Ieper Collection

Sherwood Foresters Memorial, Passchendaele Museum
The memorial is on the outside wall of the Museum and was presented to the Commune of Zonnebeke (in which the Museum lies)

Parish church (Sint-Pieterskerk). Interior
6276258 Parish church (Sint-Pieterskerk). Interior.; (add.info.: Sint-Pieterskerk, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium); © Paul Maeyaert. All rights reserved 2023.

Parish church (Sint-Pieterskerk). Interior
6276257 Parish church (Sint-Pieterskerk). Interior.; (add.info.: Sint-Pieterskerk, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium); © Paul Maeyaert. All rights reserved 2023.

The drill sergeant
Susanne Stoop

Khaki Chums Christmas Truce Cross, St Yvon, Belgium
At Christmas 1914, over the 24th/25th December, a truce was held here between the 1st Battalion the Warwickshire Regiment and the 7th Bavarians in which Bruce Bairnsfaher took part

Christmas 1914 Football Match Statues, Messines - Mesen
This life sized statue of a German and a British soldier shaking hands over a football, was sculpted by Andy Edwards and was unveiled on 22 December 2015

Unveiling the Christmas Truce Memorial, Frelinghien
The most fully documented Christmas Truce story of 1914 took place between the 2nd Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Saxon 133rd Infantry Regiment plus the Prussian 6th Jager Battalion at Frelinghien

Field Gun outside the TJaegershof Restaurant
The restaurant has a small but interesting museum which is concerned with the activities nearby, including the St Sixtus Abbey

Charing Cross Dressing Station bunkers, Ploegsteert
These are close by the Plugstreet Experience 14-18 (Interpretation Centre) and served the Dressing Station which, like many of the sites around here, used a series of Central London names

Headsone of German Jewish soldier Max Seller, Belgium
The burial is in the CWGC Cemetery, Hyde Park Corner. In this same cemetery is the grave of Private Albert Edward French, a 16 years old who was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 documentary in 1983

Ypres Battlefield Markers and signs
Over the 40 years that we have been writing about these battlefields, there has been many attempts to signpost the places of interest

Victims of the First Gas Attack Memorial, Steenstraat
This 15 metres high Cross of Reconciliation, commemorates the victims of the first gas attack of the war made by the Germans on 22 April 1915

Cold winter afternoon in the city
Yvette Depaepe

Welsh - Caesars Nose - CWGC Cemetery
This small cemetery stands on the site of a German redoubt which was called Fortin 17. Fighting around this area began in 1915

Scotts Bunker, Polygon Wood, Belgium
The bunker is just behind the New Zealand National Memorial, though one needs to climb a small wall to visit it from there

Detail of the RWF Christmas Truce Plaque, Frelinghien
The plaque is on the memorial plinth unveiled by the daughter of Frank Richards in 2008. There are also plaques to the German 6th Jaeger Battalion and the 133rd Saxon Infantry Regiment

German bunker, Oosttaverne Wood, Oostaverne
This bunker is one that formed part of the German defensive line that was attacked on 7 June 1917, the opening of the Messines prelude to the battle for Passchendaele

Poet and Doctor Colonel John McCrae Memorial
McCrae, who served in the Boer War, is popularly remembered as the author of what is probably the best-known poem of the First World War -In Flanders Fields

Memorial to Harry Patch, the last British Veteran
This memorial was privately erected by Harry Patch to remember those with whom he served in the 7th Battalion DCLI. It is placed on the edge of the Steenbeek stream across which at dawn

Memorial to the 49th - West Riding - Division, Essex Farm
The 49th, a territorial division, came out early in 1915. It had the dubious distinction of being, together with the 6th Division, one of the first to face a phosgene attack

Memorial to Sgt Charles Ranginawawahia Sciasia
New Zealander Sciasia, born of an Italian father and a Maori mother, played, with his brother John, for the Maori All Blacks in 1913

Memorial to New Zealander Leslie Andrew, VC, Warneton
Lance Corporal Andrew, who won his VC at La Bassee when he was 20 years old, went on to serve in WW2 and died, a Brigadier, in January 1969

View over Dikkebus Lake, Dickebusch, Belgium
The name Dickebusch means hick forest and dates from the time that this area was dense woodland. The Germans never took the lake, although they reached the water in May 1918

Captain Chavasse VC Memorial, Brandhoek Church grounds
This memorial to Noel Chavasse was unveiled on 29 August 1997 in the presence of a delegation of the London Scottish Territorials

The Indian Memorial, Menin Gate Ramparts, Ypres
This white stone memorial was unveiled on 10 November 2002 as part of the Flanders India 2002 Partnership Year by Major-General A.J. Bajwa, who had come all the way from India for the ceremony

Memorial to poet and musician Ivor Gurney, Belgium
Similar in design to those for Ledwidge and Chavasse, the memorial was unveiled on 12 September 2007, the initiative of Piet Chielens and the Friends of the In Flanders Fields Museum

Ypres Ramparts CWGC Cemetery seen across the moat
The earliest settlement in this area is thought to have been near Langemarck in about AD960 and gradually a cluster of villages grew up around the Yperlee

Memorial Plaque for Little Talbot House - Ypres, Belgium
This is on the wall of No 83 Rijselstraat in Ypres and marks the site of the little brother of Talbot House (Toc H) which opened on 13 November 1917

Plaque to Captain J J Crowe VC, Nieuwkerke Hospice
The final German attempt to break through to the Channel ports, known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres, had initial success

Australian 5th Division Memorial, Polygon Wood
The memorial stands on the old rifle buttes and overlooks both the Polygon Wood CWGC Cemetery and the New Zealand National Memorial

Australian Road to Passchendaele Marker Stone
The Third Battle of Ypres, generally referred to as Passchendaele began on 31 July 1917 and staggered on in dreadful weather conditions until it floundered in mud and resulted in some 300

Memorial to 15th Battalion Canadian Highlanders
This bronze plaque, mounted in a brick plinth, records the part played by the 15th on the Gravenstafel Ridge during the Second Battle of Ypres (the Gas Attacks)

Memorial Plaque to Ypres Civilians WW1 and WW2
This is beside the main Ypres War Memorial which is just outside the Cloth Hall. On the other side of the memorial is a plaque to the Belgian 13th Field Artillery. Date: 2016

The Two at Pervyse with Shot the dog memorial, Ypres
This memorial is in the garden of the Ariane Hotel in Ypres. The Two is the title given to two extrordinary British laidies, Elsie Knocker and Mairie Chisholm

Chairman of the Ypres Last Post Committee with bugles
The Ceremony of the Last Post, in which firemen buglers play the Last Post under the Menin Gate at 8pm each night is, in its simplicity, one of the most moving acts of Remembrance in the world

Canadian Rifles and VCs Memorials, Passchendaele
Three flat black marble plaques mark the part played by the 3rd Canadian Division, the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles and the 3rd (Toronto)

The Australian Diggers Memorial, Plugstreet Experience
The 14-18 Experience Museum was opened on 9 November 2013 and on that day a splendid bas relief of Australian miners digging underground was unveiled. It was donated by Ross J

The Memorial Chapel, Talbot House, Poperinghe, Belgium
Talbot House, a rest house for soldiers and officers, was started by Padre Philip Byard (Tubby) Clayton and was officially opened on 11 December 1915

Polish Memorial, Cloth Hall, Ypres, Belgium
The memorial, which is on an outside wall, commemorates the Polish Forces who liberated Ypres in September 1944. In September 2016 researcher Chris Lock discovered that three Polish soldiers were not

Thanking the Last Post Buglers at the Menin Gate
The Last Post at the Gate has been played at 8pm under the arches by Ypres firemen (with only an interval during WW2) since the unveiling on 24 July 1927

Captain Woodward, 1st Australian Tunneling Company
Captain Oliver Woodward was one of the heroes of the underground war at Hill 60. He had trained as a mining engineer and during his military career won the MC and two bars

Prowse Point St Yvon Christmas Memorial Area with footballs
Prompted by the 100th Anniversaries of the battles of WW1, much interest in the Truces that took place beteen the enemies at Christmas 1914, particulary in this area

Bruce Bairnsfathers Cottage Memorial, St Yvon, Belgium
The rebuilt cottage stands on the site of the original building in which, in 1914, Bruce Bairnsfather drew his first catoons which led to the creation of Old Bill

Field gun and soldier statues, Plugstreet Experience
The gun and the statues, which are cut-outs made from steel sheets, are in the grounds of the Plugstreet 14-18 Experience (Interpretation Centre)

Reconstructed CWGC Cemetery, Colne Valley, Ypres
The Cemetery faces a feature known as Colne Valley. It is on one of the marked walking routes around the Ypres battlefields

The American Bridge, Vierstraat, Belgium
The bridge crosses the small stream the Kemmelbeek. In the August 1918 offensive the centre line of the attacking American 27th Division crossed over this bridge, hence its local name of American

Christmas Truce Memorial, Peace Village, Messines
The memorial carries the words A Lull in the Hate and refers to the football match played between the Germans and the British at Christmas 1914

British CWGC Cemetery Tyne Cot, Passchendaele, Belgium
This is the largest British War Cemetery in the world and was designed by Sir Hebert Baker (who designed the tomb of Cecil Rhodes in Delhi)

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Ieper, a city rich in history and remembrance. As you wander through its streets, you can't help but be captivated by the stories it holds. The Sherwood Foresters Memorial stands tall, honoring the brave soldiers who fought valiantly during World War I. Just a short distance away is the Passchendaele Museum, where you can delve into the depths of war and gain a deeper understanding of its impact on this region. Nearby lies the Khaki Chums Christmas Truce Cross, reminding us of that remarkable moment when enemies put down their weapons to celebrate peace. Strolling through St Yvon in Belgium, your eyes are drawn to the Christmas 1914 Football Match Statues at Messines - Mesen. These statues immortalize that extraordinary game played amidst chaos and conflict. A field gun proudly stands outside the TJaegershof Restaurant, serving as a reminder of wartime machinery and sacrifice. And not far from there are the Charing Cross Dressing Station bunkers in Ploegsteert – silent witnesses to countless lives saved and lost. Max Seller's headstone pays tribute to a German Jewish soldier whose fate intertwined with this land forever. Ypres Battlefield Markers guide us along paths once filled with turmoil but now embraced by tranquility. The Victims of the First Gas Attack Memorial in Steenstraat serves as an eternal reminder of humanity's darkest moments and our resilience against adversity. A plaque detail on Queen Victoria Rifles Memorial at Hill 60 tells tales of bravery etched into history. Even on cold winter afternoons, Ieper exudes warmth as locals go about their daily lives amidst stunning architecture and charming streetscapes. And during festive times like Christmas, memories resurface as we unveil new memorials such as Frelinghien's Christmas Truce Memorial – honoring those who dared to dream for peace amid war's chaos. Finally, Welsh - Caesars Nose.