Hello everyone.
I have marked out three or four things we could go to see on Sunday, before setting off on the loop back.
1. Demarcation Stone, Hellfire Corner
This is Demarcation Stone No. 15, one of over a hundred monuments which stand along the Western Front, marking the point from which the Allied Armies began their offensive in the summer of 1918 and pushed the Imperial German Army to the west, leading to the Allied Advance to Victory and the end of the war.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/article/demarcation-stone.htm
This stone is located at the north-west corner of a busy road junction which is now a modern roundabout, but which was one of the most famous landmarks for the British Army on the Western Front in 1914-1918: Hellfire Corner.
2. Messines Ridge (New Zealand) Memorial, Messines
The Messines Ridge Memorial commemorates more than 800 men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died fighting in the Messines sector in 1917 and 1918 and have no known grave.
3. New Zealand Memorial, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendaele
The memorial commemorates more than 1,200 officers and men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who died fighting in the Passchendaele sector in October 1917 and who have no known grave.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/memorial-tyne-cot.htm
4. Spanbroekmolen Mine Crater Memorial
The Spanbroekmolen Mine Crater, also known as Lone Tree Crater, is the site of the largest of 19 mines blown by the British Army in the early hours of the morning of 7th June 1917. This signalled the launch of the Battle of Messines.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/memorial-spanbroekmolen-pool-of-peace.htm
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Here is some background on the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing
The Menin Gate memorial contains the names of 54,896 officers and men from the British and Commonwealth Forces who fell before midnight on 16th August 1917 and who have no known grave in the Ypres Salient.
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/memorial-menin-gate.htm
The evening sounding of the Last Post
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/events/menin-gate-last-post-ceremony.htm
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Also some info. on the Ypres Salient
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypres_Salient the associated Battle of Passchendaele (or the Third Battle of Ypres)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Passchendaele and the battle for the Messines Ridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines along with a film clip with some NZ commentary from Messines (the opening part is the Somme battle)
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/film-new-zealand-division-at-the-somme-and-messines
I also found the Youtube link to the recently discovered film, shot by an airship pilot in 1919 which starts with an aerial view of the Ypres battlefield salient and Passchendale:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/decZP5PfrVM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
PS For what it's worth, my paternal grandfather was in the RFC as a radio operator in 19 Squadron, based for a spell close by in Poperinghe and Bailleule, so would have been very familiar with much of the area shown in the film.
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I guess Sunday will be a bit of a suck-it-and-see day, depending on how long we take looking at the four sites. I suggest we make an earlyish start, say wheels rolling at 09:00, even so we may not have time to do everything and complete the full ride back, too. Lunch we will have to take on the hoof somewhere.
While I am away I will join the four extra sites into the Sunday route and try to post it up from Sweden.
