An afternoon in Ypres, Belgium

1 December 2019: It didn’t look like there was much else to do in Dunkirk on a Sunday, so we drove over the border to visit Ypres. We were really taken with this pretty town; with its Christmas market, outdoor ice-rink, 13th century Cloth Market Hall, delicious chocolates and, of course, the deeply moving memorial to over 50,000 soldiers of WW1 whose bodies were never found and who therefore have no gravestones.

Ypres is the centre of WWI history, having been a focal point throughout the War. There were five major battles of Ypres, the worst being the third in 1917, also known as Passchendaele. The town was obliterated. Against the wishes of the British government, who wanted the town to remain a ruin as a memorial, the local people rebuilt the town.

The names of 54,896 missing soldiers are carved into the walls of the memorial. Such a futile waste of young lives, the heartbreak left behind…

We enjoyed this: in Dutch, Maak uw Keuze, Make your choice!

…and then we started our long journey towards the south of Spain.