FIRST WORLD WAR PAGES

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The events of 1914-18 are the events that have shaped the rest of the 20th century. The Armistice was to have been the end of the power struggle in Europe, but was instead the catalyst for a more widespread conflict 21 years later.

Much has been written about the War. But reading books, as good and factual as they are, is no substitute to gaining a first hand experience of the Battlefields of Northern France and Belgium.

Only an hour from Calais and you can centre a visit on ARRAS or ALBERT in France for the Somme and Arras sectors. Alternatively a visit to YPRES, again only an hour from Calais, is a good base for seeing the northern sectors of the French/Belgian border and the Belgian sectors themselves.

Where would you visit ? There are enough memorials and preserved trench areas to last you a weeks holiday. Below are some suggested sites :-

The Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium

This gate to the town, on the Menin Road, contains the names of 54,896 officers and men killed in the sector who have no know grave. It was still not large enough to carry another 34,984 names from 16th August 1917 onwards.They are commemerated on the panels at Tyne Cot cemetery near Passendale.

This memorial is not a passive one. It straddles the busiest road into town, and once a day, every day of the year, buglers from the Ypres Fire Service sound the last post.

A section of panels on the Menin Gate

The Canadian memorial at Vimy has to be one of the most striking memorials in France. It stands on the ridge where in 1917 the Canadians finally took the position that defeated earlier attempts by the British and French. It stands on land given, in perpituity, to the Canadian Government after the war, which is now the memorial park. Best visited from a base in Arras.

The Canadian National Memorial, Vimy

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