Battlefields Tour #5 - WWI .... Hooge
Well I have some more photos to share. On the Wednesday we had lunch at Hooge Crater Museum .... it is a great museum with a combination of items gathered from the war, but also models depicting life in the trenches ... both Commonwealth & German.
Even 100+years on the local farmers still have an "iron harvest", where unexploded bombs are found
Opposite the museum is the cemetery. One thing really noticeable about this museum are the number of multiple graves, just showing how devastating the fighting was in this area. There was a lot of damage caused by tunnelling, and thus a lot of multiple graves ... as Claire's great-grandfather was killed in such a way I do wonder if he is buried here (his name is on the Menin Gate Memorial.
And, up the road slightly is Hooge Crater Chateau, which is now a hotel, although the grounds are open to the public, showing a bunker as well as remains of some of the local trenches etc
Even 100+years on the local farmers still have an "iron harvest", where unexploded bombs are found
Opposite the museum is the cemetery. One thing really noticeable about this museum are the number of multiple graves, just showing how devastating the fighting was in this area. There was a lot of damage caused by tunnelling, and thus a lot of multiple graves ... as Claire's great-grandfather was killed in such a way I do wonder if he is buried here (his name is on the Menin Gate Memorial.
And, up the road slightly is Hooge Crater Chateau, which is now a hotel, although the grounds are open to the public, showing a bunker as well as remains of some of the local trenches etc