Showing posts with label Western Front. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Western Front. Show all posts

31 December 2018

La Ferté-sous-Jouarre and World War I


La Ferté-sous-Jouarre is in the Ile-de-France Region, Seine-et-Marne Department. I took the above photo of the Marne 23 October, 2018. The small community is between Meaux and Chateaux-Thierry.


La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, Roundabout

















Near the bridge over the Marne are two memorials to the Royal Engineers- one on each side of the river.


Royal Engineer south memorial

Royal Engineer north memorial














A Biritsh war memorial stands at the southwestern border of the town. It comemmorates more than 3,000 British soldiers from World War I who fought the Germans in this area but do not have a grave.




My World War I Travels





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11 December 2018

WORLD WAR I: Belgium and the Western Front Photo Blog Posts





List of World War I sites in Belgium

Use the links below to see photos and texts about these Western Front sites.

I toured The Western Front in 2018, 100 years after the end of fighting in World War I. I began by crossing from England to Calais, France as my Grandfather Frederick Charles Sutton did in August 1914.











See the Nieuwpoort beaches were the British stood with the Belgians as part of holding the line against the German Race to the Sea.














See the World War I memorial site and excellent 22 floor Yser Museum within a tower that has views of the area.













Hooge is a village about two miles east of Ypres, Belgium. The Hooge Crater was the result of a blown mine 19 July 1915. British Tunnellers dug beneath the German concrete structures in about 5.5 weeks.















The Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the Hainaut Region of Belgium. It is close to Ploegsteert Wood.



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 Geoff W. Sutton

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This Blog is Sutton Travels


28 November 2018

HYDE PARK CORNER CEMETERY & MEMORIAL BELGIUM





The Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the Hainaut Region of Belgium. It is close to Ploegsteert Wood. 
The cemetery was first used in 1915. 

Nearby is an extension and the Ploegsteert Memorial honoring 11,000 World War I commonwealth servicemen who died in this area.




























My photos are from 21 October, 2018

See More of My World War I Travels





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 Geoff W. Sutton

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HOOGE CRATER CEMETERY AND MUSEUM BELGIUM



Hooge is a village about two miles east of Ypres, Belgium. The Hooge Crater was the result of a blown mine 19 July 1915. British Tunnerlers dug beneath the German concrete structures in about 5.5 weeks. The crater and pillboxes are still visible, though the crater has been filled with water. In the same area, on 30 June 1915, the Germans first used a flame thrower as a weapon.

























Close to the crater is a private museum containing a variety of war-related artefacts. The displays include uniforms, weapons, and personal items.

 






















Behind the museum are reconstructed British and German trenches.



A storage room contains weapons, including an Enfield rifle.



Across the street from the museum is the Hooge Crater Cemetery where 5,916 are buried. Some markers honor several unidentified soldiers.




















The museum makes for a good lunch stop with both inside and outside seating.
















Short Video Clip of the Hooge Crater dated 21 October 2018.



See More of My World War I Travels





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 Geoff W. Sutton

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27 November 2018

Yser Museum Belgium and World War I




A 275-foot tower rises above Flanders Fields. I was there on a clear day, which affords broad views of the old battlescape ––Nieuwpoort, Passhendaele, Ypres, Poperinge, Ploegsteert.





There are 22 floors in the museum, which help visitors thinks about the people and the land, which experienced so much destruction. In between the carnage and memories of lost loved ones, are photos of those who offered sustenance and messages of peace.




The size of some displays provokes the sort of thinking that’s hard to experience when reading a book or glancing at an old photo.







Shells as Urns













In addition to lessons of war and peace, we can learn about Flemish culture (Read More).



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 Geoff W. Sutton

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NIEUWPOORT BELGIUM and The Western Front




After crossing the English Channel from Dover to Calais as my grandfather did in 1914, I headed north to De Panne, Belgium, a town in the Flemish Province of West Flanders—part of Flanders, one of three Belgian regions.  The next morning we went a short distance to the North Sea port, Nieuwpoort. Here we stood on the beaches, close to the northern point on the western front of World War I.




Following the German attack on Belgium, 4 August 1914, Nieuwpoort was part of the area still under Belgian control after the October Battle of the Yser. The German “Race to the Sea” had been thwarted by the allies. The Battle of the Yser is part of the defense of Flanders and the Battles at Ypres (called “Wipers” by the British).  Nearby is the first available Demarcation Stone. These small stones mark the battle line of the Western Front from Belgium to Pfetterhouse on the French-Swiss border. Each of these 119 monuments are one metre high and topped with a laurel wreath and a soldier’s helmet. The helmets represent the troops—Belgian, French, or British.




A memorial to King Albert, near the Yser river, recalls national pride in the Belgian resistance. The King had opened the sluices allowing the land to be flooded and ending the German advance. 
















Nearby is a memorial remembering the British Expeditionary Force, which landed later in August.





















Before leaving the Nieuwpoort area, we stopped at the Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery. Here, 841 Commonwealth soldiers are buried or remembered: UK 830, Canada 2, Australia 8, South Africa 1.

















Connections

My Page     www.suttong.com

My Books   
 AMAZON     GOOGLE PLAY STORE

FACEBOOK  
 Geoff W. Sutton

TWITTER   @Geoff.W.Sutton

LinkedIN  Geoffrey Sutton  PhD

Publications (many free downloads)
     
  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   (PhD)
     
  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton   (PhD)