Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulsten Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Bruce, even more gutted that i never made it, incidently i was researching a group of brothers from Church Gresley and one of them Daniel Summers Notts & Derby's lies in Railway dugouts, would have been good to have laid a rememberance cross for me if i had known you were visiting, Geoff http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=490751 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphed Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 A visit to Yorkshire Trench sadly it has seen better days and is in need of some TLC Yes it does. It is such a shame that it is hidden in an industrial estate and then left to the elements. The fact that it's a snapshot of what that area was like, means that it should be looked after. It was the 1st place i took my daughter to last year on our visit (it was her 1st & i'd never been there before) She is a modern lady well at home with the industrial estates of the world but was amazed to find this peice of history. All ind estates are a bit grim but the trench really got her imagination going as to how more horrible it was back in the great war. From there on in she was hanging on my every word and wanted to know everything that i knew for the rest of the trip. Out of interest is anybody responsible for it's up keep ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Bruce, even more gutted that i never made it, incidently i was researching a group of brothers from Church Gresley and one of them Daniel Summers Notts & Derby's lies in Railway dugouts, would have been good to have laid a rememberance cross for me if i had known you were visiting, Geoff http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=490751 All i can say geoff is thank the shower u work for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Yes it does. It is such a shame that it is hidden in an industrial estate and then left to the elements. The fact that it's a snapshot of what that area was like, means that it should be looked after. It was the 1st place i took my daughter to last year on our visit (it was her 1st & i'd never been there before) She is a modern lady well at home with the industrial estates of the world but was amazed to find this peice of history. All ind estates are a bit grim but the trench really got her imagination going as to how more horrible it was back in the great war. From there on in she was hanging on my every word and wanted to know everything that i knew for the rest of the trip. Out of interest is anybody responsible for it's up keep ? I believe that its the responsibily of the Flanders field museum [ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Glad you had a good trip Bruce. As you got home I left. I, however could only return to the Somme. Must make the effort to go to Ypres. I too have a chaps medals who now lies in Railway Dugouts...Sidney Butt RFA. Great photos and glad you had a good trip! Take care and speak soon mate! TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 [ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Then down in the dug out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Bunkers at Langhof farm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Coming late to the thread I'll post some of my earlier shots and hopefully catch up with Bruce before too long. The first stop was Adinkerke Military Cemetery which as you've seen has more nationalities buried here than many cemeteries. The allied soldiers here tend to be buried on a one man - one grave ratio, whereas the enemy seem mostly to buried in mulit-occupancy graves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 A Czech soldier's WWII grave from 1944 which seems to have been visited by somone making a pilgrimage, perhaps for the first time given that country's recent history and the difficulty it's nationals would have had in travelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Two German graves showing the mutiple occupants' names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 over to you Nigel gives me a break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 The Tank Memorial Ypres Salient, Poelkapelle. An extremely well thought out and highly symbolic memorial to all tank crew who fell in the Ypres Salient. Chris Lock gave up his time to come and speak to us about the memorial and his passion for his subject was very much in evidence. As an ex-Royal Tank Regiment soldier himself, the men that this memorial commemorates were not just fallen soldiers worthy of Remembrance, they were brother Tankees. Many thanks to Chris for his time and his invaluable knowledge. The talk was very much appreciated by us all. Fear Naught! From mud, through blood to the green fields beyond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 On the roundabout and almost casting a shadow over the Ypres Salient Tank Memorial stands this elegant memorial to the French air ace Georges Guynemer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 The Ypres Salient Tank Memorial has a memorial garden which is brought out to complement special commemorative events at the main memorial. Constructed by Frans Hoijtink, each poppy cross remembers one fallen tank crew member by name and number. The crosses were inscribed by Chris' wife Milena, and if memory serves me it took two-and-a-half long days to mark up every cross. Chris and Milena's dedication to this memorial is beyond doubt. A little more tank memorabilia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Some shots from the fascinating mini museum dedicated to Georges Guynemer. Again, thanks to Chris Lock for his time and knowledge here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Detail of an original rotary engine mounted in the replica aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Machine gun and cockpit interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 The brand new Indian Memorial, just to the Lille Gate side of the Menin Gate Memorial. It had only been unveiled that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 The Menin Gate Memorial lit up at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 4 April , 2011 Share Posted 4 April , 2011 Yorkshire Trench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 5 April , 2011 Share Posted 5 April , 2011 A wind powered electricity generating turbine. As well as the industrial estate which is still being built over the area where the 49th (West Riding) Division was in the second half of 1915, these turbines are becoming as much a feature of the landscape as the little cemeteries around here once were. Unfortunately only those with a good imagination or a long memory can envisage what this area was once like. But, that's progress. This turbine is photographed from roughly the centre of the Yorkshire Trench site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Marshall Posted 5 April , 2011 Share Posted 5 April , 2011 With the water table being so high in the area, it appears that the weight of the artificial concrete sandbagging is proving too much for the ground underneath to support them. Here we have a few photos of the settling and moving of the structure and of some decay in the sandbags. As Bruce has said, some work is needed here to make the site look good again, and, dare I say, if it is left much longer there are bound to be issues of visitor safety arising if the decay continues at this rate. Two years ago when we last visited Yorkshire Trench the decay in evidence today was far less pronounced. What will another few years, the centenary of the start of the war is fast approaching don't forget, have done to the site if the decay is left to progress unchecked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now