Lest We Not Forget in Belgium

We did post an update on 12th May about what we've been up to this year so far, but we think the notification email failed, so you might want to look at that to get some context of where we are now.

It was an easy 1 ½ hour drive from Calais to Ypres.  We have visited this stunning ancient town three times previously with the Hope Centre bike challenges in 2016, 2018 and  2023, however we never really felt we had the chance to properly explore it after or before a long days cycling, so we were really looking forward to exploring the old town and visiting the museum to learn more about its position in the First World War.

We parked up in a campsite just a 10-minute stroll to the Menin Gate and old town.  We wasted no time heading into the centre to pick up maps from the tourist office and getting ourselves organised for how to spend the two days we had there.  Back at the campsite we decided to book an extra day so we were there for Colin’s birthday on 15th.

The following day we went out on our bikes to do a 35 mile route south of the town which covered sites we’d not visited on previous visits. The weather was perfect, and we remembered just how glorious it is to cycle on well maintained cycle paths or on quiet country lanes with courteous drivers.

Ypres was a key strategic place for WW1, as it stood between Germany and their targeted plan to take France and more of Europe. As a neutral country, Belgium was not able to push back the Germans, so Great Britain and its allied forces (Commonwealth countries), together with France, stepped in to help defend its position.  There followed 4 years of horrendous battles involving trench warfare and poison gas in appalling conditions with the allies regaining and losing control of areas around Ypres several times.  The statistics regarding the loss of lives on both sides (both human and horse/mules) is mind blowing.

The first site to visit was just a few kms out of town – the Sanctuary Wood Cemetery and Hill 62 memorial museum. We stopped at the cemetery first.  The sheer number of these war cemeteries around Ypres is very sobering and walking around the well tendered sites that are managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, brings it home just how many people and nations lost lives in this war.  Around 60% of all graves are for unknown soldiers with the simple inscription ‘Known unto God’.

The museum contained a large amount of war relics and memorabilia. As we entered there were a number of steroviewers with some quite harsh photo images of soldiers in trenches, artillery and the dead. The images have a 3-D effect which enhanced the appalling reality of the conditions they were operating under. Outside the museum we walked around the wood which still has sections of trenches and tunnels, and shell holes all around.

Just up the road from here we stopped at the Canadian memorial site.  These small hills were fought over continuously between the Germans and Allied forces.

A short ride on we came to Hill 60, another small hill fiercely fought over.  Both sides dug tunnels and planted mines here. At the end of the war the land was left untouched and after being purchased by an Englishman it was donated to Belgium. Walking round the site now you can see mine craters, a pillbox and memorials to those who fought here.

Nearby there was a memorial to an Australian Division who built the tunnels at the site. Above here is Caterpillar Crater which was formed by two tunnel mines being detonated – this created a perfectly round crater, now filled with water.

We passed countless more cemeteries and finally found a café in a small town to get a late lunch.  Our average mph was woefully low, and we still had some way to go.

We passed the Michel Platini memorial at the 2014 Christmas Truce site.  There is a famous tale of the Allied forces and Germans calling a truce on Christmas day to play football. While there is no concrete evidence it took place (other than a scoresheet showing Germany beat Scotland 2-0), there were many accounts of some sort of truce where soldiers swapped food rations and showed photos of loved ones. 

We cycled through the nearby town of Messines where we had visited on a Hope ride where there is another memorial showing opposing soldiers shaking hands.

Back in Ypres we enjoyed a cold Belgian beer after a fabulous day.

The weather the following day was perfect yet again, and we had a gentle day mooching around the town and visited the In Flanders Museum that is based in the Cloth Hall on the market square. It is dedicated to the impact of the First World War on the area and is really well put together with a terrific audio guide and films and holograms providing accounts of peoples experiences from all sides.  We also climbed nearly 300 steps up the Belfry for a birds eye view of the town.

There is a 6 ½ km walking route around the town. We had done part of this on our first evening, so walked the remainder of it, largely around the ramparts and past the Peace Bridge before heading to the Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony.

The Menin Gate honours more than 54,000 Commonwealth Servicemen who died in the Ypres Salient during the First World War and have no known grave. Each individual’s name is commemorated on one of 60 stone panels on the monument.  Tens of thousands of troops would have passed this spot on their way to the battlefields, with many never returning. 

Since 1928 every day at 8pm a ceremony takes place here where buglers play the haunting Last Post.   Visitors stand on in silence and at the end individuals and groups lay wreaths.  Colin and I have both been lucky enough to lay wreaths when we visited with the Hope Centre – a very moving experience.

Sadly the beautiful weather came to an abrupt halt on Colin’s birthday, so we set off as wrapped up as we could for a chilly overcast 36 mile bike ride, this time largely North of the town. 

We had lots of stops at various cemeteries along the route, including the Welsh National Memorial Park and the Langemark German Military Cemetry which had a very different feel to the Allied Forces sites. 

We stopped at the Tyne Cot cemetery which we had visited on all three of our Hope rides. With nearly 12,000 graves it is one of the largest Commonwealth Cemeteries in the world. It is filled with graves for those who fought in the bloody Battle of Passchendaele. During the British offensive of 1917, almost 600,000 victims fell in 100 days for a territorial gain of only eight kilometres.

We stopped for a much needed hot coffee and apple cake at the Passchendale Museum café before continuing on a route we recognised that led us to Polygon Wood where there is the heartbreaking monument to commemorate all brothers and sisters who fought in World War 1 where at least one had lost their life. The sculpture is based on two Australian brothers who fought in the war.

Our final stop of the day was at the Hooge Crater cemetery which had a very good little museum attached to it.

Although it had been a cold gloomy day we had thoroughly enjoyed the cycling.  We finished Colin’s birthday off with a top notch dinner at a local restaurant in town called A L’Envers. 

Cheers…..

Next stop Germany.