Hellfire Corner (left) on the Menin Road at the
entrance to Ypres (Ieper).
In WWI this was an important route junction under
constant observation and fire by Germans on the
high ground. Anything that moved across it was
fired upon. Consequently canvas screens were
erected beside the road in an attempt to conceal
movement, much of which took place under cover of
darkness, when the junction thronged with
activity.
Today Hellfire Corner is a busy roundabout much
used by through traffic. By the roadside is a
demarcation stone - one of 12 surviving today in
the Ypres Salient - marking the point of the
Germans' closest advance to Ypres.
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Ypres had long been fortified to keep out
invaders. Parts of the early ramparts, dating
from 1385, still survive near the Rijselpoort
(Lille Gate). Over time, the earthworks were
replaced by sturdier masonry and earth structures
and a partial moat.
Ypres was further fortified in 17th and 18th
centuries while under the occupation of the
Habsburgs and the French. Major works were
completed at the end of the 17th century by the
French military engineer Sebastien Le Prestre,
Seigneur de Vauban.
Although the decision was made to demolish the
fortifications of Ypres, which were thought to be
stifling the town's growth, this was never fully
carried out. In the late 19th century, the
western sections of the ramparts were torn down,
but the town did not grow, so the demolition was
not completed.
This left roughly half of the main ramparts
intact. These remains however, were to face one
final assault; that of the German heavy
artillery, which was trained on the town during
the First World War. Most of the town was
levelled, but the ramparts somehow
survived.
After the war it was decided to rebuild the
Menin Gate, previously known as the Antwerp Gate,
(below) as a memorial to the British soldiers who
died on the Ypres salient. The names of 54,896
soldiers with no known graves are inscribed on
the walls of the gate.
See also Ypres Page 3 of this website.
Commentaries with
acknowledgement to Wikipedia.
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Ypres is an ancient town, known to have been
raided by the Romans in the first century BC.
During the Middle Ages, Ypres was a prosperous
Flemish city with a population of 40,000,[2]
renowned for its linen trade with England, which
was mentioned in the Canterbury Tales. As the
third largest city in the County of Flanders
(after Ghent and Bruges)
Ypres played an important role in the history of
the textile industry. Textiles from Ypres could
be found on the markets of Novgorod in Russia in
the early 12th century. In 1241 a major fire
ruined much of the old city. The powerful city
was involved in important treaties and battles,
including the Battle of the Golden Spurs, the
Battle at Pevelenberg, The Peace of Melun and the
Battle of Cassel.
The famous Cloth Hall was built in the thirteenth
century. Also during this time cats, then the
symbol of the devil and witchcraft, were thrown
off Cloth Hall, possibly due to the belief that
this would get rid of evil demons. Today, this
act is commemorated with a triennial Cat Parade
through town.
After the destruction of Thérouanne,
Ypres became the seat of the new Diocese of Ypres
in 1561, and Saint Martin's Church was elevated
to cathedral status.
On March 25, 1678 Ypres was conquered by the
forces of Louis XIV of France. In 1697, after the
Treaty of Ryswick, it came into the possession of
the Spanish Crown. In 1713 it was handed over to
the Habsburgs, and became part of the Austrian
Netherlands. In 1782 the Austrian emperor Joseph
II ordered parts of the walls torn down, making
it easy for the French to take over the city
during the first coalition war in 1794.
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The well known 'Vivaldis Restaurant' in the Grote
Markt (right).
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Reminders of WWI are not hard to find
(left)
The rebuilt Courthouse and other buildings around
the Grote Markt (below).
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Ypres occupied a strategic position during World
War I because it stood in the path of Germany's
planned sweep across the rest of Belgium and into
France from the north (the Schlieffen
Plan).
The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed by
Britain; Germany's invasion of Belgium brought
the British Empire into the war. The German army
surrounded the city on three sides, bombarding it
throughout much of the war. To counter attack,
British, French, and allied forces made costly
advances from the Ypres Salient into the German
lines situated on the surrounding hills.
In the First Battle of Ypres (12 October to 11
November 1914), the Allies captured the town from
the Germans. In the Second Battle of Ypres (22
April to 25 May 1915), the Germans used poison
gas for the first time (they had used tear gas
earlier at the Battle of Bolimov on 3 January
1915) and captured high ground east of the
town.
The first gas attack occurred against Canadian,
British, and French soldiers; including both
metropolitan French soldiers as well as
Senegalese and Algerian tirailleurs (light
infantry) from French Africa. The gas used was
chlorine. Mustard gas, also called Yperite from
the name of this city, was also used for the
first time near Ypres, in the autumn of
1917.
Of the battles, the largest, best-known, and
most costly in human suffering was the Third
Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of
Passchendaele (21 July to 6 November 1917), in
which the British, Canadians, ANZAC, and French
forces recaptured the Passchendaele Ridge east of
the city at a terrible cost of lives. After
months of fighting, this battle resulted in
nearly half a million casualties to all sides,
and only a few miles of ground won by Allied
forces.
During the course of the war the town was all but
obliterated by the artillery fire. The picture
above is of the destroyed Cloth Hall.
English-speaking soldiers in that war often
referred to Ieper/Ypres by the deliberate
mispronunciation Wipers. British soldiers even
published a wartime newspaper called the "Wipers
Times". Ypres was at least one of the sites that
hosted an unofficial Christmas Truce in 1914
between German and British soldiers.
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After the war the town was rebuilt using money
paid by Germany as reparations. The main square,
including the Cloth Hall and Town Hall, was
rebuilt as close to the original designs as
possible. The Cloth Hall today is home to In
Flanders Fields Museum, dedicated to Ypres's role
in the First World War.
Ypres these days has the title of "city of
peace" and maintains a close friendship with
another town on which war had a profound impact:
Hiroshima.
Both towns witnessed warfare at its worst: Ypres
was one of the first places where chemical
warfare was employed, while Hiroshima suffered
the debut of nuclear warfare. The city
governments of Ypres and Hiroshima advocate that
cities should never be targets again and campaign
for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The imposing Cloth Hall was built in the 13th
century and was one of the largest commercial
buildings of the Middle Ages. The structure which
stands today is the exact copy of the original
medieval building, rebuilt after the war. The
belfry that surmounts the hall houses a
forty-nine bell carillon.
The whole complex was designated a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO in 1999.
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