The Great War In Flanders

The Great War In Flanders - Ieper (Ypres)

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The Westhoek & The Great War - Flanders Fields:

Canal Bank - John McCrae Site: more pictures

One of the best known sites of the Ypres Salient is the "Essex Farm Cemetery" and ADS (Advanced Dressing Station), where John McCrae wrote his world-famous poem, "In Flanders Fields", on the 2nd and 3rd May 1915.

In addition to the cemetery and concrete shelters in the canal bank, the bank has recently been opened over a distance of 450 metres to the public.

It is here that the 1st Canadian artillery brigade stood in April 1915, and it was on this spot that shortly afterwards the Royal Engineers built a number of shelters and dug-outs in the canal bank.

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.

John McCrae, May 1915

Mine Craters: more pictures

The Mine Battle of 7th June 1917 was one of the most successful British operations during the war on the Western Front. Of the 19 large mines that were originally exploded, traces of 16 craters are still visible to this day, almost all in the shape of deep ponds.

Until recently only the "Lone Tree Crater" in Wijtschate, commonly known as the "Pool of Peace", was open to the public. In 2001 the province also acquired the "Domein De Vierlingen", which contains the "Caterpillar Crater", the counterpart of the Hill 60 depth mine shown on the left.

Due to the proximity of the railway, this last crater is the only one in Flanders that is not filled with water. As of the middle of 2003, the mine crater at St Eloi can also be visited. This was the result of the largest depth mine detonated during the war.

The mine crater, flanked by an intact British bunker from 1917, is located only 100 metres from another crater, the result of one of six mines exploded on 27th March 1916 during the "Attack on St. Eloi".

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