The Brooding Soldier is located near the village of St. Julien, Belgium at a location, during the war, known as Vancouver Corner. The Canadian soldier, with bowed head and hands resting on his reversed rifle, stands 11 meters tall. He commemorates the Canadians’ participation in the Second Battle of Ypres of World War I.
Photo: The Brooding Soldier, St. Julien, Belgium
Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing remembers the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world and is located outside of Passchendaele, Belgium. Of the 11,908 graves, almost 70% are graves of the unknown.
Tyne Cot, Passchendaele, Belgium
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae is best known for writing the famous war memorial poem “In Flanders Fields“. On January 28, 1918, McCrae died of pneumonia and was buried in Wimereux Cemetery, France with full military honors. McCrae’s gravestone is laid flat due to the unstable sandy soil.
Photo: John McCrae Grave, Wimereux Cemetery, France
John McCrae treated wounded, during the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, from an 8 foot by 8 foot bunker. McCrae’s friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer, was killed in the battle and his death inspired “In Flanders Fields“, written on May 3, 1915.
Photo: John McCrae Dressing Station
