had put stickers saying 'Aotearoa' and a NZ flag on the roadsign (Passendale = Dutch name for Passchendaele). This monument marks the site captured by the NZ Division on the 4th October 1917 as part of the advance of the Allies towards Passchendaele (Battle of Broodseinde).
Our next stop was Essex Farm cemetary, which is also the site where Canadian medic John McRae wrote the famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'.
He was posted here at this dressing station (a massive bunker with tiny dark rooms they used as a medical fix-it point).
This is what it used to look like.
We then headed back to Ieper which concluded the Peace Route. Our next mission after that was the Menin gate, which is at the eastern entrance of the city. The central city is still surrounded by ramparts (although they were rebuilt after the wall), so the Menin Gate is one of the entrance points to the city. Cars drive through it, but it is closed off each night for the Last Post ceremony.
This is the Menin Gate (from the city side). I'm the little ant standing at the right-hand pillar. As you can see its pretty massive - the largest Commonwealth war memorial in the world.
The Menin Gate from the other side - see the Cloth Hall through the gap! I had to wait for a gap with no cars and stand in the middle of the road to get this shot hehe.
The Last Post ceremony begins at 8pm every evening, as has done so every single night since 1928. It always occurs inside the Menin Gate, except for one night during WWII when the place was being bombed so they had to relocate to another spot, but they still played. The ceremony is run by the Last Post Association, who organise a team of buglers and also bands to officiate the procedings. Hamish and I were there on day 27,461 of the ceremony. That's so impressive.
The Last Post was haunting, especially with the acoustics of the Gate and just being in that place. The Buglers played their introduction and the Brass Band played a hymm, then the Last Post was played before the wreath-laying ceremony. Lastly the Reveille was played, followed by the bagpipe solo. Each end of the Gate was closed off from traffic by military (on this night there was an Irish contingent). I tried to post a video but it doesn't seem to want to work, I'll have to show ya'll when I get back to NZ. Sorry. You can check out the Last Post Association website, it has audio there;
http://www.lastpost.be/After the ceremony, we had a good look around the Menin Gate and also the Ramparts, before catching the very last train home. It was a loooong but very special day for both of us.
Mish on the moat at the top of the Menin Gate
Investigating the city ramparts by bike
Another entrance to the city
I will put all the photos up on my Flickr site (there are a lot) at the end of the month when my upload limit renews - link to the right at the top of this page :) xxx R
Made it to Maastricht! Just a quick post because I'm using some random wifi connection here at the hostel. Great day so far, but its ssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuper hot here. Maastricht is really quite neat, has a nice feel to it. Apparently it was established as far back as 50BC, and has a long history of Roman settlement.
Left Poor Sod behind in Gent :(
Arrived in Maastricht, nice new hostel on the river Maas.
Hostel has a 100-and-something year old tree in the middle of it.
Found clogs. Took photos with clogs. Felt like tourist hehe
Maastricht has fortifications from as far back as 1200. This is a canon from 1500.
Me at the rampart walls
Hamish at Hell's Gate (gate through the fortifications)
Supermarket was a great find. Cheap food + airconditioned airspace!!
Mish at St Servaas Basilica - this part built in 1100 AD.
