Ypres Salient (More pics added)

The Brooding Soldier was carved out of a single block of granite, this is the image used in the 1914-1918 Vigil across Canada that was posted at the beginning of this blog. This is a beautiful piece, a simple yet very moving sculpture; it is very special because it is a soldier rather than a symbolic piece. During the Second Battle of Ypres in April, 1915 the Canadians were in the line with the French on their left flank and British on their right. The Germans released chlorine gas from large cylinders and the wind carried the gas down to the French and Canadian front line, the French line broke but the Canadians held on while withstanding the gas cloud. The effects of chlorine gas were horrific, 2,000 Canadians fell.


Langemarck German Cemetery, this cemetery is very different from British and Empire cemeteries, it is dark and solemn. 44,292 burials, there is a large mass grave with 25,000 burials, many of the markers in the cemetery contain 4, 6 or 8 names, many unknown.


The Cloth Hall in Ieper (Ypres), this was totally destroyed by artillery fire during the war but was rebuilt, St. Martin's Cathedral in the background was also destroyed and rebuilt.

Memorial to the Irish Munster Regiments.

Belgium War Memorial.

Tyne Cot cemetery is the largest British war cemetery in the world, 11,953 burials, the wall at the back of the cemetery is engraved with almost 35,000 names of soldiers with no known grave who died from August 1917 to the end of the war.


The Menin Gate contains names of British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Salient but have no known grave. There are more than 54,000 names; Canada has an alcove on the one side. Every evening since 1928 the police stop the traffic and buglers from the fire brigade come and play the Last Post. The short ceremony is very moving; the sound of five bugles playing in perfect unison and amplified by the Menin Gate is extraordinary. Busloads of British school kids attend and some of them laid wreaths the first night we went. The second night a piper played a lament, which is practically enough to bring one to one’s knees.

What you see on the walls are thousands of names of soldiers with no known graves, the Canadian alcove is in the centre with names along the side of the alcove and there is another passage at the back with names. Since we came right after Remembrance Day there are beautiful bouquets of flowers at all monuments and in cemeteries. All of the villages and towns in the region bring huge bouquets with their town name on a large ribbon draped across the bouquet. Because it is so cool and wet, the flowers stay fresh for a long time.

Canadian Memorial at Passchendaele

The Battlefield

Library and Archives Canada PA-002165

The Battle of Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres) commenced on July 31, 1917. The British put countless divisions through the mud and horrific conditions of the battlefield but their advance went nowhere. The weather was horrible with non-stop rain and the artillery of both sides shelled the battlefield thus destroying any drainage. In fall, the Anzacs were called on to continue the battle; the Anzacs were the Australians and the New Zealanders. The Anzacs made very good progress against the Germans who had heavily fortified defensive positions on the high ground. Then the Canadians were brought in to try and take the ridge and the village of Passchendaele, the CEF commander General Currie estimated that there would be 16,000 CEF casualties and he was correct, the CEF took the village in early November. IMO, the success of the Anzacs and the CEF is rather downplayed in the primarily British interpretive centre at Tyne Cot, no shock there.