 The beautiful old gothic city of Ieper (Ypres) was
a symbol of allied resistance throughout the war, except for brief
occupation by the Germans in 1914, it stood defiant, but by the wars end
it had been completely destroyed by years of German shelling. Across the
flat agricultural plains to its North, South and East, vast armies were
engaged in major conflict from 1914 to 1918. The battleground was fought
over many times and became the tragic resting-place for hundreds of
thousands of the youth of Britain and it dominions, and of Belgium,
France and Germany.
Australian troops from all five divisions were active here from late
1916 to 1917, their principle involvement was in the 1917 allied
offensive, including the battles of Messines, Menin Road, Polygon Wood,
Broodseinde and Passchendaele, these battles resulted in more than
43,000 Australian casualties.
Ieper was rebuilt and today act as a gateway for all those who come in
search of the past, and the generation that perished on Flanders fields
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