This region, Flanders (Flandres), a region which includes western Belgium and northwestern France, was the Western Front of World War I. One of the most well known towns in which fighting revolved was Ypres (Ieper), also known as the Salient. This region saw fighting from October 1914 until November 1918. Ypres was for all intents and purposes destroyed by the war, but was rebuilt to much the same design after the war. Up to half a million men (young men) died in battle here to gain less than two miles of ground. Such a waste. Despite this, the region is hauntingly beautiful now, and only makes me more aware of how tenuous our hold on peace is.
New Zealand fought in World War I, and was one of the first countries to arrive as allies of the British. At the time, with only one million people, our 16,697 dead and 41,317 wounded was a large portion of our population. The Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium contains the graves of more New Zealanders than any other cemetery outside of New Zealand.
In Flanders Fields, by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
To end on an uplifting note, I really enjoyed the use of physical models for blind people to be able to experience the architecture of Ypres. The 13th Century Cloth Hall (rebuilt after World War I) is much visited, and a small model with braille information was provided for those with impaired sight to create a mental map of the building. There are so many things like this that we can do to make experiences more meaningful for people with different abilities and impairments.
New Zealand fought in World War I, and was one of the first countries to arrive as allies of the British. At the time, with only one million people, our 16,697 dead and 41,317 wounded was a large portion of our population. The Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium contains the graves of more New Zealanders than any other cemetery outside of New Zealand.
In Flanders Fields, by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
To end on an uplifting note, I really enjoyed the use of physical models for blind people to be able to experience the architecture of Ypres. The 13th Century Cloth Hall (rebuilt after World War I) is much visited, and a small model with braille information was provided for those with impaired sight to create a mental map of the building. There are so many things like this that we can do to make experiences more meaningful for people with different abilities and impairments.
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