Walking the Salient

Battleground Europe

WALKING THE SALIENT

Other guides in the Battleground Europe Series:

Walking the Salient by Paul Reed

Ypres - Sanctuary Wood and Hooge by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Hill 60 by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Messines Ridge by Peter Oldham

Ypres - Polygon Wood by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Passchendaele by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Airfields and Airmen by Michael O’Connor

Ypres - St Julien by Graham Keech

Walking the Somme by Paul Reed

Somme - Gommecourt by Nigel Cave

Somme - Serre by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Somme - Beaumont Hamel by Nigel Cave

Somme - Thiepval by Michael Stedman

Somme - La Boisselle by Michael Stedman

Somme - Fricourt by Michael Stedman

Somme - Carnoy-Montauban by Graham Maddocks

Somme - Pozieres by Graham Keech

Somme - Courcelette by Paul Reed

Somme - Boom Ravine by Trevor Pidgeon

Somme - Mametz Wood by Michael Renshaw

Somme - Delville Wood by Nigel Cave

Somme - Advance to Victory (North) 1918 by Michael Stedman

Somme - Flers by Trevor Pidgeon

Somme - Bazentin Ridge by Edward Hancock

Somme - Combles by Paul Reed

Somme - Beaucourt by Michael Renshaw

Somme - Hamel by Peter Pedersen

Somme - Airfields and Airmen by Michael O’Connor

Arras - Vimy Ridge by Nigel Cave

Arras - Gavrelle by Trevor Tasker and Kyle Tallett

Arras - Bullecourt by Graham Keech

Arras - Monchy le Preux by Colin Fox

Hindenburg Line by Peter Oldham

Hindenburg Line Epehy by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line Riqueval by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line Villers-Plouich by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line - Cambrai by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Hindenburg Line - Saint Quentin by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Hindenburg Line - Bourlon Wood by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Cambrai - Airfields and Airmen by Michael O’Connor

La Bassée - Neuve Chapelle by Geoffrey Bridger

Loos - Hohenzollen Redoubt by Andrew Rawson

Loos - Hill 70 by Andrew Rawson

Fromelles by Peter Pedersen

Mons by Jack Horsfall and Nigel Cave

Accrington Pals Trail by William Turner

Poets at War: Wilfred Owen by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Poets at War: Edmund Blunden by Helen McPhail and Philip Gues

Poets at War: Graves & Sassoon by Helen McPhail and Philip Gues

Gallipoli by Nigel Steel

Gallipoli - Gully Ravine by Stephen Chambers

Gallipoli - Landings at Helles by Huw & Jill Rodge

Walking the Italian Front by Francis Mackay

Italy - Asiago by Francis Mackay

Verdun: Fort Doumont by Christina Holstein

Boer War - The Relief of Ladysmith by Lewis Childs

Boer War - The Siege of Ladysmith by Lewis Childs

Boer War - Kimberley by Lewis Childs

Isandlwana by Ian Knight and Ian Castle

Rorkes Drift by Ian Knight and Ian Castle

Stamford Bridge & Hastings by Peter Marren

Wars of the Roses - Wakefield/Towton by Philip A. Haigh

English Civil War - Naseby by Martin Marix Evans, Peter Burton an Michael Westaway

English Civil War - Marston Moor by David Clark

Napoleonic - Hougoumont by Julian Paget and Derek Saunders

Napoleonic - Waterloo by Andrew Uffindell and Michael Corum

WW2 Dunkirk by Patrick Wilson

WW2 Calais by Jon Cooksey

WW2 Boulogne by Jon Cooksey

WW2 Normandy - Pegasus Bridge/Merville Battery by Carl Shilleto

WW2 Normandy - Utah Beach by Carl Shilleto

WW2 Normandy - Omaha Beach by Tim Kilvert-Jones

WW2 Normandy - Gold Beach by Christopher Dunphie & Garry Johnson

WW2 Normandy - Gold Beach Jig by Tim Saunders

WW2 Normandy - Juno Beach by Tim Saunders

WW2 Normandy - Sword Beach by Tim Kilvert-Jones

WW2 Normandy - Operation Bluecoat by Ian Daglish

WW2 Normandy - Operation Goodwood by Ian Daglish

WW2 Normandy - Epsom by Tim Saunders

WW2 Normandy - Hill 112 by Tim Saunders

WW2 Normandy - Mont Pinçon by Eric Hunt

WW2 Das Reich – Drive to Normandy by Philip Vickers

WW2 Market Garden - Nijmegen by Tim Saunders

WW2 Market Garden - Hell’s Highway by Tim Saunders

WW2 Market Garden - Arnhem, Oosterbeek by Frank Steer

WW2 Market Garden - Arnhem, The Bridge by Frank Steer

WW2 Market Garden - The Island by Tim Saunders

WW2 Battle of the Bulge - St Vith by Michael Tolhurst

WW2 Battle of the Bulge - Bastogne by Michael Tolhurst

WW2 Channel Islands by George Forty

WW2 Walcheren by Andrew Rawson

WW2 Remagen Bridge by Andrew Rawson

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Battleground Europe

WALKING THE SALIENT

PAUL REED

Series editor

Nigel Cave

LEO COOPER

Dedicated to Edmund and Poppy

First published in 1999, reprinted 2001, 2004

by

LEO COOPER

an imprint of

Pen Sword Books Limited

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright © Paul Reed 1999, 2001, 2004

ISBN 0 85052 617 5

A CIP catalogue record of this book is available

from the British Library

Printed by CPI, UK

For up-to-date information on other titles produced under the Leo Cooper imprint, please telephone or write to:

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Telephone 01226 734222

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction by Series Editor

User’s Guide

Chapter 1 Ypres Town Walk

Chapter 2 Yser Canal Walk – Ypres to Boesinghe

Chapter 3 Sanctuary Wood - Hooge - Bellewaarde Ridge Walk

Chapter 4 Zillebeke Walk

Chapter 5 The Bluff – Hill 60 Walk

Chapter 6 Passchendaele Walk 98

Chapter 7 Behind The Lines Walk: Brandhoek – Vlamertinghe

Chapter 8 Poperinghe Town Walk

Chapter 9 Locre – Kemmel Walk

Chapter 10 ‘Whitesheet’ Walk

Chapter 11 Messines Ridge Walk

Chapter 12 ‘Plugstreet Wood’ Walk

Further reading

Selective Index

PREFACE

It seemed that for most of my life all roads led to Ypres. As I grew up the names of Plugstreet Wood, Wipers and Passchendaele were not unknown to me. I was told of games of football in No Man’s Land at Christmas 1914; of an uncle mortally wounded making railway sleeper roads across a moonscape of shell holes during Third Ypres; school pictures of the Cloth Hall appeared in every history text book and I recognised it as well as any building in my own town. But where was this place? What was it?

It took me many years to finally take that road to Ypres. As a fourteen year old schoolboy I sat, on a hot summer’s day, in the main square outside that Cloth Hall I knew so well, when a hand touched my shoulder. The voice enquired if I was English. I was. And from where? Sussex. It was a veteran of the Great War who questioned me, a man who had fought in my own county regiment, the Royal Sussex, for over two years. He was here to find the grave of his mate, he said, last seen in March 1918. I like to think that something passed between us that day. I met him again, many years later and he was one of nearly three hundred Great War veterans I had the privilege, the honour, to know or correspond with. Some wrote me letters describing their experiences with which I could fill this book. Others wrote confessions; of mates left wounded in No Man’s Land, of prisoners executed in the heat of battle – confessions of fear, pain and enjoyment. Yes, they said, many of them had enjoyed those years in the trenches. But all of them spoke in a different tone when they mentioned that place I journeyed to as an eager young teenager – Ypres.

From these men, and from the books by the likes of Campion-Vaughan, Hitchcock, Hutchison, Williamson and countless others, in my mind was built a picture of the Ypres Salient which has stayed with me all my life. Year after year I went back, each time seeing a different memorial, another cemetery, visiting another grave – or the same one as before – walking narrow lanes and fields where once were trench lines. But even in my lifetime the Salient has changed; another house was built, a factory unit thrown up or some aspect of the town meddled with. Life must go on, and it did. And it made following the men of those times more and more difficult.

The Salient is a secret I’ve kept for years, shared only with close friends and the dozens of veterans I knew who were there during those frightful years of death and destruction. They have all faded away now, and this book is too late for them. But just as they confessed to me, here is my confession – my Salient. And by walking it, across the Wet Flanders Plain which has taken up so much of my thoughts over countless years, you will be following in the footsteps of all those men who fought and died ‘In the defence of Ypres’. Men whom Henry Williamson felt were ‘lost in Ancient Sunlight’, and whose ghosts cast long shadows of a summer evening at the Menin Gate as bugles call the waiting crowds to thoughtful silence.

Paul Reed

Sussex, The Somme & Flanders

August 1998

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The genesis of Walking The Salient began a long time ago and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my former teachers at Holy Trinity School, Crawley, for taking me to the Salient all those years ago: Roger Bastable and Les Coates (himself the author of two superb books on the Great War) have a lot to answer for!

Those who have walked the Salient with me include: Stephen Clarke, Colin & Lisa Gillard, Geoff Goodyear, Edmund, Tony & Joan Poucher, Terry Russell, Frank & Lou Stockdale, Pam Waugh, Andrew Whittington, and not forgetting of course the old ‘Sussex Pals’: Geoff Bridger, Brian Fullagar, Clive Metcalfe, Julian Sykes, and Terry Whippy.

Dozens of others helped with a multitude of tasks, among them: Commonwealth War Graves Commission office Ypres, Ron Jack who obtained a copy of Talbot Papineau’s service record for me, Andy Moss, the staff of the Public Record Office, Tony Scala, Klaus Späth for the loan of several German photographs, and Tom Tulloch-Marshall.

Having organised battlefield tours to the Ypres Salient for over 3,000 people in the two years leading up to the publication of this book I would like to thank all those at Leger Travel Ltd, and the many coach operators and drivers with whom I have worked. And not forgetting the passengers – many have become good friends.

In the Salient itself the locals have often been kind and helpful. In particular I would like to mention Henk and family at the excellent Hotel Sultan who have provided many fabulous meals and a good place to rest. Albert Beke, formerly of the Ypres Salient Museum and now at In Flanders Fields, has been doing his bit to help British visitors for many years and it is always a pleasure to see him. John Woolsgrove and Christine have made ‘The Shell Hole’ a great meeting place for British visitors, with a bookshop in which I have spent many happy hours. Jacques Ryckebosche and the staff of Talbot House in Poperinghe are always so welcoming, and we all owe them a great debt for keeping this magical place open. Roger and family at Hooge Crater Café also have been most accommodating and lunch there with a visit to the museum is highly recommended. Charlotte Cardoen-Descamps and her family at their farm near Passchendaele have helped many pilgrims to the area, myself included, and opened up their house to our tours on numerous occasions, for which I am particularly grateful.

Unless otherwise stated, all photographs and maps are from the author’s archives. As with my previous books I have tried to include a large number of previously unpublished, or rarely published, photographs which, judging by the reaction of the readership, is warmly welcome. John Giles’ aerial photographs are used with the kind permission of his wife, Margery. Extracts from the works of Henry Williamson are reproduced courtesy of the H.W. Literary Estate.

Finally, my usual debt to Kieron goes without saying. She walked many of the routes with me, and helped with research and a multitude of other tasks – despite being more than seven months pregnant by the time the first draft was finished! Now we have a beautiful baby daughter, Poppy, who will no doubt be accompanying her father on many walks to come!

INTRODUCTION BY SERIES EDITOR

For many years the Salient has not been as popular a destination for the individual battlefield visitor as the Somme. This is not to say that there are not an enormous number of visitors here, certainly in relation to the situation some twenty years or so ago. School parties invariably visit the prominent sites – Tyne Cot, the trenches at Sanctuary Wood and the Last Post at the Menin Gate. Numerous veteran pilgrimages (now from the Second World War) carry out a similar act of homage under the deeply impressive arch and before the carved names that fill the walls of this evocative gate. Short guided battlefield coach tours will usually allow time for a curtailed tour of Ypres and its surrounds. But the fact remains that car tours of the battlefields in this particular sector are in the minority.

This is a great shame. It was to Ypres that I made my first tour of the battlefields, back in 1968. Then it was a rather sleepy market town and the villages even sleepier, with a quiet network of roads surrounding it. It could be that the quite significant industrial and housing developments over the last twenty-five years or so have persuaded tourers that it is too built up, that the traffic moves too fast (and there is too much of it) and that much from the Great War has been, finally, lost to the march of progress. Certainly these signs are clear for all to see – from the brash fun park at Bellewaarde, stretched over much of the fighting that took place in 1915 and 1917 around Hooge, to the industrial park to the east of the canal in Ypres itself. Roads have been cut through so as to completely alter the topography – such as that between Polygon Wood and Nonne Boschen. The pièce de resistance of modern development has been the introduction of the new traffic flow system in Ypres – a nightmare for the uninitiated.

It could also be that many travellers go to the Somme because the fighting there has an interest that may be summarised in the dates 1st July 1916 to the end of November 1916. It is, in many ways, an easier battlefield to understand; and it is the first battle (and, alas, all too often the last) that many of the forebears of these tourers fought. The significant fighting on the Somme was only a matter of months in 1916, followed by some hard fights in March and April 1918 and then that August. The Salient is very different, for there were important battles here in every year of the war, and none more desperate than those of 1914 and 1917.

The battles in this part of Flanders can be confusing to follow, especially as here, almost above all, there was a great deal of to-ing and fro-ing of the line. Because of the semicircular nature of the front it is sometimes difficult to get one’s bearings (difficult for us – what must it have been like for the combatants then?) and the signposting is not always of the highest quality.

Hitherto there have been guides to what became known as the ‘Immortal Salient’; most recently those by John Giles and the Holts, whilst Rose Coombs’ Before Endeavours Fade gives a very full coverage. However, this book shows how easy it is to make a large number of rewarding and illuminating walks across almost all the sectors of interest in the Salient and along Messines Ridge – walks that can be quite as quiet and contemplative as the more tranquil Somme region allows. By studying the topography it is much easier to make sense of the actions. More literature is becoming available on the battles that took place here and so it is my hope that more people will come and rediscover this special place and pay homage to those thousands – hundreds of thousands – that gave their life in that horrendous conflict.

This part of Belgium has much to offer in terms of comfortable hotels, good cuisine and beer and friendly people. There are excellent museums, notably at Hooge Chapel and Zonnebeke; there is the Last Post. But the men who fought here deserve more than a quick visit to the key visitors’ sites, and I hope that this book will do much to lead them to new perspectives and understanding of the tragic events of over eighty years ago.

Nigel Cave

Ely Place, London.

USERS GUIDE

GETTING THERE: As the years progress Ypres seems to get nearer and nearer to the channel ports. It is now possible to do the journey from Calais in just over an hour following the motorway via Dunkirk, coming off at Steenvoorde and then going via Poperinghe. Those on a budget will be pleased to know this stretch of motorway is toll-free. Getting to Ypres via public transport is somewhat more difficult. There are no direct rail links from the ports or the channel tunnel, and if coming by train from France the visitor must pass via Lille and then cross the border at Comines (Komen), and take a train for Ypres from there. All these services are infrequent. With the closure of the Ypres-Roulers railway line some years ago, there are no direct trains from the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge or Ostend, but from the latter there is a good bus service – but be prepared for a long journey.

A modern aerial view of Ypres showing the Cloth Hall, St Martin’s Cathedral and the Menin Gate. (John Giles)

ACCOMMODATION: There are many hotels in Ypres, and the prices very greatly. The area does not abound with Bed & Breakfast establishments as with the Somme, and the only English person currently offering this is John Woolsgrove at ‘The Shell Hole’, D’Hondstraat 54–56, 8900 leper, Belgium. Tel/Fax: (0032) 57.20.87.58. Charlottte Cardoen-Descamps has opened another at ‘Varlet Farm’ near Passchendaele. Tel/Fax: (0032) 51.77.78.59. Ypres has a very good, clean campsite with excellent facilities for tents, caravans and campers. Tel: (0032) 57.21.72.82. Full details of these and others are available from the Ypres Tourist Office (see below).

EATING OUT: The main square (Grote Markt) in Ypres has a profusion of places to find food and drink of all kinds and to suit all pockets. ‘Frituurs’, chip shops, are everywhere – the Belgians love their chips, especially dunked in mayonnaise. Most of the villages around Ypres have a bar, often a small supermarket or other shops, and so walkers