Flanders Fields

Flanders Fields was the site of around half a million deaths in the horrific trenches of World War I. There are numerous military cemeteries and 'Missing Memorials' in the region commemorating those of all nationalities who fell in battle. Most of the soldiers who perished were the victims of poison gas attacks - the deadly gas Yperite was invented in the nearby city of Ypres, which was a renowned trading centre during the Middle Ages but was almost completely destroyed during World War I. At the In Flanders Fields museum in Ypres, visitors can discover what it was like to be a soldier in the trenches and learn about major events and aspects of the war such as the first gas attack, the Christmas Truces of 1914, and No Man's Land.