Col GKS Reddy Coins: VISIT TO EUROPE - BELGIUM - FLANDERS BATTLE FIELDS

CHAPPIDI ABHIRATH REDDY
C/O COL GKS REDDY

Secunderabad - 500015

Visit Belgium

Belgium (i /ˈ b ɛ l dʒ əm /; Dutch: België; French: Belgique; German: Belgien), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal monarchy inWestern Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters as well as those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people.

Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers (about 59%), mostly Flemish, and the French-speakers (about 41%), mostly Walloons, in addition to a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.

Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, which used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states. The region was called Belgica in Latin because of the Roman province Gallia Belgica which covered more or less the same area. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and culture. From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, many battles between European powers were fought in the area of Belgium, causing it to be dubbed the "Battlefield of Europe,"[10] a reputation strengthened by both World Wars.

Upon its independence, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number ofcolonies in Africa.] The second half of the 20th century was marked by the rise of contrasts between the Flemish and the Francophones fuelled by differences of language and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia. This continuing antagonism has caused far-reaching reforms, changing the formerly unitary Belgian state into a federal state, and several governmental crises, the most recent, from 2007 to 2011, being the longest.

Visit to Flanders Battle Fields

Being a Student of Military History and an Infantry Officer of Indian Army, I decided to utilise the opportunity to visit the Famous World War I (The Great War) Battle Fields of Ypres Salient in the West Flanders Region of Belgium, which had witnessed some of the fiercest Battles of the Great War on the Western Front right through the war from 1914 - 1918. The Ypres is about 50 Miles from the Bruges Town, towards the North Sea coast. We selected Quasimodo Travels for the Tour, as we heard that it was one of the best Tour operators in Bruges, run by a Wife and Husband Duo, both of whom are well read and well qualified Guides, who take personal care of each tourist, by restricting the Number of Tourists to 15 or 16. And we never regretted our decision at the end of the Tour.

Quasimodo Travels Vehicle. They use Mini Bus, so as to be able to pay personal

attention to each and every member of the Tour

Strategy of opposing Forces at Ypres

The strategy of both the Allied and German armies is not entirely clear. The accepted and mainstream reasoning for the Ypres battle was the British desire to secure the English Channel ports and the British Army's supply lines; Ypres was the last major obstacle to the German advance on Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais. The French strategy revolved around a desire to prevent German forces from outflanking the Allied front from the north. This was the last major German option, after their defeats at the First Battle of the Aisne and First Battle of the Marne. The Ypres campaign became the culmination point of the Race to the Sea. The opposing armies both engaged in offensive operations until the major German offensive occurred in mid-October, which forced the Allies onto the strategic defensive and limited to counter-attacks.

The Battles of Ypres and the Aftermath

Five Major Offensives took place in the Ypres salient from Oct 1914 to Oct 1918, resulting in Total Allied casualties of 5,80,524 Killed, wounded or missing and German casualties of 4,82,509, thus combined casualties of more than a million ( about 10,63,033 men killed, wounded or missing as per figures available from various sources).

The fighting for Ypres Salient was so intense, that just in the Third Battle of Ypres (Also Known as "The Battle of Passchendaele) fought from 18 Jul 1917 to 06 Nov 1917, the Allies suffered 2, 44,897 Casualties including 78000 dead and the Germans suffered 2, 17,194 casualties ( A combined total of 4, 62, 000 casualties) as both sides were determined to achieve their respective aims at any cost. The entire Ypres Salient is littered with War Cemeteries and Memorials.

Post Lunch break, after visiting Hooge Crater, Hill 60, Menin Gate Memorial and Indian War Memorial, we had half an hour tea break and went into Ypres Town.

Ypres Town

Ypres (/ˈ iː p r ə /; French pronunciation: [ipʁ]; Dutch: Ieper, pronounced [ˈipər]) is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. Though Ieper is the Dutch and only official name, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I, when only French was in official use in Belgian documents, including on maps. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote. Together, they are home to some 34,900 inhabitants.

During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces. During the war, because it was hard to pronounce in English, British troops nicknamed the city "Wipers".

A view of Market Square, Ypres. The Tower on the left is the Town hall and the Tower in the Centre is St Martin's Chapel

The Front View of St Martin's Chapel, Ypres

A combined view of the Entrance and the Tower of St Martin's chapel, Ypres

The Town Hall of Ypres

The Former Cloth Hall of Ypres Town, which has now been converted to

The Flanders Fields Museum

Another view of the Flanders Fields Museum

The Building in the background is the Court of Justice, also located in the Market square.

To its Right, through the gap is seen the Menin Gate Memorial

The famous Belgian Chocolates on display in a shop in the Market Square

Yorkshire Trench & Dug-Out

The war is still ever-present in the Ypres area. Not only in the landscape, with its hundreds of cemeteries, monuments and relics, but also underground. An exemple is the Yorkshire Trench & Dug-Out some 4 km from Ypres centre.

This underground war Relic can still be found at a depth of 60 to 70 cm. This is something the local population quickly learned, when from 1997 onwards a new industrial site was developed along the Ieper-Yzer canal. Numerous vestiges of the war were soon discovered: unexploded ammunition, constructions, human remains,...

Since then, the bodies of some 205 soldiers of three different nationalities have been recovered. The city acquired a small plot of land, for the creation of a memorial site by the In Flanders Fields Museum. This plot marks the location of ‘Yorkshire Trench' originally dug by the British in 1915. In close consultation with the archaeological team, the trench was restored along its original route, including the entrance and exit of a deep dug-out from 1917.

A view of the Restored yorkshire Trench and Dugout. The White Markers on top indicate the alignment of Trenches for movement inside the Dug - Out.

The Entrance of the Communication Trench, leading into the Dug - Out

The Main Entrance of the Dug - Out. Could not go in and Inspect the Dug - Out,

as it is fully Flooded

The Observation and Firing Ports, just behind the Entrance, to Protect the Dug - Out

from Enemy Raids and Surprise Attacks

A Plaque Displayed at the Site, indicating the Layout and the Write up about the Dug - Out

Close ups of other Information Displayed at the Dug - Out Site

Essex Farm Advance Dressing Station

During the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 a basic medical “station” for British Army casualties was first established in rough dugouts cut into the western bank of the Ypres-Yser canal at the rear of what is now Essex Farm cemetery.

As the war continued in this sector the original crude dugouts in the canal bank were extended and reinforced with concrete. They gradually developed into a series of rooms and a larger medical station was built up with huts to cope with larger numbers of wounded. The location became established as an Advanced Dressing Station (A.D.S.).

Near to this concrete Station is a memorial to Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae who wrote the poem “In Flanders Field the poppies blow” on May 3rd 1915. McCrae was a Canadian doctor who worked at Essex Farm. He wrote the poem after the death of a colleague called Lieutenant Alex Helmer who was killed as a result of a direct hit by an artillery shell. McCrae was moved by the last words in Helmer’s diary, which read that he believed that the action in and around Essex Farm had died down slightly and that, as a result, he was looking forward to a better night’s sleep.

The Essex Farm Advance Dressing Station. A Concrete Bunker with a Row of Patient Bays

The Advance Dressing Station Bunker as seen from the Essex Farm Road

Outside one of the Patient Bays of the Advance Dressing Station

Inside view of one of the Patient Bays of the ADS Bunker

A Memorial near the ADS Bunker to Lt Col John Mc Crae, A Doctor and a Poet, who volunteered for enrollment into Fighting Branches of the Canadian Army, when the War Broke out. He was Commissioned into Corps of Royal Canadian Artillery. But he worked as a Doctor at Essex Farm ADS, due to inflow of Very Heavy Casualties

Essex Farm War Cemetery

The Essex Farm Cemetery is a few miles out of the centre of Ypres (Ieper) in Belgium. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, the man who also designed the nearby Menin Gate in Ypres. There are 1,199 burials at the cemetery though there are 1,185 graves in it including that of Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick of the 8th Battalion the Rifle Brigade who died on January 14th 1916 aged 15 – one of the youngest fatalities in the British Army in World War One.

Essex Farm Cemetery also includes headstones grouped together for men who are known to be buried in the cemetery but no one is sure where. The large majority of those buried at Essex Farm were named as they would have been known to the men who worked in the makeshift 'medical centre' there. Unlike many World War One cemeteries, there are few graves (just 102), which are marked ‘Known unto God’ or ‘A Soldier of the Great War’ – the standard way of marking the grave of someone whose name was not known.