Bruges and Flanders Fields

 

Bruges along the canals

Bruges was first settled by the Celts, then the Romans. It was a seaport and traded with the Hanseatic cities selling them wool, fabrics, and lace goods. Our hotel, the Casselbergh, was a royal residence and is near the Town Hall, the Count’s Chapel, and the Basilica of the Holy Blood. The Market Square, the commercial center, is just steps the way. In the mid-18^th century, Brugge lost its channel to the sea. The town was encouraged to preserve their buildings and become a tourist destination. We did a canal cruise to get a good view of all the historic buildings. 

In the afternoon we did the tour of Flanders Fields starting at the museum in the town of Ypres. France had fortified the boundaries between Germany and France, so the Germans planned to attack in World War I through Belgium. They expected to reach Paris in six weeks. North of here, the land was flooded, so Ypres became the direct path to Paris. The Germans at first captured the town, but the Belgian and French forces retook the town, while the Germans retreated to higher ground. The British and Canadians arrived to help hold the town. In total there were 4 major battles here. The second battle introduced the use of chlorine gas.

World War I Museum

The British set the policy that any soldier killed in Belgium would be buried here. The Essex Farm cemetery was where Doctor John McCrae worked as a surgeon in a medical bunker. Upon seeing his friend die here in 1915, he wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields. The cemetery has 1100 headstones.

We continued to the Yorkshire Trench and dugout. This trench formed part of the Frontline. There were several dugouts for the officers and various operations. But the average soldier was exposed to the elements and shrapnel for 4 days periodically. The trenches would fill with mud, so eventually they built planks over an inverted A frame to keep your boots out of the mud.

Tyne Cot Cemetery

Next, we went to the Tyne Cot Cemetery where the third battle occurred. Here the Germans had built blockhouses with machine guns to plow down any attackers. Several soldiers risked their lives throwing grenades to take out the blockhouses. There are 12000 gravestones at this cemetery and over 3000 names of the missing. It is the largest Commonwealth cemetery for any war. Overall, this region saw 500,000 soldiers killed during World War I.

After dinner, we joined a crowd to experience the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial. It is over a hundred years since the end of the Great War, but every night the local fire brigade and representatives from Great Britain come together to remember their sacrifice here.