Around the graves and memorials in Ypres: In Flanders fields the poppies blow.......

August 31, 2015

As you cycle around here the words of that lovely poem resound in your head but this time of the year is not a good time for seeing poppies. We did however see one patch.

Around the Ypres area there are 147 Commonwealth War Grave Commision Sites. Our task today was to track down just 2 of these and find the names of 4 men on their memorials.

The Pokeno War Memorial showing the names of the 15 men from the district who died in WW1. It is these men's graves or memorials we are attempting to track down

Ken had yesterday got an excellent map of the Peace Cycle Route which starting in Ypres leads you from the town through important battle fields and passes through many military burial sites including all the ones we had hoped to get to today. We passed beside small cemetries but our first real stop was at Hill 60 where many underground mines were exploded. Even 98years later there is still evidence of distruction with broken German bunkers and a crater that after all this time is about 60meters across. We are disappointed as to how the photo came out, it looks so unimpressive compared with the real thing

It looks in the photo like a little puddle but really is impressive

All around this area where such distruction has taken place is peaceful farming country

it was simple to find the Buttes New British Cemetery at Polygon Wood it is here that we found the memorial to Second Lt A Lorrie from Pokeno who as a member of the Auckland Regiment was killed somewhere near here on 28/12/17

A general view of the NZ Memorial at Polygon Wood

Tyne Cot Cemetry is the largest British Cemetery. As well as the graves of nearly 12000 there is a memorial to 35000 soldiers who died between Aug16th and the end of the war and whose bodies were never found. There is a special area of about 380 names for New Zealanders and it is here that we found the 3 names we were looking for.
E Pope From Pokeno of the Auckland Regiment who lost his life on 4/10/17
D Fraser also from Pokeno and a member of the Auckland regiment who lost his life the same day - it was a bad day for Pokeno.
The last one is very interesting and very sad. It was Ken's father's Sunday School Teacher, Leonard Harris. We have in our possesion a sad and lonely letter written to Les at the end of Jan about 9 months before he was killed. He lalks of the extreme cold, about the battle they are preparing for that is going to be even bigger that the Somme. He nostalgically in reply to Les's letter says how pleased he is that Mabel's foal is such a bidable animal. He finishes by saying that what he is going to do is put his trust in God who he feels will guide him well as he has done in the past. Leonard died on 12/10/1917 at Passchendale.

This is the nook that contins the NZ names

Rain was beginning to threaten and the forecaste said it would come about 2pm so we took off and went as fast as we could back to Ypres and our hotel just making it before it started to bucket down

Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,529 km (950 miles)

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