Back to WWI

Ypres (Ieper)
see all photos »

The morning was to be a busy one as I needed to be back in Brussels for my flight. We were in a town near Ypres, (Ieper), about 1.5 hours away from my plane. We had one wonderful breakfast that even included eggs and incredibly delicious home made raspberry jam. Then we were off to Ypres. We were immediately impressed with the buildings here and again when we rounded the corner and saw the Menin Gate. Here is engraved the names of all those who died in WWI and whose bodies were never found to be buried in a grave. It is massive. I learned here the huge contribution that the Australians also made to the war, something I had never known before. With a tiny population of less than 5 million, they lost 60,000 men, the same as Canada. We had missed the ceremony held here, but there were still wreaths laid. I’m really glad that I have seen it.

Menin Gate
see all photos »

Next, we were off to find Passchendale. We found the museum for it, but did not have the time to explore it unfortunately. We headed to the fields and found the Tyne Cot Cemetery. This is the largest Commonwealth cemetery and has 12,000 graves. In the interpretive centre were 2 big posters. One was Passchendale before the battles, where you could see roads and buildings. The other was the after picture, which was complete mud and nothing else. The Canadians were appointed to the 2^nd battle here, where Arthur Currie warned that 16,000 might be the casualty rate. The Allies lost 12,000 men for the gain of a few hundred yards. Almost half a million lost their lives for this gain that was later to be lost to the Germans in 3 days.

see all photos »

This was the end of our visits and it was now time to drive Kathryn to the Airport to start her 8 hour journey back to Bergen.