World War I and the Belgian Countryside

When Dr. Palo, my History of Conflict professor, announced a field trip to see some WWI sites, I knew immediately that I wanted to go. It is something that could easily have been missed during our time here in Belgium, one of those things that we talk about doing but never actually do. And with an expert WWI guide, how could we not go? So I signed Rich and myself up for the trip. We left campus at 8:15 in the morning and drove off in a chartered bus, through the fog towards the Western front and the town of Diksmuide. We made our first stop at the German cemetary in Vladslo, one of the few German cemeteries in Belgium. There’s a famous Kathe Kollwitz sculpture there called The Mourning Parents (she lost her only son during the war).

The headstones are dark granite and lay flat on the ground, each has twenty names, twenty ranks and twenty death dates. There are no age indications, consoling words or angels to be seen. After this sobering, but peaceful sight, we climbed back on the bus and drove to the Yzer Tower Peace Museum just outside of Diksmuide. The monument to Peace is ugly and stark. From the 22nd floor of the museum you can see for miles, or you could if it wasn’t foggy. We had another guide at this museum, a history teacher from the area. He was very knowledgable, though his English was a bit limited.

Around lunchtime we drove into Diksmuide to find some lunch and then continued on our way. Our next stop was Zillebeke to see trenches, shell craters and Hill 62. The fog was beginning to lift and we could see the beautiful farmland rolling away in green hills and stands of leafless trees. It is so hard to imagine the devastation that was left after WW1, seeing it now covered with green grass and dotted with old farmhouses. There are, however, cemeteries sprinkled all over the area.

We left Hill 62 and stopped in Ypres. The entire town, full of medieval-looking buildings, was leveled during the war and has been completely rebuilt. It is still very picturesque – you would never know that the buildings are only 85 years old. The battlegrounds around this Belgian town are among the most notorious in the world. The German and the Allied forces fought for four long years without a decisive victory ever emerging. New weapons such as toxic gas, land mines and flame-throwers made it even more horrific. The toll: 1,200,000 wounded and 500,000 dead. The remains of 100,000 soldiers have never been identified - their bodies were scattered in the mud of Flanders.

After touring the Cloth Hall Museum, we scattered into small groups to find some dinner. At 7:45 we met back at the Menin Gate to hear the Last Post. The Menin Gate is a gift and tribute to Britain from Belgium. Its a huge granite and marble gate over the main road, a monumental thank you note carved with 55,000 names of the British expeditionary forces that died in Belgium and whose bodies were never found. The inscription at the top of the gate reads: To the armies of The British Empire who stood here from 1914-1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave.

The Last Post ceremony is usually played by buglers of the local volunteer fire brigade, but because of Armistice Day there were Scottish bagpipe players as well as some military dignitaries. To read more about the history of this ceremony, click on The Great War. The ceremony has been performed every night since July 1, 1928.

By 8:45 we were all back on the bus and heading back to Brussels. The day made WWI feel real and close by, not something that happened 90 years ago in another country.

~K