Ypres and the Battles of Ypres Part 8

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTRANCE TO WYTSCHAETE _The motor takes the right-hand road to Oosttaverne (see p. 47)._]

On November 3, 1914, during the First Battle of Ypres, it fell into the hands of the enemy. At four o'clock on the following day, the ground between this village and Hollebeke (some four miles to the north) was the scene of several furious attacks (see p. 8).

Messines was destroyed by the British bombardment during the offensive of June, 1917. The New Zealanders captured it on June 7, in spite of a stubborn defence. They also took the neighbouring village of Wytschaete (see p. 20). Messines again fell into German hands in April, 1918 (see p. 39), and was finally retaken on September 30 during the last battle (see p. 46).

_Return to the car and take the Ypres road on the left_ (photo, p. 58).

Along this road are numerous little bridges thrown across the sh.e.l.l-holes.

=Wytschaete=, which is soon reached, was captured, like Messines, in the first battle of 1914, and retaken by the New Zealanders on June 7, 1917.

After being entirely destroyed by bombardment (see p. 20), it was lost again on April 15, 1918, then retaken on September 30, 1918.

_At the fork, just before entering the village_--protected by a series of powerful blockhouses--_take the road on the right leading to Oosttaverne_ (now totally destroyed). _Follow the main road_ (Ypres-Warneton) _on the right as far as the place called Gapaard_ (photo below), _then turn to the left along the road to Houthem._ A series of little bridges over sh.e.l.l-craters full of water--once the River Wanbecke--are crossed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GAPAARD. END OF VILLAGE, GOING TOWARDS HOUTHEM]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOLLEBEKE CHaTEAU, BEFORE THE WAR. IT HAS BEEN RAZED TO THE GROUND (_photo, Antony, Ypres_)]

_Go through Houthem_, which was razed to the ground. Beyond an armoured shelter built against the brick wall of a house, _the road turns to the left. Cross the ca.n.a.l by the temporary bridge._

The old bed of the ca.n.a.l is marked by some crumbling blocks of concrete.

_A few yards further on, take the level-crossing over the Ypres-Lille Railway._ It was on this line that on October 22 and 23, 1914, the Germans brought up an armoured train which bombarded Ypres with incendiary sh.e.l.ls, causing the first serious damage to the town.

_A few hundred yards beyond the railway turn to the right at the village of Kortewilde_, where a few wooden houses are being erected among the ruins. _After crossing a number of little bridges over the Gaverbeck ca.n.a.l, the road, rising slightly, turns to the right._ At this turning the Chateau (photo above) and village of =Hollebeke= ought to be visible on the left, but this part of the battlefield is in so chaotic a condition that neither road, ca.n.a.l, nor village can be distinguished.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHERE GHELUVELT USED TO STAND, ON THE ROAD TO MENIN]

During the first battle (November, 1914) the Germans launched attacks in great force between Hollebeke and Messines, and captured both these places. Hollebeke was retaken on July 13, 1917, during the first phase of the great British offensive for the clearing of the town. After being lost again in April, 1918, Hollebeke was finally recaptured by the Allies in October.

_The road first rises, then descends._ On the hillside are the ruins of Zandvoorde. _At the entrance to the village take the Zillebeke-Wervicq road on the left, then first to the right, then to the left, between two wooden houses. The road descends, then, undulating slightly, joins the main road from Ypres to Menin, opposite Gheluvelt,_ the site of which is marked by a sign-post.

This was one of the important strategic points in the first German offensive of 1914 (see p. 7), when the village was captured by the enemy. During the battle for the clearing of Ypres, fierce fighting took place to the west of =Gheluvelt=, especially at Tower Hamlet. From November, 1917, to April, 1918, the firing-line ran through the village.

Gheluvelt was retaken by the British in October, 1918.

_Take the main road from Ypres to Menin on the right. Only at Gheluvelt will a pa.s.sable road to Becelaere be found_.

In Gheluvelt, where there are still a few broken walls standing, turn to the left at the fork in the road, leaving the ruined church on the right. At the next fork take the right-hand road to the ruined hamlet of Terhand.

Fifty yards before the crossing with the Dadizelle Road, there is a German cemetery on the right, containing a remarkable concrete monument, thirty feet in height, which dominates the whole plain. This monument (photo, p. 62) was in reality a German observation post. Inside there were two floors. An outside staircase led to a platform. Traces of the bal.u.s.trade are visible in the photo.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROAD FROM GHELUVELT TO BECELAERE (_Impracticable for motors in June_, 1919.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GERMAN CEMETERY AT TERHAND. DUMMY FUNERAL MONUMENT WHICH WAS REALLY A GERMAN OBSERVATION-POST]

_Leave the Dadizelle road on the right._ The road hereabouts is camouflaged. Numerous small forts may be seen on both sides of the plateau, especially on the right. The largest of them was used as a telephone exchange.

After pa.s.sing the place called Molenhoek the tourist comes to the Pa.s.schendaele-Wervicq road, now impa.s.sable.

_Leave the car at the fork, and go on foot through the ruins of Becelaere, as far as the church on the right._

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINED VILLAGE OF BECELAERE]

_Return to the fork and take the right-hand uphill road._ On the plateau there are many shelters.

To the west of the road from Becelaere to Zonnebeke lay Polygone Wood, which was entirely destroyed. The British made two unsuccessful attempts (July 31 and August 16, 1917) to take this strongly fortified wood, succeeding eventually on September 20 (see p. 28). Evacuated by the British in April, 1918, the wood was finally recaptured by the Allies in October, 1918.

Beyond the place called Noordenhoek there is a bend in the road. On the left, Zonnebeke Pond, the ruined chateau, and the remains of a gasometer come into sight (photo below).

_At the place called Broodseinde take the Ypres-Roulers road on the left, to visit the ruins of Zonnebeke._

=Zonnebeke= was taken in 1914 by the Germans, who made an outpost of it in front of their lines. The village was recaptured on September 26, then lost in April, 1918, and finally retaken in the following October.

_Return to the fork_ (which was commanded by numerous small forts), _and turn to the left:_ military cemetery at the side of the road. In the fields on the right, 200 yards beyond the level crossing, there is a monument to the memory of 148 officers and men of the Canadian 85th Battalion (photo, p. 64).

Pa.s.sing through sh.e.l.l-torn country, =Pa.s.schendaele=--now razed to the ground--is reached. All that remains of the church is the mound seen in the background of the photograph (p. 64).

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF ZONNEBEKE VILLAGE]

Pa.s.schendaele was captured by the Germans in November, 1914, and later by the British (October 26, 1917). The village had already been wiped out by the bombardment, but the position, which dominated Ypres and Roulers, was an important one. The fighting there was of the fiercest, Hindenburg having ordered it to be held at all costs. However, the British broke down the enemy's stubborn resistance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BETWEEN BROODSEINDE AND Pa.s.sCHENDAELE. MONUMENT TO 148 FALLEN OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE 85TH CANADIAN BATTALION]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHAT WAS ONCE Pa.s.sCHENDAELE. THE CHURCH WAS ON THE HILLOCK IN THE BACKGROUND]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WESTROOSEBEKE, SEEN FROM THE RUINED CHURCH]

=From Pa.s.schendaele to Ypres=

_Beyond the church turn to the left._ The undulating road goes straight to =Westroosebeke=.

Westroosebeke was taken at the same time as Pa.s.schendaele, during the British offensive of October 29, 1917. These two positions, lost in April, 1918, were retaken on September 30 by the Belgian army under King Albert.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POELCAPPELLE. THE ROAD FROM LANGEMARCK TO DIXMUDE]

The village was completely destroyed. _On entering, turn to the right and pa.s.s the church._ A few broken tombstones mark the site of the churchyard.

_Retracing his steps, the tourist turns to the right into the Ypres-Roulers Road_, which describes a bend to reach =Poelcappelle=.

This village was the scene of fierce fighting in December, 1914, and May, 1915, and is now in ruins. There are numerous redoubts to right and left. _Just beyond the village, leave the Dixmude Road on the right, and take the one leading to Langemarck._

Beyond the cross-roads there is a confused heap of rails and broken trucks in the middle of a piece of sh.e.l.l-torn ground.

_At the fork, take the road to the right and enter the ruined village of_ =Langemarck=.

The photograph below shows: in the background, a mound formed by the ruins of the church; in the foreground, a tank.

Langemarck, defended by the French in 1914, was evacuated on December 17 of that year. Recaptured, the town was lost again on April 21, 1915, during the German gas attack.

_Keep along the road, leaving on the left the ruins of the church, and a little further on the remains of the chateau_ (_photo, p. 67_).