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Flanders 1914-1918: Across the Barbed Wire, Ypres (2026)

06/10/2024

Pretty much 110 years ago, on 7 October 1914 the German 4th Cavalry Corps crossed the Leie (Lys) towards the north. Elements of the 3rd and Bavarian cavalry division spent the following night in Ypres. The first and last time German troops entered the town.

"The new day - 7th October - dawned and brought with it the flurry of colourful activity amongst the mounted troops. We were now north-east of Lille, having moved around it in a broad sweep to the east. The place was teaming with cavalry and we kept bumping into the regiments of other cavalry divisions. There were Guards cavalry, Bavarian Uhlans and Chaveaulegers and the roads were full of horses, riders and wagons. We drew closer to a small town with a great church. It was the well-known town of Menin. The whole cavalry division was drawn up there, together with its heavy baggage train. It was just as though we were on a peacetime manoeuvre. After a lengthy halt and then numerous hold ups on the road, including the presence of units crossing the line of March, which cost much cursing and swearing, at long last we marched into the little town and along the length of its main street, under the gaze of its curious inhabitants who crowded the streets. We were to see it later in a very changed situation. Without any further delay we carried on along the broad main road to Geluwe and Geluveld. It was a demanding, but fascinating march. The Battalion moved along the centre of the road with the cavalry sticking to bridle paths to the left and right. Sometimes walking, sometimes trotting, they threw up large quantities of dust, which was a constant trial to us. We were accompanied by wagons which carried those of our men who were exhausted or suffering from foot troubles. Away on the horizon the high gothic Towers of a larger town loomed up: Ypres. Apparently cavalry patrols moving near to it had come under fire, so the cavalry halter and orders for an attack by the Battalion were issued. However, infantry foot patrols pushing ahead soon reported that there were no enemies in Ypres.

A marvellous evening mood spread through the ranks. Marching past magnificent properties, beautiful gardens and chateaus, we approached the walls of the town. Crossing ditches, bridges and the moat, we passed through an ancient gateway and entered this famous old town. We first moved through the outer streets containing nothing of great significance then we came to the broad town square in front of the famous Cloth Hall, the giant tower of which reached way up into the darkening sky. Its rich Gothic ornamentation was set off in a refined Way by its brilliant, shining windows. The entire Square was enclosed by steep, dark Gable ends. The companies halted in the middle of the square and piled their rifles together. Shy, but curious, the inhabitants watched all this unfamiliar military activity, with no concept at all of its seriousness. Up until then the war had been conducted a long way away from where they lived.

A search had been underway to find accommodation for our men and soon and soon an excellent place had been located. It was an attractive, well appointed, barracks with a pleasant terrace and commodious rooms. Externally it looked like a chateau; nobody would have taken it for a barracks at all. Meanwhile, our men looked around the streets and squares with staring eyes. The shops on the main street were as elegant as those of a large city and we could almost feel the proximity of the sea. After attending to the care of my men, I took a stroll through the streets. The side streets were dark and lonely, built in the friendly style of a Dutch suburb. People were out into bout on the main street well into the night. It was difficult to communicate with the inhabitants. Only one or two understood French and hardly any of our Bavarians could speak Plattdeutsch.

I entered some of the well-lit shops and benefited by buying things which were very welcome to us, separated as we were from the bulk of our equipment. This included excellent Belgian ci**rs, which however were very expensive and some of the really delicious hard biscuits, which are a specialty of Ypres and similar to others I found later in Kortrijk.
I found out that on one occasion, about 10 to 14 days previously, a car containing British officers had driven through the town, but we were the first troops to have set foot into Ypres. The people were quite friendly towards me, but they expressed neither sympathy, nor antipathy towards the German advance. Their every third expression was, ‘poor Belgium’. I called it one of the most beautiful houses on the main street to make billeting arrangements for myself and several other officers, but the lady of the house explained that a number of other officers had already occupied the house. Never mind! I wandered over to an equally striking building opposite. Having rung the doorbell for a long time, the door was finally answered by a friendly cleric, welcome to us and offered us dinner at 10 pm.

Until then I wandered the streets. I returned to the main square and absorbed the unique sights. all that which lies in ruins and Ashes now, then stood tall and straight, in striking splendour, as though it had been built to last for all eternity. The shining lights in the windows had now been extinguished. several senior officers of the town and government had been taken hostage. A finance officer had been forced to deliver up the town funds and was only allowed to move about under secure es**rt. the sound of the footsteps of our bavarians could be heard coming from the covered walkways of the Cloth Hall, where a guard room had been established in a chamber on the ground floor and riders clattered over the square delivering messages to the divisional staff, which was located in a hotel next to the Cloth Hall. We occupied the whole of Ypres, which was simple because it was surrounded by walls and to moat and was accessible only by a few main roads which passed through the historic gates. I walked a few steps to Saint Martins Cathedral. It's great dark bulk, with the height of its spire lost in the darkness of the night, bore down heavily on the pointed gable ends of the old houses which surrounded it. I was unable, however, to settle down to appreciate the artistry of it, due to a combination of the hustle and bustle and the excitement of a moment in world history that was to occur only on this one occasion. It was, in fact, a peaceful and moving interlude in the life of what the world has come to know by the name of Ypres - and we were there.

That evening we did not visualise anything of what was to come; nor anymore did the disturbed and curious inhabitants.
On my way back to my quarters I talked to a number of them. They had no knowledge of British or French troops and absolutely nothing about the war; they had not received any newspapers for months. ‘Where were we marching?’ I had no idea myself. In a bookshop I bought a town plan and a map of the surrounding area. I even paid in cash rather than leaving a credit note. It was just as though we were still at peace. In our quarters the friendly priest talked to us about their hopes for a Flemish state and their political humiliation. He could not speak good German, but was better in French. He had undergone training at a Jesuit seminary in Austria and had spent a long time in France and Italy, but only a short period in Germany. (...) We laid down to rest in good, broad comfortable French beds. Our departure was sudden and rather like responding to an alarm call. As dawn broke we left the hospitable town and headed down the road towards Vlamertinge. I cast one last glance back at the Peaceful scene. The morning fires were lit, the smoke rose comfortingly above the steep gable ends, whilst above them were towers of the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral, the lead roofs and the great gates, which projected a scene right out of the Middle Ages."

Hauptmann d.R. Otto Rutz (K.B. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 1)

03/10/2024

Dugout comforts near Wieltje, May 1915

02/10/2024

‘..AT PRESENT MISSING’ - A TRENCH RAID NEAR YPRES

During the First World War, the issuing of 'Anerkennungs-Urkunden' (lit: certificates of appreciation) for acts of bravery and heroism, for particularly successful raids or patrols was seen as an effective means to keep the men motivated and keen. Mostly designed and printed on a divisional and regimental level, they exist in a plethora of different designs. Being fragile paper items and awarded in small numbers, only few survive today making them sought after collectors items. The stunning example shown here was awarded by the XXVI. Reserve-Korps to a Musketeer in Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 240 (RIR 240)

****

The trench raid of Patrouille Heiligenmann

In summer 1916, RIR 240, as part of 52. Reserve-Division (52.RD), was deployed south-west of the road Pilkem-Ypres in Flanders, having just arrived from an extended stretch of service along the river Yser. The men of the regiment were experienced and keen, its men were well known for their patrolling and trench raiding skills. The commanding officer of 52. Reserve-Division, Generalmajor Emil Waldorf, greatly believed in the philosophy that men would become lazy and idle if not kept in constant action and as such pushed his regimental commanders to conduct raids and patrols as often as possible and to reward those who excelled in them.

Professional raiders, whose names are mostly forgotten nowadays, emerged. By the summer of 1916 some of RIR 240s men had already participated in 25 or more trench raids. Unteroffizier Merz of 6. Kompanie RIR 240, even became famous internationally, when Austrian and Swiss newspapers wrote about his exploits and christened him ‘most feared trench raider on the entire Western Front’.

Successful raids were greatly rewarded, not only with promotions and medals, but also with custom made and highly decorative documents like the one shown here. Surviving examples of this particular design seem to have been issued exclusively to men of 52. Reserve Division and not only are they decorative, they also list the deed for which they were issued.

The one shown here was awarded in August 1916 to Musketier Ibels, for ‘the capture of two Englishmen’ during the fighting at Ypres. The story on how these two prisoners were taken is described in great and hair-raising detail in the regimental history of RIR240 written by Oberstleutnant Lennartz, former regimental adjutant and Hauptmann a.D. Nagel, the former commander of II./RIR 240, and published in 1938. The history is full of detailed descriptions of the more spectacular trench raids conducted by men of the regiment and offers a rare view onto the forgotten ‘small war’ waged with pistols, hand gr***des, knives and often with bare fists:

‘(...) to find out more about the enemy’s dispositions prisoners had to be taken. With passionate zeal all companies participated in that quest (...), but even though they brought in rifles, hand gr***des and steel helmets, the much-longed for prisoners failed to materialise. During the night of 25/26 July alone eight officer-patrols voluntarily left the trenches with the aim to bring in an Englishman, dead or alive. The only success was achieved by patrol Heiligenmann of 4. Kompanie (...). From the 50 men who had volunteered for it, Heiligenmann had picked seventeen. The participants crawled forward in a skirmish line, each man grabbing a long rope which had been knotted together from rifle cleaning cords. On each flank there was an Unteroffizier and four men which had been trained in the assault platoon. Those were armed with a large supply of hand gr***des. During the attack they would seal of the flanks, blocking and eliminating enemy reinforcements, while the others would capture or annihilate the opposition encountered in the sealed off section of trench. The men in that middle section were armed with daggers, clubs and pistols - only a few carried rifles. At 11:15 pm the patrol left the trench and reached the enemy wire entanglement without being spotted. The foe was just in the process of throwing caltrops over the wire while some of his riflemen fired sporadically into the darkness. When Heiligenmann had assured himself that everyone was ready to charge he yanked both sides of the rope towards him. This was the agreed sign to launch the attack. With a loud hurrah the patrol jumped into the strongly occupied enemy trench, taking the occupants - who were mostly sitting on benches along the parados by surprise (...). While the flank groups now started to seal off the ends of the trench section, a chaotic close-combat developed inside the trench. Unteroffizier Frank had half jumped into the trench close to Leutnant Heiligenmann and found himself looking at 5 Englishmen pointing their revolvers at him. With great presence of mind however, he loudly shouted the watchword ‘Othello’, which a patrol of 9th Kompanie had overheard the night before. The English briefly hesitated and Frank used this moment to climb out of the trench where he grabbed a hand gr***de from Leutnant Heiligenmann and threw it between the perplexed Englishmen. Three of them were wounded while the fourth was shot down by Frank who had already shifted his focus on the fifth Englishman, who he had identified as a Corporal. This one pretended to be dead. Frank, a professional athlete and wrestler, grabbed him to lift him up whereupon the Englishman began to defend himself. Heiligenmann now assisted Frank and by now the Corporal was resisting so energetically that a great amount of force had to be used which resulted in Heiligenmann breaking the Englishman’s right upper arm. During the fight other Englishmen tried to enter the trench from the second line, but were met by Unteroffizier Behrends and his men, who welcomed them with hand gr***des. While doing so Behrends and his men came across the entrance of a dugout which still seemed to be occupied by the English. Into this they threw hand gr***des. While the main patrol was still brawling with the English, Unteroffizier Kriete on the right and Unteroffizier Kuhlmann on the left repelled the English with hand gr***des. Heiligenmann, having fulfilled his task to capture an Englishmen, blew his whistle, signalling his men to withdraw. On the left flank however, the men had managed to capture a second Englishman. With those two prisoners the patrol now initiated their difficult withdrawal. Due to the sound of the fighting, the men securing the left flank had overheard the whistle signal and only realised what was happening when they heard the sounds of their comrades retreating through no man’s land with their prisoners. All men however managed to return unhurt, only one man had been lightly wounded by a hand gr***de splinter. (...) The foe had suffered great casualties and the main goal had been achieved, the enemy on the other side had been identified. English Guard Grenadiers belonging to the Guards Division. The Corporal carried diaries and letters which offered information about deployment of the enemy division. Participating in the patrol: Leutnant Heiligenmann as leader, Unteroffizier Behrends, Kuhlmann, Frank and Kriete. Musketier Friedrich, Villers, Kriechel and Engel. Reservist Otto, Musketier Meis, Kriegsfreiwillige Schroder, Stupp, Soldat Havertz, Musketier Ibels, Fegers, Fourne, Gilson, Hainke, Oepen, Leclour and Peters. The success had made other, larger raiding operations unnecessary and things began to quiet down a little. The regimental commander agreed to give all participants of 4., 8. and 9. Kompanie a day of rest to allow for a trip to Bruges or Ostend. In addition all participants received an honorary payment from the regimental purser.

***A view from the other side**

In a stark contrast of detail commonly found when comparing German with British records, the war diary of the 4th Grenadier Guards, also recorded the event: ‘At about 1:10 am, a party of the enemy raided the 2nd coy trench - a few, probably 6 or 8, got in over the parapet and bombed a working party, who were taken by surprise. Second Lieutenant MacLear, hearing the bombing, rushed to the spot and was killed by a bomb thrown at close quarters. Bombing parties from the left and right at once advanced inwards, but the enemy did not wait, and in the confusion made good their retreat. Our casualties were 1 officer killed, 1 O.R. killed and 12 O.R. wounded. 1 Sgt and 1 man at present missing. The loss of 2Lt. MacClear, who was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry on the night of 19 to 20 April will be greatly felt by all ranks. He was absolutely fearless and self reliant.’ The unnamed O.R. killed in action can be identified with some certainty as Private Henry Hulse from Frodsham in Cheshire.

Both Lieutenant MacLear and Private Hulse are today buried on Essex Farm cemetery.

Musketier Ibels was mentioned in regimental dispatches in August 1917 and survived the war and seems to have passed away in July 1971

02/10/2024

Early in the war, German forces managed to turn Lichtervelde, with its very important and strategic railway station and its no less important approach roads, into a supply and medical centre. As such, the town was often targeted by the Allies, who tried to destroy German supplies with bombing raids. This was often done at the cost of civilian casualties.

On the 6 September 1915, at around 16:30, the first major bombing of Lichtervelde took place. Allied planes dropped bombs at German troops who were exercising in the town. No one had seen it coming. As usual British aeroplanes had circled high over the municipality to reconnoitre. This time however, they unexpectedly swooped down and dropped bombs. The bombardment was terrible and for the first time the local civilian population suffered casualties. Seven people were killed outright and a further two severely wounded.

Feldkriegsgerichtsrat (Field Judge-Advocat) Rittmeister Georg Göhmann was present in Lichtervelde during the bombing. In letter to his wife he recalled:

“Saturday 11.9.15, Kleist presented me with the Iron Cross today and invited me to dinner. Marquard was very pleased with it. He had been saying for two months that I should turn to Seckendorff, for it was surely an oversight that I had not been awarded it earlier. Of course I could not have done so, for I would only have been increasing the number of those to whom it was given out of politeness.

In fact, they thought I had received it already a long ago and was just not wearing it. The weather was fine that week and so the aeroplanes turned up. They dropped bombs in Lichtervelde and killed 4 members of the Res. Inf. Reg. 236, including the regimental doctor, as well as 7 Belgians. The many supply columns in Lichtervelde had probably attracted them. The cobbles of the pavement greatly increased the success of the one bomb, which caused so much damage, as all the others that fell to the ground only made noise.”

02/10/2024

MCCUDDEN’S SEVENTEENTH - OBERLEUTNANT ERNST HÄDRICH.

This faded photo shows a highly decorated Saxon Oberleutnant and observer in the Fliegertruppe. It is signed in ink on the obverse: ‘In the field, 28.9.1917. To my dear pilot Koriath as a friendly souvenir of joy and sorrow on joint combat flights.’ It is signed, ‘Ernst Hädrich, Oblt’.

Ernst Hädrich was born on 30 December 1893 in Weißenfels in the Prussian Province of Saxony. When the war broke out, Hädrich was serving as an officer in the Royal Saxon Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 12, a regiment in which would continue to serve until at least September 1916. All of his awards were won during the time he served as an artillery officer. Most prominent on his medal bar and most certainly most noteworthy is the Saxon Knights Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry, the highest bravery award the Kingdom could bestow. On second place of his medal bar is the second class of the Saxon Knights Cross of the Order of Merit with Swords. On third place he is wearing the Saxon Knights Cross Second Class of the Order of Albrecht with Swords while the fourth and last place is taken by the Prussian Iron Cross 2nd Class.

The cititation for the award of the Military Order of St. Henry survives: ‘Leutnant Hädrich has distinguished himself as officer-observer during the costly fighting at Verdun and especially during the assault on the village of Fleury where on 23. 6. 1916, he has directed the fire of the artillery while advancing with first wave of the infantry and as such ensured the artilleristic defence against French counter attacks. He set a shining example for the men and, in the face of heaviest artillery fire, obtained the highest commitment of his subordinates to achieve a maximum of firepower from the guns. Leutnant Hädrich has crucially contributed to the capture of Fleury.’

Shortly after having been wounded the second time, Hädrich decided to join the Luftstreitkräfte in September 1916 he was transferred to observers school and, in early 1917, to his new field unit, Flieger-Abteilung 8 where he seemed to have been teamed-up with a pilot named Koriath, of whom little is known.

On 17 October 1917 Oberleutnant Hädrich took off from FA8s airfield at Ooigem in Flanders with another pilot, Flieger Heinrich Horstmann, on board a LVG C.V reconnaissance two-seater. It was to be the last flight of both men.

What happened is described in the after action report of the man who would become their vanquisher, British ace and later VC holder James McCudden of 56 Squadron who later stated that: 'Whilst going north at 14000 feet over Wytschaete at 11am saw EA two-seater getting height over Comines. I waited till EA crossed lines and started pursuit when EA was well East. Caught up to EA just S of Poperinghe without being observed, and fired a burst of 30 rounds from Vickers from just under his tail. EA's propeller stopped and petrol which was streaming from his centre-section caught fire. The flames soon burnt out and after going down vertically to 12,000 EA's left wings fell off and he crashed just south of Vlamertinghe.'

In his book ‘Flying Fury’, McCudden recorded a far more detailed account of the encounter:

‘Nothing much happened of further interest to relate until October 17th, when I shot down another Hun two-seater within our lines. We left the ground at about 10 a.m. to do a patrol over our lines, as the wind was so strong from the west that I was given orders not to cross the lines. As we got our height over the Nieppe Forest, I saw that the visibility was very good, and so I thought that we should have some Huns over our lines. Very soon a Hun came over Armentières and then turned south, but it was no use our chasing him, for we had not yet sufficient height, so we flew on up the line towards Ypres, and on our way I watched a Hun two- seater who was over Commines, apparently waiting to cross the lines as soon as we passed, so I went on as far as Ypres, over which we arrived at 14,000 feet. Presently we saw a German two-seater scuttling towards Neuve Eglise, so very soon we were between him and his lines. The Hun was slightly higher than we were, and as we went towards him another Hun passed over us, whom some of my patrol turned to engage. However, now that the first Hun had seen us he came east towards us and then turned away west again, no doubt with the intention of trying to out-climb us, but I am sure he did not fully appreciate the performance of a well tuned S.E.5.

Very soon I got to my position, and fired a good burst from my Vickers, when the L.V.G. at once burst into flames which issued from the centre section. While the Hun was turning to the left I could see the unfortunate observer standing up in an attitude of abject dejection. As he turned I saw that the flame, which had burned the fabric off his rudder, had gone out, for apparently there was not much petrol in the tank in the centre section to burn for long. By now the Hun was gliding down towards the North, and as he had no means of turning either way I was interested in following him down until he landed in our lines, for we were now over Vlamertinghe, which was fifteen miles from the trenches. But now another member of the patrol arrived and at once commenced shooting at the poor unfortunate Hun, who went down in a dive and then broke to pieces, no doubt because of the weakening of the centre section of his wings by the fire. I followed the wreckage down till the Hun crashed and then landed alongside on some good stubble in order to put a guard on the Hun.
I left my engine ticking over while I went to look at the Hun, and I found two groups of Australian infantry. I pushed my way into the middle of the first group and found that the attraction was the observer, who had fallen from the machine at about 5,000 feet. He was a huge man named Ernst Hadrich, and seeing that he was dead I went over to the other group of men, about a hundred yards away, and here found the remains of the
machine and the pilot.

Everything of any value in the way of souvenirs on the machine had already gone, for although I landed a very short time after the Hun came down, the Tommies had already taken what was worth taking, and the way they behaved around the machine was not very edifying from the disciplined point of view in which I had always been brought up. Seeing that I could not do anything more, I went to have some lunch with a Sapper officer at an artillery group headquarters, where they were very good to me and gave me a good time. After lunch I restarted my engine and flew back to my aerodrome with my machine laden with various interesting fittings from the Hun machine, which was a new type of L.V.G. with all controls "balanced," and for motive power a 200 h.p. Benz engine. To this day I have a very nice cigarette box made out of the propeller of that Hun.’

It is well possible that Oblt. Hädrich jumped to his death intentionally, thus evading to burn to death in the stricken LVG. We will never know.

Oberleutnant Ernst Hädrich and Flieger Heinrich Horstmann are buried together in a grave on the The Huts CWGC cemetery, 6 kilometres south-west of Ypres in Flanders, Belgium.

02/10/2024

Why does our logo consist of a blue cornflower and a forgetmenot?

It begins with a story about Princess Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1776-1810), who married the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm III at the tender age of 17. Just a few years later, he was crowned King of Prussia at the age of 27. Luise thus became Queen of Prussia at the age of just 21. Due to her youthful beauty, cordiality, uncomplicated manners and bourgeois virtues, she was highly respected by the people from the very beginning of her reign. She benefited from the fact that, together with her husband, she mingled with ordinary citizens and could be seen at public festivals or at the Berlin Christmas market without an entourage. In 1808, Queen Luise reported on their mutual love: "He pleases me in all things and I please him and we are most comfortable when we are together."

The happy relationship produced 10 children, only three of whom died at an early age. Rather unusually and progressively for the time, Luise personally took care of her children's upbringing. Parents and children were on first-name terms, although at that time it was still customary in better society to address each other with the formal address "Sie". After the turmoil of the French Revolution, Napoleon's troops defeated Prussia at the Battle of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806. Luise and her children had to flee to East Prussia. Her second eldest son, Wilhelm, who was only nine years old at the time and would later become Kaiser Wilhelm I, was also travelling with her. On the journey Luise passed the time for herself and her family by weaving wreaths of cornflowers for her children. This incident must have made a great impression on little Wilhelm, because he kept it firmly in his memory until he was an adult. He declared the simple cornflower to be his mother's favourite flower, in keeping with her bourgeois and informal lifestyle.

As newly appointed Emperor in 1871, Wilhelm placed a bouquet of cornflowers on the grave of his mother, who had died far too young, before he went to war. He also made the cornflower his favourite flower - perhaps also because it blooms so beautifully in "cornflower blue" or "Prussian blue", the colour of Prussian uniforms. It is due to these patriotic connotations that the flower also came to symbolise the Prussian military. On special occasions, Kaiser Wilhelm's followers also wore them as buttonhole flowers in their lapels. In the years before the First World War, the veterans of the German army were commemorated on a special 'Cornflower Day' (2 September).

Today, the blue forgetmenot is the German flower of remembrance for all victims of war and tyranny and as such, it also serves as a symbol of the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge).

02/10/2024

The former battlefields of the First World War in Flanders Fields in Belgium have become a poignant pilgrimage site, attracting millions of mostly British visitors annually. As such, the narrative presented in the historical landscape is overwhelmingly anglocentric, focusing primarily on the experiences and sacrifices of British and Commonwealth soldiers.

This focus has come at the expense of acknowledging the contributions and suffering of other nations, particularly Germany. Memorials, museums, and guided tours primarily highlight British military actions, perpetuating a rather selective memory of the war. While the sacrifices of British and Commonwealth soldiers were undoubtedly immense, this singular focus neglects the experiences of other nations that fought and bled on the same soil.

The French, and indeed the Belgians themselves, who played a significant role in the fighting, are often relegated to the background. Their contributions, though substantial, are overshadowed by the dominant British narrative. This imbalance creates a distorted historical picture, neglecting the shared multinational effort that characterized the war in this region.

Even more marginalised is the German experience. While German soldiers were the primary adversaries of the British and their allies, their story is largely absent from the mainstream narrative in Flanders Fields. The few German cemeteries, are sometimes perceived as mere "tick-box" destinations for tourists, or worse, as places to indulge in a fascination with the macabre.

This erasure of the German experience is particularly striking given the sheer scale of their involvement. Millions of German soldiers lived, fought and died in Flanders Fields. Their presence was, in fact, the catalyst for the entire conflict in the region. Yet, their story remains largely untold, their sacrifices unacknowledged.
This selective historical presentation has significant implications. It perpetuates a narrow understanding of the war, neglecting the complex interplay of motivations, actions, and consequences that shaped the conflict. It also fails to acknowledge the shared humanity of all those who fought, regardless of nationality.

A more inclusive and nuanced approach to tourism in Flanders Fields is necessary. Recognizing the contributions and sacrifices of all nations involved, including Germany, would create a more accurate and meaningful historical experience for visitors. It would also promote a deeper understanding of the war's complexities, enrich the historical understanding of visitors and also foster a greater sense of empathy and reconciliation, crucial for remembering the war and honouring its victims.

On this page we will attempt to tell some of these forgotten, German stories in an attempt to redress this imbalance a little.

Flanders 1914-1918: Across the Barbed Wire

06/10/2024

03/10/2024

02/10/2024

02/10/2024

02/10/2024

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02/10/2024

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