The city of Ieper in Belgium (known as Ypres in French) was of great significance in the First World War. From 1914 to 1918 Iepre/Ypres was at the centre of the Front Line between the Allied armies of France, Belgium and Britain, versus the German army and the other Central Powers.
I decided to visit Ypres as I am writing a historical novel about Ireland in 1914 - 15. One of my characters serves as a volunteer Red Cross ambulance driver in this area in early 1915.
I arrived by train into Iepre/Ypres and walked the short distance to the In Flanders Field Museum situated in the heart of the historic town. This was a wealthy medieval Flemish town famous for its cloth trade across Europe.
Most of this small city, including Saint Martin's Cathedral, the Market Square and the Cloth Hall were totally destroyed in World War 1 and rebuilt in the nineteen thirties.
The museum is situated in the Cloth Hall and is open daily from 10 a.m. I visited on a Sunday and it closes at 5pm. On other days it remains open until 6pm.
I received a warm welcome as I had already booked a time slot online. I just needed to pay for my ticket after deciding on the type of visit that I was making. I had the choice of paying two euros for an audio guide and also an additional two euros for a visit to the Belfry. The total was just fourteen euros fifty cents for a senior ticket.
I was advised to start at the top of the Belfry, as the bells, a carillon with forty-nine bells, were about to ring. I began my trek up almost 300 steps to the balcony above the clock in the belfry. From the balcony I could see out all over the fields surrounding Ieper/Ypres where the Western Front battles took place.
I descended to the second floor of the Cloth Hall where the museum is situated and began my tour of the museum.
The exhibition is in a large open space covering the entire second floor. The lighting is subdued in order to create a sombre atmosphere to match the subject.
The exhibition was divided into time frames. The first, on entering, from 1914 to 1916, which I was particularly interested in for my research. The second, at the far end of the room, from 1917 to 1918 and the end of the war.
The collection is also designed to educate families with children and several exhibits are arranged specifically for children.
The war was presented in a wide variety of ways and media. For example: photographs and artefacts, video enactments of prisoners of war reading out their letters home. All sides were shown in this exhibition, British, French, Belgian, German, Prussian. All nationalities of soldiers were included, and a collection of different uniforms were on display to emphasise that this truly was a global war, that included all the world’s nations. The audio guide was very helpful and informative.
A few of the exhibits that I found more interesting were the photographs of Iepre/Ypres itself, taken before and after the war, when the town was absolutely devastated by bombing.
A further display that I found very moving was the work of archeologists who are still finding artefacts from the war, not far below the surface of the fields around Iepre/Ypres
There is a lot more to see in the museum, and a visit is highly recommended.
I didn't have time to visit the museum cafe or gift shop. However, it looked very inviting as I passed by. There is a super website with lots of information about the museum, shop and cafe. https://www.inflandersfields.be/
Later that day, I was fortunate to be in Ypres on a Sunday, at the end of July, when the King’s Guards were present to mark the occasion of the liberation of Ypres after the Second World War. The brass band played outside the Cloth Hall and then came to the Menin Gate memorial for a beautiful service.
The Last Post is sounded every Sunday at 8 p.m. and has been played for almost one hundred years. It began in 1927.
It was amazing to be present with the King’s Guards who played in memory of that occasion and in honour of the soldiers whose names are recorded on the walls of the Menin gate who were killed in WW1 and whose bodies were never recovered.
Currently, the memorial is shrouded in scaffolding as it is being restored but some of the names are visible and people can book to lay a wreath in memory of family members.
In conclusion, if you are interested in 20th century history and how wars are remembered, then this is a place to visit. On the train out of Iepre/Ypres I passed two small Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries right beside the railway line.
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I am a writer and have self-published three historical novels about the Irish Famine with women and girls as the main protagonists.
When I retired from working in Further Education, I had time for travel, research and study. I enrolled on a Master’s degree in Creative Writing and began to write my first novel in 2018.
I am currently completing the fourth novel in the series.
My other hobby includes art. I enjoy visiting art galleries, I also take short courses in art history and attend lessons in drawing and painting.
Social media: X @bridgetw1807
Link to my novels on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UgMgDy