Everyone knows that hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in the trenches in Belgium during World War I. You might have visited Ieper (Ypres) and the surrounding war cemeteries like Tyne Cot.
If you are interested in war history, these surroundings are a must see although the horror is difficult to grasp.
FACT - Not everyone remembers
During World War I, the Netherlands were neutral and did not participate in the war. The Germans electrified the border between Belgium and the Netherlands and many were killed while trying to cross the border to escape the horror of the trenches, because soldiers were selected by drawing of lots.
FACT - This is new, even to us
In 1917 the Germans were almost certain that the Allied forces would invade Belgium from Holland. That is why they built a fortification and defense system close to the dutch border in Kapellen.
The surprise is that a German pilot took pictures of the bunkers and trenches which were only discovered in 2008 - the pictures, that is!
The wooden carved statue remembers me of a similar statue I saw in France in the devastated village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont near Verdun
The trenches were uncovered and a few bunkers restored and you can even enter a few! The area protected as a natural reserve. It is very nice to walk and there are information panels.
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yes, many events taken place during the I World War are not always in the mind of people.
During the 2. European Meetup in Gent, where we also visited Ypres we learned a lot about the history. It was good to be there with people from different countries! It is our history and we need to ensure, that we will learn from it.
Thanks @Aruni for your help. Not sure though what the problem is with the hyperlinks… I am only including links to either Google Maps locations or official published websites… If that is not allowed, why foresee the possibility??
Thank you for sharing this information and this post.I remember this place well when I visited Belgium .the second European meeting of local guides took place there,and thanks to local guides from Belgium @JanVanHaver @,we visited this cemetery, where soldiers and officers who died in the First world war are buried. The cemetery is well maintained, everywhere .fresh flowers, rose bushes.People tend to the graves, even though it has been 100 years since the first world war.This is memory.
thank you for the tag. Oh wow, no never been there, actually I also didn’t know at all this place. However it looks very nice and I’m always interested to see historical places as that’s how we can find traces of what happened in reality… noted .
Thank you @PeterVantieghem for sharing this piece of history, also sad pieces of it are very useful (and they should be) to remember.
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