Next stop - Belgium

21st April
We left Arras on Tuesday morning, next stop - Belgium. On the way we stopped at many historical sights the first being the Canadian Centre at Vimy Ridge. Here we were able to walk through Canadian trenches which have been restored to their near original conditions. We also were able to see the craters left behind by mine bombs that were set up to destroy the opposing trenches. After this, we visited the Canadian memorial which was beautiful in structure, one of the biggest we have seen. This morning was one of the coldest we have experienced so far.

We made a short stop at Loos Cemetery where Mr Croft was able to find his great great uncle's name Edward Croft engraved on the wall amoungst thousands of others. These are the names of those soldiers with no known graves. Our tour guide Colin later informed us that during World War 1, four men died every minute of every hour of every day for four years, approximately 9 million. If these soldiers were lined up four a breast, it would take 81 days to continuously march past the same point. These shocking facts really hit home how enourmous this event was in human history.

Next, we visited VC corner which is the only Allied mass grave. Here, four hundred unknown soldiers lay in between two crosses placed on the grass. After this, we visited the Cobbers memorial which represents how the Australian soldiers rescued the wounded from the battlefield. The ruins of German bunkers also surround this area. Vc corner represented the Allied frontline whilst Cobbers was situated on the German frontline. These were separated by only a short walk.

After crossing the Belgium border we stopped for lunch at a small fast food restaurant where we tried the traditional Belgium sausage, the fricadelle and the famous frites (hot chips). After finishing lunch, us students found it exiting when we stood on the border between France and Belgium. We then left to visit more memorials and battlefields.

Toronto Avenue was our next stop. This is the only cemetery on the Western front where there are only Australians burried. Here we did a short ceremony of our own where Stacy read her poem 'Anthem For A Doomed Youth' by Wilfred Owens. A short bus trip away we visited the Place Of Peace which is a crater that occured in the battle for Messines Ridge 1917.

We arrived in Ypres where our guide gave us a tour of the city and then we checked into Hotel Sultan, the best hotel we've stayed in yet! It is situated on the Grand Plas, directly opposite the Cloth Hall. Before dinner, we attended the nightly ceremony at the Meningate, which we will be participating in on Thursday night. The last post was played and wreaths were laid. We had dinner at the Fritery where most of us ordered pasta and enjoyed ourselves as it was a reminder of home. We were then able to find our own dessert and and explore the town within boundaries.


22nd April
Today was a free day where most of us indulged in the famous Belgium chocolate and explored the shops of Ypres. Mr Williamson, Mrs Williamson, Mr Croft, Mr Moyses and Mr Sanders went to the Belgium Battery Corner Cemetery. Here, they found the grave of Henry Charles Gardiner, age 21, killed on the 21st of October 1917, from Mr Willo's home town which was very moving for him.

In the afternoon, we visited the Cloth Hall Museum that gave us a great inight into the ways the soldiers used to live, the battles they participated in and the impact on society. Tonight we will be dining at the Poppy Restaurant named after the famous poppies of Flanders Field.


Demi and Cassie.