In Flanders Field - by Sanduni

Steph at Polygon Wood

 It’s our last day to enjoy Belgium and explore the depth of World War 1 history it offers. Professor Bruce promised us that there wouldn't be any mud this time and he kept his promise. We started our exploration today from the well-known Menin Road and headed towards Polygon Woods, where the Australian 5^th Division memorial was located.  The 5th Australian Division was charged with clearing the Polygon Woods as part of the allied advance up to Gheluvelt Plateau. This battle was the Australian 5^th Division's most decisive victory on the Western Front and therefore Polygon Woods was selected as the location for the Divisional memorial. It is a truly a peaceful and a beautiful place for the Australian diggers to rest. Bruce guided us to a pillbox used by the German soldiers next to the memorial and went on to elaborate the important role it played.

Travis at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery

Then we headed off to Tyne Cot the largest Commonwealth cemetery built. The scale of the cemetery was unbelievable and it seemed to go on forever with 12 thousand soldiers resting there in peace. The sheer magnitude of it was inexplicable. Soon after we visited the Ypres Reservoir Cemetery where Travis commemorated Corporal Fredrick Jones, who served in the same regiment as his great uncle and his great grandfather.

Later we headed back to the Flanders Field Museum for lunch with the highlight being dessert. As we gazed our eyes across the disturbed landscape of Hill 60, it felt like it uttered the importance of remembering those lost in the war in the simplest way possible through its mesmerizing landscape. Hill 60 radiated this inexplicable, powerful tale to its visitors. It was hard to imagine that it was once a home to 60 mines.

Essex Farm was next on our schedule and we went on a wild goose chase trying to find John McCrae’s grave. However, the highlight was when Charlotte, Stephanie and Bianca recited the Flanders’s field poem, which touched us very deeply. Then we made a quick visit to the casualty clearance station located near Essex Farm and the St Julian memorial.

Wandering around the graves at Tyne Cot

Pillbox at Hill 60

For the very first time in this journey we visited a very different kind of cemetery to what we were used to seeing. It was a German mass grave known as Langemark. Twenty four thousand men were buried in one grave. It didn’t showcase any individuality and illuminated a bleak perspective on the cemetery, narrating the story through the Germans soldiers.

Steph and Otis

The next place we visited a bought a tear to our eyes. We were warned beforehand about the impact it can have on us, however like brave souls we marched on to a place called Poperinghe. During World War 1, 346 executions were carried out in the British Army and Poperinghe was the home to four of the brutal executions. Walking through the crammed cell where prisoners about to be executed were held, we felt an eerie and haunting presence. It was almost too life like. It reminded us of the brutality of our history.