subject: A Full Day In The Region Near To Ypres [print this page] A Full Day In The Region Near To Ypres A Full Day In The Region Near To Ypres
Brandhoek Cemetery is the place Captain Noel Chavasse is buried. Captain Chavasse is one of merelythreemen to have been awarded Britain's highestaward for bravery, the Victoria Cross. What's more, he was alsoawarded the Military Cross. I ampresentlyreading through a book titled "In Foreign Fields" by Dan Collins and it iswritten aboutsoldierswho've beengranted medals in Afghanistan and Iraq. Afteryou realiseexactly what a soldier needed toundertaketo be granted an MC, itallows you torealise what a courageouspersonCaptain Chavasse was especiallyas he was a member of the Royal Medical Corps and never fired a shot for the duration of the conflict.
My next stop was near to the village of Passchendaele at the largest sized British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. In excess of 12,000 soldiersare buried here. From the cemetery, it's possible tolook outfor several miles in all directionsover fields and it seems hard tothink about thehorrorthat had been there 90 years ago. The visitors centre offers aprofile of the regionand the names of a number of the dead and lost are put outrestfully over loudspeakers.
Leaving Tynecot, I began toreturntowards Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) on the way back. You will find there'ssmall museum and someconserved trenches . Throughout my visit, the weather conditionswas notkind and whileit was nothing like as awful as conditions would have been in the course ofThe Great War, the bottom of the trenches really looked fairlyhorrible. It cost a few Euros to get in and this was the firstspotIstarted toseethe impact of the famous mud.
My nextsupposed stop was the Hooge Crater. As previouslyduring the day, I struggledto locate it nevertheless I saw alittle independent museum called the Hooge Crater Museum which hada remarkableassortment of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross. My sightseeing for the day was notfinished as I still wanted totake a look at the famous Cloth Hall which wasjust aboutruined (since entirelyrebuilt) and the Last Post ceremony that isconducted at 8pm eachevening at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post incredibly haunting and moving to listen to. Following it was finished, two wreaths were laid by young British soldiersand this was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon's "For The Fallen"
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
