In Flanders Fields Part 1
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.
Today was likely one of the most rewarding days of travel I have ever had the privilege of having. Bruges is not far away from Ypres, which was a very important site in Word War I, for the war itself, but especially for the Canadian soldiers.
For anyone who knows me, they know that I am a huge supporter of never forgetting the sacrifices that have been made in the past to afford us the opportunities we have today. The lives lost and the lives forever changed due to conflict. My Grandfather fought and was injured in WWII and he was never the same for it. He instilled the honour and dedication in me to always remember those that have fought for our future.
As a result, the ability for me to spend a day of my trip educating myself and honouring those that have fallen in Belgium during World War I was an absolute no brainer for me. I found a wonderful company (Quasimodo Tours) that would take me on a small group day trip to a few of the many sites in Ypres and the surrounding areas, also know as Flanders Fields. Yup, you read that right. I was spending the day in Flanders Fields, where Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McRae was stationed at a dressing station bunker as a doctor and also where he wrote the poem, In Flanders Fields, that immortalizes World War I.
Now, I know this post won’t be for everyone, and many of you may think that I’m weird or strange for wanting to spend a valuable day of site seeing staring at graves or visiting mounds of dirt from days gone by, but for me, it brought history to life – a history that should never be forgotten.
The day started, oddly enough, at Langemark, the largest German cemetery in the area, and one of only four remaining. Many German soldiers have been repatriated, but this cemetery remains.
There are over 44,000 soldiers buried here. It’s an interesting contrast to the Commonwealth cemeteries you’ll see later in my post, as the grave markers are flat, with scattered crosses arranged in threes around the cemetery. The cemetery is shadowed by massive Oak trees, the national tree of Germany. It creates a somber feel to see the tiny gave markers surrounded by powerful Oak trees.
The stark contrast to the Commonwealth is that many soldiers share a plot, their names engraved on a single stone. Perhaps most disturbing is the mass grave of nearly 25,000 soldiers at the front of the cemetery, watched over by a bronze statue of 4 soldiers honouring the fallen buried below.
No matter your opinion on the Great War, at the end of the day, many of these young men that were on the ground were fighting for what they told, allies or not, and it is a sobering and tragic reminder of the power of mankind and what we can do to each other under the name of duty and country.
Our next stop was actually on Canadian soil! I may have been in the middle of Flanders Field in Belgium, but Vancouver Corner was dedicated back to Canada. The monument is called the “Brooding Soldier” and is located in Saint Julien. This is the site of the Second Battle of Ypres where the Canadian troops were subjected to the first-ever large scale use of chemical weapons (170 metric tons of chlorine gas in this case) by the Germans from April 22-24th, 1915. Over 2,000 Canadians died as a result of this battle and attack that forever changed the face of modern warfare. The “Brooding Soldier” is looking down at the line where the battle happened, in an ‘arms reversed’ salute, mourning the loss of his fallen comrades.
The next stop was arguably the most moving for me (but not the most patriotic! That’s coming soon). We visited Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth Cemetery in the world, with almost 12,000 soldiers buried here. The number of causalities isn’t the most staggering fact about this cemetery; that would be that just over 70% of those buried here are unknown Commonwealth soldiers. Here there are no mass graves and the sheer size of the neatly arranged white stones is breathtaking. It was so sad and humbling to walk amongst these stones and read Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, and then to stumble across one with a name. To think that someone who fought for their life was buried here, yet we have no way to honour and name that person as we stand over their grave.
Tyne Cot was the starting of the Road to Passchendaele for the Canadians. The period from July – November 1917 marks a terrible time for the War. After 100 days of fighting, the Allied front line had moved only 8km. And in that time, over 245,000 allied and 215,000 German soldiers were injured or died, including 16,000 Canadians.
Rows on rows of Graves 
Canadian Soldiers
Like most of the area, Passendale was completely decimated as a town, but the Germans had a stronghold and the allied troops needed to take it over. As a result, Canadian troops captured Crest Farm and launched an attack a few days later that would claim Passendale for the allies. The straight clear cut road you see into town from the Canada Gate in my photos didn’t exist during the war. It was decided when the town was rebuilt that they would lay a straight road from the Crest Farm site (and monument) to the church in the centre of town, which symbolizes the last metres the Canadians had to take on November 6th, 1917.
The final path to Passendale 
View looking back at the memorial and where the Canadian troops came from
Not only was it time for a lunch break on my day, it is also a time to end this post and start a new one.
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