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Effective today, the contact details for the Northern Ireland Veterans' Association have changed to the following

The Secretary
57 Mortimer Street,
Derby.

DE24 8FX

Email: membership@nivets.org.uk
Web: www.nivets.org.uk
Mob: 07368 293729

NIVA Administration.
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My battlefield walk today.

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  • My battlefield walk today.

    Today I walked through Ypres and up to the old front line positions which by 1918 had pushed right up to the outskirts of the shattered town. My walk took me through the town civil and military extension cemeteries where I then followed the old front line visiting the various CWGC cemeteries which are located there.

    At one point I found myself lingering for a tad too long in front of a complete row of soldiers killed during a phosgene gas attack. I can't imagine the horror of being hit by chemical weapons! I then paid my respects to Pte Morrow VC, the young Pte Chase of the Lancs Fusiliers who was tied to a wooden post and shot at dawn. He lays probably not at peace one row from General Hasler. The image of the Chaplain giving the last rights to a badly wounded soldier was taken in the very cemetery I was stood in.
    The bullet hole through the man's helmet along with his bandaged head spoke volumes. Alongside lay a badly wounded German soldier. Friend and foe lay side by side.

    I also walked past one of the very few remaining King Albert houses constructed as temporary accommodation for the returning Belgians after the war had come to a conclusion. Thousands were supplied by the the King but only 2 perhaps remain today, including this one.

    I also visited the Belgian WW1/2 plot and the British WW2 plot in the town cemetery. The row of fallen Spitfire pilots almost drew me deeper within but for once I visited others.

    My walk today through snow which was up to a foot deep in parts was bracing and mostly enjoyable. Tomorrow I will walk some more..... but here are some images taken during my walk.
    Reflection is a virtue in my book.

    Chaplin and wounded.jpg

    Chaplain text.jpg

    Phosgene casualties.jpg

    British bunker Ypres.jpg

    Pte Morrow VC.jpg

    Pte Chase Lancs Fusiliers.jpg

    Brigadier General Hasler.jpg

    King Albert Houses..jpg

    Belgian military plot. Ypres Communial cemetery..jpg

    IMG_0004.jpg

    Lest We Forget.

  • #2


    Thanks Chris.
    Visit tree 49/189 @ the NMA and say hello.

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    • #3
      Cheers mucker. Just keeping the kettle brewing for you lot so to speak.....

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      • #4
        I think the pictures look more poignant in the snow.
        You cannot fight a war with one hand tied behind your back.

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        • #5
          A soldiers diary reveals:

          It's snowed over night and the battlefield and parapet is covered in a blanket of snow. Such relief to be spared the horrors of constantly viewing the mutilated dead staring down at us from the parapet and wire belt. Such is the battlefield by 1917 here at Wipers....

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