Ypres

Ever since our visit to the western front for the last ANZAC Day dawn service at Villers Bretonneux, I have felt a need to visit the grave of my grandmother’s favourite brother, after whom my father is named. Thomas Hodge is buried in the Brandhoek New Military Cemetery between Ypres and Poperinge in the Western Flanders part of Belgium. Crouching beside his neatly tended grave, one was reminded of the cruelty and absurdity of the First World War, but the overwhelming emotion was that of sadness. Moreover, this was no longer history, it was personal.

The medieval Cloth Hall sits imposingly on the Ypres market square. It is almost impossible to imagine that, as with the rest of the town, it was reduced to rubble by enemy bombardment during WWI.

In all, 300,000 allied soldiers died in the Ypres ‘Salient”, the front line around the town. Inscribed on the walls of the Menin Gate are the names of 55,000 Commonwealth war dead who have no official graves.

On a lighter note, we had a brilliant fish and chip lunch at a cafe on the market square, where Ingrid amazed the locals with the volume of vinegar poured over her chips. We then took a very pleasant walk around the Vaubanesque ramparts and moat which still surround a significant part of the town.

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