Far from being a sanctuary, this was Hill 62, the site of fierce battles outside Ypres and a short distance from Hellfire Corner. Our hotel was adjacent to a large pond created from the hole of an underground mine - there were many underground explosions set off by both sides, and sometimes the two side encountered each other underground!
There is a museum with many stereoscopes to view many old and original glass slides, some rather gruesome. The trenches have been preserved and you can walk through them, in wellies if wet, to get a feel for living conditions, although they have clearly eroded in height and been reinforced with over 90 years of erosion. However, you leave with an impression of how awful it must have been in cold and wet weather month after month.
Unexploded ordnance is still found today by local farmers - apparently 30% or so never went off. They simply leave it by the roadside for collection!
No comments:
Post a Comment