Vimy and Ypres - tour of WW1 sites

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When I was in Turkey back in May it was Anzac day (Australia NZ Army Corps) all the Aussies come over and go to Gallipoli to recognize this day. It got me thinking that I should go to some of the famous Canadian war sites ie. Vimy and Ypres (Ieper). So, enroute to Denmark I made a stop at Vimy in France and Ypres in Belgium.
My friend Matt happened to be travelling to France at the same time, so I hitched a ride with him to Vimy. The site on Vimy ridge is owned and maintained by the Canadian government. The memorial at Vimy is beautiful - 2 stone columns representing France and Canada - it sits at the top of the ridge and can be seen for miles as you approach from Lens. They also have a visitor centre with information on the battle, some restored trenches, and 2 cemetaries. Around the site most of the fields are sectioned off with electric fencing to ensure no one walks across them - there are warning signs for undetonated explosives.
As a little bit of history - Matt and I brushed up on ours before visiting the site - the allied troops tried to take the ridge (the only high ground in the area) for over 2 years. In April 1917 it was Canada´s turn to try. All 4 divisions of the Canadian army fought together here with some support from the British, in 4 days they had captured all of their objectives on the ridge. This battle cost the lives of 3600 Canadian troops - it was a huge success for the allies in WW1.
The monument is dedicated to all the Canadian soldiers that died in France during the war. It was fully restored just a couple of years ago.
After Vimy I headed a couple of hours north into Beglium to Ypres - another significant area of fighting along the western front in WW1. The town of Ypres was totally demolished during the war (it does't have a building more than 90 years old) - I read one bit that by the end of the war a man on horseback could see clear across the town (about one square mile). I ventured out by bike to look at the sites here - including Passendale, Tyne Cot cemetary (largest commonwealth cemetary from WW1 with about 12000 graves), John MacRae's station (where he was stationed when he wrote 'In Flanders Fields'), Sanctuary wood and Hill 62, and the Menin Gate.
Bike was a great way to explore, at least I thought so for the first few hours, 8 hours later I was cursing the invention of the bicycle and trying to figure out why no one has designed a more comfortable seat!!
It is interesting to ride around here, there are cemetaries and memorials all over in the middle of fields or along the roads. The commonwealth cemetaries are beautifully maintained (headstones, lawns, flowers), many of the headstones are marked simply 'A soldier of the Great War, known unto God'.
The Menin Gate is a memorial gate in town where the Menin road crosses the canal (this is the road out of town that led to the front lines). The have a 'last post ceremony' at the gate every evening at 8:00 - and have done since the gate was completed in 1928. The ceremony that I went to had 4 bugel players, a moment of silence, wreath bearers, an army group from France and finished with the Canadian national anthem (I guess different groups take part depending on who is there that day) - I confess it brought a few tears to my eyes. There are 55000 names engraved on the gate of soldiers that have no known grave.
Also in Ypres is the in flanders field museum, a really good exhibit and history of the war in that area.
I'm really glad that I went to see the sites, historically it is interesting to see where the fighting was, the conditions that they fought in (there are a lot of very graphic photos around), and how they are honoured. It was also a very sad couple of days.

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Photos

Statue at Vimy Memorial
overlooking the German side of the ridge