The Battle fields tour

Susan was our tour guide and an excellent one at that. We gathered that she had played tour guide for many a visitor. We had quite a drive from Overijse to the Ypres area (about150km) so we left at 9:30. Unfortunately we got lots of slow traffic and it ended up taking us at least another hour. Susan wasn't too concerned as we had all day.

 

First stop was Mesen (Messine) which is where the NZ memorial stands. The 3rd NZ Rifle Brigrade took the ridge here on June 7th 1917 during the Battle of Messine but they were unfortunately unable to hold it. Each year on ANZAC day a memorial is held here at 9am and Susan and Roger always like to attend.

The soldier was unveiled as part of the 100th anniversary. Close to this is a small museum which gives a history of the Battle of Messine as well as the other 'horrors' associated with war.

 

 

 

 

Next stop was the In Flanders Fields museum in Ypres. This is an extensive modern exhibition that makes excellent use of technology and we spent a good two hours in here browsing the exhibits, many of them interactive. We also climbed to the top of the belfry tower to view Ypres and the surrounding areas. It is hard to believe this town was totalled destroyed and that it has been completely rebuilt as it. Many of the buildings have their rebuilt date on them.

http://www.inflandersfields.be/e

 

 

 

After a lunch break our destination was the Menin Gate (very close to the museum) which was built to commemorate the Commonwealth soldiers that lost their lives. Unfortunately there was not enough space on the walls to list all the names and the NZ names can be found at Tyne Cot. Another service is held here each ANZAC day at 11am and this includes all the commonwealth countries.

 

 

 

Next we went out to Tyne Cot, which is quite close to Passendale. An excellent visitor centre has opened here and after a good look at the information we made our way out to the cemetery and the memorial. It is such a sobering experience to see so many graves of so many young men, many of them unnamed. And the names on the memorial just seem to go on and on and on. The scene is so peaceful and on such a lovely day as we had scored it is very hard to imagine the conditions our soldiers has to endure. The museum, of course, gave us some insights to those horrors. Today the landscape is peaceful farmland.

 

 

 

 

 

Dotted all over the area are cemeteries, often marking where the soldiers fell. One such cemetery we went to was Polygon Wood. This was a very small cemetery but still had some New Zealanders. Only a few metres away was an Australian cemetery and memorial. This memorial was up on a large man made hill which would have given a great view of the surrounding area. During WW1 almost every single tree was destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

Our last stop was Passchendaele (now spelt Passendale) to look at the museum there but unfortunately the day had got away on us and it was closed. As I said earlier it was a very sobering day especially as we had close links with the area. Both Stephen's grandfather (and also Roger's Poppa) had both fought at Passchendaele and had lived to tell the tale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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