Sober scenes at WW1 sites

It’s many years since we visited the landing beaches and regions in Normandy to explore some of the WWII sites but this time it’s been a sobering few days in Belgium visiting WWI locations.

We started at lovely Ypres, a town in the Belgian province of West Flanders and surrounded by the Ypres battlefields, with many cemeteries, memorials and war museums honouring the battles that unfolded in this area during World War I. After the war time destruction, many important buildings in Ypres were carefully reconstructed, including the magnificent Gothic-style Sint-Maartenskathedraal (St. Martin’s Cathedral) and its soaring spire dominating the central square. The renowned WW1 Museum is known as the ‘In Flanders Fields’ Museum. https://www.inflandersfields.be/

However the greater visual memory is of our visit to Tyne Cot Cemetery where lie the remains of almost 12,000 Commonwealth soldiers from World War I. The cultivated red, red roses reminiscent of the fleeting field poppies presented a poignant contrast against the white Portland Stone headstones – and as for the stone wall citing the names of a further 35 000 lost soldiers with no known grave… senseless war of its time.

Tyne Cot Cemetery, rose red roses with Portland headstones as far as the eye could see – and beautiful Ypres