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The Great War In Flanders - Ieper (Ypres) |
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Page 2 |
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The Westhoek & The Great War - Flanders Fields: |
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In Flanders Fields Museum: |
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The In Flanders Fields Museum in the center of Ypres offers an invaluable introduction to the events that took place from 1914 to 1918.
The Cloth Hall, built in the 13th century, was one of the finest Gothic buildings in Europe. Destroyed in the early months of the war, the building was painstakingly rebuilt in its original style from 1933 to 1967. In
the museum you
will see original films of the completely destroyed city and the
battlefields around it; listen to songs, read the poems, the stories,
and the statements of four years of terrible Learn about the Christmas Truces of 1914, the first gas attack, the experiences of soldiers in no-man's-land, the reception in the aid posts and hospitals. Everything here is shown clearly and movingly. For more information on this great museum click here. |
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Yorkshire Trench & Dug-Out: more pictures |
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The war is ever present in the Salient, especially at a depth of around 60-70cm. This is something the locals live with on a daily basis and in 1997 when a new industrial site was being developed along the Ypres - Yser canal numerous vestiges of the war were quickly uncovered. Unexploded ammunition, construction evidence, human remains and personal effects to name a few things were turned up. The Ypres city council called in an archaeological team, the "Diggers" and kept ahead of the bulldozers. Since this time and up to the spring of 2003, 165 bodies of soldiers of three different nationalities have been recovered.
A series of information panels, and an indication of the ground plan of the dug-out on the site, give the visitor a graphic representation of the trench warfare. At the IFF Museum, a film, scale model and interactive stand, including an exhibition of artefacts recovered, give a deeper insight into this aspect of the war. For more information on the Yorkshire Trench and the "Diggers" please click here. |
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Housed
inside the great Cloth Hall the modern museum uses computers and touch screens
to give background information about the events. A special
character card allows you to follow the fates of real
people. 
conflict.
In
close consultation with the archaeological team, the trench was restored
along part of the original route, which includes the entrance and exit
of a "deep dug-out" from 1917.