# war memorials



## brianamelia (Mar 17, 2008)

Hi We are off to France next week and on the way back from Annecy to Zeebrugge would like to take the kids to a war memorial. could anybody please advise the best and most informative and convenient on route. 
Thanks Bri


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Not a war memorial, as such, but very informative is the "In Flanders Fields" Museum in Ypres/Ieper.

http://www.inflandersfields.be/

As a memorial the Menin Gate in the same town takes some beating.

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/memorial-menin-gate.htm

PS Travel Via Luxembourg and the Ardennes and you can visit lots of "Battle of the Bulge" sites and cover WW2 as well as getting a fill of cheap diesel.

http://www.visitbelgium.com/index.php/bastogne-waterloo


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi
The largest war grave cemetary in Frace is at Etaples (eat apples)but this is just south of bolougne. There is a car park on the side of the road opposite.

It is on the site of the milatary training camp where most of the young soldiers who came over to France during WW1 recieved their initial training. Of course it was bombed by the germans which is why there are a lot of war graves there.

Hope this is of some use
Phill


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## Zozzer (Aug 13, 2006)

Every night at 8pm the road leading through the Menim Gate in Ypres is closed off while a the last post is played. It is a very moving experience and one not to be missed.

Equally moving is the museum at the Tyne Cot Cemetery

http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders.html


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## Nethernut (Jun 4, 2008)

The Circuit de Remembrance in the Somme area is really worth doing - some good museums (don't miss the Ulster memorial) plus the crater at Lochnagar and the Thiepval memorial. The Circuit is well signposted.

It really does bring home the horror of the 1st WW without any glorification.

This is the link to the web site:

http://www.somme-battlefields.com/battlefields/discover_the_circuit_of_remembrance


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## Gilroy (Oct 4, 2007)

... in addition don't miss the Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge where you can go on a tour of the underground tunnels.

and La Coupole which is world War 2 German V2 rocket base near St Omer.

Lots of see.

Gilroy.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Menim Gate as an absolute must. A huge structure covered in thousands of names. 

I was there on a really grotty, wet and dismal, Tuesday night one October. Hundreds and hundreds of people present and I mentioned to a local that its was very busy. " No it is quiet today, we usually get many more people than this" 

Extraordinarily moving experience and one a feel every single resident of the UK should experience. Please do take your children, but be prepared for a few tears (yours as well as theirs) 

There is a very good municipal site thats walking distance from the gate as well.


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

The Menin Gate evening ceremony is a must visit for anyone.

I bet you'll shed at least one tear and also that you find at least one of the names of the fallen, carved onto the Memorial stonework, shares your surname.






Tyne Cot, close by, is another Memorial that is well worth a visit.


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Gilroy said:


> and La Coupole which is world War 2 German V2 rocket base near St Omer.


Well worth a visit......

http://www.lacoupole-france.com/en/musee/coupole.asp


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

I found one of the most touching experiences for me was to stop off at one of the many, very small cemeteries often tucked behind small villages, but signed.

Some only have a handfull of graves and they seem to be the poor relations of the graves in the huge cemeteries.

I also found that to get closer to those who lie there you should really visit them on a cold, wet and windy day - see how long you last before retreating to your warm MH.

Makes you think


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## StAubyns (Jun 4, 2006)

Several years ago I spent a lot of time walking the Somme battlefields. I was always drawn back to Delville Wood(Devils Wood) which is the South African National Memorial

To walk to the memorial is likened by my wife as walking through an outdoor cathedral.

The following words sum up the horror that happened there

"Between 15th and 20th July 1916, the Brigade consisting of 3153 men, having entered Delville Wood, a tactically important salient protruding into the German second line, was subjected to an onslaught of such unrelenting and unmitigated violence that the wood itself disappeared, shattered and sundered by the ferocity and intensity of the artillery bombardments of friend and foe alike. Having expended their ammunition, the men resorted to hand to hand combat. When the Brigade was relieved, a mere 142 souls emerged from the shambles"

A very moving place


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## iconnor (Nov 27, 2007)

I would echo the above and suggest you visit the Menin Gate, I was there a couple of weeks ago.
I also visited La Coupole but to be honest I preferred the Blochaus which is a few miles away.
The French, Americans and Germans preferred big cemetries for their war dead whereas the Commonwealth troops are buried as close as possible to where they fell, which is why you find small graveyords and even individual graves in churchyards.
A handy site for the Blockhaus/Ypres etc is La Chaumiere;
www.campinglachaumiere.com
There is a single war grave in the Church at the nearby village of Buysscheure which is still designated as a Commonwealth War Grave even though it has a single body.


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## brianamelia (Mar 17, 2008)

*reply*

Thank you everybody really helpful info
Bri


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

tonyt is right about the small cemeteries and the effect they have on you.

This is what I wrote a few years ago after seeing one such cemetery -

'The graves are being restored and renovation work is in progress. White slabs upright in a sea of Flanders mud; the brown mud the last thing those two thousand poor souls saw prior to their death. No-one who has visited these graves can fail to shed a tear, say prayers or spend a few moments in contemplation of past wars.'


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

Don't know why, because we never lost anyone close in either War, but we always stop for a few moments each time we come across a War Grave - be it Commonwealth, American, French or German.
Walk up and down a few rows and read the inscriptions - and quietly think.
Any drive through northern France will reveal War Graves, large and small along the road or just off. You may get a more specific guide by going to www.cwgc.org/ .
I believe that every one of our headstones is wrought from Portland Stone.
Lest we forget.


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## hblewett (Jan 28, 2008)

Zozzer said:


> Every night at 8pm the road leading through the Menim Gate in Ypres is closed off while a the last post is played. It is a very moving experience and one not to be missed.
> 
> Equally moving is the museum at the Tyne Cot Cemetery
> 
> http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders.html


Seconded - both. They are a real education - for us, never mind the kids

Edit - and add Vimy ridge - taken by Canadian troops at huge cost - the memorial looks out over the plain and can be seen for miles as you approach it - which is why it was so important to take it. And you can still see the bomb craters and trenches - very informative - very moving


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## Mattyrodill (Nov 14, 2007)

Went to Vimy Ridge, Canadian monument, this year. A really moving experience, the monument is colossal. 
Reconstructions of tunnels and surrounding area is fenced off due to unexploded shells etc. Two graveyards nearby and interesting information centre


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## brianamelia (Mar 17, 2008)

Mattyrodill said:


> Went to Vimy Ridge, Canadian monument, this year. A really moving experience, the monument is colossal.
> Reconstructions of tunnels and surrounding area is fenced off due to unexploded shells etc. Two graveyards nearby and interesting information centre


Do You Know how long its due to be fenced off

Bri


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