Had a slightly later than anticipated start today, as I lingered over breakfast talking to the other couple staying in the B&B. Plus it was starting to rain so not the easiest to get motivated to go out! Made it eventually though, and made my way down to one of the bookshops near the Menin Gate that also offered tours of the Ypres salient. No luck though as they needed a minimum of 3 and no one else had booked, probably due to the weather! Ah well. I’ve seen a lot of the main sites – Tyne Cot cemetery and the like during the Topdeck tour I did in 2013 for Anzac Day.
The rain started getting pretty heavy at this point, so I found a coffee shop to hole up in and do some research for the last part of my trip, Paris. When the rain slackened off I made my way back out to the streets and stopped in at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) office near the Menin Gate. They have a Lego model of the gate that was made, not as a commission, but by a local furniture maker in his free time (6 months of it!). It’s amazing, and even has some of the inscriptions on it. I also got talking to one of the guys there which was interesting – he said there are 6 of them in Belgium, who rotate between the office in Ypres and the main cemetery – Tyne Cot (Which is the final resting place of almost 12,000 Commonwealth soldiers, making it the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, for any war. It also lists the names of a further 35,000 Commonwealth soldiers who have no known grave. When you put these two figures together with the 55,000 names on the Menin Gate memorial, and then realise that these are only for Commonwealth soldiers, and only for one area of battle, it starts to give you a sense of scale of the massive loss of life during the war. And not to mention the Thiepval memorial in France, which lists the names of over 72,000 servicemen who died in the various Battles of the Somme between 1915 and 1918 and have no known grave). He also said that there are around 620 CWGC sites in Belgium alone, which is a testament as to how much fighting there was, considering the small size of the country. According to the guys at the office, last nights Last Post Ceremony, which I’d thought was well attended, was one of the quietest they’d seen for a while! Tonight’s promises to be busier though as there’s a pipes and drums band and more wreath laying. (Assuming the weather stays nice anyway!)
After leaving the CWGC office I went for a walk along the ramparts of Ypres, since the rain was being nice and staying away for the moment. These huge fortifications have surrounded the city for centuries, and were re-purposed during WWI into bunkers and dugouts to shelter troops from enemy artillery. Atop the ramparts sits the Ramparts Cemetery, a small CWGC cemetery that is the resting place of almost 200 troops who died near the city during the war. It’s a very peaceful place, and is situated right near a lake. From the cemetery I headed back into the city proper, stopping off at a couple of the impressive churches before making my way to the magnificent St Martin’s Church.
Located just behind the Cloth Hall, St Martin’s was similarly destroyed during the War, and, like the Cloth Hall, was meticulously rebuilt to it’s original plans. Although in this case they went one step further and made the spire taller, making it one of the tallest buildings in Belgium! Inside it’s absolutely magnificent, and it took me a little bit to realise why. Most of the big churches and cathedrals I’ve been in have the spire located over the crossing, right in the centre of the church. This necessitates a bit more of a blocky shape to the interior of the church, in order to support the massive weight of the spire. St Martin’s, on the other hand, has the spire at the front, which means that the entire length of the nave and chancel is one big room. Large churches are usually quite architecturally impressive anyway, but I think this is one of the most impressive I’ve been in so far!
Then it was back to the hotel for a bit to work out my train timetable for tomorrow’s trip to Paris, before heading out again for dinner and the Last Post ceremony. If I thought that last night’s ceremony was poignant and moving, it had absolutely nothing on tonight’s! Whether it was the addition of the pipers and drums, the attendance of a group of currently-serving soldiers or what, I don’t know, but wow. Luckily the rain stayed away, which was good as the crowd was spilling out into the closed off road as well as packed in under the arches of the Gate. It was a slightly longer ceremony this time, but nobody seemed to mind. And it was nice to the see the band members interacting with some kids after the ceremony and letting them have a bang on the drums. I found out later that these guys, who I thought were military, where actually more of a hobby group from Cornwall! They certainly knew their stuff though, and it was nice to see one of the drummers lay a wreath as well.
And then it was back to the hotel to pack for the trip to Paris. That’s why this entry is fairly late, as that took a bit more time than expected, and plus, the B&B I was in had creaky floors and I didn’t want to be disturbing everyone else by moving around late into the night. And we’re really coming to the end of the trip now, with the last European travelling day tomorrow! As long as it’s not raining I’ll be happy.
