126 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION
A Tour of World War I Battlefields w
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp264–6 and pp288–91
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Dodengang 1
The Belgians dug
in along the canal
of Diksmuide.
Some of their
trenches have
been preserved
at Dodengang
(see p124).In 1914, the invading German army forced the Belgians
to retreat to the far northeast, behind the River IJzer. To
impede further German advance, the Belgians opened
the sluicegates of the river and flooded the landscape,
which formed an effective obstacle as far south as
Diksmuide. South of here, the Germans confronted the
Allies along a ridge to the east of Ieper (Ypres) called
the Ypres Salient. Between 1915 and 1917, this was the
front line, where the gruelling stalemate of trench warfare
cost more than 500,000 lives. Today, the area around
the Salient is a beguilingly pretty landscape dotted with
monuments, museums and numerous cemeteries.Tyne Cot Cemetery 6
The largest Commonwealth cemetery in the
world contains nearly 12,000 graves. The walls
bear the names of 35,000 missing soldiers.Guynemer Monument 4
A sculpture of a stork at
Poelkapelle celebrates the
pioneer of military aviation
Georges Guynemer, who was
lost, presumed dead, near
here in 1917.Langemark 3
This haunting German military
cemetery has the flat tombstones
of some 44,000 soldiers laid out
beneath a cloak of trees.Canadian Forces
Memorial 5
At St-Juliaan, the
large bust of The
Brooding Soldier
commemorates
the 2,000 soldiers
who died after
the first ever gas
attack in 1915.John McCrae Site 2
Bunkers, dressing
stations and the Essex
Farm Cemetery recall
where Canadian medic
John McCrae served,
and wrote his poem
“In Flanders Fields”.
The poem established
the poppy as the sym-
bol of the war dead.