YPRES

The epicentre of the British war effort on the Western Front, Ypres has risen literally from the ashes of 1914-18. Despite being under siege for almost the entire war,the city was never taken. Standing pride of place within the old town is the magnificent Cloth Hall while a short walk across the cobbled expanse of the Grote Markt lies the famous Menin Gate, engraved with the names of thousands of 'missing' from the British and Commonwealth forces.

 

An exploration of the countryside around Ypres reveals a multitude of memorials as well as many Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries such as Essex Farm (top left) where John McCrae penned the iconic 'In Flanders' Fields' which originated the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. It would be remiss not to take time to visit the sombre German Military Cemetery at Langemarck or the haunting 'Brooding Soldier' Canadian Monument to some 2,000 victims of the 1915 gas attack at St Julien.