At Dunkerque (Dunkirk) and even down into Belgium you can explore the history from two world wars. You may want to recapture those gallant, brave events or relive the memories from the past. If you‘re trying to trace your family history you‘ll find this area of Northern France a great source of inspiration and information.
The towns and battlefields where it all took place, museums, forts, memorials and cemeteries... and of course many memories.
Explore wartime history
Find out more about the historical sites to be explored, where to find them and the hotel deals available within the region.
The Nord-Pas de Calais region has historically been one of the most fought-over regions in Europe; in fact, Charles de Gaulle once referred to it as a "fatal avenue" through which invading armies repeatedly passed.
Indeed, during the Great War, much of the region was occupied by Germany. A number of its towns and hundreds of square miles of land were destroyed in four years of trench warfare, with the area suffering more damage than any other part of France.
But whereas before the twentieth century the French and the English monarchs had been enemies in battles to defend each country's national pride, WW1 saw the two nations unite as allies, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder to see off the enemy. The cost was huge and irreversible – the loss of lives can be seen all over the Nord-Pas de Calais in the hundreds of cemeteries and memorials that are a stark reminder of the horror that took place during this period.
Nord-Pas de Calais Tourist Board
6, place Mendès
BP 99
59028 LILLE Cedex
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 20 14 57 57
Fax: 00 33 (0)3 20 14 57 58
One of the major French National Memorials and Cemeteries, the chapel and lighthouse tower at Notre Dame de Lorette dominate the ridge for which the French fought a long and bloody battle. The cemetery has 20,000 white crosses, which commemorate over 120,000 men from both sides who died in this ferocious conflict in 1915.
This is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in France, with 10,773 burials from WW1,and 119 from a period of WW2 in 1940, when hospitals were stationed at Etaples once again. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the cemetery also contains some German burials, and a total of 73 sadly unidentified burials.
In the open fields just northwest of the village of Fromelles, the horrific Battle of Fromelles was fought on 19th and 20th July 1916 – one of the great tragedies of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The German attack cost the 5th Australian Division over 5,500 casualties. 410 of these were unidentified, and rest 'Known unto God' in the Victoria Cross Corner of Fromelles Cemetery. The War Museum at Fromelles contains a poignant and fascinating collection of original Australian artefacts from the Battle, and other items recovered from German and British troops who fought hereabouts over the duration of the war.
2nd Sunday of each month &
11th Nov 09.00-12.00 & 14.00-19.00
CLOSED: Aug except by
appointment
Adults €3.50 Children €2.00
The Loos Memorial forms the side and back of Dud Corner Cemetery, and commemorates 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, and who were killed in the area between the first day of the Battle of Loos (25th September 1915) and the end of the war. Although the battle was won, inexperienced soldiers paid the price. The 'Dud Corner' part of the site is thought to be named as such due to the number of unexploded enemy shells found there after the Armistice. Again, the remains of hundreds of unidentified men lie in this cemetery.
This post-war battlefield clearance cemetery contains the graves of 1,810 soldiers who died during the Battle of Loos; the majority of whom are unidentified. However, one grave is engraved with the name of Rudyard Kipling's son John (Plot VII, row D, grave 2).
The museum relating to the Battle of Loos displays everyday objects recovered from the battlefield, including a Waterman fountain pen that still worked after 80 years
under the ground. A tour around the 'double rassier'‘ footpath will give you a view of the whole battlefield including Lorette and Vimy.
Advanced booking is advised
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 21 78 31 29
€3.00 each for guided tour of museum only
€6.00 each for group of 6 minimum or €5.00 each for group of more than 10 for guided tour of museum & 'double crassier' guided walk
Commemorating the Canadian victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge atop Hill 145 is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, a great structure of white stone, and the largest of Canada's war monuments. The land on which it stands is a Canadian National Park, given in perpetuity by the French nation to the people of Canada for their efforts in war. Inscribed on the Memorial's ramparts are names of over 11,000 'missing' Canadian soldiers.
Underneath the Place des Heros in Arras runs a labyrinth of tunnels carved out of the chalk rock. Used by some 10,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers for up to four years, this subterranean world linked up to the front line at Vimy and had its own generator, dressing station and headquarters.
You can visit this network of tunnels by guided tour only. For more information call Arras Tourist Information.
This beautiful memorial stands at one end of the Louverval Military Cemetery and commemorates more than 7,000 servicemen of the UK and South Africa, who died
in the Battle of Cambrai of November and December 1917, and whose graves are
not known. The Memorial was designed by H. Chalton Bradshaw, with sculpture by
C.S. Jagger.
Here the monument to commemorate the 'Heroic defeat' of the British Second Armed Corps on 26th August 1914 marks the decision of the Commander of the British forces to defend the town. The four divisions of infantry and one division of cavalry were no match for the six divisions of the Germans led by von Kluck. Many British batallions never received the order to retreat and almost 8,000 were killed or wounded.
Just days before the Armistice, on 4th November 1918, Le Quesnoy, a small town in the north of France, was liberated from four years of German occupation by New Zealand forces. The town was occupied by 1,500 Germans, who refused to give themselves up. 400 soldiers from the New Zealand division were wounded, 93 of whom died and were buried in Le Quesnoy's cemetery. The liberation is still remembered by the town's inhabitants, and by New Zealanders, who visit the memorial and pay tribute to their countrymen.
North-east of Valenciennes lies the Communal Cemetery of St Roch Valenciennes. Although the town was in German hands until November 1918 the Canadians liberated the town and it became a Casualty Clearing Station until October 1919. 1.5 km from Valenciennes on the north side of the road to Brunay-sur-L'Escaut.
OPEN: Nov-Feb 08.00-17.00
Mar-Sept 08.00-18.00
Oct 08.00-17.30
This museum pays tribute to all the veterans of WW2. 800 square metres of displays follow history from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
OPEN: 1st Apr–15th Oct
09.30-18.00
16th Oct – 31st Mar weekends only
10.00-18.00
CLOSED Dec, Jan & Feb
Adults: €6.00 Children: €4.30
The Calais area suffered badly during WW2. Its museum is situated in a bunker, formerly used by the war time German navy as a command post. A total of 20 rooms display a large number of interesting objects relating to the conflict in the area, including military uniforms and equipment, posters and photos.
OPEN: 15th Feb – 31st Mar
11.00-17.00 (every day except Tues)
1st Apr – 30th Sept 11.00-17.30
(every day)
1st May – 30th Aug 11.00-17.00
(every day)
1st Oct – 15th Nov 12.00-17.00
(every day except Tues)
Charles de Gaulle, renowned for the encouragement he gave to the French Resistance during the Second World War, was born in 1890 at his grandmother's house in Lille.
In 1990, the house was listed as an historic monument and it is now a museum celebrating the great man's life.
OPEN: Weds – Sun 10.00-13.00 &
14.00-18.00
Adults: €5.00 Groups: €4.00
Children: €3.00
Children under 10: Free of charge
This looming concrete structure was intended to shelter a factory for assembling, fuelling and launching V2 rockets and for making liquid oxygen, although neither of these plans succeeded.
Following bomb damage to the Eperlecques Blockhouse, Hitler called for more resources to be poured into another underground rocket launch base a few miles away. Known as 'La Coupole', this is now a museum dedicated to WW2. Learn about the development of the V1 and V2 secret weapons and their military use during the war, see rare archive films and much more.
OPEN: All year round, 09.30-18.30;
10.00-19.00 at weekends & public
holidays
CLOSED: 25th Dec & first 2 weeks
of Jan.
Adults: €9.00 Children: €6.00
This area of northern France was ravaged by WW2 and the Nazi occupation of the region. The resistance movement were a group of local men and women who worked under cover to help the Allied forces regain control of occupied Europe.
This museum is dedicated to the people that were involved and traces, through documents and artefacts, the lengths they went to helping the cause, at great risk to themselves.
OPEN: First Sunday of the month
(except Aug) 14.30-18.00
Adults: €3.00
Children under 12: Free of charge
The ugly concrete gun turret that stands on the picturesque Cap Gris-Nez was part of Hitler's formidable line of defences around the north French coast-the Atlantic Wall. The 21 German soldiers it housed had the job of bombarding the coast of Kent with 35 metre-long canons. The building and the guns remain, along with German army memorabilia.
OPEN: All year round except Dec
& Jan 10.00-12.00 & 14.00-17.00
1st Jun – 30th Sept 09.00-19.00
Adults: €5.50 Children: €2.80
An ambitious German construction designed to rain death and destruction upon the enemy was the V3 base at Mimoyecques, equipped with 25 giant canons, which were capable of firing shells into London every six seconds. This did not succeed, however, due to Allied air attacks.
On the day before the Normandy Landings the BBC sent a coded message to the French Resistance in the form of two lines from a poem by Verlaine. This was correctly deciphered in the German HQ bunker at Tourcoing, near Lille, but the message was disregarded by the German high command.
Les sanglots longs des violins de l'automne
Blessent mon cur d'une langueur monotone
The long sighs of autumn's violins
Injure my heart with a dull languor.
The HQ Bunker (SK1) of the Armee Ober Kommando 15 is open on the 1st & 3rd Sundays of each month. 09.00-12.00 & 14.00-18.00.
Guided tours last 1hr 30min.
Dunkerque (Dunkirk) was the scene of the historic evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France in May 1940. 'Operation Dynamo' saw 350,000 men evacuated by boat in 9 days under artillery fire and German air attack in perhaps the greatest naval operation of all time. The Dunkerque (Dunkirk) Memorial, commemorating over 4,500 casualties from this time, can be seen at the entrance to the British war graves section of Dunkerque (Dunkirk) Town Cemetery.
The Somme was an unfortunate victim of WW1, most notably for being the location of one of the bloodiest battles in human history in 1916. On 1st July, after a week-long artillery barrage, the Allied forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 25 mile front. The German troops, having anticipated the attack, had consolidated their position and escaped to underground shelters. Believing that they had obliterated the enemy, British troops slowly approached the German lines, and thus was the beginning of the massacre that was the Battle of the Somme. 60,000 British and Commonwealth troops died and 20,000 were wounded or missing on the first day of the battle, mainly within the first hour.
Later on in the war in March and April 1918, the British line on the Somme Front was again attacked by the German Army, until the Allied forces gradually pushed it out of its defensive positions during the Second Battle of the Somme in August 1918.
Today, this horrific period in history can be explored andenvisaged along the Circuit of Remembrance, which takes you to impressive memorials, remains of battlefields and beautifully maintained cemeteries, and all the significant war sites of the Somme.
Located at the historic heart of the Battlefields of the Somme, this museum offers full and comprehensive illustrations of the causes, events and consequences of the Great War, for all who were involved. Learn about the daily lives of the British, German and French civilians who were drawn into the war, due to the overpowering social and political climate of the time. The fascinating collections ranging from posters to objects to film footage express only a fraction of the horror and the universal suffering of war.
Château de Péronne
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 22 83 14 18
Fax: 00 33 (0)3 22 83 54 18
www.historial.org
OPEN: Every day from 10.00-18.00
(except Mondays from 1 Nov -
31 Mar)
CLOSED: from mid-Dec to mid-Jan
Adult: €7.50
Children (6-18): €3.80
Children under 6: Free of charge
It was in Villers-Bretonneux on 25th April 1918 that Australian troops finally halted the German offensive of March 1918, exactly three years after Anzac Day. The white stone memorial bears the names of all the missing soldiers who do not have a known grave. It is also the location of the annual Anzac Day celebration.
On the first floor of the village school building is the Franco-Australian Museum, illustrating the contribution of Australian troops during the First World War with photographs, uniforms and weapons, and highlighting the mutual recognition between the two nations.
Memorial open: All year round Free of charge
Museum open: 11th Jan – 23rd Dec from Tues – Sat, 10.00-12.30 and 14.00-18.00
First and third Sunday of the month 14.00-18.00
Adults: €3.05 Children: €1.55 Children under 6: Free
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 22 96 80 79
Being a British colony at the time of the First World War, Newfoundland raised a volunteer army. On 1st July 1916 the men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment came under heavy German fire. Within just half an hour, only 68 men remained unharmed, placing this battle as perhaps the most murderous of the Battle of the Somme. A bronze statue of the regiment's emblem, the Caribou, graces this memorial, from where you can view the whole battlefield with its preserved British and German front line trenches.
This narrow-gauge railway was used by the infantry men of 1914-1918 to carry supplies up to the French front line. At its departure point, Froissy, is the Museum of Narrow Gauge Railways, where you can view some of the vehicles used to provision the trenches in the Battle of the Somme.
OPEN: From 30th Apr – 1st Oct, 14.00-19.00 on Sundays and French bank holidays.
From 14th Jul – 26th Aug, 14.00-18.00 Tues-Sat, & 14.00-19.00 Sundays and French bank holidays.
Adults: €8.50 Children: €5.50
Children under 5: Free of charge
This museum portrays life in the trenches at the launching of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. A 230 metre underground passage is punctuated with alcoves and showcases, made hauntingly real with sound effects, pictures and lighting.
OPEN: Every day 1st Feb -
15th Dec 09.00-12.00 and
14.00-18.00 (09.00-18.00
1st Jun-30th Sept)
Adults: €4.00 Children: €2.50
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 22 75 16 17
The village of Poziéres was captured by Australian troops on 23rd July 1916. It was crossed by a double network of trenches that made up the 2nd German line, and flanked by two blockhouses, named 'Gibraltar' and 'The Windmill'. The Australian attack caused the deaths of many men, and the total annihilation of the village. The Monument to the 1st Australian Division here commemorates the dead, while 'Gibraltar' has been adapted to give a first hand view of the battlefield, with an observation table and look-out tower.
The British Tanks Memorial in Poziéres marks the arrival of the first tanks on the battlefield on 15th September 1916, with four small-scale model tanks.
This memorial chapel was originally built at the wish of a family from this region who wanted to commemorate their son and his comrades, who were killed in battle on 25th September 1916. Now maintained by the Souvenir Francais association, the chapel holds an official ceremony every second Sunday in September. The village is also a place of poignance due to its three cemeteries for each of the combatant nations – French, British and German.
OPEN: Every day from
1 Apr – 30th Sept, 08.00-18.00
Every day except Monday from
1st Oct – 31st Mar, 10.00-17.00
Free of charge
The capture of Delville Wood was assigned to the South Africans, 4,000 of whom went into the attack on 15th July 1916. Five days later, just 143 came back unharmed. The memorial and museum commemorate those that perished and the South African contribution to WW1 and the other wars that followed.
OPEN:
Museum and visitor centre: Every day except Monday and public holidays, from 1st Feb -10th Nov 10.00-15.45 (10.00-17.45 from 1st Apr – 14th Oct)
Free of charge
Memorial & wood: Open all year round
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 22 85 02 17
The pillars of this majestic memorial designed by Edwin Lutyens bear the names of 73,367 men, dubbed the 'Missing of the Somme' as they died in battles here between 1915 and 1918 but have no known grave. The arch bears a meaningful inscription:'Aux armées francaises et britannique, l'Empire britannique reconnaissant' (To the French and British armies, from the grateful British Empire).
OPEN: Every day
1st May – 31st Oct 10.00-18.00
Low season 09.00-17.00
CLOSED:
mid-Dec to mid-Jan
Free of charge
This mine crater, 100 metres in diameter and 30 metres deep, is the only one open to the public, and marks the launching of the Battle of the Somme by British troops on 1st July 1916.
This room in Doullens Town Hall presents an evocation of a key moment in the war, when Generals Petain and Foch, Lord Milner and General Haig met in that very room and decided to create a unified command. On 18th July, General Foch, appointed by the British and French to coordinate the operations of the two armies, launched his final counter- offensive which led to the Armistice of 11th November.
OPEN: Every day except Sunday
Free of charge
Hall of the Sole Command
Hotel de Ville
2, avenue du Maréchal Foch
Doullennais Tourist Office
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 22 32 54 52
This Visitor Centre provides a place for the visitors of the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing to put the memorial into the context of the battlefield. Display panels present the course of WW1 from 1914 to 1918, and anarea focuses on the events of the Battle of the Somme that took place in and around Thiepval in 1916. The moving Panel of the Missing features photographs of 600 of the staggering 72,000 commemorated on the Memorial.
OPEN: Every day, 10.00-18.00 Free of charge
www.thiepval.org.uk
Eisenhower's base in Reims was in a technical college and the room in which the Germans signed their unconditional surrender remains to this day as it was then. With large scale maps covering the walls from floor to ceiling and the same furniture in place. This is a place for acknowledging the tribute due to those dedicated commanders of the Allied Forces, their brave officers and men who sacrificed so much to bring peace in Europe.
WW1 battles, notably in 1914 and 1918, account for a great deal of fighting across open land and the destruction of much of the region's capital, Reims. Significantly the encounter of 1918 is regarded as something of a turning point in the war and one in which troops from many lands, including Italy, France, Russia, America and the British
Commonwealth, fought side by side. The collapse and surrender of Germany followed soon after.
In WW2 the last fortress of the Maginot Line, at La Ferté, came under heavy attack and the Ardennes, to the north east of Reims suffered heavily from sustained action. Significantly the signing of the surrender at the end of WW2 took place in Reims on 7 May 1945 and in 1962 Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Ardenauer signed an accord of reconciliation between France and Germany in this city. The famous French general was finally laid to rest in his village of Colombey les Deux Eglises, near Chaumont. His home since 1933, La Boisserie, has now been opened as a museum, while a giant Cross of Lorraine, dedicated to his memory, towers over the forested landscape.
There is no doubt that General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French and stalwart opponent of the Vichy government deserved a place in the history of WW2. No better place to record his achievements than the town of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises where, in 1934, he bought a house, once a brewery, called La Boisserie. Part of the house and grounds are open to the public and the tomb of the General in the modest churchyard of Notre Dame de l'Assomption is carefully tended. De Gaulle died in 1970 and to commemorate his life his nation decided to erect a giant Cross of Lorraine, symbol of the Free French, on the highest point in the commune, surrounded by trees. Here on 18 June 1973 the memorial, which is 43.5m high and is built from 1,500 tonnes of Brittany rose granite, was inaugurated.
OTSI
72, rue du Général de Gaulle
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 25 01 52 33
One of a series of forts constructed in the 1880s to protect Reims was armed until only a year before the outbreak of WW1 when the French General Staff decided to disarm it. On 4th September 1939 the Germans captured it without a fight. Twenty days later, after the first battle of the Marne, the fort was recaptured and held for the remainder of the war. Only 2km from the fort lies the cemetery at Sillery with the graves of 12,000 French soldiers who died in the brutal fighting of WW1 in that area. The badly damaged fort has become a museum with a collection of trench mortars. There are also maps of the trenches and some aerial photographs, German helmets, a considerable amount of war memorabilia and weaponry. The Fort de Montbre, to the south west of Reims, remained behind French lines and is still intact.
OPEN:
1st Nov – 31st Mar 10.00-17.00
1st Apr – 31st Oct 11.00-18.00 weekdays, 11.00-19.00 weekends
CLOSED:
Annually from 24th Dec – 6th Jan, Mondays
The Maginot Line was named after the French politician who served, and was wounded in, WW1. In 1929 he persuaded a reluctant government to construct a line of defencesalong the Franco-German border to protect his country from another attack. He died in 1932 before they were completed. By the time of the 1939 invasion Germany had developed tanks that could cross the hills and marshes between the defences that only ten years earlier had been regarded as impenetrable to invasion.
On 18/19th May 1940 the German Army struck the Fort de Villy-la-Ferté, killing all its 104 French officers and soldiers who refused to surrender, and breached the French line. The fort was originally built to withstand an onslaught and was equipped with facilities to cope with the wounded, but the German attack was overwhelming. The fort can be visited and the scars of the bombing remain as vivid reminders of the horrors of this momentous event. Other forts along the Maginot Line, usually distinguished by their mushroom shaped turrets, remain. Many bearing the shell marks of the war, most lying forgotten and unmarked in the countryside.
Visit by guided tour only
OPEN:
Palm Sunday to All Saints Sunday on weekends and public holidays only 14.00-16.30
1 July to 31 Aug every day except Monday
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 24 22 61 49 / 06 72
Named in memory of Gilbert Talbot, who was killed at Hooge in 1915, Talbot house was set up by Reverend Philip 'Tubby' Clayton and Gilbert's brother, Padre Neville Talbot as a clubhouse for soldiers, regardless of rank. It soon became known by the thousands of soldiers that used it for rest and recreation, as 'Toc H'; 'Toc' being the army signal for 'T'. The chapel on the third floor is untouched since 1918. In the inner court of the nearby Poperinge Town Hall, the sight of the execution pole is a sombre reminder of those 'deserters' shot at dawn on this very spot, some of them only boys.
Talbot House, Gasthuisstraat 43, 8970 Poperinge, Belgium
Tel: 00 32 (0)57 33 32 28 www.talbothouse.be
OPEN: all year round, 09.00-12.00 and 14.00-17.00
Closed: between Christmas and New Year
Adults: €3.00 Children: €2.00 Family: €10.00
Talbot House is also open for accomodation for individuals
and groups of up to 18 people.
Ypres, in Belgium, became a pivotal battlefield in the years of The Great War and the Ypres Salient is the name given to the ridge of higher ground around the city.
The British were determined never to let the city fall to the invaders even though the onslaught was sustained throughout most of the time. The area around Ypres saw four major battles between the Allies and the Germans, one of which was the memorable conflict at Passchendaele in 1917 when hundreds of thousands of men on both sides perished.
Here the British suffered enormous losses and there are over 250,000 fallen lying in some 600 cemeteries in this region. Soldiers often referred to 'being in France', although they were in fact in Belgium, at a place that was dubbed 'Wipers' by the servicemen. The old medieval city, despite almost complete devastation during the four war years, was rebuilt and serves as a perfect centre from which to explore the sites and cemeteries of Flanders.
Tourism Flanders-Brussels
Flanders House
1a Cavendish Square
London W1G 0LD
Tel: 020 7307 7730
Fax: 020 7307 7731
This military cemetery was named after the homeland of the British soldiers from Essex who sheltered there. It was also here that in May 1915 Canadian Army Medical Corps, John McCrae wrote the poignant war poem 'In Flanders Fields' before he died of pneumonia in 1918. Today there is a house in place of the farm, behind which are concrete structures that were once Advanced Dressing Stations (ADS) for wounded soldiers, and the remains of bunkers. Just recently, an excavation also uncovered a narrow gauge railway, thought to be used for transporting supplies.
After British troops dug 22 tunnels under the hill along the Germanoccupied Messines Ridge, 19 of them were exploded under the German lines. Once the ground was recaptured, the mine battle that ensued on the ridge left enormous craters in the ground from all the bomb and shell explosions. Part of this landscape has been preserved, the largest crater now existing as the ironically tranquil 'Pool of Peace' in Wijtschate.
East of Ypres lies Sanctuary Wood, so named because it provided cover for troops just behind the front line. There were three war cemeteries already in existence in the wood prior to the battle of Mount Sorrel, in June 1916. The battle, fought between the Germans and the Canadians, severely damaged these cemeteries, the remains of one of which is now recognised as the Sanctuary Wood Cemetery. Here lie the remains of almost 2,000 servicemen, most of whom remain unidentified. Hill 62, from which you can look back over Ypres, is commemorated by a memorial to the Canadians.
A carefully renovated chapel, the museum here is home to unique and valuable collections including original WW1 uniforms and life sized reconstructions of tableaux from the theatre of war. Behind it is the Crater Cemetery, where thousands of soldiers have been buried since the Third Battle of Ypres. The theme park of Bellewaerde now stands on the site where the Hooge Crater ch´teau was, before its destruction began on 31st October 1914.
This vast monument to the east of the town of Ypres is an impressive and moving tribute to the 54,896 soldiers whose names are inscribed on its walls. The sheer numbers of officers and their men is both salutary and awesome. Every night, just before 8pm, the police stop the traffic through the gate and, at 20.00hrs, the Last Post is sounded, its notes resonating around this massive arch ensuring that the loss of life in this campaign for freedom will never be forgotten. The Menin Gate Memorial was built from Portland stone to commemorate the Missing -those members of the British and Empire armies who had died in the fighting around Ypres, but who had no known graves. Since 1929 the last post has been sounded every night and in all weathers, except during the German Occupation in WWII when the ceremony was continued in England at the Brookwood Military Cemetery near Guildford. The bugle call is sounded by members of the local voluntary Fire Brigade on six silver bugles presented by the Brussels and Antwerp Branches of the Royal British Legion.
One grave at this cemetery is said to be that of Private John Condon, 'thought to be the youngest battle casualty of the First World War commemorated by the Commission' at the age of 14. However, there is speculation that neither the age nor the identification on the headstone at plot LVI, Row F grave 8 are indeed correct. Close to 7,500 soldiers of the Commonwealth are also commemorated or buried at Poelcapelle.
This museum is owned by the grandson of the farmer who reclaimed his land after WW1.
Original British trenches in Sanctuary Wood, as it is known to the British Army, have been preserved exactly as they were at the time, with bomb craters, 'dug-outs' and underground passages, as well as the tunnel that was discovered in the 1980s. The museum collection features equipment removed from the battlefield, and many photographs including a large, rare collection of stereoscopic photos in viewing boxes.
Sanctuary Wood Museum Canadalaan 26
Tel: 00 32 (0)57 46 63 73
OPEN: Daily 10.00-19.00
Adults: €6.00
Children: Free of charge
School groups: €3.00 per person
St George's Memorial Church was built as a memorial to the 500,000 men who died in the three battles of the Ypres Salient. The English-style parish church was opened in 1929, and subsequently a British school was built next to it -Eton Memorial School -which was to educate the children of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's many British employees.
OPEN: Daily from 09.30 till dusk (16.00 in winter) Free of charge
Renowned as one of the most devastated towns of the Great War, Ypres now has one of the best museums dedicated to this period of history. Opened in 1998 it is called the In Flanders Fields Museum and is situated in the Old Cloth Hall, an elegant building dating back to the Middle Ages when this region was an important wool area. Located on the first floor of the Hall, which overlooked the market square, the museum is dedicated to peace. Here you will find accounts by soldiers serving in the field, their uniforms, weaponry and maps together with audio visual displays all recreating the horrific years and the suffering of the local people, their captors and their liberators. There is a section showing a run up to the war which then takes you on a chronological path through the events of 1914-1918 including cameo exhibits relating to the lot of prisoners of war, the medical facilities and conditions, and how the nations involved made their contributions.
The archives include over 5000 books, trench maps, photographs, periodicals and original documents.
In Flanders Fields Museum Lakenhallen, Grote Markt 34
Tel: 00 32 (0)57 23 92 20
OPEN: 1st April – 15th Nov Mon-Sun 10.00-18.00
16th Nov – 31st Mar Tue-Sun 10.00-17.00
Adults: €7.50 Children 7-15: €3.50
Under 7: Free Families: €18.00
Mixed groups: €5.00 per person
Schools: €3.50 per person
Nearly 12,000 British and Commonwealth troops rest at Tyne Cot Cemetery. The names of 35,000 missing soldiers are recorded on the memorial covering the period Aug 1917 – 1918. Beside the cemetery's iconic Cross of Sacrifice stand the original, unevenly spaced graves from that time. It is a shocking yet moving sight to see so many thousands of lives lost -many not even retaining their name and whose headstones read 'A soldier of the Great War. Known unto God'
OPEN:
Tuesday – Friday 11.00-17.00
Saturday & Sunday 11.00-18.00
Adults: €3.00 Children: €1.50
Groups: €2.00 per person
Schools:€1.50 per person
Nearly ninety years after the Yorkshire Trench had been dug near the village of Boesinghe, south-west of Ypres, it was rediscovered and restored as a very telling example of the cramped conditions, often flooded with water, that beset the soldiers here from 1915-1917. Reconstructed timber A-frames and duckboards, designed to keep bove the mud and water are on show here, allowing a unique insight into trench warfare. If you want to see the originals, rescued from the site when it was re-discovered, you will find them at the In Flanders Fields Museum at the Cloth Hall in Ypres.
The Wellington Museum in Waterloo occupies a former Brabant coaching inn. Its geographical situation and the services which it offered enabled it to accommodate a large army staff. This was why on 17 June 1815 it was chosen as the headquarters of the Duke of Wellington, commander in chief of the allied armies facing the French forces under Napoleon.
<p>The museum is in two parts:
<p>The various rooms in the old inn are dedicated to each of the nations which were involved in the battle. On the first floor of the building are the chambers of the Duke of Wellington and his aide de camp, colonel Gordon, who died on the evening of18 June. Authentic personal items which belonged to these famous people are on display. Period weapons and old engravings complete this window into the past.
<p>At the rear of the building is a large room offering visitors an exhibition displaying, by means of lighted diagrams, the successive phases in the battle, all supplemented with reconstructions of period scenes and objects of unquestionable historical value.
Chaussée de Bruxelles 147
B1410 Waterloo
Tel: 00 32 (0)2 357 28 60
www.museewellington.com
Open every day except
1 Jan & 25 Dec
1 Apr - 30 Sep 09.30-18.30
1 Oct - 31 Mar 10.00-17.00
Draw a line between the main industrial cities of Germany and the French capital, Paris, and the region of Southern Belgium is in the path of any invading force. Not surprisingly, therefore, this part of Belgium suffered the onslaught of German troops in both World Wars. A hundred years earlier and the conflict was between Napoleon on one side and the British and Prussian armies on the other culminating in the defining victory at Waterloo, just south of Brussels, in 1815.
Visitors to Southern Belgium, otherwise known as Wallonia, will find themselves in a region that has suffered conflict and devastation. The scars, memorials, museums and cemeteries bear testament to many years of loss of life on a massive scale. That the countryside and its inhabitants have risen above those times of tragedy to make it as beautiful as it is today is a tribute to human endeavour and perseverance.
Belgian Tourist Office
Brussels & Wallonia
217 Marsh Wall
London E14 9FJ
Tel: 020 7531 0390
Fax: 020 7531 0393
Waterloo was the culmination of three previous battles and on 18 June 1815 the combined forces of Prussia and the United Kingdom finally overthrew Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a triumph for the Duke of Wellington, who described it as, 'the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life', and a landmark in British history. The British forces suffered some 5,000 casualties (killed and wounded), the Prussians 7,000 and the French 25,000 and 7,000 prisoners of war. The Wellington Museum, south west of Waterloo, is an absolute must and the information there will make a visit to the actual battlefield and the Lion's Mount so much more evocative. The visitors' centre there screens a short film and Napoleon's last headquarters and the Panorama of the Battle widen your understanding of this great battle further.
Napoleon and his officers spent the night of 17 June 1815 at this 1757 farmhouse and made their plans for the battle of Waterloo there.
The province of "Brabant Wallon" runs this Napoleon museum, the only one in Belgium. In 5 halls, personal souvenirs of the emperor are exhibited including weapons and objects related to the battle.
Completely accessible for disabled. Seminary centre. Rooms for exhibitions, meetings and banquets. Park and orchard for a Napoleonic bivouac.
Much to the displeasure of the Duke of Wellington a man-made hill, called Lion's Mount, was created to mark the battle and at its foot a round building with a domed roof houses a panorama of the battle painted on its walls. An absolute must on a visit to Waterloo.
By the 23 August, only 20 days after Germany declared war on France, British troops were in position at Mons to support the French. However, the allied forces were outnumbered 20:1 along a 45km front and were forced to evacuate the town of Mons and withdraw. Legend has it that some soldiers saw a vision of an angel in the sky giving courage to the retreating British Army and forcing the Germans to retreat. A painting in Mons Town Hall depicts 'The Angel of Mons', now believed to be the creation of a journalist.
The star-shaped building is divided into two exhibition areas showing the German and American memorabilia separately. There are interesting authentic uniforms and weapons including a leather jacket presented by a German officer who actually wore it during the Battle of the Bulge.
Bastogne Historical Centre Colline du Mardasson
00 32 (0) 61 21 14 13
www.bastognehistoricalcenter.be
Advancing German infantry were stopped at this village and the museum not only has many objects including vehicles, arms, documents, models and dioramas, but covers the period when the nearby village of Verdenne was in the hands of different armies four times in five days.
December 44 Museum
Rue d'Eglise 7,
La Gleize (Stoumont)
00 32 (0) 80 78 51 91
www.december44.com
By September 1944 the advances that had begun with the D-Day invasions in Normandy had progressed to Southern Belgium where in the wooded countryside of The Ardennes the British Army helped to free the region for a respite period of three months. The Germans then launched a counter attack which became known as the Battle of the Bulge which saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war, lasting six weeks and accounting for many lives lost. In La Roche the Museum of the Battle of the Ardennes has many interesting exhibits including one of the encrypting machines, 'Enigma'. The town of La Roche suffered heavy damage with 90% of its buildings destroyed and over 100 inhabitants killed. At Hotton you will find the Commonwealth Military Cemetery where 325 British soldiers are buried.
Mons came under attack on 10 May 1940 and was occupied by the Germans 9 days later. The next attack came from the Allies and it was liberated on 2 September by American forces, who subsequently took 27,000 prisoners. There is a Museum of Military History in Mons covering both conflicts and, outside the town, 230 British servicemen's graves from WW1 are to be found at the St Symphorien Military Cemetery, set in quiet countryside.
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