During one of our last weekends in Belgium, we spent a day in the area most Americans know only as Flanders Fields, from the poem by John McCrae, a Canadian soldier in World War I. The city of Ypres, which was under horrific siege by the Germans, now houses the In Flanders Field Museum and other war monuments. The surrounding countryside, the site of many battles and—still—the trenches so closely identified with the Great War, is dotted with military cemeteries holding the dead from the British Commonwealth.
I never had a chance to blog about that experience while we still lived in Belgium. But today, the official end of World War I, seems like a good time to share the photos. Unlike the more uniform markers in American military cemeteries, the grave markers in the British cemeteries in Flanders are engraved with the regimental symbols of the dead soldiers, which adds to their poignancy.
Pictures from Ypres, the military monuments and cemeteries, and the now peaceful countryside:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Katharine.Gillette/FlandersFields
John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields"
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm
2 comments:
Good pictures, Kate. Michel and I stopped in Verdun this fall. The carnage there was unbelievable also. Despite the gentle peaceful look of the countryside, I could smell death everywhere. It was a very depressing day.
Joe, foxy and I were very moved when we visited this area. I really like that every night they still have someone play taps ( I think taps) in the arch way where all the names are.
Post a Comment