Brandhoek Cemetery is the place Captain Noel Chavasse is buried. Captain Chavasse is one of merely 3 men to have been awarded Britain's top award for valour, the Victoria Cross. In addition, he was also accorded the Military Cross. I'm currently reading through a book titled "In Foreign Fields" by Dan Collins and it is about troopers who have been accorded medals in Afghanistan and Iraq. When you understand what a soldier was required to achieve so as to be accorded an MC, it makes you understand what a brave man Capt Chavasse was particularly as he was a member of the Royal Medical Corps and never fired a shot throughout the conflict.
My next stop was close to the village of Passchendaele at the largest sized British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. Upwards of 12,000 troops are buried here. From Tynecot, you'll be able to see for several miles everywhere over fields and it seems tough to think of the carnage that was there 90 years ago. The visitors centre provides a background of the area as the names of several of the dead and missing are put out calmly over speakers.
From Tynecot, I started to head back on the way to Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) en route. There is a modest museum and a few preserved trenches . In the course of my visit, the weather conditions wasn't kind and while it had been nothing like as terrible as conditions would have been for the duration of World War I, the bottom of the trenches still looked pretty horrible. It cost a couple of Euros to get in and this was the initial spot I really started to discover the effects of the notorious mud.
My next supposed stop was the Hooge Crater. As previously in the day, I had a hard time trying to find it but I saw a modest independent museum called the Hooge Crater Museum which had a fascinating assortment of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross. My sightseeing for the day was not over as I still had to check out the well known Cloth Hall that was almost ruined (since fully rebuilt) as well as the Last Post ceremony and that is carried out at 8pm each and every night at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post really haunting and moving to hear. Soon after it was finished, 2 wreaths were placed by young British troopers and was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon's "For The Fallen"
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
My next stop was close to the village of Passchendaele at the largest sized British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. Upwards of 12,000 troops are buried here. From Tynecot, you'll be able to see for several miles everywhere over fields and it seems tough to think of the carnage that was there 90 years ago. The visitors centre provides a background of the area as the names of several of the dead and missing are put out calmly over speakers.
From Tynecot, I started to head back on the way to Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) en route. There is a modest museum and a few preserved trenches . In the course of my visit, the weather conditions wasn't kind and while it had been nothing like as terrible as conditions would have been for the duration of World War I, the bottom of the trenches still looked pretty horrible. It cost a couple of Euros to get in and this was the initial spot I really started to discover the effects of the notorious mud.
My next supposed stop was the Hooge Crater. As previously in the day, I had a hard time trying to find it but I saw a modest independent museum called the Hooge Crater Museum which had a fascinating assortment of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross. My sightseeing for the day was not over as I still had to check out the well known Cloth Hall that was almost ruined (since fully rebuilt) as well as the Last Post ceremony and that is carried out at 8pm each and every night at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post really haunting and moving to hear. Soon after it was finished, 2 wreaths were placed by young British troopers and was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon's "For The Fallen"
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
About the Author:
The focal point of several visits to Ypres is the Last Post at the Menin Gate each night at 8pm.. Check here for free reprint license: One Day In The Area Close to Ypres.