FLANDERS FIELDS, BELGIUM

In Flanders Fields Museum, Iepers (Ypres), Belgium

Leslie and I set aside a day for a trip to the World War I sites in the Flanders region.  Our first stop was Iepers (Ypres) to visit the excellent In Flanders Field Museum (far left side of building above).  The Germans occupied this pretty little market town from 1914-1918.  U. S. troops arrived in 1917.

The museum has carefully documented and presented the stories of the soldiers and the villagers who were under siege for four years.  As we walked through the museum reading the stories one of us would point to an exhibit, start to speak, choke up and turn away wandering off to the next heartbreaking exhibit.

Menin Gate Memorial

We drove into Iepers (pronounced "eepers") through the impressive Menin Gate, a memorial to those soldiers who were missing in the battlefields in Belgium Flanders and had no proper burial.

"TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914-1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE"

Over 54,000 names of fallen soldiers are engraved on stone.  Every night at 8:00 pm Last Post is played inside the Memorial.  This has been a tradition since 1927.

Passchendaele Museum, Zonnebeke, Belgium

Passchendaele is the site of a major battle that took place in 1917.  It was grinding warfare with nothing much left above ground, so soldiers had to live below ground. This museum depicted dugouts and trenches which were so real it almost made me sick.

Passchendaele Museum, Zonnebeke, Belgium

Above, window boxes stuffed with fresh flowers.

Cemeteries honoring the soldiers who came to fight for Belgium and never return home are scattered throughout the region.  It was very moving to see how the villagers have paid their respects to those soldiers.  Every cemetery we visited was perfectly maintained.

An abundance of hydrangeas and geraniums.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row..."
                                                                                         John McCrae

Here's our fun little car shown off by the ever lovely Vanna White (aka Leslie). It was a spectacular day--the blue skies mottled with splintering clouds--the perfect day for a day trip in the country.

It was a sobering day, but one of my favorite on this trip.  I have a whole new respect for the resilience of the Belgian people.

Next stop:  London!