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WORLD WAR ONE 1914 - 1918
Páirc Siochána d'Oileán na h'Éireann
The Island of Ireland Peace Park, Messines
The toll of 70,000 casualties sustained by these three Irish Divisions emphasises the scale of the slaughter in Flanders during the Great War.
Lijssenthoek Cemetery near Poperinge, Belgium
The cemeteries in Flanders are crowded with the graves of the mostly very young dead of the Great War
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Colin Gillard relates the story of the Battle of Mons at the Nimy Railway Bridge, Belgium
At the far end of this very bridge, the first VC's of the Great War were gained by two British soldiers. War had been declared on 4th August 1914 and the first shots of the war were fired on 22nd August 1914 near the village of Casteau, a little north east of Mons. The following day, 23rd August 1914, men of the 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers held this sector of the British Front in defence of the town of Mons as the German forces attempted to cross this bridge at Nimy. A memorial located on the bank of the canal below this bridge marks the Machine Gun position where the first V.C.’s awarded during the war were gained by Lt M J Dease VC and Pte S F Godley VC who endeavoured to maintain fire in support of the withdrawal of their battalion.
A visit to Mons can be conveniently arranged, especially for those commencing their battlefield tour in Brussels. After leaving the airport there, we can travel to Mons via Waterloo and this adds another level of significance to your tour. The military actions in this area in August 1914 were to be the first engagements undertaken by British soldiers on continental Europe since the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.
The Menin Gate at Ypres
The spires of the Cloth Hall and the Cathedral in Ypres are visible from the Passchendaele battleground
Le Soldat en méditation - Le Mémorial de Saint-Julien
The Brooding Soldier - The Canadian Memorial at St Julien in Flanders
Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof 1914-1918 Langemark
Langemark German Military Cemetery in Flanders
The Cobbers Memorial on the site of the Battle of Fromelles
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Email: colingillard@orange.fr
Unless otherwise acknowledged all web content and graphics are copyright © 2005 courtesy of Denis McCarthy "Personalised War Histories"
