The wheels of my coach kept on turning, my mammoth 'Flanders World War I Battlefield Tour' pulled out of Ypres after that museum stop. What would I get to see next? More fields? Would we be going to France? None of us coach-goers had brought our passports! Learning about the 'Christmas Day truce', was a thought-provoking moment. The pomp at 'Menin Gate' was a lot!
'The Battle of Passchendaele?' Now, I knew of that term but I wanted to know more! Leaving the town of 'Ypres' allowed my coach to head closer to 'Tyne Cot Cemetery' with the battlegrounds visible for us to see. It was clear to see that the vast farmland went on for miles, seeing it in the summer didn't give us the full picture how bleak it must have been during those winter battles. Bloodshed and tragedy was head by pastures new, greener and more prosperous without the chimes of doom in the near distant. Exiting the coach at 'Tyne Cot Cemetery allowed me to feel the full force of that day, I had not paid those coins and flown all the way to Belgium for nothing! Walking into the fields that looked so green, well it put everything into perspective. Why was there ever a 'World War' in the first place? Stupidity, that's what! I had already learned a few nuggets of truth and with that adding context, it made the reality sound and seem diabolically harsh! How old did a man need to be to sign up for the 'Great War?' Oh B, the shade was real!
As I walked across those greener pastures and looked into the distance, I thought how would those 'young men' have felt? It already sounded that such strategies had caused countless causalities, fatalities and a whole lot of massacres. Men were doing the most to escape their lives in 1910's Britain, with the prospect to embark on an adventure they would enlist under their mothers name, not wanting to die under their fathers. Those men were well below the appropriate age to enlist, no checks were made and if those teenagers slipped under the radar they were going to face the music. Those fields saw no protection, they gave no sanctuary, no mercy was given to any of those men who were in combat. 'The Battle of Passchendaele' lasted over three months and saw countless lives lost. This experience was akin to my visit to 'Auschwitz' and 'Birkenau' Concentration Camps, both places reeked of despair and death became of those who found themselves entangled. No sir, I would not be fighting in any war!
The largest Commonwealth burial ground in the world? Yes, 'Tyne Cot Cemetery' pulled some muscle with a supercharged resting place for those 'Empire' soldiers. I had my iPhone ready to captures some poppies because low key those red flowers embodied the mood of the day. I embraced those red roses because those 'English' flowers represented those 'Home' fallen few. For me, it was the visitors center because they had a speaker listing the failing through a 'public address system'. Those menses were very young, some of them barely made it to their 25th birthdays! Looking over the rolling hills as the main battlefield view came into view, well it sent chills down my spine because it was a rather intimidating yet somber view! France? Yes, we weren't that from the French border, amplified the distance those men who have walked from post to post. Thankfully, I had picked a country know for its beer, I would need a drink later on! I wanted to walk around those headstones in peace, you know some people are stupid! Not cool!
Entering the cemetery through a gate, it was a stone door with a direct path to the main cemetery lawn. Some people were looking in the records to see if they could find a link to that conflicted period. I walked around at my own pace, I didn't wish to listen to each words uttered by the tour guide because I wanted to take the setting in with my own senses clear. Getting to see the different crests on those headstones, they really hit home how many troops had made journeys from places like 'Australia' and 'New Zealand'. Over three thousands troops under the command of the 'Crown' had also enlisted from nations such as 'India', 'Canada' and also 'South Africa'. Hong Kong's British Subjects didn't fight in this war but they joined the 'Chinese Labour Corps', helping to build supporting infrastructure and manual tasks on behalf of the British Army. Now, that HK fact wasn't uttered by the tour guide, I made that Google search by myself! A game of football? Christmas Day, what? I was starting to flag, so I ate a few more chocolates!
I was over the constant stopping and starting but I knew that I was tired, I kept my resolute. Our coach arrived near a wooded area, my tour group was ushered along an elevated path. Within that wooded area, we were showed the distance between the British and German enemy lines. We stood feet away from those two former designated spaces, it was chilling that they were practically both living in each others pockets! The one blessing was that the area resembled a peaceful location surrounded by nature, no conflict could be seen. Skipping forwards for a brief second, it was interesting to see a bunker that had been modified. That's it! The location was called 'Hill 60 Memorial Site', that's where we got to see a WW2 prototype bunker! Such advancements with concrete had shown those during the 'Great War' that a certain 'fortification' feel needed to be added. Did they already know they'd be another war kicking off in 1940? I wanted to know more about those super close enemy lines, you know I was curious! OK, I was!
Christmas carols and a spot of football? The 'unofficial' Christmas Day Truce of 1914' between the German and British troops restored my faith. The days content had been hard hitting but it gave a me a brief period of relief to know something peaceful occurred during that bloody period of combat. It was said that between the 24th and 25 of December 1914, both sides put their differences aside for one day. I remember watching an advert by 'Sainsbury's' over ten years ago depicting a football match played between a group of British and German soldiers after the previous nights carol bi-lingual rendition of 'Silent Night/Stille Nacht'. These references matched with the tour guides script, he did mentioned those things happening during that day of peace and reconciliation. That day of peace, however far from the truth it may have been, let it be a lesson to us all. We can get on with even the strongest of foes because we are human! Yes!
I knew that we had one final stop on the tour to see, that stop would take us back to the town of 'Ypres' once again. Before heading back to Brussels, we would watch the 'Last Post' take place. This formal military ceremony would show us how the armed forces stationed at the 'Menin Gate' would pay their respects to the fallen soldiers, this ceremony had been going down since 1928! Before the crowds descended upon that arch that was 'under construction', we were given around 90 minutes free time! Now, they were very wrong to tempt me with a good time because I needed a little beer or three to pep me up! The journey back to Brussels would be under two hours, I would need to get a bit bevvied before the coach headed back onto that Belgian motorway. After walking under the arches of the 'Menin Gate', it didn't take me long to find a Belgian boozer with outdoor seating! That first afternoon beverage back in Ypres refreshed me! I already knew that I wanted another cherry beer, they tasted delicious! BB, I needed that break!
The time had come to watch the pomp of the 'Last Post' under the 'Menin Gate'. It was a lot, people crowded within a small space on either side of the road under the gate, I managed to strategically sneak into a corner. The whole ceremony was very controlled, very somber and very mindful. For me it was a bit much, not really my scene but I was there to learn and for that reason I kept an open mind. There was even a little sing song from a English choir, they looked as if they were in secondary school? Maybe. I had one eye on the proceedings and the other on the coach, we had been informed that we needed to get back on the coach as soon as the procession was over. I was so glad to be heading back to Brussels, it had been such a long day! Of course, I had acquired a lot of historical facts and knowledge from the day out in Flanders. May we never forget but also remember this modern day still witnesses warfare like the 'Great War' so did! It was quite late when I arrived back into Brussels, I was in need of a good nights sleep.
Farewell Flanders!
Despe