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Europe - Western Front Way

Time of past OR future Camino
Yearly and Various 2014-2019
Via Monastica 2022
I was recently in Ypres (Iepers), and learned from waymarkings of this walk along the whole of the WW1 Western Front, from Switzerland up to Belgium.

Remembrance Day today. In these perilous times, it is important we remember the realities of conflict - and this walk would be a prolonged opportunity to do that.

Here's another link to a recent book about it by Anthony Seldon:

Here is a website that helps with logistics in the Flanders section:
There is also a Wikiloc track out there for those who want to walk the entire route:
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Thanks for this information. In the first few days walking from Canterbury to Rome I kept coming across war cemeteries. Often very small and inconspicuous. One was for men of the Chinese Labour Corps - a unit whose story I had never heard before. In a French cemetery there were a few distinctively shaped headstones marking the graves of Muslims fighting in the French forces. A powerful reminder that it really was a world war and a very complex history

.chinese-stone.jpg
 
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We have a large Sikh community in this region but till recently I did not know about their important role in WWI.

 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I was recently in Ypres (Iepers), and learned from waymarkings of this walk along the whole of the WW1 Western Front, from Switzerland up to Belgium.

Remembrance Day today. In these perilous times, it is important we remember the realities of conflict - and this walk would be a prolonged opportunity to do that.

Here's another link to a recent book about it by Anthony Seldon:
Thank you for this - I too was at Ypres recently after paying my respects to my uncles Frank (Dozingham cemetery) and John (Ploegsteert memorial, no grave) and look forward to a revisit to do some walking in the area.
Coincidentally today, 11/11/22 is the 32nd anniversary of my Father's death. He passed at 11:11am on 11th November 1990 - and it was the Sunday! as the hospital nurse said at the time "you'll never be able to forget that, will you?"
1668163714124.png
 
We have a large Sikh community in this region but till recently I did not know about their important role in WWI.

I was pleased to see their sacrifice wasn't forgotten after the war and that some of their names marked up on the Menin Gate - they came a long way and sadly died without a trace. Over a million Indian volunteers in the European theatre alone.
 
I was pleased to see their sacrifice wasn't forgotten after the war and that some of their names marked up on the Menin Gate
Indeed.
And these memorials really hit home in a visceral way. So many boys killed, so far from home - at a time when you didn't just have a relatively short plane ride to get there..
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As those above say, there is a graveyard for almost every nationality and religion there and the sheer numbers you pass on your way to Rome is a bit of a shock if you have never been to the area. The town of Albert seems to be the centre for those travelling to visit.

The first image is from Longueval where I stopped overnight but the second picture seemed to sum it up for me.
 

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The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Yes, I am certain there are visitors today at the cemetery due to the holiday, but in late summer of 2001, we were the only visitors at the American Meuse-Argonne cemetary. The visitors book held only a few other names for that time...
 
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Yes, I am certain there are visitors today at the cemetery due to the holiday, but in late summer of 2001, we were the only visitors at the American Meuse-Argonne cemetary. The visitors book held only a few other names for that time...


Not every visitor writes something in the book of visitors. I for one never do this.

Rest assured that almost every grave has someone who will " tend to " it , if not a family member then a local or a volunteer from further away. All this under the system of " adopt a grave ".
The Margraten cemetery near Dutch Maastricht even has a waitinglist for new adoption volunteers.Under the young generation there is a great enthusiasm to participate.


 
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Lest we forget….

I cannot see the red poppies growing alongside the camino without thinking of all those lost boys. I had five uncles serve in WW2, one was shot, one got TB, and another was a POW; thankfully all came home. There were cousins of my grandfather’s generation who served in WWI, but not all were so lucky to survive.

*****

In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~Lieutenant Colonial John McCrae
 
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My mother's father died in Britain on active service during WWII and was buried there in a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. My older brother has visited the grave and sent me a photo. I have not visited it myself.
Most Sundays when I am home I visit a small plot in my local church in Calgary where some of the ashes of the first Canadian woman soldier to die in battle (Afghanistan) are buried. Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard was in command of a tank when she died.
 
Even on other routes in France (Podiensis and Gebenensis for example), as you walk through every small town, past every village church, there is a memorial to the war dead, with every name. Always, always, the list of names from WWI is long, far too long for such a small village.
 
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The Margraten cemetery near Dutch Maastricht even has a waitinglist for new adoption volunteers.Under the young generation there is a great enthusiasm to participate.
This is very touching. I was there last week, and there were some flowers. I'm sure there will be more today. The most sobering thing there was seeing this line
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
engraved on the memorial wall. Two decimated generations, one passing a torch to the other.
20221101_113737.jpg
 
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Many we never forget.

11.11.2022.jpg

Here in France on the Marne river my husband and I attended la cérémonie de commémoration du 104e anniversaire de l'Armistice de 1918 the morning service of commemoration when the Mayor and veterans laid gerbes of flowers at the foot of the war memorial.
At exactly 11am on this 11th day of the 11th month there was a moment of silence marking the moment when WW1 ended.
 
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I also when I see the poppies on the Camino think of this poem that I learnt as a child. and sometimes I nearly cry. Yesterday by chance we watched a film 'All Quite on the Western Front'. The central characters were young German soldiers. It brought so alive to me the horrors of war and I thought of those on both sides at present in Ukraine. Some of my mothers cousins were just 'cannon fodder' in world war one. How important it is to work for peace and not let old generals send young people out to fight.
 
Even on other routes in France (Podiensis and Gebenensis for example), as you walk through every small town, past every village church, there is a memorial to the war dead, with every name. Always, always, the list of names from WWI is long, far too long for such a small village.
There's just one village in the whole of France that doesn't have a memorial to its dead and that's Thierville on Upper Normandy for the simple reason that none of its sons or daughters died in the Franco-Prussian, First or Second World Wars - they all came home.
In the UK we call these "Thankful" or "Blessed" villages and there just over 50 in England and Wales - none in Scotland or Ireland.
One, Knowlton, is not far from where I live in Kent.

On a lighter note, I once worked with a horticulturalist who had been employed by our Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was responsible for our cemeteries from Normandy through to the Dutch-Belgian frontier. His workforce were French and they moved from site to site rather than being at a fixed location.
One of his gardeners was always accompanied by his pet dog until, sadly, on one trip the dog died.
The team decided the best thing would be to bury the pet where they were and discretely buried it outside the hedgerow surrounding a cemetery in the Normandy landing zone.
A few months later they were back and working away when one of the gardeners approached him.
"M'sieur Nick, M'sieur Nick, those people over there are asking where the dog is buried!"
Nick said he had visions of his job and his pension disappearing but went to speak with them, an English family.
"Where is the dog buried?"
"Dog? There's no dog buried here."
"Oh yes," they said, "he landed on D-Day and was killed with his master and they are buried together."
The paratrooper, who was only 19, and his dog had jumped over Normandy on D-Day and had died side by side.
The trooper's name is Emile Corteil and his dog Glen. They are buried at Ranville Commonwealth War Cemetery

1668182662489.png
The inscription reads:

HAD YOU KNOWN OUR BOY
YOU WOULD HAVE LOVED HIM TOO.
"GLEN" HIS PARATROOP DOG
WAS KILLED WITH HIM
 
This is a fascinating thread. On the strength of what I have read here I will order a copy of Anthony Seldon’s book and give serious consideration to coming out of ‘camino retirement’ to give it a go and pay my respects along the way. Thanks for the post.
 
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This is very touching. I was there last week, and there were some flowers. I'm sure there will be more today. The most sobering thing there was seeing this line

engraved on the memorial wall. Two decimated generations, one passing a torch to the other.
View attachment 136744

Coverage from today in Ieper/ Ypres. Videofootage with sound of almost 2 minutes.

 
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Coverage from today in Ieper/ Ypres. Videofootage of almost 2 minutes.
The town has a unique place in the remembrance of WW1. The Menin Gate is closed every night while local volunteers play the Last Post. Something that has been done every night since 1928 apart from the days during WW2 when German forces occupied the town. I was there for the ceremony one night with my children. A powerfully moving experience.

 
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The town has a unique place in the remembrance of WW1. The Menin Gate is closed every night while local volunteers play the Last Post. Something that has been done every night since 1928 apart from the days during WW2 when German forces occupied the town. I was there for the ceremony one night with my children. A powerfully moving experience.

Isn't it just? I was amazed at the crowd of mainly Belgians who attended when we were there.
My daughter was immensely proud that Ypres was liberated by the Polish army - her maternal grandfather was Polish although he was with the 2nd Corp in Italy.
 
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I also when I see the poppies on the Camino think of this poem that I learnt as a child. and sometimes I nearly cry. Yesterday by chance we watched a film 'All Quite on the Western Front'. The central characters were young German soldiers. It brought so alive to me the horrors of war and I thought of those on both sides at present in Ukraine. Some of my mothers cousins were just 'cannon fodder' in world war one. How important it is to work for peace and not let old generals send young people out to fight.
It is politicians that instruct old generals to send young men out to butcher one another. A wiser man that I, sadly gone now, once said of the European Union. Anything that can prevent young European men from having to butcher each other every forty or fifty years can only be a good thing.
 
From some years ago. What a moving tribute.
That haka...so powerfully moving.

For anyone from NZ visiting Ypres, here is a well-done brochure that inludes walking and cycling routes. I wish I'd seen it before I went, but it was only seeing the Nga Tapuwai logo on the commemorative plaque at Tyne Cot (photo in post #6, above) that got me searching for more information.
 
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The young bugler at our ceremony this morning played beautifully. And with tears on his cheeks. Must have been his grandad he was thinking of. His dad was stood back a bit. His ribbons worn because that’s what you do.
Most of the “new” town up the hill from me is built over the remnants of the first and Second World War training camps that romped our Downs. Newbies with gardening plans are still astonished by the quality and depth of the concrete hut stands they find after a little digging. There are many memorials that scarcely catch the eye
 
A few years ago I located my great uncles grave in Birr Cross Roads cemetery outside Ypres. The CWGC does an outstanding job in maintaining these cemeteries. I spent a couple of days exploring the area and attended the moving Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. Big thanks to the people of Ypres for the time and effort they put in to this tradition.
 
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There are many memorials that scarcely catch the eye
Summer 2015. Walking towards Rome along a French canal towpath on a day when I'd already passed several military cemeteries. I sat on a low concrete wall to rest in the shade for a few minutes. As I looked down at my feet I spotted this in the gravel between my boots. Sometimes history just reaches out and finds you.

IMG_20221111_234750.jpg
 
Sometimes history just reaches out and finds you.
Wow. You stopped where you stopped, and voila. Good - one that never reached its target. A somber reminder of how many did.

I do wonder about the cumulative effect of walking this whole way - Ypres alone was pretty intense.
 
There's just one village in the whole of France that doesn't have a memorial to its dead and that's Thierville on Upper Normandy for the simple reason that none of its sons or daughters died in the Franco-Prussian, First or Second World Wars - they all came home.
In the UK we call these "Thankful" or "Blessed" villages and there just over 50 in England and Wales - none in Scotland or Ireland.
One, Knowlton, is not far from where I live in Kent.

On a lighter note, I once worked with a horticulturalist who had been employed by our Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was responsible for our cemeteries from Normandy through to the Dutch-Belgian frontier. His workforce were French and they moved from site to site rather than being at a fixed location.
One of his gardeners was always accompanied by his pet dog until, sadly, on one trip the dog died.
The team decided the best thing would be to bury the pet where they were and discretely buried it outside the hedgerow surrounding a cemetery in the Normandy landing zone.
A few months later they were back and working away when one of the gardeners approached him.
"M'sieur Nick, M'sieur Nick, those people over there are asking where the dog is buried!"
Nick said he had visions of his job and his pension disappearing but went to speak with them, an English family.
"Where is the dog buried?"
"Dog? There's no dog buried here."
"Oh yes," they said, "he landed on D-Day and was killed with his master and they are buried together."
The paratrooper, who was only 19, and his dog had jumped over Normandy on D-Day and had died side by side.
The trooper's name is Emile Corteil and his dog Glen. They are buried at Ranville Commonwealth War Cemetery

View attachment 136756
The inscription reads:

HAD YOU KNOWN OUR BOY
YOU WOULD HAVE LOVED HIM TOO.
"GLEN" HIS PARATROOP DOG
WAS KILLED WITH HIM
Thanks for that. An incredible story of sacrifice by an animal. Horses died in their hundreds of thousands in The Great War and must have been terrified during the barrages.
 
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Wow. I have just seen this thread. Thank you VNwalking. And each one who has offered something. I have such paltry connection, as history began the day before I was born... but an uncle was killed in Italy, a mistaken strike on allies, and there is a memorial in my hometown, to the slain in WW1.
I think the image of the bullet posted above is eloquent. If it could only lodge itself in our consciousness. Would it help?
 
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Moving on to the present day where we are still butchering each other in Europe, I have a different story.

A friend's adopted son travelled there to Ukraine to volunteer. He had a very difficult upbringing before adoption and believed he had nothing to live for so he may as well give his life meaning, even at personal risk. He has now seen more of the effects of war than anyone should.

While there he met a kindred soul; a Swedish nurse whose parents tried everything they could to stop her going. She was more of an idealist to the son's fatalism. They got together, and now have a baby on the way. The war has given them a chance of a new life together, if they can get past the practicalities of immigration laws in UK/Sweden. They may even consider Ukraine.

So despite the undoubted horrors of war life seems to find a way to go on.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Thanks for that. An incredible story of sacrifice by an animal. Horses died in their hundreds of thousands in The Great War and must have been terrified during the barrages.
A few weeks ago the English folk musician and singer Paul Sartin died suddenly at the age of 51. Probably best known as a member of Bellowhead but also as half of Belshazzar's Feast alongside the accordionist Paul Hutchinson. They recorded this song which recalls the partnership of men and horses lost in the First World War. Always an emotive piece for me but doubly so now.

 
Many we never forget.

View attachment 136761

Here in France on the Marne river my husband and I attended la cérémonie de commémoration du 104e anniversaire de l'Armistice de 1918 the morning service of commemoration when the Mayor and veterans laid gerbes of flowers at the foot of the war memorial.
At exactly 11am on this 11th day of the 11th month there was a moment of silence marking the moment when WW1 ended.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Slaughter of the innocents. Who had no choice nor any idea of what or why. Terrible.
So sad, so true. In Paris there is an island dedicated to animal graves. The cemetery is formal and lovingly maintained. There rests a faithful dog named Memere, born in 1914 and beloved by the Chasseurs a Pied. The tomb depicts such a sweet moment of friendship during the hell of war, it makes a heart break.

asnieres Memere 1.JPG asnieres Memere 2.JPG
 
This Haka is the one I grieve with the most...https://youtu.be/xI6TRTBZUMM
I often think we in Europe should learn Haka. There are situations when a minute of silence seems so wrong and not enough.

My husband and I visited Somme, went to Mametz wood battle field site, the one with the red Welsh dragon. That's where both his grandfathers were fighting in Welsh fusiliers corps, they didn't know each other but their children later got married. There were many people visiting all around, there are so many war cemeteries that you see 3 others from any one you are at. Not so many write in visitor's books. Just not into it.

I'm from Latvia, the 11th November is Lāčplēsis day there. It commemorates successful defence of Riga during WW1.
 
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