Trip to Ypres

Sanctuary Woods Museum and Trenches

I think Sanctuary Woods Museum is a very good tourist attraction. There are several reasons for this, firstly the exhibits in the museum, but mainly, I suspect, because the trench lines behind the museum give a very good feel for what it must have been like to experience the mud and misery of the trenches in the salient. The trenches were the main site because they were huge, the tunnels were deep and you could feel how the soldiers lived there.

The trenches are reached by passing through the museum. The museum contains a large number of leftovers and artefacts from the Great War, including weapons, personal effects and photographs. Worth special mention are the stereoviews. There are a number of steroviewers located on benches as you enter the museum, and these contain many views, some of which are extremely gruesome. Stereoviews used to be quite widely used, and the pictures can still be found occasionally. By viewing through the two lenses, the image is brought into three-dimensional relief, and whilst the quality of some of the pictures leaves something to be desired, for some the result is a startlingly clear 3-D view which brings the scene to life. The pictures include trenches, artillery, the dead and many others. I found the streoviews extremely fascinating.

The trenches were very long and deep. Whatever time you go there, there will be mud. Also around the trenches, there were poppies grown before. But that was also changed once there were bombardments of shells in that area. Trees were bombed, and in some areas you can still see huge holes from the shells which were dropped.

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery

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Sanctuary Wood Cemetery

Just around 100 metres down the road from the museum and trenches is Sanctuary Wood Cemetery. Originally, there were three British cemeteries in Sanctuary Wood dating from 1915 onwards; however all three were severely damaged during the battle of Mount Sorrel. And that’s how more and more graves were built. Now, there are more than 100 graves in the cemetery. It is known as one of the biggest cemeteries. Poppies are used as a symbol for the remembrance of the brave soldiers who fought in the war.

On location Hill 62; Mount Sorrel was located around 1000 yards south-west of here. On the 2nd of June, 1916, the Germans launched an attack which gained ground in Sanctuary Wood, took Hill 62 (also known as Tor Top) and also Armagh Wood and Mount Sorrel to the south. Further advances were made by the Germans in some areas of this line over the next few days. Because of the strategic importance of this high ground, plus the close proximity to Ypres (only two miles), Plumer wished to counter-attack and recover it. On the 13th of June, starting at 1.30 a.m., the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions recovered much of the ground previously lost, including Armagh Wood, but could not recover Hill 62 or the northern part of Sanctuary Wood. However, the Germans did not hold Hill 62 either; instead it sat between the two front lines in No Mans Land, as did Mount Sorrel. German casualties during the Battle of Mount Sorrel were estimated at around 4,500 wounded or missing and 1,223 killed. Losses for the Canadians were probably much the same.

The Menin Gate Memorial

Many thousands of soldiers in the British Army lost their lives fighting in the Ypres Salient. The remains of over 90,000 of them have never been found or identified. They are, therefore, buried somewhere in the Ypres Salient with no known grave. The site of the Meenenpoorte, known to the British Army as The Menin Gate, was considered to be a fitting location to place a memorial to the missing British and Commonwealth soldiers.

The Menin Gate is a memorial for all the soldiers who fought in the Great War. Soldiers from over 10 countries are remembered at the Menin Gate. The memorial is very big and structural.

The memorial contains the names of 54,896 officers and men from all the overseas British and Commonwealth forces who fell in the Ypres Salient before 16 August 1917. Names are engraved in Portland stone panels fixed to the inner walls of the Hall; to the sides of the staircases. This memorial does not include the names of the missing of New Zealand and Newfoundland forces, who are named on separate memorials.

Every night at the Menin Gate Memorial, “The Last Post” is played, at 8pm. It is a funeral played for all the brave soldiers. It is also very famous. Many people come to see the “The Last Post”, school students and especially, the inhabitants of Ypres. This is because for them the war meant a lot to them as their family must be connected to the war.

Flanders Field Museum

The Flanders Field Museum is a very big and informative museum. The museum is located in Ypres. I have learnt a lot from the museum. During the visit I encountered many diaries from soldiers and poems related to the war.

What I found very fascinating on the trip was, we got a characters name and we had to gather information about that character. I had to follow Elvira Desnouck (1908, Westbrozeboke, Belgium) What I found about that character was: her father was part of the infantry, and he decided to flee as the Germans were approaching. Her family then arrived in Dax, in the landes region. The area was very poor, and so was her family. Later, she married to a wealthy family.

Also I read many different poems. The poem I found most interesting was “In Flanders Field” The first paragraph of the poem is:

We are the dead, short days ago

We lived, felt down, saw sunset glow

Loved, and were loved, and how we lie

In Flanders Field

John Mc Goe

I really enjoyed the trip to Ypres!!!!!