So, where, exactly, is this Kitchener’s Wood, I hear you ask? Well, sorry to disappoint, but there isn’t one. Not any more. But there was during the Great War, and it saw an action in 1915 that goes down as one of the most heroic, if, perhaps, ultimately unnecessary, of the whole conflict in Belgian Flanders. Continue reading
It’s a grey day as we arrive at White House Cemetery, three quarters of a mile north east of the Menin Gate, on the road to St. Jean (Sint-Jan) and Wieltje. Continue reading
The crossroads in the centre of the little village of St. Jean (now Sint-Jan), almost exactly one mile north east of the Menin Gate. Continue reading
At long last, here we are at Oxford Road Cemetery, no more than two miles north east of Ypres (Ieper). Continue reading
Maybe six hundred yards east, and a little north, of Wieltje Farm Cemetery, this impressive memorial remembers the men of the 50th Northumbrian Division. Continue reading
The hardly inspiring entrance to Deansgrange Cemetery, some six miles south east of Dublin City centre, and less than two miles from the port of Dun Laoghaire. Continue reading
We’ve seen some pretty basic hand grenades (in particular the Lakos grenades) in the past few months, so let’s take a look at something more complex, whilst bearing in mind that the more complicated the device, the more to go wrong, particularly in the type of conditions likely to be encountered in many theatres of the Great War. Continue reading
