Taking the old man to Belgium to see the war sites and cemeteries. Anyone been and can give me tips of where to take him?
Menin Gate is a must. http://www.toerisme-ieper.be/en Especially for the Last Post ceremony. Tyne Cot Cemetery at Passendale. I first went there when I was 20 & walking through looking at the headstones realising that nearly every man there was younger than I was when they'd died. Both places make it very hard to keep a dry eye.
Nip across the border to Holland and go to the USA airborne cemetery at Margaten, been twice, cried both times. All about the market garden campaign, really worth a visit. https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/netherlands-american-cemetery#.ViAWGPlVhBd
A mate and i popped over in the van a few years ago . Even with modern waterproofs it was bloody cold and miserable in October, ice on the inside of the van put it all into perspective how they suffered . The `usual` sites are well known and catered for but i thoroughly recommend driving around and just exploring the area , there`s plenty of information available . Stop at some of the remote smaller cemetries and pay your respects - there`s sadly lots of them . Take a guided tour if you can run to that - we didn`t and in hindsight i wish we had . There`s so much to take in ... Some sobering recommendations ? Delville wood - 827 men went in and after 3 days of vicious hand to hand fighting 17 walked out Peronne museum is just .... very good . Vimy ridge - A MUST - take the tunnel tour . Loch Negar crater at Bapaum (?) Cambrai Save Tyn cot and the Menin gate until the end , puts it all in perspective . It can all be very moving - expect to shed a manly tear or two ..
^ pressing the like button doesn't seem appropriate for Chris' post, in respect to the people who lost their lives. Sounds like a really interesting road trip, places like that make you sit and quietly think. One day I'd like to have a visit and see the locations where our Grandparents fought
I have been a few times with my old man, mostly to those places posted up above, it really is a sobering place and those people should never be forgotten, this is my Great Grandads grave, I can remember his wife my Great Grandma when I was a kid http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/29366/WARMAN, G
One of the most moving moments was when we pulled over for a bite to eat and noticed a small cemetry on a hill about a mile away - absolutely the middle of nowhere. Donning waterproofs we trudged off into the drizzle . When we crested the hill it was on the end of a ridge . After a minute or two of quiet contemplation the mist suddenly lifted revealing a beautiful rolling ridgeline - with 20 or so tiny but immaculate cemetries stretching out in a line , all a few hundred yards apart for as far as we could see - that finished me off ...
its hard to imagine what conditions the soldiers endured, they must have had some real courage. Respect to every one of them
Got here today. Found a nice little place to stay in Ypres. Off to the Menin Gate in a bit. Took some pics earlier.
Been to bastonne , battle of the buldge , bless those guys , they lost everything for us ,,,freezing and dodging bullets.... My dad was a first officer in ww2 on liberty ships atlantic crossings , he didnt speak much about it , he lost some friends i think. And im sure something else ... This is a very famous painting, some of you might know it . Titled : menin gates at midnight . Saw this years ago . Never forgot it ...
Thought today would be right to update this thread. From Ypres drove into France and visited the sites around Albert where the battle of the Somme took place. An Australian memorial called the windmill. Right across the road from where tanks were first used during WW1 Next visited the Poziere British cemetery a few mins down the road. Then drive to Albert to visit the Somme museum which is underground.
Next drove to the Lochnagar crater. This was a tunnel dug by Welsh miners 16m under the German trenches where they placed 27 tonnes of ammunition and blew a hole 30m deep. Its a sight to behold. Next visited the memorials to South Africa, This was the only tree left after the battle of Delville wood where the South Africans fought. Britains memorial at Thiepval which was being renovated The French and British cemetery behind and the Ulster regiment's memorial built as a replica of a tower near to where they trained in Ireland After this we returned to Ypres via Vimy ridge and went to the In Flanders Fields musuem.
Glad you saw as much as you did - shook me to the core in places . The tunnels at Vimy ridge were incredible as was the crater at Loch Negar . It`s certainly not a holiday but opens your eyes to how futile it all was - 20 years later they were at it again
