Ypres

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Having travelled through France from Calais and into Belgium we arrived at the town of Ypres. Ypres is a small Flemish market town, just over the border from France, quite similar to many towns in Belgium.

The town of Ypres was the scene of some of the worst fighting of the war with 500 0000 dead in an area of 25 square kilometers. Ypres was one of the first places where chemical warfare was employed. Ypres was totally razed to the ground during four years of fighting.

Ypres these days has the title of "city of peace" and on the day we visited, the Market Square was buzzing with activity.

The imposing Cloth Hall dominates the skyline. It was built in the 13th century and was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages. The structure we see today is the exact copy of the original medieval building, rebuilt after the war.

Paul and I stopped for lunch to enjoy a traditional flemish beef stew and try the famous Belgian cherry-flavoured beer known as Kriek.

Kreik's flavour closely resembles creaming soda and therefore a dangerously delicious beverage. I had only one however I could have had many many more!

So many bodies were never recovered and a memorial to the dead (which includes tributes to thousands of Australian soldiers killed here) was built. It is known as the Menin Gate Memorial. It is such a moving memorial, so many names, so many lives lost emphasising the futility of war.

The Menin Gate marked the start of one of the main roads out of Ypres towards the front line and tens of thousands of men must have passed through it and onwards along the infamous Menin Road, so many of them never to return.

The Memorial is one of the most visited Great War Memorials on the Western Front.

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Photos

The Cloth Hall
The imposing Cloth Hall was built in the 13th century and was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages.

The Menin Gate Memorial
My brother Paul is dwarfed by this tribute to those that fought to protect Ypres and the surrounding area