Visiting the Westhoek and the remains of World War I (part one)

‘Westhoek’ (Dutch for "west corner") the western part the Province of West-Flanders,(= the area of Nieuwpoort, Diksmuide, Ieper (Ypres), Poperinge) was one of the scenes of World War 1 and left this area with a large amount of military cemeteries, war memorials and sites.

I first visited a WW I – cemetery in the Westhoek in the middle ‘80’s when I was studying to become a teacher in history. Walking amongst the thousands of graves, reading the names and the ages of those who were buried there, I was chocked by the horror of it and I started to visit more sites, also in our neighbouring countries (France, Netherlands, Luxemburg), later together with my current partner, who shares this ‘involvement’.

The ‘Great War’, that’s how they called it, but there wasn’t anything great about it, except from the fact that Europe almost lost a whole generation of young men … The total number of casualties, both military and civilian, were about 37 million: 16 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 6.8 million civilians. Soldiers from Great-Britain, Canada, Australia, New-Zealand, France, Germany, Belgium …. lay buried for ever more on more than 170 little and great cemeteries around this city.

They also called it ‘The War to End All Wars’ … we know that isn’t true either, war is still going on, in many parts of the world.

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Ieper / Ypres

During the war the whole town of Ypres (the English pronounced it as Wipers) was completely destroyed and flattened.
After the war it was first decided upon that the city wouldn’t be rebuild, that it should stay as it was as a reminder never to let it happen again. But the citizens of Ypres wanted to live in their city again, so everything was rebuild. It took until the end of the sixties before it was finished.

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The Menengate is probably the most famous British war memorial of the First World War and by far the most important edifice in Ypres to the British visitor. It is designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and the names of 54.896 missing soldiers are engraved on its walls.
(picture by Kurt Vandewalle)

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Since 1928, every evening at 8 pm, the Last Post has been sounded under the imposing memorial arches of the Menin Gate. The Last Post is the traditional salute to the fallen and is played in honour of the memory of the soldiers of the then British Empire, who fought and died in the 'Immortal Ypres Salient' between 1914 and 1918.

(picture by Colin Smith)

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Tyne Cot Cemetery - Zonnebeke

Tyne Cot is the largest British military cemetery on the European mainland. The cemetery for British casualties from the First World War was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
There are 11952 graves, of which 70% of unknown people, and four of German nationality. The marble panels at the back contain the names of 34927 missing persons, mostly from New Zealand and Australia.


A new Visitors Centre and coach park to the rear of the cemetery has been open for some time, although the official opening was held on July the 12th 2007, when the Queen of England was present at Tyne Cot as part of the run-up to the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. The Visitors Centre is a plain grey structure, with displays in an area to one side. There are also a number of contemporary photographs on display.

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Diksmuide

Along the River ‘Ijzer’in Diksmuide there is a preserved Belgian Trench system known as “Dodengang” in Dutch, “le Boyau de la Mort” in French or “Trenches of Death” in English.
In the final days of the race to the sea at the end of 1914 the Belgians flooded the area between here and the coast. However at this bend in the IJzer river the flooding was at its limit and it was impossible to leave the area unguarded.
North of the trenches there was a set of Petrol Tanks and in this position the Germans had erected an observation post which commanded the area.
In an attempt to remove this obstacle the Belgians began this trench system in May 1915, slowly pushing it northwards by a series of saps (a sap is a shallow tunnel which can be quickly opened up into a trench).

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What the Belgians hadn't realised was that the Germans were doing exactly the same southwards. Eventually the two sides found themselves only a matter of metres apart and began fortifying their positions.
The head of the ‘Dodengang’ became known as the Mousetrap with sniper's positions on all three sides to catch any infiltration by the Germans.
If you visit the trenches nowadays and walk through them there are poppies grwing between the concrete and there are pictures placed showing ho wit was during the war. It’s quite an emotional visit.

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Only a few miles away from Diksmuide is the German cemetery of Vladslo, created during the war this cemetery originally held the remains of 3,233 German soldiers, however in 1956 a number of smaller cemeteries were concentrated into Vladslo and it now marks the resting place of 25,644 soldiers.
The old wooden crosses have been replaced by blocks of Belgian granite each inscribed with up to twenty names.

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The statue entitled The Grieving Parents was made by the German artist Käthe Kollwitz.
She was born (1867) in Königsberg, Province of Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Kollwitz lost her youngest son Peter on the battlefield in World War I in October 1914. The memorial, was first placed in the cemetery of Roggevelde (1932). Later, when Peter's grave was moved to the nearby Vladslo German war cemetery, the statues were also moved. His grave is just in front of the statues.
In 1933, the Nazi Party banned her work from museums.
During World War II she also lost her grandson Peter, who died in action (in 1942), she died herself in 1945.

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For the Dutch speaking people :
On this link you find the text from the song ‘Vladslo’ by Willem Vermandere : [url=http://www.scip.be/index.php?Page=Kleinkunst&Lang=NL&Song=Vladslo ][/url]
And on YouTube you can also listen to his song ‘Duizend soldaten’ :
[url=http://www.youtube.com/v/J6MTbbM0sXY][/url]

To be continued ...