A piece of landscape witness of the Kleine Ypres salient A small yet special site that appeals to the imagination. Walk through the trenches and experience what it must have been like for many a frontline soldier during the Great War. You cannot enter the two dug-out, only have a look. Above ground, the system of corridors has been made visible by the construction of footpaths and fine crushed stone. Site is equipped with various information boards. Downside: due to the odor nuisance from the opposite waste processing company, you cannot stay long at this location. Tip: we visited this site during the walk of the Little Ypres Salient, “Instappunt Noord”. The starting point is located at Kleine Poezelstraat "Hoeve Zwaanhof" in Boezinge. The North entry point has a small unmanned visitor center where you can see the full war story from the area. A short film takes you to the Battle of Pilkem Ridge – 1917. “Over the top…” A short walk of 2.8 km takes you past 2 small cemeteries (Colone Cemetery – Welsh Cemetery = Caesars Nose). Then through No Man's Land to the German 1st lines. These front lines can be recognized by the memorial trees. The Blue beam baskets refer to the 1st British lines, the Red beam baskets to the German 1st lines. The loop walk takes you between the company grounds, along the writer's path (reference to war poetry), to the Yorkshire Trenches site. Through this walk you will follow in the footsteps of the front soldiers and you can experience what it must have been like to conquer a small, meaningless ridge. The difference in height is only 16 meters. Replay the Battle of the Pilkem Ridge? Then provide yourself with sturdy walking shoes. You walk through no man's land. Highly recommended to do this walk. Parking is easy at the visitor center. Handy that there are also toilets in the visitor center. Admission is free, but please respect this camera-monitored center.
The owner of this piece of land had decided to make it suitable for pasture again after the war. He thought it should never be dug out of respect for what had happened here in 1914-18. The land was sold around 1985 by the heirs and slowly but surely it was discovered that this was a special area.
The area lies between Boezinge and the Ypres ring road and the east side of the canal. It is here where, after the gas attack of April 1915, new positions were taken, French positions taken over by the English. The unique thing is that here the armies have been facing each other for almost 3 years, and that the development of the trenches is clearly visible.
The Yorkshire Trench is a construction from 1917 and from these positions the armies set out for the Third Battle of Ypres towards Langemark and had reached their target within two days.
[edit] Yorkshire Trench & Dugout.
Translated by Google •
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