Flanders Fields

Poppies

In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row
 
These lines by poet and soldier John McCrae describe the horrors of the First World War. Some of the war’s bloodiest battles were fought in the Westhoek. One million soldiers died, were injured or went missing. Entire cities and villages were wiped off the map.

The area known as Flanders Fields acts as an eternal silent witness to these events. Broad expanses are dotted with countless monuments, cemeteries and museums. Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, Nieuwpoort’s Westfront Museum and Memorial Museum Passchendaele keep the memories alive, to name just a few examples.

Points of interest

27 WWI memorial sites in Flanders Fields recognised as Unesco World Heritage

Buttes New British Cemetery Zonnebeke © Copper Tree Media

Info Point Flanders Fields