Flanders Field

November 11th became a national holiday in 1918 for many countries when at the "11th hour of the the 11th day of the 11th month" a cease fire was called ending WWI on the western front.  Now it is also known as Veterans day in the US or Remembrance day in Britain.

To commemorate the day, our family visited a town in Belgium that was the sight of intense and sustained battles between Germany and the allied forces.  The town is Ypres (or Wipers as the British soldiers called it).  Ypres is in the province of Western Flanders.  The famous poem "In Flanders Fields" is based on the wartime events that occurred here.

It was truly a moving experience.  The town was full of British visitors who come to pay their respects all year round, but especially on November 11th.

Here we are standing in front of the Menin gate.  The gate marks the entry to the town, a road so many soldiers walked.  The gate is a remembrance to British soldiers who died during WWI and have no known grave.  Every night since 1928, except while the town was occupied by Germany in WWII, the "last post" is sounded beneath the gate by the local fire brigade.






Below is the town square, which was rebuilt after the war to resemble the original.  We also visited the museum called "In Flanders Field".  It was very informative and moving.  The bombs sounding every 15 minutes or so were a nice touch, even though they did put Liam a bit on edge.

Reproduction of the trenches that once went for miles and miles in this area during the war.

Even on the most somber of surroundings, Liam and Brenna always give us a good laugh.  Brenna had a slight cold and insisted on wearing a band-aid on her nose all day (nose hurt = wear band-aid was the three year old logic).  

Below are the children laughing in Flanders Fields.  This brings up similar emotions as when they were playing on the beaches of Normandy - thank you to all who made it possible.