Ypres and the Battles of Ypres Part 13

Of its three churches, two only are interesting from an artistic point of view.

The Church of St. Jean is Romanesque in style, whilst that of St. Bertin contains some remarkable woodwork: the Verite pulpit, the Dean's confessional, and the roof-loft are masterpieces of the Renaissance period.

In the court of the Hotel Skindles there is a tombstone dating from 1171.

Old houses are rare in Poperinghe, the town having several times been destroyed during its history.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

=SECOND DAY: POPERINGHE--LILLE=

=Via The Hills of Flanders, Armentieres, Nieppe Forest, Merville and Bethune=

_Visit to the Hills_: Scherpenberg, Vidaigne, Rouge and Kemmel in Belgium; and the Mont des Cats and Mont Noir in France.

_At the Grande Place of Poperinghe take Rue Flamande, then Chaussee de Reninghelst, turn to the left along the Rue des Pretres, and then turn to the right into the Rue Boescheppe, opposite the church of St.

Bertin._

_Pa.s.s in front of the_ =Diocesan College=, the roof of which was badly damaged by sh.e.l.l-fire. _In the Place Bertel turn to the right._

_Cross the river by a recently restored bridge, then skirt, on the left, the communal cemetery_, where the graves have been destroyed by the sh.e.l.ls, and _cross the Hazebrouck-Ypres railway_ (_l. c._).

[Ill.u.s.tration: LA CLYTTE ROAD AND THE MONT ROUGE]

On the left is an Allied cemetery containing 500 to 600 graves. On the right against the sky is =Cats Hill=. Numerous machine-guns shelters can still be seen along the road. _Cross a narrow-gauge railway_, which serves a military station on the right.

_The road is first undulating, then descends to_ =Reninghelst=. _Here leave on the left the church_, which has not greatly suffered. In the churchyard near by, there are a few French soldiers' graves. _At the cross-roads, turn to the left, then 200 yards further on, at_ =Zevecoten=, take the road on the right to =La Clytte=.

The further we advance the greater the devastation of the ground becomes.

_At the first houses of Clytte Hamlet, turn to the right._ The German rush of 1918 was broken before this village.

After the capture of Kemmel Hill, a violent enemy attack on April 27 broke down before the desperate resistance of the French 28th Infantry Division (Madelin) and the British 9th Infantry Division.

=Kemmel= is seen on the left, and =Scherpenberg= in front.

_Pa.s.s the church_ (photo, p. 111). _The road turns to the right beyond the last houses, and gradually climbs the slopes of_ =Scherpenberg= (alt.i.tude, 340 feet). The side of this hill is almost perpendicular, and in it are numerous remains of shelters.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The narrow road which led to the top was completely destroyed. The ascent can, however, be made on foot.

In spite of all their efforts, the Germans failed to reach Scherpenberg in their offensive of 1918. Their efforts to outflank the Flanders Hills on the north broke down before the resistance of the French 39th Infantry Division (Ma.s.senet) on April 26, 27 and 28, 1918.

_At the next fork turn to the right into the village of_ =Westoutre=.

Here the road winds through the valley. The river on the left has, owing to sh.e.l.l-fire, become a small lake. Westoutre suffered greatly in the bombardments.

_Pa.s.s the Town Hall, then turn to the left in front of the church. The road rises sharply, and winds round_ =Vidaigne Hill=. The many shelters in the sides of the hill can plainly be seen.

_Behind the hill, leave the road leading to the French frontier, and take on the left the road which first descends and then climbs the slopes of_ =Rouge Hill=. From the plateau there is a splendid view across the plains.

_Leave on the left the ruins of the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes._

_The road, rising rather stiffly, runs into the Bailleul Road. On turning to the right, the first houses of_ =Locre= _village are reached_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF LA CLYTTE CHURCH]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SLOPES OF SCHERPENBERG HILL]

[Ill.u.s.tration: VIDAIGNE HILL]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF LOCRE AND ROUGE HILL]

Locre was the scene of terrific fighting during the German offensive against the Flanders Hills in 1918. On April 19, 1918, it was taken by the enemy after a daring advance by their Alpine Corps, which had succeeded in reaching Kemmelbeek Valley. On the same day, the soldiers of this picked corps continued their advance as far as the crossing with the Westoutre road, 1 kilometre to the north of Locre; but here the French dragoons, in an irresistible counter-attack, drove the Germans back and recaptured Locre, leaving only the _Hospice_, to the south-east of the village, in enemy hands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOCRE ROAD AT KEMMEL AND KEMMEL HILL]

[Ill.u.s.tration: KEMMEL CHURCH AND VILLAGE IN RUINS _Photographed from the eastern slopes of Kemmel Hill_]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF KEMMEL CHaTEAU AND HILL]

[Ill.u.s.tration: KEMMEL HILL _Photographed from the road to Kemmel at La Clytte, 500 yards from the latter._]

_Beyond the ruins of the church, in the middle of a devastated cemetery, turn to the left; then at the next fork, leaving some French graves on the left, take the road on the right leading to_ =Kemmel Hill=.

This hill, the first of the Hills of Flanders, is famous for the battles fought there in 1918. On April 17, 1918, the Germans had reached the foot. On the 25th, they rushed to the attack, encircling and capturing the hill, which was held by the French 30th Infantry Regiment. During the next and following days French counter-attacks failed to dislodge the enemy. It was only on August 30 that the Germans evacuated the hill; on the 31st it was occupied by the British.

_Pa.s.s Burgrave Farm. At the foot of the hill (inaccessible to vehicles) the road turns to the left._ Here the ground is completely churned up, the bits of road being connected up by little bridges thrown across the sh.e.l.l-holes. In the distance is seen the ruined church of Kemmel (photo, p. 113). _On reaching the village, turn to the right, to visit the ruins of the chateau_ (photo, p. 114), _then return to the fork and take the road on the right_.

The road is hilly, as the photograph, taken 500 yards this side of the crossing with the La Clytte road, shows. _Keeping straight along the road by which he came, as far as Zevecoten, the tourist then returns first to the left and then to the right._

_In the centre of_ =Reninghelst= _village, take the Neuve-Eglise road on the left. At the fork in the road at_ =Heksken=, _turn to the right towards_ =Poperinghe=. _Cross the river. At the crossing of the road from Poperinghe to Boeschepe, turn to the left to visit the largest cemetery in this region_ (shown on the Itinerary, p. 108), which contains 20,000 to 22,000 graves The photograph gives but a slight idea of the size of it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRAGMENT OF CEMETERY CONTAINING 20,000 GRAVES AT BOESCHePE, ON THE ROAD TO POPERINGHE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GENERAL VIEW OF CATS HILL]

_Retracing his steps the tourist takes the road which first skirts the railway, and then crosses it (l. c.) to rejoin the Poperinghe-Steenwoorde road. Take the latter on the left._ (See Itinerary, p. 108.)

At the hamlet of Abeele there is a Belgian custom-house (visa of "triptyque" or motor-car permit). The French custom-house is at =Steenwoorde= (the third house to the right on entering). Usual formalities.

_Opposite the custom office take I.C. 128 on the left, which, after several turnings, leads to_ =G.o.dewaerstelde=. _Leave the village on the left._

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CRUCIFIX AND ABBEY OF CATS HILL]