FIRST WORLD WAR - Ypres
YPRES - THE NEMESIS OF A GENERATION
Today this town in Belgium is called Ieper, in 1914 it was spelt Ypres; to the British
Tommy it was 'Wipers'.
From October 1914 to November 1918, this quiet Belgian market town became
a muddy slaughterhouse. The peaceful fields around it were converted into a
tortured moonscape over which a series of brutal battles were fought in
addition to the day to day attrition to body and soul costing over 1,700,000 lives;
just one part of a war that shattered a generation of young men from all over the world.
This tour will take you to the sites where human endurance - both Allied and German - was tested to beyond breaking point. We will look at why Ypres was of such important strategic importance and how the commanders of both sides tried to break the bloody deadlock and what their decisions ultimately meant for the ordinary soldiers under their command.
We have a five day tour and a four day tour available for Ypres. The four day tour covers all of the same aspects as that of the five day tour, however, time on the ground at certain locations is limited so as to keep within the shorter time period.
Day One: Advance to contact
On the journey to Ypres we will be stopping off at the primary rest point for the British soldier in Flanders, Poperinghe. Here we will have a chance to visit the famous soldiers' resting place, ‘Toc H' run by Tubby Clayton during the war. We'll also be able to spend some time at the condemned cells where men were kept prior to execution (mainly for desertion) near the main square, and from the windows of the cells the execution post can be clearly seen - a different but no less evocative and poignant memorial to the horrors of war.
Once in Ypres we'll have a town orientation by visiting Cloth Hall (meticulously rebuilt to its original design and finished in 1962!) and The Lille Gate which leads out of Ypres to the south and was the route used by most allied troops entering and exiting the Ypres salient (due to the Menin Gate being particularly exposed to enemy observation). From the top of the Gate we'll be able to look towards Messines and the higher ground.
Phil will give an after dinner talk about the reason why Ypres became a battlefield for four years and a brief outline of the battles fought around the town and the tactical developments that were to change the face of warfare.
There will be time each evening to stroll the medieval walls that were rebuilt after the war.
Day Two: The Northern Sector
The First Battle of Ypres was fought between 21st October and 17th November 1914 across much of what was to become known as ‘The Salient'. The British, advancing on Bruges and Ghent, encountered a huge German force advancing from the opposite direction in what is now known as ‘The Race for the Sea', when both the Allied and German armies moved ever northwards in an attempt to outflank each other.
We start the tour at Langemarck which featured in the First and Fourth Battles of Ypres and is also where the German Cemetery is located. Amongst the 46,000 individuals buried in mass graves lie 'The Innocents'; teenagers of the Student Battalions killed during the first battle by the exceptional fire power of the relatively small but professional British Army. The German Cemeteries are distinct from the Commonwealth Cemeteries in that there are no head stones, which contributes to the grim atmosphere.
In contrast, Poelcappelle Cemetery is where Private John Condon is buried - thought to be the youngest battle casualty of the First World War commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, although a number of the facts remain disputed. Moving onto Houthulst Forest where extraordinary heavy fighting took place during Third Ypres and where the toll continues to this very day (as it does across much of the battlefield) with incredible amounts of unexploded ordinance being unearthed.
We then move to St Julien. The battles of Ypres saw the development of modern war through necessity. British troops wore helmets for the first time at Ypres, the Germans used the flamethrower for the first time at Ypres (near Hooge). But perhaps most infamously of all was the first use of gas. This was undertaken by the Germans at the beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres when the indomitable Canadians held the line in April 1915.
This whole area around St Jean and Wieltje saw heavy fighting during both Second and Third Ypres and is characterised by the various names given to the farms, perhaps most famously - Shell Trap Farm that was later re-named Mouse Trap as the first name was deemed bad for morale!
Our next stop is Pilckem Ridge that featured in Third Ypres and was held by the Germans. Standing on this ridge, it will become immediately clear why this ground was so important to the Germans providing as it does, excellent observation down into Ypres.
It must not be forgotten that Ypres was also where the French and Belgians fought and they were also victims of the first gas attack. The cross at Steenstraate replaces the original memorial that was destroyed by the Germans in the Second World War.
Heading back towards Ypres via Boesinghe we shall stop at the Yorkshire Trench - a relatively new addition to the visitor's itinerary. This area was excavated by a group of Belgian amateur archaeologists and featured on the BBC programme ‘Meet The Ancestors' in 2002. Part of the trench is now preserved and secured for visitors to walk along and provides a glimpse of the claustrophobic nature of trench warfare.
We end the day at Essex Farm which was where Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, famously wrote the poem, ‘In Flanders Fields'.
Phil will give an after dinner talk entitled, ‘The Tunnellers'.
Day Three: The Centre and Southern Sectors
The Menin Road leads out of Ypres as straight as an arrow and along its route are locations that were to become notorious, in particular Hellfire Corner and the village of Hooge which changed hands several times during the course of the war and was described in the Offical Histories as, ‘an area with an evil reputation'. This reputation was further enhanced in July 1915 when the ever inventive Germans used the flamethrower for the first time (we shall see a ‘flammenwerfer' on display amongst the exhibits at the Zonnebek Museum on Day Four).
We will make a number of stops along the Menin Road including the museum in Hooge before arriving at Hill 62 and the paradoxically named Sanctuary Wood, the area around which is still heavily pock-marked with shell holes and provides an evocative insight into what the Western Front looked like during the war. We will explore the area around Hill 62, Mount Sorrell and Maple Copse and look at the desperate fighting that happened here in June 1916 and we'll also visit Gheluvelt where the second German assault of First Ypres collided with the British line.
Moving onto Hill 60 we will be able to see for ourselves at ground level, what is probably one of the most famous aerial photographs taken during the First World War. This peaceful corner of Belgium is in stark contrast to the tortured landscape of the 1917 image yet the grass is unable to hide what happened here.
Hill 60 is also our first stop of the Battle of Messines phase of the tour and we shall make short stops at Hollebeke, The Bluff and Wytschaete (inevitably known as ‘Whitesheet' to British troops) before arriving at the Messines Ridge, the site of the world's largest manmade, non-nuclear explosion. The Battle of Messines Ridge was in effect the first phase of what was to become known as the Third Battle of Ypres or, Passchendaele.
We'll also be stopping at Fromelles which has been the subject of so much attention this year when a mass grave of Australian and British soldiers was found and the bodies exhumed. After Fromelles we will go on to visit the Pool of Peace which today is a place of meditation and contemplation, but in 1917 was the devastating result of 17 huge mines that were built and exploded under the German front line killing 10,000 Germans in an instant. Some of the other mine craters along the ridge remain clearly visible but only 17 out of the 19 mines actually built, exploded. The eighteenth exploded in 1955 leaving a large crater in a fortuitously empty field! If anyone finds the nineteenth mine during the tour (somewhere near Ploegsteert - or Plugstreet) be sure to mention it!
We will have a chance to visit the church of Messines which is where a certain German Corporal by the name of Adolf Hitler was apparently treated after being wounded early in the war and we'll also have time to visit the small museum in Messines which has a number of interesting artifacts as well being the centre for the continued search for the nineteenth mine....
Phil's after dinner talk will be, ‘Breaking the Stalemate'.
Day Four: Third Ypres and Passchendale
The Third Battle actually comprised of several battles that culminated with Passchendale. Polygon Wood featured in three of the battles for Ypres and during the first battle is where a Divisional commander by the name of Sir Douglas Haig sent cooks, clerks and sappers into battle in order to hold the line.
Polygon Wood was captured in September 1918 by the Australians who then went on to capture Broodseinde Ridge two weeks later. We shall visit the sites of these incredibly hard fought battles and look specifically at the soldiers' experience and the tactics used to push the Germans back at such horrific cost.
A visit to the museum at Zonnebeke provides a vivid insight into life and death at Ypres with its vast collection of equipment, armaments and personal effects dating from the First World War in addition to the recreation of a British dugout which brings alive the ghostly remains that we will have studied in the past three days
After the museum we will move to Passchendaele, a name synonymous with mud and suffering. Field Marshall Haig insisted that after the opening phases of Third Ypres the offensive should continue in order to secure the ridge of Passchendaele and the mission fell to the Canadians under General Currie. His careful planning and the tenacity of his men saw them advance step by muddy step through the fields that had been reduced to a deadly swamp by the worst weather the region had known for 75 years, towards Passchendaele. On 6th November 1918, the ridge was finally secured but the village itself was reduced to a brick coloured smudge on the shattered ridge.
At the site of this tragic village, we shall ask whether Haig's offensive was justified and if the horrendous losses suffered during this most controversial of battles were ‘worth it'.
We end the day at Tyne Cot Military Cemetery. Containing as it does the remains of nearly 12,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen, it is the largest Commonwealth Cemetery in the world. A further 34,000 names of those who disappeared altogether in the carnage are commemorated on the marble panels behind the Cross of Sacrifice. Indeed, 70% of the headstones are for ‘Unknowns'.
Visiting Tyne Cot is a deeply moving experience and is something that everyone should do at least once in their lifetime. It brings home the reality of the First World War and the scale on which it was fought.
After a final dinner in Ypres, we end the day at the Menin Gate Ceremony. This poignant tradition when Buglers play Last Post with Two Minutes Silence followed by Reveille started in 1928. Ever since 11th November 1929, the ceremony has taken place each evening except during the German Occupation in the Second World War.
During the haunting silence, it is impossible not to find yourself gazing at the lists of names that are carved into the imposing structure of the Menin Gate. These names are of the 54,332 who fell in the Salient and who have no known grave but will never be forgotten.
Day Five: Return to the UK
5 DAY TOUR
Price - £815 per person
£1590 per couple sharing
4 DAY TOUR
Price - £650 per person
£1170 per couple sharing
The tour begins and finishes at Victoria Bus Station, London.
Spaces are limited to 12 so we would advise to enquire and book early to avoid missing out.
We fully comply with the provisions of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (EEC Directive 90/314). In accordance with these regulations, all payments made to us, either as deposit or final settlement (including all credit card payments), are held in a separate trust account (HSBC Bank PLC, 76 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1EL. Account Number: 93672638) and as such your payment cannot be released to us until the relevant Tour has taken place. This regulation guarantees a full refund of all monies paid in the most unlikely event of us failing to provide the Tour booked.