WFA trip to Ypres - Day One.

[Grimmer]

I'm a virgin at this sort of thing so please be gentle with me, I hope I'm posting this in the right place. All I need to do now is work out how to load up some photos. If I get any response to this posting I'll continue with day two.

 

I’ve just returned from a long weekend in the Ypres Salient with the Southend branch of the Western Front Association and thought you might be interested to read about what we got up to.

 

Unfortunately the day didn’t start too well, usual assortment of issues such as “Oh, I forgot my passport” and “Dam, I’ve just realised I have my wife’s passport” etc thankfully our leader had left time for such events however, he couldn’t take into account the inefficiencies of P&O who announced the ferries were running an hour & a half late! With time to kill we headed off to the terminal building for the worst breakfast of my life at Burger King, beats me how they can make bacon, sausage & egg in a soggy cardboard bun so tasteless.

 

At last we boarded the ferry and were on our way, the sea was calm and so it was an uneventful journey, plenty of time to think about the poor soldiers 90+ years ago who made the same journey but were never to return to the tranquil shores of blighty. We were now running about two hours behind schedule but our leader decided that as we were all hardcore battlefield tourists, we would continue as planned.

 

Our first stop was Poperinge, a pretty little town which was a favourite place for the troops to go on leave with it’s many bars & brothels (red light for the rankers, blue light for the officers) and an establishment called Talbot House which was our first port of call (The brothels are now closed, shame). TOC H as it became known was started by a preacher named Tubby Clayton with the aim of providing a place of sanctuary for all, regardless of rank, where they could relax and enjoy a walk in the garden or games in the lounge and enjoy that particularly British pastime of enjoying a cup of tea in the study. The most moving part of the visit was a walk around the small chapel built in the loft where many a solider received a last blessing before going to the front, many never to return.

 

Next stop was a place I’ve tried to visit several times but it was always closed, somewhere the troops understandably dreaded, the cells where prisoners were held prior to being shot at dawn. It must have been a terrible place to be kept a prisoner, not only because of the obvious fate that was awaiting you, but also because of its close proximity to the main square where no doubt you could hear your comrades in arms enjoying a night on the town whilst you were trying to make peace with your maker before making the short walk to the execution post in the courtyard.

 

Next up was a visit to the town cemetery where these tortured souls lie buried. During one of my previous visits a noticed in the cemetery register that someone had written the word “Coward” against the names of the men who were shot at dawn, I’ll let you decide what kind of person would do such a thing. I’m pleased to say the register has now been replaced. Also buried here are many of the men who died as a result of the first use of gas by the Germans at St. Julien during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, as I said, there are some tortured souls lying buried in this cemetery. My personal reason for visiting this cemetery was to see the grave of Ernest Austing, an old boy of Southend High School for boys who went to France in mid March 1915 with the 47th (London) Division and took part in the action in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1917. Ernest died in the area of Messines Ridge where the attacking phase of a major battle commenced on the 6th June. The artillery bombardment for this had started on the 1st, and poor Ernest would have got very little sleep in the last week of his life in spite of his having a medical role. He died on 5th June 1917 and the war diary confirms their position in the region of Zillebeke and they were planning for active operations against Wytschaete and Messines positions, but unfortunately the vital pages for the beginning of June are missing from the diary so we cannot be sure what happened in those few days.

 

 

The last stop of the day was to another cemetery, Canada Farm where a Captain Wedd lies buried. He was the eldest son of Mr Edward Arthur Wedd J.P. of Whitehall, Great Wakering. He was born at Great Wakering and was educated at Mr Foster's School, Stubbington, Cheltenham College, and Caius College, Cambridge. In 1905 he rowed for Cambridge against Oxford in the University Boat Race. On leaving university he joined the Essex Yeomanry and held several medical appointments at St. Bartholemew's Hospital, London and elsewhere. In November 1914 he went to France with his regiment, and held a staff appointment for fifteen months, transferring to the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1917. In January 1916 he was mentioned in dispatches, and in April 1918 was awarded the Military Cross. On 13th July 1918 he was killed by a stray shell at Ypres while motor-cycling to tend some wounded at a casualty clearing station.

 

With the sun setting over the cemetery we made a rapid advance to our hotel in Ypres where our excellent tour guide Iain McHenry was waiting to make a short overview of how the Ypres salient was formed, before making our way to The White Goose for one of their infamous kebabs washed down by copious amounts of beer.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Grimmer
Pics plus Austing stuff

[Tony B]

Welcome to the ranks! Trouble is no known cure!:-D

[Joris]

When you finished the report and added the pictures, can we use it on the front page? It's brilliant stuff!!

[ford 369]

excellent report ,keep it up,I visited many of these places 25 years ago and think it is definitely time for a return trip

[Snapper]

Nice one JB,

 

I'm glad we got you into this place. I missed this trip - JB and I spend a lot of happy hours out in Flanders and on the Somme. JB has taken to WFA membership a little more proactively than me (I just turn up and win the raffle) and has been very busy with his sister, producing a book on the boys of Southend High School who fought in the Great War. He's a pretty average snapper and a terrible dancer; but he can cook a mean beer butt chicken if coerced.

 

MB