Ypres
Photo: "Phot-Express"/Vise Paris
Map of Ypres
The city of Ypres, at the heart of the Salient, was involved early in the First World War. The British were associated with Ypres throughout the war, and involved in all four battles which bear the name of the town. During the war, the town was almost constantly under bombardment, and was reduced to ruins.
Canadian troops passing the ruins of the Cloth Hall. Image from Library and Archives Canada.
After the War there was a proposal to preserve the ruins of the town as a memorial to the British and Empire soldiers who had fought and died in the salient. This was then modified to preservation of just the ruined Cloth Hall and cathedral. However, the town was eventually fully rebuilt, including the Cloth Hall and cathedral and today, standing in the town, you would hardly believe that most buildings are at most 80 or so years old. By the time Sir William Pulteney and Beatrix Brice published a battlefield guide in 1925 they recorded: 'We step from the train to a brightly new and very complete town. We make our way through the streets to the Central Place, and here a square of of hotels, shops, houses stare with strange incongruity to a mutilated thing rising stark and jagged against the sky'. This was the ruins of the Cloth Hall, still not then rebuilt.
The Cloth Hall at night
Starting in the centre of Ypres, which is the best base for a visit to the salient, on the wall of the Cloth Hall are two plaques, one commemorating the French soldiers who died in defence of Ypres and the surrounding area (shown below), and the second to Polish soldiers who liberated Ypres in the Second World War.
Memorial plaque to French soldiers on the wall of the Cloth Hall
The Cloth Hall also houses the In Flanders Field museum, which is a good place to visit to gain some background on the battles around Ypres, although my own preference is for some of the smaller museums suach as those at Hooge and at Zonnebeke. There is a website for the In Flanders Field museum which gives opening times, prices and other information.
The In Flanders Field museum in the centre of Ypres
Just around the corner from the Cloth Hall is a Belgian memorial to those who fell in both World Wars.
Belgian Memorial in Ypres
Church and Cathedral
One of the most interesting sites in Ypres is the British church, which has so much to see that I have covered it on a separate dedicated page: St. Georges Memorial Church.
The cathedral of St Martin and St. Nicholas was rebuilt after the war, and it is very hard to believe, when looking at this magnificent structure today, that it is only around 80 years old.
Cathedral of St. Martin and St. Nicholas by day and lit up at nighttime
A plaque inside commemorates 'One Million Dead' of the British Empire: one of several similar plaques that were placed inside a number of cathredrals in Belgium and France after the War. There is also a plaque in memory of the French soldiers who fought and died.
Interior of the cathedral, and plaque commemorating 'One Million dead'
Around the side of the cathedral stands a memorial to the Munsters. The memorial is in the form of a Celtic Cross, with the three crowns emblem (which from a distance appears to resemble a smiling face), and the inscription at the base reads 'In memory of those men of Munster who died fighting for freedom. A tribute erected by the people of the Province and Cork its capital city'. An old postcard I have shows the memorial with the cathedral still in ruins behind it; the view today is seen underneath.
The Munster Memorial in front of the ruins of the Cloth Hall shortly after the War
The Munster Memorial in front of the rebuilt Cloth Hall today
The Menin Gate and the Last Post
The Menin Gate
It is well known that every evening at 8 pm, the Last Post is played at the Menin Gate in Ypres. The Menin Gate is the site of the memorial to the missing of the Salient, designed by Reginald Blomfield with construction completed in 1927. It lists the names of 54,332 men who fell in the Salient and who have no known grave. Consider this figure for a moment. It is equivalent to the population of a small town, and this is just the men who have no known grave. The names represent the fallen of Britain, Ireland, and what were then the Dominions (apart from New Zealand) up until 16th August 1917. Those with no known grave after that date are recorded at Tyne Cot. The names are inscribed on panels arranged by Regiment, and within that by rank.
Last Post at the Menin Gate
The Last Post is a moving ceremony held every single night. The traffic through the Gate is halted, and the Last Post is played, a haunting experience in a sombre setting. There are always large crowds to respect the ceremony, and in recent times it has become common for those present to applaud at the end of it.
The three photographs below show the site of the Menin Gate over time: firstly immediately after the War, then in the 1920's before the construction of the Memorial, and lastly the interior of the Gate in the 1930s.
The Menin Gate site just after the Great War. Photo from Michelin Guide to Ypres
The Menin Gate site in the mid 1920s. Photo: Weeninck & Snel
The Menin Gate between the Wars. Photo: NELS
One of the many names on the Menin Gate is that of my father's great-uncle: Private William Bertie Goody. His name is on Panel 34. William was a professional soldier; he had originally enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment in 1901 at the age of 19 and after serving with them for several years had left the ranks in 1913. When war broke out, however, he immediately re-enlisted, and was with the 'Old Contemptibles', the original British Expeditionary Force that went to War in 1914. The Second Worcesters were involved in one of the most famous early heroic stands against the German Army, at Gheluvelt on October the 31st 1914. However, William Goody was not one of those who fought there; he had been killed ten days earlier near Poelcapelle and was one of many who died in the early days of skirmishes and movement before the trenchlines became permanentand have no known grave.
Private William Bertie Goody: one of many names on the Menin Gate
A recent memorial located just to the right (as you look out of the town) of the Menin Gate on the ramparts is the memorial to Indian soldiers. The inscription reads "In memory of those from the Indian Army who fought gallantly in Flanders. Ieper 10th November 2002".
The Indian Memorial near the Menin Gate
Near this is a small brass model of the Menin Gate with information in braille.
Model of the Menin Gate
It is a pleasant walk along the ramparts south from the Menin Gate. A short distance past the Indian Memorial on the left is a brick built stand with two poems in Flemish and English; one by Edmund Blunden and one by Herman de Coninck who was not born until the Second World War. Old air shafts, some of brick and some of metal rise up through the ramparts. There is an old brick-built icehouse, where food and medicines used to be stored. They were kept cold by blocks of ice, which were cut from the moat in the winter and covered with soil and tree branches.
The ramparts after the War. Photo: NELS
There are a number of viewpoints on the ramparts, and also information boards about the history and also the flora and fauna. At the right times of year there are wild flowers; in early spring snowdrops and crocuses are in abundance. Even when it is raining, fishermen sit on the opposite bank with oversized umbrellas. It is just a few minutes walk along the ramparts to the Lille Gate.
The Ramparts are pleasant to stroll along in the evening
The Lille Gate
The Lille Gate leads out of Ypres to the south, and from the top of the Gate you can look towards Messines and the higher ground. A dangerous crossroads known to the soldiers as Shrapnel Corner was located to the south of here.
View south from the ramparts above the Lille Gate
Inside the Lille Gate itself signs to several Cemeteries can be seen. These show IWGC, rather than CWGC, and as the name was changed from "Imperial" to "Commonwealth War Graves Commission" in March 1960, the signs must have been at least 45 years old. At some point in about 2005/2006 however, they were removed, and seem now to have been replaced with replicas. The originals were showing their age, whilst the signs that can be seen today are in very much better condition (see photos below).
The original IWGC signs in the Lille Gate for various cemeteries (left picture) have now been replaced with modern verisons (right)
The Lille Gate itself is an impressive structure, which just about survived the war (see images below), and just beyond the Lille Gate is Ramparts Cemetery.
Lille Gate during or just after the War. Photo Realistic Travels
The Lille Gate today.
Cemeteries
Within Ypres today there are four CWGC cemeteries. Most evocative and moving is Ypres Ramparts Cemetery. As the name suggests, this small Cemetery (less than 200 graves) nestles by the ramparts of Ypres. It was started early in the War by the French, and then used from February 1915 to April 1918 by British and Commonwealth troops. All French graves were later removed. The cemetery can be seen in an early form on aerial photographs taken towards the end of the war. Today this is a beautiful and peaceful cemetery, with the graves positioned on a slope down towards the moat, and was a particular favourite of Rose Coombes (author of Before Endeavours Fade). I believe that after she died, her ashes were scattered here.
Ramparts Cemetery
There is just one plot of graves, and a walk along the rows leads to some interesting observations. One section of row H comprises graves of men killed on the 9th of August 1915. They are from a number of units, including York & Lancasters, Royal Engineers, Royal Field Artillery and the Royal Army Medical Corps. As always, some of the personal inscriptions on the headstones cannot fail to make you reflect on the feelings of those left behind. In row J, the inscription on Lance-Corporal Arthur Ockelford's grave reads 'Gone but not forgotten from his loving wife and baby Peggy' - Peggy who must have grown up never knowing her father. On Private Albert Pacey's headstone are the words 'Some may think that we forget him when at times we are apt to smile'. Albert Pacey from Peterborough was just 22 when he died on the 4th of February 1915 serving with the 2nd East Yorkshires.
Also buried in this cemetery is Captain William Megaw of the 1st Norfolks, who died on the 31st of March 1915. There is a brass plaque commemorating him in St. Georges Memorial Church not far from here. The inscription on his headstone gives both his rank and his title of Adjutant. There are a number of graves of New Zealanders at the front left, and Australian graves at the back left of the cemetery. As well as the different nationalities, men from at least two Divisional Heaquarters are also buried here. The cemetery is beautiful on a sunny day, and when it rains the white backs of the headstones turn dark at the edges as the water seeps through as though through parchment or blotting paper.
Ramparts Cemetery seen from across the moat
The largest cemetery within the town is Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. This is in the north-west of the town, and was located next to an Advanced Dressing Station where many casualties who had survived as far as this following transfer from the front lines were buried. There were originally three cemeteries near the town's western gate, two between the prison and the reservoir, and these two were both concentrated into the third, which is located on the north side of what was the prison (hence an earlier name for this cemetery, Ypres Prison Cemetery - it was also previously known as Ypres Reservoir North Cemetery).
The cemetery was begun in October 1915, and used from then on throughout the war, and contained around 1100 graves after the Armistice. It now contains 2613 graves, over 1000 of which are unidentified. The register gives the interesting information that the graves of the men in Plot 5 Row AA are those of 16 soldiers from the 6th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry who were killed on the 12th of August 1915. They were billeted in the vaults of the cathedral (see above) and killed by shelling from what was known as the "Ypres Express", a large calibre German gun firing from the Houthulst Forest. The bodies were not recovered until after the Armistice.
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery - the right hand picture shows on the front right the headstones of the Knott brothers
Two men buried here are the Knott brothers - Captain Henry Basil Knott of the 9th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers (died 7th of September 1915), and Major James Leadbitter Knott of the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment. James Knott was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, on July the 1st 1916 near Fricourt some 70 miles south of Ypres. He was originally buried where he died, in Fricourt New Military Cemetery (see the Fricourt page). However, after the war his body was moved to lie here next to his brother. This was a most unusual event, and it is possible to speculate that the influence and importance of the brothers father, Sir James Knott, had something to do with this. Sir James Knott donated the money to construct the tower at St. Georges Memorial Church in Ypres. He also built a church at Fenham in Newcastle named St. James & St. Basil's Church in memory of his sons.
However, the file on Henry Knott held at the National Archives in Kew shows that he was not originally buried in this cemetery either. The 9th Nothumberland Fusiliers War Diary entry for the 6th of September records that Henry Knott was wounded in 'Western Redoubt, Bois Carre' and was taken by ambulance to Poperinghe, where he died at 1.40 a.m. the next morning. Bois Carre was a small wood located noth-east of Vierstraat (south-west of Ypres), and Western Redoubt was a fortified position just inside its western edge. In November 1915 his father was sent a letter stating that Henry Knott was buried in the 'New Cemetery near Poperinghe'. Poperinghe is located about seven miles west of Ypres, and whilst there is a Poperinghe New Military Cemetery today, the map reference given (Sheet 27 Square L 22d.6.3) is either in or very near to where the large cemetery at Lijssenthoek is now located. As he died at Number 10 Casualty Clearing Station (which was located near Lijssenthoek) of gun shot wounds to the head, this would make more sense than his being originally buried in Ypres itself. It seems therefore that Henry's body must have been moved to Reservoir Cemetery in Ypres, and that his brothers was then moved from the Somme to lie beside him, almost certainly at the same time.
In 1919, his father Sir James Knott annotated a form sent by the War Office enquiring about his sons next of kin with the words "He was my third son and unmarried. On the outbreak of war my family consisted of three sons. I had no daughters, all three [sons] joined up in August 1914."
Ypres Reservoir Cemetery today
Reservoir Cemetery just after the War. Photo from the Michelin Guide to Ypres
On the outskirts of Ypres are two more cemeteries, now also within the town itself although not within the ramparts. The largest is Ypres Menin Road South Cemetery, located on the N8 as you leave Ypres towards Hellfire Corner. The cemetery was first used in January 1916, by the 8th South Staffordshires and 9th East Surreys. It was in use until the summer of 1918. Following the Armistice, graves were concentrated here from Menin Road North Cemetery, as well as from isolated positions on the battlefields around, and there are special memorials to 54 men who were buried in Menin Road North Cemetery, but whose graves were probably destroyed later by shell-fire, and in any event could not be located.
The special memorial at Menin Road South
These special memorials are located on either side of the entrance in the middle of headstones. The Cemetery layout at first sight appears quite regular, which is more usual in post-war concentration cemeteries; but the somewhat uneven layout of many of the graves denotes it's contemporary nature. A single grave can be seen by itself near the front: Sergeant W Brook of the Royal Artillery, who died on the 10th of November 1914. One wonders what the story is behind this grave, as it appears to pre-date the start date of the cemetery and was presumably moved here later.
The Cross of Sacrifice at Menin Road South Cemetery
The other cemetery on the outskirts of Ypres is Ypres Town Cemetery and Extension. This is located by the N332 road that leads to Zonnebeke, about half a mile north-east of the Menin Gate. Technically there are two War cemeteries, and they are listed separately on the CWGC website (although the cemetery reports seem to overlap). The Town Cemetery is still in use as a civilian graveyard today, and the war graves are found in several areas within it. In addition to the graves of those who fell during the war, several workers from the IWGC (as it was previously) and CWGC are also buried in this cemetery.
IWGC grave at Ypres Town Cemetery
On the ring-road just east of the city is a bunker at the side of the road. This is just a little south of the Hellfire Corner roundabout on the road leading to the roundabaout by the Lille Gate. Parking near to it is not easy, but it is possible to look inside the interior and see how cramped the conditions must have been in there.
Bunker on the Ypres ring-road: exterior and interior
Because of the flat landscape, the town can be seen from several miles away in most directions. The view below shows Ypres from a distance - a location near Frezenburg and on the approximate position of the front lines in June 1917.
The spires of Ypres viewed from near Frezneburg, a little beyond the front line of 6th of June 1917
Sources & Acknowledgements
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Major & Mrs. Holt: Battlefield Guide to the Ypres Salient
Paul Reed: 'Walking the Salient' and other information