| Military Cemeteries/Memorials tips and photos posted by real travelers and Ieper locals.
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 by nhcramLeave a Comment
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 "Over the Top
Tours",Ieper,West
Flanders,Belgium. by Greggor58,
1 more photos
The company and tour is run by a gentleman named Andre...The tour was quite informative and quite interesting..I spent the entire day visiting various Memorials and a few battlefield areas in what is considered the North Salient....as well as the South Salient...
We made stops at Essex Farm where it is believed that John Mc Crae wrote the infamous poem "In Flanders Fields"...also included in the itinerary were Tyne Cot Cemetery, and Langemarck Cemetery.
Some of the Memorials included in our day were The Brooding Soldier..and the Irish Peace Park that commemorates The battle of Messines and the role that the 36th Ulster Northern Irish Division and the 16th Southern Irish Division played in that battle.
It was a full day and somewhat at times overwhelming....but certainly worth the monies paid...we met and started the day at 9:30 am...with a break mid day we rendezvoused again at 1:30 pm and wrapped up the day at around 5:30 pm...
The normal cost per person would be 35 Euros for a half day...its possible to book only a morning or an afternoon tour...He runs the North Tour in the morning and the Southern section in the afternoon...
Payment can be made with major credit cards as well as cash...of course!
In addition to the tours that Andre operates he has a small store that sells really wide selection of books relating to the battles around Ieper and collectibles such as,medals,helmets,knives,bayonets and odds and ends.
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The Commonwealth authorities did decide that bodies should not be repatriated and that uniform memorials should be used. At the end of the WW I started the production of uniform headstones most made of Portland stone. The headstones were engraved by hand. They are all rectangles with rounded tops.
At the top British headstones bear the regimental badge, those from the other countries are marked with their national emblem.
Just below the badge or emblem is engraved the rank (with a distinction for infantry "Private", artillery "Gunner", engineers "Sapper"), name, number, unit, date of death and eventually age.
Most headstones are inscribed with a Cross, a few with a Star of David or no religious symbol for those deceased known to be atheist.
At the bottom there is often an epitaph chosen by the soldier's family.
Many gravestones concern unidentified casualties; these headstones bear the inscription "A Soldier of the Great War, Known unto God". (photo 1).
Before the use of the uniform headstones military cemeteries looked like the one of my photo N° 2 near Ypres.
The names of the fallen soldiers whose rests were not identified are engraven on the walls of the various memorials.
The cleaning and eventual re-engraving of the 800.000 First World War headstones worldwide is a mission of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
For details see www.cwgc.org
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 Stones and the cross of
sacrifice on Ramparts by Pavlik_NLLeave a Comment
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 Rampart cemetery with Cross of
Sacrifice. by breughel
The access to the cemetery is on the left side of the Rijsselspoort (coming from outside Ypres by the N37) in the ramparts from the time of Vauban (the most famous military engineer of King Louis XIV). There is a small pay parking at the entry of the Rijsselstraat.
During World War I shelters were dug into the ramparts, with their thick walls, to house large numbers of resting soldiers, headquarters and other rear line units.
In the Ramparts Cemetery lie 188 soldiers buried all over the war period. They are English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealanders of which 10 Maoris from a Pioneer Battalion. Many of them worked in support roles in salvage, headquarters, field ambulances, engineers and transports. They were not less exposed than the assault troops.
As in any cemetery with over 40 graves, stands here a Cross of Sacrifice, which is a simple cross embedded with a bronze sword and mounted on an octagonal base designed by the architect R. Blomfield.
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There are about 75 Commonwealth war cemeteries on Ieper territory.
Two are very near the city centre:
- The Ramparts Cemetery which is at the Ramparts (see earlier tip)
- The Ypres Reservoir Cemetery is almost in the city centre.
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery is at only 5 minutes walk from St Martin's Cathedral.
The entry is via the Plumerlaan.
At this Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, there are the thumbs for 2611 fallen soldiers coming from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, British West India, New Foundland, Guernsey and India.
There is also 1 German grave.
There are 1035 Unknown soldiers.
More pictures in my Ypres Reservoir Cemetery - Travelogue Leave a Comment Directions: coming from St Martin's Cathedral, take the Elverdingestraat, and turn right into Minneplein, at the end you find the cemetery
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 Ypres Reservoir Cemetery by JosM |
On our way to Zillebeke we stopped at a cemetery whose name "China Wall" intrigued me.
The name Perth originated from the fact that this cemetery was adopted by the 2nd Scottish Rifles in June 1917. China Wall comes from a close communication trench known as the "Great Wall of China".
After the Armistice, graves were brought in from the battlefields around Ypres and from a number of smaller cemeteries. There are now 2791 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. Only 1422 are identified.
On our visit the cemetery was closed. Directions: 3 Kms east of Ieper town centre, by the roundabout on the N8.
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 17 years of age
forever... by Groentje
Throughout and around Ieper you can see many of these cemetaries, for all nationalities that fought in the war. German, American, Canadian, British, Australian, even Indian, ... Most of these cemetaries are maintained by Belgians, sponsored by the British (or other national) government to tend the lawns, keep the graves neat and tidy. Quite an honour for those soldiers, isn't it? Leave a Comment Directions: This one was close to the centre; there's one on the "vestingen" as well.
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 Brooding
Soldier,St.Julien,West
Flanders,Belgium. by Greggor58,
2 more photos
During the war this part of the Salient was given the nickname "Vancouver Corner"...
The Memorial marks the battlefield where 18,000 Canadian soldiers withstood the first gas attacks that the World had ever known...the 22nd to the 24th of April,1915. Two thousand soldiers did NOT survive and lie buried in nearby cemeteries.
The "soldier" stands 11 meters above a stone-flagged court, "The Brooding Soldier" rests atop a single shaft of granite.The stone for the shaft was cut in quarries of the Vosges,in France, and the bust of the soldier was carved in Brussels..
The designer of the monument was a Regina architect, Frederick Chapman Clemesha, who was wounded while serving with the Canadian Corps during the war.
The inscription on the Memorial states that " THIS COLUMN MARKS THE BATTLEFIELD WHERE 18,000 CANADIANS ON THE BRITISH LEFT WITHSTOOD THE FIRST GERMAN GAS ATTACKS THE 22ND-24TH OF APRIL 1915. 2,000 FELL AND HERE LIE BURIED "
The first link Ive included provides information about the Memorial itself...the second link leads you to a description of the battle of Ieper where the gas attacks occurred.
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