Hello Day four! I had a decent night’s sleep (I felt tired this morning, even though I got at least 7 hours…must have been all the walking) and had a good breakfast. I’m sitting here in the hotel lobby waiting for the kids to come down with all their gear and board the bus. We will be leaving for Bergen at 9:30. After two days of walking, it will be nice to sit for a bit on the bus.

So we’re on the bus on our way to the Bergen cemetery. It is very neat to be driving through the countryside and see a side of the country that you never would. Lots of flat land (the Low Countries, duh) and farms. The aroma of the air really tells you where you are.

Bergen-op-Zoom will be the first cemetery that we visit. It should be very interesting to see their reaction today; the excitement will be replaced with solemnity. I’m not sure what my reaction will be. I know in 2012 the first cemetery we visited was at Dieppe and I was quite emotional. Maybe my reaction will set the tone for the kids. We certainly will talk a little bit out the cemetery before we get there.

So far on the trip the weather has been very cooperative. Yesterday was very sunny and warm…at times too warm. Today the high is supposed to be around 15C, which might feel even warmer than in Amsterdam since we are away from the sea. I certainly feels very warm on the bus!

We are now on our to way to Ypres, which is about 3 hours away. The visit we had to the cemetery was quite emotional. After a brief prayer service at the Cross of Sacrifice, the students proceeded to the soldier’s graves they were assigned. I wish we had more time to spend there, but I think what we had was enough to make an impression. They were very quiet as they left and many (including myself) had tears in their eyes.

Grave of Lt. Mullins, March 2014.

Grave of L. Cpl Hamilton, March 2014.

My assigned soldier was Lieutenant Frederick Mullins, who served with the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada of Montreal. We was killed in action on September 29, 1944. From Saskatchewan, his headstone read “To save his men he faced death, unafraid. May we so face the empty days to come.”

It is always the headstones that get me. As we were leaving, I happened to catch another one that hit me hard. The soldier was a J. Hamilton, who was also from the Black Watch. He was killed on November 1, 1944 and was only 19 years old. His inscription read “In loving memory of our only son. He lives with us in memory and shall for evermore.” As a parent, I have tears in my eyes now.

It is now a quarter past nine and we’re back on the bus heading toward France and our next hotel. What another great day. Ypres was a fantastic place to visit!

It took us only about an hour and a half to drive from the cemetery to Ypres, and the temperature continued to climb as we did. The bus was showing the outside temp at 20C…20C! Holy cow! For a group coming from Thunder Bay, this is like going to the equator. A few weeks ago it was -45 with the wind and now I felt like zipping off my pant bottoms and going around in shorts!

When we arrived in Ypres the first place we went to was the Flanders Fields Museum, which is located in the historic Cloth Hall. The building dates back to the 1400’s, but was unfortunately heavily damaged in the war. It was rebuilt, and now houses this beautiful and informative museum.

After going through the museum, Jo-Anne and had time to wander around the town a bit, especially the Grote Markt (as did everyone else). It really gave us a chance to look around and explore the city. Jo-Anne got some chocolate and found some tea. Down the road was the Menin Gate Memorial, which contains the names of more than 56,000 Commonwealth soldiers who are missing. We were there in 2012, but there was no time to look at the memorial; I had no idea it was that large.

I had a mission while I was there, and I was able to accomplish it. In my teenage years I served in the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment, our local infantry reserve regiment. I have kept in touch with one of my commanders, Major David Ratz. On our last trip he had asked me to photograph the panel listing the soldiers from the 52nd Battalion, which which was the designation for the unit in WWI. I found the panel and took a whole bunch of photos, so I kept my promise.

We walked around a bit more, and bought more chocolate before we met up with the Felicity at 6:00. From there we went back to the memorial in preparation for the 8:00 ceremony. There was a bit of time before it started, so I walked along the Kasteelgracht (Castle Canal) with Felicity until we got to the Ramparts Cemetery. The blooming flowers along the way were great. It is a small cemetery, but very beautiful beside the canal. There are 10 Canadians interred there and I paid my respects.

The Last Post ceremony was very nice and it was great to be there again (it didn’t have the pomp of the 2012 one, but simple). Afterwards we headed back to the Grote Markt and the Den Anker restaurant for dinner. It was an awesome meal of salad, half rotisserie chicken and fries; I was full! The Revelo for desert was perfect 😉

Menin Gate, March 2014.

So tomorrow were going to be going to the Wellington Quarry in the morning, followed by visits to the Thepval Memorial and Beaumont Hamel Memorial in the afternoon. Should be another awesome day of learning and exploring. On that note, I need to get rolling. Until then…