WW1 Battlfields

[Stephen Colly]

Its not til next week but I'd thought I'd post it now so I don't forget to post it next week -

I am off on Wednesday of next week (22nd) til the Saturday (25th) to Belguim to see the WW1 battlefields and graves which should be cool but depressing! I have been looking forward to this for years, as I am VERY into World War One, we get to go into a real trench and walk across the Somme and Yreps...sooo cool! And get to go to museums! fun!

Righto so next week I'll be off, it isn't for very long and I will tell you all about my adventures when I get back!

Kitty
xx

[Nathan Whyte]

Yreps? Where's that?
Have an awesome time over there, Kitty

[Niamh Dunlevy]

I believe she meant "Ypres", Nathan.

Anyways, Kitty, have fun when you go! ;D If I were you, though, I'd take some sort of phrasebook. Dutch, German and French are Belgium's national languages, so you might - key word, might - run into a few language barriers.

[Daniel Brennan]

Ah, I hope you have a fun time. =]
I think it's Ypres, btw.


EDIT: Evil Addie posting at the same time as me.

[∬: Erhard Strumfelder]

I get to go in October I think. It should be really good, very moving. Its quite shocking just how many unknown bodies there are buried there. I think enjoying is the wrong word, but it should be something you'll remember for the rest of your life.

[∬: Felix Odegaard]

Sounds very interesting. I live over in the USA, so I will probably never get to visit the battlefields, let alone Europe I hope you have fun. You should take a camera!

[Stephen Colly]

Back!

It was amazing, soo sad. First day we went to Brussels and saw the European Parliement which was dead boring...all very tired cause we had gotten up at 4 am that morning...
Went to Ieper the second day and saw Hill 62 and Sanctary Wood where there are some remaining trenches, saw old shells and animal bone and a sad photo of two horses lying dead in the mud...sent a lump to my throat.
Then went to the largest cementry for the British in the world at Tyne Cot which was awfully sad, over 2 thousand graves there...then went to the smaller German one at Langmark where we were staying, that was sad as well as there were black headstones lying down and lots of trees around it, apparently it took the German govement a long time to finally be allowed to have cementries for their dead in Belgium....
Yesterday - Friday - went to the Somme battlefields and saw some cementries there - there was one grave to Alfred James Robinson who died at the Battle of Loos in 1915, aged 17 very moving. Then went to some feilds were there where loads of shell holes and trenches still there, if you walked along a path, you could see the British front line trench and then up ahead, across the land of shell holes there was the Germans...incrediable to think it was 90 years ago and evidence is still there.

Also went to a huge crator hole that had been blown up by the British and was still there today, and the Cloth Hall in Ieper which was pretty cool, they had a museum and there was a massive model of a horse with shells on its back caught up in wire and mud...War Horse! Also, they had telegrams from the army telling parents and families that their relative had been killed in action or shot for cowadice...again very moving.
Finally, went to the Menin Gate Ceremony which is held every night at 8:00pm at the Menin Gate in Ieper. Very sad, cried from beginning to end as I looked up at the names of all the men that had no known grave inscribed on the wall...amazing.

WHAT A TRIP! I recommend that you guys go, it is a fantastic insight and brings to life the poems and stories and songs from that era.

I may post pictures if I can work the camera...lol!