Battle Remains in the Ypres Salient, Belgium
This page lists some of the more well known battle remains which can be seen or which are accessible to visitors in the 1914-1918 Ypres Salient battlefields.
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British Bunker at Essex Farm Advanced Dressing Station, Ieper-Ijser Canal
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From the original dugouts in the earth of the western spoilbank of the Ieper-Ijser canal in April 1915, a medical treatment centre near Essex Farm was developed into a concrete bunker with several rooms by 1917. It served as one of the important places along the casualty evacuation route from the British Front Line in the northern Ypres Salient during the Battle of Passchendaele.
Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) bunker at Essex Farm -
British Bunker at Zillebeke
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This bunker can be seen in a field on the north side of the road near to Transport Farm British military cemetery. The horizontal lines in the concrete were created when sandbagging was laid onto the bunker's surface while the concrete was still wet.
(The bunker is on private land and not accessible, but can easily be seen from the road.)
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Cratered Ground and Bunker at Hill 60
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The cratered ground at Hill 60 was left relatively untouched after the First World War and preserved as a memorial to many hundreds of French, British and German soldiers who lost their lives in the fight for this area of high ground. A bunker can be found in the central area of the memorial grounds.
Hill 60 -
German Command Post Bunker at Zandvoorde
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This German command post was the command post for a regiment in the reserve to the rear of the German Front Line. It was built by the 3. Company of Armierungsbattalion 27 (a labour battalion). It is 19 metres in length with 6 rooms leading on to a hallway. Two of these are for watch posts and the other four are for Staff officers.
The bunker is located southeast of Zandvoorde village. It has been a listed monument since 1999. It is free for visitors and access can be gained to it daily at all hours through a small gate.
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German Bunker near Langemark
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This bunker is similar to the three concrete bunkers within the German military cemetery at Langemark. It was captured by the British Army in September 1918. It was used after that time as an Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) to treat the wounded. The memorial to the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers of the British 34th Division has been located next to this bunker.
The bunker can be accessed by a path from the road at all times.
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German Bunkers in Tyne Cot Cemetery
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There are three German bunkers in Tyne Cot cemetery. One of the three bunkers is the location where it was decided to build the Cross of Sacrifice. The other two bunkers remain untouched.
Tyne Cot Cemetery -
Hussar Farm Observation Post
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The Observation Post (OP) was built by the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers inside the original farmhouse. The brick and concrete structure was strengthened with railway lines and corrugated iron sheeting. In spite of the artillery shelling from the German guns for most the four years of war in the Ypres Salient this OP has survived.
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Mine Crater on The Caterpillar at Zillebeke
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This crater was formed by a mine exploded under the German position on high ground south of the Ypres- Comines railway. This high ground had been created by the spoil from when the railway cutting was made before the First World War. The high ground was known as The Caterpillar and it overlooked Hill 60, similarly created from the railway cutting spoil only a few hundred metres to its east. The mine crater has since filled with water and now forms a small round pond in the wood which has grown up since the fighting ended here.
Access to the crater is free. There is a path of about 100 metres to reach the mine crater from the road. Once in the wood the crater is located on the right of the path.
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Mine Crater at Spanbroekmolen — The Pool of Peace
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Mining underneath the enemy's position was a characteristic of warfare in the Ypres Salient. A number of large mines were exploded in the Ypres Salient. The most notable of these were the 19 mines exploded in the early hours of 7th June 1917 at the launch of the British offensive on the German lines on the Messines Ridge. This mine crater is one of these mines. The crater created by the explosion here has filled with water due to the high water table and the clay soil.
The Spanbroekmolen crater was purchased by Toc H in the 1920s. It remained untouched until the 1990s, when it was formally named “The Pool of Peace” in Remembrance of the 1914-1918 war and those who fought in it.
Spanbroekmolen Mine Crater - Pool of Peace -
Trenches at Sanctuary Wood (Hill 62)
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When the farmer returned to reclaim his land after the fighting ended he left a section of trenches on his land in a wood near Hill 62, which had been known as Sanctuary Wood on British Army maps. This is one of few sections of trench line with saps and a tunnel on the Western Front which can offer the visitor an idea of what they would have looked like.
Preserved trenches at Sanctuary Wood Museum (Hill 62) -
Yorkshire Trench near Boezinge
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Yorkshire Trench was discovered and dug out during the development of the industrial zone to the north of Ieper in the late 1990s. A group of amateur archeologists named “The Diggers” spent many hours of their spare time digging out the trench and its many hidden artefacts, which also included the remains of some WW1 soldiers. The project featured in a BBC documentary “The Forgotten Battlefield”. Numerous items found during the dig were presented to In Flanders Fields museum and Hooghe museum.
This front-line trench was originally dug by 49th (West Riding) Division from 1915 into 1916. It was developed in 1917.
A section of the trench, with entrances to two tunnels and dugouts, has been recreated with concrete sandbags and duckboards. Information boards explain the history of the trench and the area it is in.
Access to Yorkshire Trench is free for visitors and is open daily at all hours.
Related Links
For more information about the typical types of battlefield remains to be found on the Western Front go to:
Battlefield remains on the Western Front Battle Remains on the Somme BattlefieldsAcknowledgements
Photgraph of Yorkshire Trench courtesy of Ieper Tourist Office, copyright Stad Ieper - Tijl Capoen.