From 1914 to 1918 Flanders Fields was a major battle theatre in the First World War. A million soldiers from more than 50 different countries were wounded, missing or killed in action here. Entire cities and villages were destroyed, their population on the run. Ypres and Passchendaele became worldwide symbols for the senselessness of war.

The following links relate to a Belgian battlefield tour ‘In Flanders Field’ incorporating associated sites: museums, churches, cemeteries, etc.

The tour included:  Kortrijk (our base), Tyne Cot Cemetery, Ypres, In Flanders Field Museum (Ypres), Menin Gate (Ypres), Essex Farm Cemetery, Poperinge, Hill 60, Hill 62 Sanctuary Wood, Langemarck German Cemetery, Hooge Crater, Polygon Wood Cemetery, Spanbroekmoelen Crater, Yorkshire Trench, and St Bernardus Brewery – for a little light refreshment!!

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In Flanders Fields
by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.