Ypres Collection (#5)

Memorial to Sgt Charles Ranginawawahia Sciasia
New Zealander Sciasia, born of an Italian father and a Maori mother, played, with his brother John, for the Maori All Blacks in 1913

Memorial to New Zealander Leslie Andrew, VC, Warneton
Lance Corporal Andrew, who won his VC at La Bassee when he was 20 years old, went on to serve in WW2 and died, a Brigadier, in January 1969

View over Dikkebus Lake, Dickebusch, Belgium
The name Dickebusch means hick forest and dates from the time that this area was dense woodland. The Germans never took the lake, although they reached the water in May 1918

Captain Chavasse VC Memorial, Brandhoek Church grounds
This memorial to Noel Chavasse was unveiled on 29 August 1997 in the presence of a delegation of the London Scottish Territorials

The Indian Memorial, Menin Gate Ramparts, Ypres
This white stone memorial was unveiled on 10 November 2002 as part of the Flanders India 2002 Partnership Year by Major-General A.J. Bajwa, who had come all the way from India for the ceremony

Memorial to poet and musician Ivor Gurney, Belgium
Similar in design to those for Ledwidge and Chavasse, the memorial was unveiled on 12 September 2007, the initiative of Piet Chielens and the Friends of the In Flanders Fields Museum

Ypres Ramparts CWGC Cemetery seen across the moat
The earliest settlement in this area is thought to have been near Langemarck in about AD960 and gradually a cluster of villages grew up around the Yperlee

Memorial Plaque for Little Talbot House - Ypres, Belgium
This is on the wall of No 83 Rijselstraat in Ypres and marks the site of the little brother of Talbot House (Toc H) which opened on 13 November 1917

Plaque to Captain J J Crowe VC, Nieuwkerke Hospice
The final German attempt to break through to the Channel ports, known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres, had initial success

Australian 5th Division Memorial, Polygon Wood
The memorial stands on the old rifle buttes and overlooks both the Polygon Wood CWGC Cemetery and the New Zealand National Memorial

Australian Road to Passchendaele Marker Stone
The Third Battle of Ypres, generally referred to as Passchendaele began on 31 July 1917 and staggered on in dreadful weather conditions until it floundered in mud and resulted in some 300

Memorial to 15th Battalion Canadian Highlanders
This bronze plaque, mounted in a brick plinth, records the part played by the 15th on the Gravenstafel Ridge during the Second Battle of Ypres (the Gas Attacks)

Memorial Plaque to Ypres Civilians WW1 and WW2
This is beside the main Ypres War Memorial which is just outside the Cloth Hall. On the other side of the memorial is a plaque to the Belgian 13th Field Artillery. Date: 2016

The Two at Pervyse with Shot the dog memorial, Ypres
This memorial is in the garden of the Ariane Hotel in Ypres. The Two is the title given to two extrordinary British laidies, Elsie Knocker and Mairie Chisholm

Chairman of the Ypres Last Post Committee with bugles
The Ceremony of the Last Post, in which firemen buglers play the Last Post under the Menin Gate at 8pm each night is, in its simplicity, one of the most moving acts of Remembrance in the world

Canadian Rifles and VCs Memorials, Passchendaele
Three flat black marble plaques mark the part played by the 3rd Canadian Division, the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles and the 3rd (Toronto)

The Australian Diggers Memorial, Plugstreet Experience
The 14-18 Experience Museum was opened on 9 November 2013 and on that day a splendid bas relief of Australian miners digging underground was unveiled. It was donated by Ross J

The Memorial Chapel, Talbot House, Poperinghe, Belgium
Talbot House, a rest house for soldiers and officers, was started by Padre Philip Byard (Tubby) Clayton and was officially opened on 11 December 1915

Polish Memorial, Cloth Hall, Ypres, Belgium
The memorial, which is on an outside wall, commemorates the Polish Forces who liberated Ypres in September 1944. In September 2016 researcher Chris Lock discovered that three Polish soldiers were not

Thanking the Last Post Buglers at the Menin Gate
The Last Post at the Gate has been played at 8pm under the arches by Ypres firemen (with only an interval during WW2) since the unveiling on 24 July 1927

Captain Woodward, 1st Australian Tunneling Company
Captain Oliver Woodward was one of the heroes of the underground war at Hill 60. He had trained as a mining engineer and during his military career won the MC and two bars

Prowse Point St Yvon Christmas Memorial Area with footballs
Prompted by the 100th Anniversaries of the battles of WW1, much interest in the Truces that took place beteen the enemies at Christmas 1914, particulary in this area

Bruce Bairnsfathers Cottage Memorial, St Yvon, Belgium
The rebuilt cottage stands on the site of the original building in which, in 1914, Bruce Bairnsfather drew his first catoons which led to the creation of Old Bill

Field gun and soldier statues, Plugstreet Experience
The gun and the statues, which are cut-outs made from steel sheets, are in the grounds of the Plugstreet 14-18 Experience (Interpretation Centre)

Reconstructed CWGC Cemetery, Colne Valley, Ypres
The Cemetery faces a feature known as Colne Valley. It is on one of the marked walking routes around the Ypres battlefields

The American Bridge, Vierstraat, Belgium
The bridge crosses the small stream the Kemmelbeek. In the August 1918 offensive the centre line of the attacking American 27th Division crossed over this bridge, hence its local name of American

Christmas Truce Memorial, Peace Village, Messines
The memorial carries the words A Lull in the Hate and refers to the football match played between the Germans and the British at Christmas 1914

British CWGC Cemetery Tyne Cot, Passchendaele, Belgium
This is the largest British War Cemetery in the world and was designed by Sir Hebert Baker (who designed the tomb of Cecil Rhodes in Delhi)

Welsh National Memorial Dragon, Hagebos - Iron Cross
This fine memorial in Belgium is not only to the 38th Welsh Division, but to all Welsh Forces who fought in the Ypres Salient. It is similar to the dragon at Mametz on the Somme

Bus House CWGC Voormezeele, Belgium
Marking places on battefields is always a tricky business. hence the use of simple identifiers such as Lone Tree, Railway Corner etc. Our old friend Rose Coombs told how this cemetery got its name

The Lille Gate in the Ypres ramparts seen across the moat
Ypres is a walled city and it has several routes into it. The two most well-known of its gates through the ramparts are via the Menin Gate (on the old road to Menin)

The Izjer Tower seen through the Pax Gate, Dixmuide
Listed as an International Peace Centre, the Tower is a symbol of Flemish Nationalism which came to a head during the First World War. The Towers history goes back to the 18th Century

The Trenches of Death Museum by the River Izjer, Dixmuide
The Trenches of Death formed a Belgian defensive line along the west bank of the River Izjer which was pivotal in preventing the Germans breaking through to the Channel Ports

Belgian Headstones Houthulst Belgian Military Cemetery
This War Cemetery is maintained by the War Graves Department of the Belgian MOD. It is on the edge of the Houthulst forest which Napoleon called he key to the Low Countries

Memorial Chapel Calvery, Dixmuide
This is a religious monument which is dedicated to all of the soldiers and civilians who died in the Great War. On 23 September 1928 it was solemnly blessed by the Bishop of Bruges in the presence of

Memorial to Belgian pilot Willy Coppens, Klerken, Belgium
The small memorial to Heldhaftig Piloot Willy Coppens is in the Willy Coppens Plein in Klerken. He was Belgians leading fighter ace and, like American Frank Luke

Edmund Blunden Information Board, Vlamertinghe, Belgium
The board is outside the Chateau. Blunden was in the 11th Royal Sussex, camped just outside Vlamertinghe in the preparations for the Third Battle of Ypres

Hopstore CWGC Cemetery, Vlamertinghe, Belgium
The village, known as Vlam to the Tommies, was a pile of rubble by 1918 but the area of the Cemetery was just outside the range of the medium guns and the hop building, in the background here

Memorial to the 2nd and 4th Carabiniers, Zuidschote
This acknowledges their part in the April 1915 gas attacks and is on house number 15 in General Lotzstraat. It was erected by the Carabiniers Old Comrades Association. Date: 2016

Vlamertinghe Chateau, subject of Edmund Blunden poem
Blunden wrote the poem, On Passing Vlamertinghe Chateau in July 1917 in which he describes Poppies by the million. The Chateau survived the war

Headstone of Private Richard le Page, 26 March 1918
Le Page, who was 42 years old, was in the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry. He is buried in Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery. The Regiment was formed at the end of 1916 from the Guernsey Militia

Preserved Yorkshire Trench - Boesinge
This was first explored in February 1992 by a local group called The Diggers. Gradually an important trench and dug-out system was uncovered

The Kleine Berta Mortar, Boezinge
This Little Bertha mortar (named after Bertha, Gustav Krupps wife), sits on the top of an ivy-covered blockhouse in the centre of the village

Ypres battlefields Entry Point North, Klein Zwaanhof
The Ypres battlefield has been divided into three areas, each with walking and cycling routes, and each featuring a particular aspect of the land

Memorial board for Harry Patch, the last British veteran
The board stood alongside Harrys memorial beside the Steenbeek stream. Both were damaged by motor vehicles and have since been moved. Harry paid for the memorial himself. Date: 2016

Memorial to Irish poet Francis Ledwidge, Artillery Wood
The memorial, mounted on a brick plinth, carries a photo of the poet. Beside it the Irish flag flies, there is an information board and behind is an apple tree planted in his memory on 27 March 2010

German cemetery Langemarck mass grave
The majority of the over 44, 000 bodies buried here are from the fighting during the First Battle of Ypres that began on 18 October 1914

Tribute to Harry Patch, Carrefour, Langemarck
This was done by Moorslede artist Philip Cardoen and is part of a series of 60 pictures planned to form The Western Front Painting Tour. Date: 2016

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Ypres, a city forever etched in the annals of history. From the iconic painting "The Canadians at Ypres" by William Barnes Wollen to Hs Power's depiction of artillery and horses amidst the chaos of World War I, this Belgian town witnessed it all. British soldiers in 1917 fought valiantly on its war-torn streets, displaying unwavering courage like Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exceptional bravery. The Brooding Soldier stands tall at the Canadian Memorial in Vancouver Corner, serving as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made during WWI. Tanks rumbled through Ypres during the Battle of Menin Road, their steel behemoths shaping the course of history. Australian troops stood amidst the remains of Chateau Wood in Passchendaele 1917, their resilience echoing throughout time. Not forgotten are those brave Northumberland Fusiliers who held their ground at St Eloi in 1916. Matania's masterpiece "In The Famous Plug Street Wood" captures both beauty and devastation simultaneously experienced within Ypres' borders. Beyond its wartime significance lies Ypres' Main Town Square - once bustling with life but now bearing scars from Europe's darkest days. Ten postcards tell tales before, during and after war; each image revealing fragments of a resilient community that refused to be defeated. Today, only ruins remain as silent witnesses to past horrors endured by this remarkable city. Yet amid these remnants emerges hope for a brighter future – one where remembrance ensures that such devastation is never repeated again.