September 18, 2018

In Flanders Fields Part 3

In Flanders Fields Part 3

It turns out that I may need a third post to get through all of Flanders Field. And while I hope I don’t lose anyone during this time, always remember you can just skip to the next post when you want!

After Hill 60, we embarked on the last part of our day. This is finally the most patriotic part of my day; I know you’ve been waiting. Patiently reading, looking at photos, wondering when in my day I finally got to Site John McRae, or Essex Farm Cemetery, the location where Lietenant-Colonel John McCrae would have written In Flanders Fields in May of 1915.

Advanced Dressing Stations played an important part of the War, and depending on how the War was going, was always closer to or further away from enemy lines, which was either a hindrance or a fear. The Essex Farm location saw lots of battle, as it was chosen as it was near a canal bank. McRae fought and was a physician during the Second Battle of Ypres (the battle that saw the first chemical weapons being deployed) and wrote of its horrors to his mother. It is said that he penned the poem, “In Flanders Fields” after the burial of his friend, Alexis Helmer, who was killed on May 2nd. He noted how quickly the poppies would grow around the graves of those who died at Ypres. It is said he then penned the poem shortly after that.

  • Advanced Dressing Stations at Site McRae
  • Cross at Essex Farm Cemetery

In case you wondered, poppies only grow in the harshest of conditions as they are a sort of weed type flower. They would grow in the trenches, in the graves, anywhere in Flanders as they were native to the region and flourished in the churned up earth. This, along with the poem is how so many have come to associate the poppy with that of Remembrance.

“Mass” grave at Essex; 8 soldiers buried together and not moved post burial

It was incredibly moving (I know I’ve use that term before) and a sober reminder of how harsh war was. And to be at the place where John McRae witnessed so many of those horrors, tending to the wounded, and at the place where the poem that I’ve recited since I was a child during Remembrance Day was a really special moment for me that I will never forget. I certainly thought of my Grandfather (among other family members) when I got to this site. It may look like a simple pile of dirt with some cement rooms (which at first weren’t cement at all!) camouflaged into the banks, but for many soldiers, this is where there life was saved on the front lines before being transferred to the hospital.

The last place we got to see, and have an extended stay in was Ypres itself, but only the area near the Menin Gate. We also had the opportunity to stay in Ypres for the performance of The Last Post. Everyday (outside of the German occupation in WWII), at 8:00pm, there is a ceremony to remember the fallen.

Main Square near the Gate

The Menin Gate was erected in 1927, and features the names of 54,607 soldiers who died before August 16 1917 (the remainder, over 34,000 are displayed at Tyne Cot). It is a massive arched building leading into the Eastern part of town. Seeing rows upon rows upon rows of names of fallen soldiers who have no known grave is humbling and you can’t help but stand in silence as you stare at this monument.

The back of the Menin Gate
  • Just one panel on the Gate
  • The Last Post Ceremony

I was incredibly lucky to not only see the gate but to get to be there for the playing of The Last Post. This ceremony also had some families/dignitaries laying wreaths and felt not unlike a Remembrance Day ceremony here.
There were no spoken words but it was a somber reminder of war and the sacrifice of others.

I’m so glad that I got to spend the day touring all of these sites. It’s important to remember our history, to honour those who fought (and still fight) for so many of the freedoms we have today. Seeing and experiencing this has taken my appreciation for the horrors faced in WWI and WWII by these soldiers to a new level. Finishing my day at the Menin Gate whilst hearing The Last Post played as a final salute in honour to the rich history and the war(s) we should never forget was the perfect way to end this sobering and humbling day.

Menin Gate at night
Filed Under: Belgium, My Travel Posts
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