Day
161: Ypres to Zonnebeke - Mon 13 Oct, 2014
Met British history buffs in ex-army truck travelling war sites and
memorials, collecting authentic war uniforms and relics, and acting out
reenactments. There were an unbelievable number of
cemeteries in such small area of the Passchendaele operations/ battles.
Wanderoos
especially wanted to see Hill 60 site at Zwarte Leen, as BoyRob had worked with
mining engineer Ross Thomas, researcher and executive producer of Australian
film Beneath
Hill 60. The site was muddy underfoot, we had to dodge
the aggressive sheep "guard dogs".
 |
| Mother of Peace |
Located
in the Zonnebeke Chateau, the nearby museum tells the story of the war in the
Ypres Salient with special emphasis on the Battle of Passchendaele 1917,
one of the bloodiest battles of WWI. As we have come to expect, the exhibits we
saw were both graphic and moving.
 |
| Can't even imagine the fear of chemical warfare... |
Outdoors
was an excellent re-creation
of the deep trenches and dugouts (communications,
sleeping, latrines etc) that still honeycomb the area today.
 |
| Trenches ran right under the church |
Being on site and surrounded by
such poignant memorabilia, Wanderoos couldn't help but recall the
famous war poem:
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies
blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the
sky
The larks still bravely singing
fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw
sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we
lie
In Flanders fields!
Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands,
we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it
high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies
grow
In Flanders fields
Composed at the battlefront on May
3, 1915 during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium
Drove by Tyne Cot Military Cemetery containing the overflow of the names of missing from 1917-18 that couldn't fit on the Menin Gate.
It
was a relief to break for lunch in pub full of Belgium beers, each with its own
specialty glass. The boys ordered "delirium tremens" with pink
elephants on stein! It has been good to look around the Belgium countryside
during our battle explorations, and to see healthy crops, cabbages, onions, and
the appropriately named Brussels sprouts. Some houses have put out harvest
pumpkins at their front doors.
Ann couldn't find washing machine at caravan
park next to our stellplatz so we drove on to another caravan park at
Zonnebeke. Will have to return the stellplatz barrier cards through
mail - shame about deposit! Put on washing, oh sigh, a two hour machine.
GirlRob took the time to knit more of baby jacket. Then drying - another hour's
worth! Spotted pale yellow honeyeater sort of bird. Wanderoos were definitely
not interested in their ancient amenities block, skinny skinny shower with
doors half-mast facing into the open road! Brr!! Quickly made soup with a bread
roll for supper before heading to Ypres in time to "bags" a good
place to view the evening ceremony at Menin Gate, a
daily occurrence started in 1928. The Gate is a memorial to
almost 55,000 missing soldiers up to 1917, dedicated to British and
Commonwealth soldiers, and adorned with inscriptions from Rudyard Kipling. It
stood in path of Germany's planned invasion of Belgium (Schlieffen Plan). The
names of those located and identified since then by DNA analysis are removed
from Menin Gate.
At 8pm the Last Post bugles were played
mournfully by local firemen, the sky going a deep blue. A Scots band played
bagpipes, and officers - multi decorated, and groups/ clubs/ associations,
individuals and school children laid wreaths. Standing in the centre of
the road under the arch of the Hall of Memory a dignitary recited the
words of the Exhortation, taken from Laurence Binyon's poem For
the Fallen:
“They shall
grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.”
