An unforgettable monument

We were fortunate enough to visit the Canadian monument at Vimy Ridge and learned a little about why it is actually located there.

At daybreak on April 9, 1917 all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fighting together for the first time stormed the Ridge which the Germans had held since 1914 and because of its strategic position had fought hard to keep it.

They were commanded by General Currie from British Columbia who had initiated a new plan of attack. He had drawn up the plan, showed it to his men and they had practised over and over all the scenarios for the attack. This type of preparation had never been done before and his British superiors were not impressed with it. However he prevailed and because of the extensive preparations was able to take the Ridge.

One of his strategies was to build elaborate tunnels from the front lines into Vimy Ridge. Huge underground storage spaces were made and long " subways" were dug to bring in supplies without the knowledge of the Germans. We were able to go into one of these before we visited the monument.




Descending into the tunnel




Where the runners slept

Being a runner was a prestigious job since it took you out of the trenches and into the relative safety of the tunnels. It also gave you the freedom to move around the area as you carried messages from camp to camp. However it was a very dangerous job as the average lifespan of a soldier once he became a runner was one week!




There were also the series of trenches that were used to move through No Mans Land...




How they look today...




How they looked then, a horrible place full of mud, water, lice and disease.

This area during the war was full of trenches since each side dug in to protect themselves. The sides were often only a few feet apart and the area in between the trenches was called No Mans Land. Once the men left the trenches many of them were killed as they tried to overtake the other side. This was truly the time of trench warfare.

The battle of Vimy Ridge was called a success but the victory came at a high cost. The Canadians suffered over 11,000 casualties and nearly 3,600 died.

However, in the wake of Vimy, Canadians became well known for their offensive skills and the momentum from this battle carried the Canadian Corps successfully to the end of the war. In the last 100 days of the war Canada earned its place as a signatory on the Treaty of Versailles, the agreement that officially ended the war.




Vimy Ridge is the largest monument in this area and the most imposing, standing on top of Hill 145 surrounded by large open fields. This point is the highest point of the 14 kilometre long Vimy Ridge. As we walked up to the monument we were awestruck with the beauty of the place.


The monument was designed by Canadian sculptor and architect Walter Seymour Allward and took 11 years to build. It contains almost 6000 tonnes of limestone from a quarry in Croatia.




A cloaked figure stands on the front of the monument overlooking the Duval Plain. This sorrowing woman represents Canada, a young nation mourning her dead.she is often called Mother Canada by the local residents.

There are other figures as well around the monument all beautifully sculpted...




The Male Mourner




The Female Mourner








Carved on the walls of the monument are the names of the 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died in France and whose resting place was then unknown.








It is quite high from the memorial stone to the top of the towers.





Standing on the steps we could see the broad fields and rolling hills of Northern France where the Canadians fought and died. More than 7,000 are buried in 30 war cemeteries within a 20 mile radius of the Vimy Memorial. Altogether more than 66,000 Canadian service personnel died in the First World War.





Us,so glad that we came to this place.





Poppy on the grass.

Location:Iper Belgium

Never too old to learn

Yesterday we took the train from Brugge to Iper, a town that is located in Belgium close to the French border. This area saw a lot of the action on the Western Front during WWI. Iper itself was completely destroyed by the Germans and totally reconstructed after the war ended. Our purpose for visiting this part of Belguim is to take a tour of the battlefields from WWI from the Newfoundland and Canadian perspective.

In order to do this we booked a private tour through a couple, Annette and Christian who run Camalou Tours. We are staying at their B and B and they are driving us around the area. They are very knowledgeable about the history of the region and are just fabulous tour guides. You can check them out at

http://www.camalou.com/battlefieldtours.php


Christian picked us up at the train and we joined Annette and three other clients for lunch at a restaurant located at Hill 60. Apparently during the war many of the sites that were fought over were named for how high they were located above sea level so in this case the site was 60 meters above sea level so became known as Hill 60.




At this site the memorial is for Australians soldiers meaning many of them died here.


There are monuments and gravesides everywhere across this region since so many soldiers died here through the war. They are so well kept and respected by the local citizens. We have had an opportunity to visit many of them already, both large and small and it is a very humbling experience.




There are small crosses with names written on them at every site, a great grandfather maybe.




The cemetery at Tyne Cot, mostly British soldiers.




Finding the grave of a Newfoundland soldier


We also learned that the landscape of this region was a critical factor in how the war was fought. The land is quite flat so the Germans felt they could get through it as a way into Paris. They were stopped short of Paris so then decided to outflank their opponents to the north in the so- called "race to the sea" which was the English Channel. If they got there they could stop supplies coming in by sea to support the Allies.


This is a typical scene,flat farms and little ridges.

However from December 1914 each side began to put down defensive positions, thus creating a relatively fixed front line that stretched for 750 kms across Belguim and France. The Germans and the Allies would stay deadlocked for years in their positions, pushing forward and backward over a few kilometres resulting in 100s of thousands of casualties. Since the land was basically a valley with a few little hills they would fight or control of the hills to give them a strategic lookout and the troops went forward and backward from the higher land to the lower land.




Annette driving us around the backroads to get to the sites.

We have travelled over 600 kms in the last two days over this now beautiful and peaceful landscape. There are farms as far as the eye can see, quaint little villages and meticulous houses and gardens. It was hard to imagine that so many lives were lost here during bloody battles that had turned the land into a barren place full of mud, water and disease.






Yesterday we also visited Passchendaele where one of the biggest and bloodiest encounters of the war took place. It happened in 1917 and in 100 days of fighting 245,000 Allied forces were lost just to gain five miles of territory. Many are missing or lie in unidentified graves with the inscription, "A Soldier of the Great War".




There are thousands of these markers all over the area.


While there we were able to visit a very interesting museum display but also go down in one of the trenches that were built here on the Front Line.




Going down to one of the tunnels , some were only about 8 meters and others up to 40 meters down





Display of gas masks as the German used this type of warfare in this region, subsequently so did the British.



We also came across a group of young people who were participating in "The Platoon Experience" where they get an immersion in the life of being a member of a platoon from 1917. We had to stop for awhile as they unloaded their bus with their supplies including rifles. I thought this was a great way to help students understand the experience of the soldiers.







There are students everywhere here doing tours as we were. We ended our first day at the Menin Gete ceremony which was very moving. The Menin Gate which is located in the town of Iper was built as a war memorial on the roads through which many soldiers walked to the battlefields. Every night since 1928 at 8 pm they have a short ceremony where people from all over come to participate. Wreaths are laid, poems are read and the buglers play The Last Post.




The gate is a large archway filled with names of missing soldiers.




There were many people present as there are on most evenings.





Some of the buglers who play the last post. They are volunteers from the local fire brigade. The whole ceremony is run by volunteers from the community.

Location:Iper, Belgium

A sunny day in Brugge

Today was a beautiful day, perfect for a leisurely stroll around Brugge to see some more sights and to enjoy the warm sunshine. We have been very lucky with the weather as most days there is sun and not a lot of rain.

We were on the go early and decided to take a walk to the other side of town through some different streets. We ended up at Minnewater Lake which is a beautiful park with a lake in the middle. There were many people out strolling and enjoying the day.

                                                     Reflections in the Lake

On the way we stopped into Begijnhof, a site that was built to house women of the lay order called Beguines, who spent their lives in piety and service without taking the vows of nuns.  Signs everywhere called for silence and respect and it was a very peaceful place for a stroll.

                                      I can imagine that many women have walked around this garden.

We also took a canal boat tour through the canals of the city. Brugge was once called the Venice of the North because of its beautiful canals. It is a way to see the buildings of Brugge from another perspective and a must do activity in Brugge.

                                                30 minute canal ride through Brugge

                                                      A canal side view

                                                     Another view...

As we walked and stopped to sit in the sun we saw others doing the same...

Walking by the Canal

                                                     Sitting in the Square

                                                          Even the little ones are enjoying the sun

                                             and so are the dogs!

Another thing we noticed since we have been walking is a large number of statues of Mary on the corners of houses. They often have flowers there as well.  Below are a couple we saw on our walks...

                                                          The reverent and...

                                                         The irreverent!!


We went up a couple of shopping streets as well. By the look  of the variety of stores I would say that Brugge is also a place that people visit who like to shop.  However there were lots of chocolate shops, lace shops and many more...

                                                        Lots of lace shops

                                                       Attractive store fronts...

                                                        And candy makers.
We ended the day with a beautiful meal at a very small restaurant run by two sisters in a tiny alleyway. We walked there and back in the rain but got a chance to see some of the buildings at night.

                                               Don had the lamb

                                                     I had the cassoulett



We both agree that Brugge is the type of place that can grow on you. It has a certain old world charm with lots of great places to walk, shop and eat. We are glad to have spent a few days here but will be moving on to Iper in the morning.

                                                        The Grote Markt on a rainy night

Visiting Brugge

Left Brussels today on a one hour train trip to Brugge. Met at the train station by our host Tine, and taken to her guesthouse which is located just outside one of the city's old gates. Our accommodation for the next three nights is at a spacious apartment with two bedrooms. We have one the other is occupied by two Belgian ladies. It is quite a comfortable place with a full kitchen and a nice roof top terrace. It was warm enough today to actually sit outside.

One of the old city gates to Brugge

                                     Getting ready to check the news out on the terrace just off our bedroom


We dropped our things and set out to see what Brugge is all about. We walked a lot, stopped into the Republik pub for lunch, great sandwiches and made our way to the Markt and a bit beyond. Located the Laudromat which we need to visit before we leave. Miss having access to a washing machine when we are travelling light.

                               My Italian sandwich and Mystic cherry beer.


Brugge is a small city that was declared a UNESCO historical heritage site in 2000. It is full of churches, towers, and beautiful old buildings. The name Bruges comes from the Viking word for wharf. Right from the start it was a trading Center. In the 11th century the city grew wealthy from the cloth trade. Now it looks to be wealthy from the tourist trade!


It is a uniquely preserved Gothic city that has at its center the Markt,which is the square that is ringed with grand buildings, the iconic bell tower and now lots of restaurant terraces. The first day we came it was filled with horse trailers and medieval knights, the second day it was filled with a great market. It seems to be the place to begin the tour of Brugge.

                                                         Grand skylines!

                                           Restaurants ringing the Square

              What a great setting for a market.This food and flower market is every Weds morning.
To begin our second morning we did laundry which was an experience it itself. There was us and a young Australian backpacker trying to decipher the instructions on how to work the washing machines. We fiqured out we needed tokens depending on the weight of our clothes. Having gotten them we couldn't get any of the washers to accept them.


Then out comes the owner who treated us like morons! As he disdainfully blew smoke in our face he attempted to explain how the machines worked and why couldn't we fiqured it out. He waved his arms around for awhile and then disappeared in the back room. At that point I left to catch the bus to the train station to pick up tickets for our next trip and left Don and young backpacker there to fiqure it out. When I got back the clothes was almost dry so fiqure it out they did!

                                           Don checking for the missing sock


We spent the evening back at the guesthouse with a nice bottle of wine and a light supper.

Tine prepares a bountiful breakfast with enough left over for lunch. We set out to explore some of the sights...

                                                Plenty for breakfast,including chocolate!


The Groeninge Museum which houses a world class collection of mostly Flemish art, both old and new. The primitive pieces were so well done, very vivid details with mostly religious themes.

                                           Checking out the Flemish Masters

                                       The detail in one of the paintings!

                                             A typical Flemish primitive painting


The Church of Our Lady which stands as a memorial to the power and wealth of Brugges in its heyday. There is a Madonna and Child done by Michelangelo, one of a few to ever leave Italy in his lifetime. There are also tombs and lots of religious art.

                                      Beautiful stained glass windows everywhere

                                                  Michelangelo's Madonna and Child

The Church of the Holy Blood, a small but interesting church which houses drops of Christ's blood brought back to Brugge by a brave Crusader. The church was built in 1150.  It is beautifully painted and today the relic was on display.

The beautifully painted altar

One of the side walls

                                               Don's time with the relic...


Enough religion for one day, time to go rest as when the sun goes down it gets really chilly. One more day to discover some other sights in Brugge.

                               One of the canals we passed on the way back to the guesthouse today.