Click to enlargeThe Cloth Hall
In flames in 1916
The Cloth Hall Ypres, [ca. 1918] after J. Kerr Lawson with Canadian troops passing the ruins of the Cloth Hall.
Panoramic image of Ypres from 1919, showing the town's destruction.
Panoramic image of Ypres from 1919, showing the town's destruction.
On the same road nine decades earlier.
Hitler visiting the town in 1940
St. Martin's Cathedral
Saint Martin's Cathedral (although no longer technically a cathedral, it is still often referred to as one) is, at 335 ft in height, one of the tallest buildings in Belgium. Construction started on in 1230, and was finished in 1370. It was heavily damaged during the Great War and was rebuilt afterwards, following the original plans.
Inside is a plaque honouring the Imperial soldiers reading: "To the glory of God and to the memory of one million dead of the British Empire who fell in the Great War 1914-1918, many of whom rest in Belgium".
Ypres Cloth Hall and Cathedral in 1918Office of the CWGC
The Menin Gate
"Who will remember, passing through this Gate,
The unheroic Dead who fed the guns?"
The unheroic Dead who fed the guns?"
-- Siegfried Sassoon, On Passing the Menin Gate
The site of the Menin Gate after the war.
The building of the Gate and ten years after the Armistice
Every evening at 20.00 the Last Post is played at the Menin Gate, with a local policeman on call to stop traffic. Buglers from the local fire brigade play ”The Last Post”. The ceremony was begun in 1928 and the buglers have performed it faithfully ever since, although they were banned from playing during the German Occupation of 1940-44. Brookwood Barracks in England took over the ceremony during the war, but the tradition was immediately re-established on the first day after the liberation in September 1944. Sometimes the ceremony is attended by just a few spectators; on more formal occasions, hundreds can be present. Irrespec- tive of numbers, the Last Post remains a unique and moving experience.
Info: T 057/48 66 10 - www.lastpost.be
During the ceremony a verse from the poem ’For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon is usually read out loud:
Belgian firemen preparing to perform the Last Post.Info: T 057/48 66 10 - www.lastpost.be
During the ceremony a verse from the poem ’For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon is usually read out loud:
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and the morning We will remember them
The names are inscribed on panels arranged by Regiment, and within that by rank.
Hitler visiting the Gate in 1940...
... whilst veterans from other wars pay their respects
Continuing from the Menin Gate is the Menin Road South CWGC
This cemetery is on the infamous Menin Road (N345) running from Ypres to the front line and remained an Allied possession throughout the war. It was founded in January 1916 and used until the summer of 1918. After the Armistice, the neighbouring Mein Road North cemetery was concentrated into this cemetery, with additional concentration from single battlefield graves from the front itself. 1658 lie here with 119 unidentified.
A particualrly interesting inscription is for that of 22 year old Lt. Charles Douglas Lucas Hill of the 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regt, killed February 14, 1916:
Captain Thomas Riversdale Colyer-Fergusson, VC, was killed in action on July 31, 1917 after having encountered the enemy with a sergeant and five men only. Nevertheless he carried out the planned attack and managed to capture the enemy trench. When the Germans counter-attacked, he resisted with only an orderly beside him and captured a German machine-gun, which he then directed against the attackers. Later still, aided only by his sergeant, he again attacked and captured a second enemy machine-gun, only to be killed by a sniper.
Ypres Town CWGC
This cemetery is about an half-mile north-east of the Menin Gate where some six hundred lie here, some two to a grave. Among them once was Prince Maurice of Battenburg, a grandson of Queen Victoria. Although the body now lies elsewhere, his grave remains (although I couldn't find it at the time).A particualrly interesting inscription is for that of 22 year old Lt. Charles Douglas Lucas Hill of the 9th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regt, killed February 14, 1916:
"He passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty."
Ypres Town CWGC
Ypres Reservoir CWGC
http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/ypres.html
St. Martin's can be seen on the right. An intriguing inscription on one of the stones of that of Joseph McCarthy who served for six years in the Garrison Artillery at the Fremantle Forts, Western Australia. His stone records an even older family-military link:
Beloved son of D and M McCarthy. Grandson of Cpl. D McCarthy (Crimea).
There are 2,613 soldiers of the Commonwealth either buried or commemorated here, among whom are three men who had been executed by the military authorities - Privates Moles, Lawrence and McColl, "shot at dawn" for cowardice when they could have simply been suffering from shell shock. Moles's grave, like many S.A.D.s (Shot at Dawn), with a small cross planted by a visitor.
On 31 March 1900 at Sanna's Post (aka Korn Spruit), South Africa, Lieutenant Maxwell carried out the self-imposed duty of saving the guns from capture by the enemy. He went out on five different occasions and helped to bring in two guns and three limbers, one of which he, another officer and some gunners dragged in by hand. He also went out with two other officers and tried to get the last gun in and remained there until the attempt had to be abandoned. During a previous campaign in British India, (the Chitral Expedition, 1895) he had removed the body of a lieutenant colonel of the Corps of Guides, under fire.
He was eventually shot by a German sniper here in Ypres on September 21, 1917 whilst commanding the 27th Brigade, 9th (Scottish) Division.
Ramparts CWGC
Lille Gate
South of Ypres
Bedford House CWGC
Less than two miles south of the Ypres Lille Gate, this is one of the largest cemeteries in the Salient.
Pictures showing the cemetery shortly after the war, giving some indication of its deceptive enormity.
A generation later a new inscription had to be added to mark those dead from another world war.
Inscribed on the grave of M.H. Ride, died at age 19, September 30, 1915 of the King's Royal Rifle Corps: 'DAD'S BEST PAL'
The entrance with its gates and driveway lined with conifers was in fact for the original 'Bedford House' - the name given by the British to the existing Chateau Rosendal that stood here. Throughout one sees the remains of the building scattered around the site.
Bedford House CWGC
Less than two miles south of the Ypres Lille Gate, this is one of the largest cemeteries in the Salient.
Inscribed on the grave of M.H. Ride, died at age 19, September 30, 1915 of the King's Royal Rifle Corps: 'DAD'S BEST PAL'The entrance with its gates and driveway lined with conifers was in fact for the original 'Bedford House' - the name given by the British to the existing Chateau Rosendal that stood here. Throughout one sees the remains of the building scattered around the site.
5,139 soldiers either lie buried or commemorated here, over 3,000 of which remain unidentified.
Example of remains of the original chateau.
Immediately after the war and today.
This cemetery was started in November 1914 by the French with British soldiers being laid to rest here a few months later. The cemetery closed in November 1916, with the French graves being removed after the armistice.
Railway Dugouts CWGC
The cemetery just after the war and a near-approximation of the same area.
War debris I came across nearby.
Example of remains of the original chateau.
Blauwepoort Farm CWGC
http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/zillebeke.html
This cemetery was started in November 1914 by the French with British soldiers being laid to rest here a few months later. The cemetery closed in November 1916, with the French graves being removed after the armistice.
Railway Dugouts CWGC
The name derives from the dugouts located in the railway embankment that was located here during the war. Siting dugouts on the side away from the Germans protected them from artillery fire. The railway still passes today, and trains can be seen rushing past the cemetery from time to time. One poignant inscription for Pte. Merchant of 58th Bn., Canadian Inf. who died aged only 16 years on June 6, 1916 reads:
"THE ONLY CHILD OF AGED PARENTS"There are just under 2,500 buried here, with 400 brought in after the Armistice who had survived long enough to be sent or brought back from the front line, but eventually succumbed to their wounds at the Advanced Dressing Station.
War debris I came across nearby.
Southeast of Ypres
Larch Wood Railway Cutting CWGC
The cemetery was founded by Commonwealth troops in April 1915 and remained in use until April 1918, when the Western Front had moved away from the area. Most of the dead are from the defence of the nearby Hill 60. After the Armistice, the cemetery was enlarged with the concentration of graves from the battlefield, smaller cemeteries in the area and Commonwealth troops buried in from German war cemeteries.
The graves of 86 people are defined as "special memorials" in that they are either recorded as being buried here but the CWGC was unable to find proof (headstones marked "Believed to be buried in this cemetery") or they are known to be buried here but their exact location was lost or destroyed by later fighting (headstones marked "Known to be buried in this cemetery"). These graves all carry (unless replaced by a personalised family message) the inscription at the foot of the stone "Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out" - a line from Sirach 44:13 suggested by Rudyard Kipling as seen in the last photograph here.
North of Ypres
La Brique CWGC
This cemetery, named after a now-lost brickworks near to the site, is divided in two by the main road. Cemetery No 1 was founded in May 1915 and used until December 1915. It is the smaller of the two. Cemetery No 2 was founded in February 1915 and was used until March 1918. Originally containing 383 graves, the cemetery was expanded by concentration of graves from the battlefield after the Armistice. It now contains 840 graves.
White House CWGC
http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/east.html
Between the wars, before the wooden crosses were replaced and the stones standardised.
The cemetery was founded in March 1915 and remained in use until April 1918. It was on the site of forward dressing stations found within cellars in 1915; the village it is within, Bellewaerdebeek, was utterly destroyed in 1917. After the Armistice the cemetery was enlarged by concentrating graves from eight outlying cemeteries.
Among the inscriptions here, a striking one is for Sergeant Kenneth W Vear of the 37th bn Australian Infantry who died October 3, 1917:
Robert Morrow VC. At the age of 23 whilst serving as a private in the 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Fusiliers, on April 12 1915, he rescued and carried to places of comparative safety several men who had been buried in the debris of trenches wrecked by shell fire. He carried out this work on his own initiative and under heavy fire from the enemy. His citation reads:
Within a fortnight he would be killed in action.
1,163 soldiers of the Great War lie buried here including four men executed by the Commonwealth military authorities. Private HH Chase of the Lancashire Fusiliers was executed for supposed cowardice on June 12, 1915. On November 7, 2006, the British government announced a pardon for all soldiers executed in the Great War.
Essex Farm CWGC
Essex Farm and the 49th Division Memorial between the wars.
Although only nine of the 1199 buried here are from the country, Canada felt the need to fly its current flag over the dead.
Among the dead lies the body of Private Thomas Barratt, VC.
His citation from The London Gazette, dated 4th September 1917:
Private V.J. Strudwick, only 15 at the time of his death.
Overlooking this cemetery on the canal bank is the monument to the 49th (West Riding) Division
The view of the CWGC from its base.
In front of the cemetery is this Albertina marker commemorating the date May 3, 1915 when the In Flanders Fields had been written, apparently beside the cemetery:
Just to the left of Essex Farm Cemetery is what had been the No. 4 Aid Station of Lt.-Col. Surgeon John McCrae where it is claimed that he wrote in May 1915 possibly the most famous war poem of the 20th century, In Flanders Fields.
This photo does not do justice to the claustrophobic atmosphere that must have prevailed whilst medical personnel had to undergo non-stop surgery during barrages and shelling.
This monument to John McCrae was unveiled in October 2005 next to the first-aid station. The poem is inscribed on a bronze plaque with, I noted, incorrect punctuation that did not match with what McCrae himself used (his handwritten copy of which is also inscribed for good measure).
Talana Farm CWGC
This site was roughly a mile from the edge of the Salient during the war and today has 529 Commonwealth burials.
Duhallow A.D.S. CWGC
Duhallow Advanced Dressing Station is thought to have received its name from a southern Irish hunt. The cemetery contains many graves of the artillery and engineers and 41 men of the 13th Company Labour Corps, killed when a German aircraft dropped a bomb on an ammunition truck in January 1918. The special memorials shown in the two photos above commemorate a number of casualties known to have been buried in two of these cemeteries, Malakoff Farm Cemetery, Brielen, and Fusilier Wood Cemetery, Hollebeke, whose graves were destroyed by shellfire. There are now 1,544 Commonwealth casualties of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery, 231 of the burials unidentified. There are also 57 war graves of other nationalities, mostly German, and one Commonwealth burial of the Second World War, which dates from the Allied withdrawal ahead of the German advance of May 1940.
Larch Wood Railway Cutting CWGC
Poppies across from the entrance
Oak Dump CWGC
A typical pastoral scene across from and outside the cemetery.
Oak Dump Cemetery is a few miles south of Ypres on the Bernikkewallestraat a road leading from the Rijselsesweg (N365) through the Lille Gate to Armentieres.
It was made by fighting units in July, August and September 1917 and one grave of 1914 was brought in after the Armistice. In March 1918 a sap opposite the cemetery was blown in, and seven men of the 180th Siege Battery were killed. Their bodies were found in 1927 and buried in the cemetery. The cemetery now contains 111 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, five of them unidentified. Two of the graves destroyed by shell fire are represented by special memorials. The cemetery was designed by W H Cowlishaw.
It was made by fighting units in July, August and September 1917 and one grave of 1914 was brought in after the Armistice. In March 1918 a sap opposite the cemetery was blown in, and seven men of the 180th Siege Battery were killed. Their bodies were found in 1927 and buried in the cemetery. The cemetery now contains 111 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, five of them unidentified. Two of the graves destroyed by shell fire are represented by special memorials. The cemetery was designed by W H Cowlishaw.
North of Ypres
La Brique CWGC
White House CWGC
Among the inscriptions here, a striking one is for Sergeant Kenneth W Vear of the 37th bn Australian Infantry who died October 3, 1917:
Good Old Ken
A Man's Man.
For most conspicuous bravery near Messines on 12th April, 1915, when he rescued and carried successively to places of comparative safety, several men who had been buried in the debris of trenches wrecked by shell fire. Private Morrow carried out this gallant work on his own initiative and under very heavy fire from the enemy.
Within a fortnight he would be killed in action.
1,163 soldiers of the Great War lie buried here including four men executed by the Commonwealth military authorities. Private HH Chase of the Lancashire Fusiliers was executed for supposed cowardice on June 12, 1915. On November 7, 2006, the British government announced a pardon for all soldiers executed in the Great War.Essex Farm CWGC
Essex Farm and the 49th Division Memorial between the wars. Among the dead lies the body of Private Thomas Barratt, VC.
His citation from The London Gazette, dated 4th September 1917:
On 27 July 1917 north of Ypres, Belgium: For most conspicuous bravery when as Scout to a patrol he worked his way towards the enemy line with the greatest gallantry and determination, in spite of continuous fire from hostile snipers at close range. These snipers he stalked and killed. Later his patrol was similarly held up, and again he disposed of the snipers. When during the subsequent withdrawal of the patrol it was observed that a party of the enemy were endeavouring to outflank them, Private Barratt at once volunteered to cover the retirement, and this he succeeded in accomplishing. His accurate shooting caused many casualties to the enemy, and prevented their advance. Throughout the enterprise he was under heavy machine gun and rifle fire, and his splendid example of coolness and daring was beyond all praise. After safely regaining our lines this gallant soldier was killed by a shell.
Private V.J. Strudwick, only 15 at the time of his death. Overlooking this cemetery on the canal bank is the monument to the 49th (West Riding) Division
The view of the CWGC from its base.
In front of the cemetery is this Albertina marker commemorating the date May 3, 1915 when the In Flanders Fields had been written, apparently beside the cemetery: 
This monument to John McCrae was unveiled in October 2005 next to the first-aid station. The poem is inscribed on a bronze plaque with, I noted, incorrect punctuation that did not match with what McCrae himself used (his handwritten copy of which is also inscribed for good measure).In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
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.
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
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.
This video starts in the Essex Farm Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery on the northern edge of Ypres. Close by is the medical bunker where McCrae was stationed and is now a site dedicated to his memory. It shows the grave for Rifleman VJ Strudwick (The Rifle Brigade) who died on 14th January 1916 aged just 15. The family inscription on his grave says, 'Not Gone From Memory or From Love'
The video continues through the medical bunker area and to the start of the 'Flanders Fields' behind.
The video continues through the medical bunker area and to the start of the 'Flanders Fields' behind.
Continuing North along the the N369, are these two CWGCs:
Bard Cottage CWGC
Continuing from Essex Farm to Boezinge, is found Bard Cottage cemetery. The original Bard Cottage was the name given to a house behind the line and near a bridge dubbed Bard's Causeway; this cemetery was made nearby in a sheltered position under a high bank. The graves date between June 1915 and October 1918, reflecting the presence of the 49th (West Riding), the 38th (Welsh) and other infantry divisions in the northern sectors of the Ypres Salient, as well as the advance of artillery to the area in the autumn of 1917.
Talana Farm CWGC
Duhallow A.D.S. CWGC
