The tour for New Zealanders

2 days

Flanders Fields

A serene cemetery scene with a grassy path lined by neatly arranged tombstones and colorful flowers. Tall trees lead to a distant cross under a cloudy sky.

This tour gives you the opportunity to make the most of your 48 hour visit to Flanders Fields and focuses on sights of historical importance for the visitor from New Zealand. Start your journey at the Messines Tourist information point. Visit military cemeteries and monuments, In Flanders Fields Museum, Passchendaele Museum, the Menin Gate and other points of interest.

Day 1

Two children stand in a museum, viewing black-and-white historical photos on a wall. They appear curious and engaged, on a patterned tile floor.

@westtoer

Markt 1, Mesen

This is the obvious starting point for your visit to Messines, the smallest town in Belgium. The information centre is located in the former town hall and explains the role of Messines throughout history, with the main focus on the First World War. The role of the New Zealanders during the mine battle of 1917 and the special symbolic value of the Irish Peace Tower are only a couple of the topics that are covered.

Bronze statue of a soldier in uniform and slouch hat, holding a rifle. The figure stands against a cloudy sky, conveying a solemn, historical tone.

Markt, Mesen

Walk up to the New Zealand soldier statue in the market square of Messines. It commemorates all soldiers of the New Zealand division who fought in the battle of Messines Ridge.

A solemn cemetery entrance with a prominent stone cross in the background, flanked by trimmed hedges and trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Nieuwkerkestraat, Mesen

This memorial is located at the entrance to Messines Ridge British Cemetery and bears the names of 839 New Zealand soldiers who died during the Battle of Messines in 1917 and have no known grave. There are similar memorials to New Zealand’s war dead in Tyne Cot Cemetery and Buttes New British Cemetery. The cemetery also contains the graves of 115 New Zealand soldiers.

A man and woman walk through a sunlit, historic trench surrounded by lush trees and dry grass, conveying a sense of exploration and reflection.

©Jan D'Hondt Ateljé D

Voormezelestraat, Wijtschate

The Bayernwald site (tickets are available online here) shows how the German army did very much the same as the Allies - dig mines and trenches and build bunkers. The site consists of two mine shafts, a trench system and four bunkers. A series of information panels give details of the events which took place here and explain what life was really like during WWI.

Exhibit of a historical wooden wagon and model horse with ammunition, set against a backdrop of a vintage battlefield photo, evoking wartime history.

©In Flanders Fields museum

Grote Markt 34, Ieper

Up next: the hub of the WWI commemoration - the In Flanders Fields Museum. Instead of a ticket, we get a white bracelet with a red poppy. The recently renovated museum - located in the impressive Cloth Hall in Ypres, highlights the story of the invasion, the trench war and the remembrance since the armistice, while focusing on personal stories. We take a deep breath and climb the bell-tower (231 steps!) to have a look at what were once the battlefields.

Illuminated stone and brick gateway with large arch, against a deep blue evening sky. The lighting creates a solemn and majestic atmosphere.

Menenstraat, Ieper

After dinner we attend the Last Post ceremony under the Menin Gate. The Menin Gate is a gigantic construction, but still not big enough to mention all the names of the fallen Commonwealth soldiers, who didn’t have a grave because their bodies were not identified. The Gate ‘only’ mentions 55,000 names on the walls. The other soldiers names are written on two other monuments.

Four uniformed soldiers play trumpets in unison during a ceremonial event. A small crowd watches intently, standing on a stone pathway.

Menenstraat, Ieper

Silent crowds wait beneath the Menin Gate for the stroke of 8 o’clock. Then the volunteer buglers from the local fire brigade raise their instruments to play the Last Post, the traditional final salute to the fallen soldiers. Ever since 1928, the notes of the Last Post have broken the silence across the cobbled streets of Ypres, a town entirely rebuilt after the devastation of the First World War. Nothing quite prepares you for the powerful emotion of experiencing this moving ceremony first hand.

Day 2

Helleketelweg, Poperinge

The cemetery was first used from September to December 1917 for burials from the 3rd Australian and 44th Casualty Clearing Stations, which had been moved to Poperinge in preparation for the Battle of Passchendaele. Among the 270 New Zealanders buried here is Dave Gallaher. David "Dave" Gallaher (30 October 1873 - 4 October 1917) was a new Zealand rugby union footballer, best known as the captain of "The Originals", the first New Zealand national rugby union team to be known as the All Blacks. Although exempt from conscription due to his age, Gallaher also volunteered to fight in World War I, and apparently altered his date of birth to 31 October 1876. He saw action at Ypres, and was killed during the Passchendaele offensive on 4 October 1917.

Historic two-story building with a red and beige timber facade, brick foundation, steep tiled roof, and flags outside. Manicured lawn and trees surround it.

©Westtoer

Berten Pilsenstraat 5a, Zonnebeke

Up next is the heart of the ‘Third Battle of Ypres’ or ‘Battle of Passchendaele’ as it is more commonly known. The name is a symbol of senseless military violence. The dugout tunnel with communication and dressing post, headquarters, workplaces and dormitories, gives us an idea of how the soldiers had to live underground, like moles, because there was nothing left above ground. It’s impressive, as is the Museum with its collection of historical artefacts, images, movies and dioramas. We end our visit to the museum outside in the trenches before heading into the park that surrounds the museum.

A large tree stands centrally in a serene cemetery under a partly cloudy sky. White headstones are lined symmetrically, conveying a sense of peace.

Vijfwegestraat, Zonnebeke

With its arched wall and colonnades in white stone, the Missing Memorial of Tyne Cot Cemetery instils respect. This is the largest military cemetery of the Commonwealth War Graves Commision in the world. Almost 12,000 soldiers are buried here, of which 520 graves of New Zealand soldiers. 12,000 white crosses, row after row. We stand in awe.

On the Memorial Wall are the names of the 34,957 missing soldiers who fell after 15th, August 1917. A central apse in the memorial wall forms the New Zealand Memorial. It bears the names of nearly 1,200 officers and men of the New Zealand Force.

Two children run joyfully along a cobblestone path lined with lush trees, leading to a tall stone monument surrounded by greenery, evoking adventure.

©Westtoer

Lange Dreve Zonnebeke

Deep in the heart of Polygon wood stands Buttes New British Cemetery and the New Zealand memorial to the Missing, which commemorates 383 soldiers of the New Zealand division who died in the Polygon Wood sector and have no known grave. The majority died in the trenches, or while working and carrying, and the conditions in the Salient during the winter 1917-1918 must explain the comparatively large number of names on this memorial, which deals with only one set attack on a German position.

On top of the butte (hill), there is the Memorial to the 5th Australian Division. Polygon Wood still contains the remains of several shelters. Each year on ANZAC day (25 April), the sacrifice of the ANZAC soldiers is commemorated during an impressive dawn service in this very location. Polygon Wood Cemetery lies just across the other side of the road.

A tall, white stone obelisk stands in a neatly landscaped area with green grass and two tall trees. The sky is clear and blue, suggesting a peaceful setting.

‘s Graventafelstraat, Zonnebeke

This memorial commemorates the New Zealand Division’s participation in the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917. This attack by ANZAC forces successfully pushed forward the Allied trench line in the early part of the Passchendaele offensive but was followed by an inadequately prepared attack of 12 October 1917.