Ieper: "In Flanders's fields the poppies blow"

August 29, 2012

It was good to sleep in a little then get up and have a very leisurely and enormous breakfast. Our plans for the day were to post back the key we had taken from the B and B, find out about possible trains for tomorrow to get us a little way into France, ride a 40km cycle route called “the Peace Route”, this takes you through many of the battlefields in the area and past a lot of the 150 War Cemeteries that are in this area. Then of course set myself up in the laundryto do the washing.

Ken had gone earlier and got a cycle map of our route. What a good way to try and get some understanding of the horrors that happened here between 1914 and 1918. It made me realise exactly what the term defending the high ground means as although this area is probably essentially flat there are knolls where visability is so much better and it was these that were being fought over. Near Hill 20 we came to Messines Ridge, this was where a dear old friend Frank Morgan came near to losing his life. As a teenager I spent many happy holidays at Frank’s farm, he was the uncle of my very good friend Jan. The story goes like this. Frank was fighting in the mud at Messines and was hit by enemy fire and left for dead. His cousin however came by bent to say his last goodbye and saw Frank move. He was rescued from the mud with horrendous facial injuries, repatriated to England where he was one of the first to receive the ground breaking plastic surgery that was being carried out by the team of Plastic surgeons led by Sir Harold Gillies (also a new Zealander). Frank had been a very handsome man engaged to be married to Grace. His face was never to be handsome again but on his return to New Zealand as legend goes “He was met by Aunty Grace who never flintched and things were as they had always been”. Frank and Grace lived a happy and long life as farmers in Central Otago (NZ).

A beautiful day like today seems to underline the horrors that occurred around Ieper, over 1,000,000 soldiers from the then British Empire died on the Western Front. We visited Tyne Cot the biggest war cemetery with 12 000 graves, 520 of them Kiwis and there was a memorial there to another 1000 Kiwis whose resting places are unkown. Each evening at 8pm exactly under the Mennin Gates the Last Post is played and Binyon’s lines are read. We went last night, and will go again tonight. There were several hundred people there all in respectful silence and 4 very well drilled buglers who played magnificently.

Now I am sitting with the extremely pleasing sight of the washing going round and round – we will be clean again.

' In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row by row / That mark our place; and in the sky / The larks still singing fly / Scarce heard amingst the guns below ' / We are the dead,short days ago / We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow / Loved and were loved,and we lie now / In Flanders fields / Take up your quarrel with the foe: / To you from failing hands we throw / The tourch; be yours to hld it high / If ye break faith with us who die / We shall not sleep,though poppies grow / In Flanders Fields -- John McRae, MD (1812-1918), Canadian army

The Menin gate - this has the names of 54,896 soldiers who went missing in this area before Aug 1917

At Polygon Woods cemetery - this is small but has a huge proportion of NNew Zealanders

The New Zealand Memorial - fairly near Passchendal

The Cothe Hall with the Cathederal in the background. This, 13th century was almost completely destroyed by German shells and has been completely restored

Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,583 km (983 miles)

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