Notes

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Ypres From 1914-1918 the city became the focus of fighting between the Imperial German Armies of Emperor Wilhelm II and the Allied Armies of Belgium, France and Great Britain. The First Battle of Ypres began in mid October 1914. It was the first of four long battles fighting over possession of this ancient city.

Battlefields of Flanders On our exploration of the battlefields around Ypres and Passchendaele we visit Tyne Cot, the largest British cemetery in the world, and Sanctuary Wood, where you’ll find a fascinating museum of artefacts from the war plus many chilling picture displays. Opt for lunch at the Hooge Crater café with its superb museum, then visit the recently opened Yorkshire Trench with a visit to Ypres ahead of the ‘Last Post’ Ceremony at 8pm at the Menin Gate,

Battlefields of the Somme The Battle of the Somme was planned as a joint French and British operation. Between July and November 1916, the British suffered 420,000 casualties. We see Newfoundland Park with its preserved trenches and equally impressive museum commemorating the plight of the Newfoundlanders. We also see the Sunken lane (Lancashire Fusiliers) at Beaumont Hamel and Hawthorne Ridge before visiting the South African Museum at Delville Wood.

Vimy Ridge, Arras & The Somme Vimy Ridge, captured by Canadian troops in 1917. We then look at the battle of Arras, visiting the Arras Memorial and nearby war cemetery. Spend time in Pozieres where so many Australians died and are commemorated, before we visit the memorial to the troops from Ulster.

Battlefields of Artois and Cambrai Study the battle of Loos also seeing the grave of Rudyard Kipling’s son and the Loos Memorial. We then take lunch in Arras and see the Memorial before looking at the Canadian assault on Vimy Ridge and the Cambrai area where tanks were used in great numbers in 1917.

Menin Gate The huge memorial at Menin contains the names of 50,000 British and empire troops who died in the Salient before July 1917 and whose bodies have never been found. The local Fire Brigade play the Last Post each evening at 8pm in memory of those who died.

Tyne Cot Cemetery This is one of the largest Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries in Europe and was first established around a captured German blockhouse used as a dressing station.

Sanctuary Wood The wood got its name in the First Battle of Ypres in 1914, when men separated from their regiments came to this wooded area – a safe area away from the main fighting, a place of ‘sanctuary’ – to await to rejoin their unit. The private museum has preserved the trenches dug throughout the wood and gives a good impression of a WW1 trench system.

Yorkshire Trench During the development of a new industrial site the ‘Yorkshire Trench’ and many vestiges of the war were discovered including 165 bodies of soldiers. A memorial site has been created with a reconstruction of the ‘Yorkshire Trench’ including the entrance and exit of a ‘deep dug-out’ from 1917.

The ‘Flanders Field’ Museum has an exhibition of objects found in the dug out. Lochnagar Crater The largest British mine crater on the Western Front, this was one of several mines exploded under the German front line positions on the Somme on 1st July 1916. A charge of 60,000 lbs (26.8 tons) of Ammonal explosive was blown at 7.28am resulting in a crater 90 feet deep and 300 feet across. Essex Farm Cemetery This Cemetery in

Boezinge is the final resting place of Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick who died, aged 15yrs old, on 14th January 1916. He is one of the youngest British casualties of the Great War. Lt Col J. McCrae wrote his famous poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ close to this spot.

Extend your stay

You may wish to combine a visit to the Battlefields of Flanders with other aspects of the curriculum or events in history. Visit Brussels, home to the European Parliament. Take a guided sightseeing tour of the city or arrange a visit of the Parliament buildings with your local MEP. The bustling city of Lille is home to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the second largest fine arts museum in France, and the fascinating Pasteur Museum, dedicated to the memory of Louis Pasteur's life and work including the collection of scientific objects illustrating the scientist's work