|
|
Hill 62 Canadian MemorialThis Canadian monument is in their standard form of a block of white Quebec granite weighing almost 15 tonnes. It was decided after the war that the cost of erecting elaborate memorials across all their battlefields was prohibitive, so Canada settled on two National monuments at St Juliaan in Belgium and Vimy in France. Other places of importance being remembered by these monumental stones. The monument proclaims that this is Mount Sorrel, but that is not quite true for Mount Sorrel is in fact the next hill over to the south east. Hill 62 being part of Tor Top. Around the memorial is a lawn and the position at the top of Hill 62 provides a good view over the surrounding area, especially now that some of the vegetation has been cut back a little. It is an indication as to just how close the Germans came that today the spires of Ieper can easily be seen five kilometres away. On 2 June 1916 (A month before the first day of the Somme) the Germans launched an attack on the three hills in this area to the south of Hooge. Just as the allies used mines so did the Germans, and of course gas was now part of the standard armoury of assault. The preparatory bombardment had been the fiercest the Canadians had encountered. If you visit the museum next door you will see shards of trees left by the bombardment. The Canadians were forced to retire out of their front line trenches to prevent being flanked by the Germans at Hooge. For the moment the Germans held these three important positions. By 6 June Hooge had fallen and a decision had to be made about a counter attack. The newly appointed Commander of the Canadian Corps, Lt Gen Sir Julian Byng had only taken over his post that week and now decided that Hooge would have to wait until the hills at Mount Sorrel and Hill 62 had been retaken. For once the allies had no shortage of artillery, and were able to give as well as they had received on 12 June with an intense bombardment on the German positions. Byng launched his counterattack at 01:30 hours on 13 June. It was pouring with rain but this did not dampen the spirits of the Canadian 1st Division as they swept the Germans out of the trenches. The Official History states that: "The first Canadian deliberately planned attack in any force, had resulted in an unqualified success." The positions regained by the Canadians remained in Allied hands until the German's massive spring offensive in 1918. Of course as in every other sphere of the war the success had not come cheaply and at Mount Sorrel Canadian troops suffered 8,430 casualties. Sanctuary Wood Museum |
Click on the thumbnail for a larger picture - the change will take a moment as the photo loads.
|
|||||||
This popular museum is reached by following the Menin Road out of Ieper until you see the signs for the Canadian Memorial - down Maple Avenue on your right. Sanctuary wood lies to your left and just after the CWGC Cemetery is the museum and cafe. The first couple of rooms show off a number of artifacts but they is a severe lack of information as to just what they are and many are in a dusty condition. What really draws people though to the museum is the preserved set of trenches out to the rear of the museum.
They are quite famous from TV programmes and no matter the season, they would always appear to be wet, so if you are intending to to try your feet at walking through them - be warned to wear suitable boots. The British front line faces the road and it was over this area that the Germans attacked in June 1916 and the Canadians fought so hard to regain their lost positions. Here and there you will see shell blasted stumps of trees and as you come back towards the buildings again German gravestones lie by the side of the path. After the war it was decided by the Belgians that the German dead would be concentrated into four cemeteries. These can be found at Langemark, Menen (Menin), Vladso, and Hooglede. Thus many of the original gravestones became redundant and remained where they had been.
|
