9 June

In Flanders Fields, and had such a tough start to the day that I decided the best plan would be to blitzkrieg a bunch of sites without thinking too much about them.  Perhaps not the best plan, but it worked.  We started our day in the Grote Markt of Poperinge, visited the Tourisme office to get free maps, and went around the corner to the execution post.  Here, several soldiers who had deserted or refused duty were shot by a firing squad, who were told, "The most merciful thing you can do is to shoot straight."

Sort of surreal that a Town Hall is in front of it, and a kindergarten right next to it.  Imagine dropping off your kid at school past this every day.  Sobering, to say the least.

A highlight of the day was a visit to Talbot House, where a pastor named "Tubby" Clayton led worship in the 4th story attic chapel he made.  Over 120,000 soldiers took their rest here.  Pastor Clayton wrote many letters to his mother, which are a large part of the exhibit back in the garden.  This story is a long and positive one, better told in detail, later.  Here's his chapel.  You have to climb up a ladder stair to get to it.

On to some little cemeteries outside of town called "New Poperinge Military Cemetery."  They added graves to this site that were found during renovations or new construction in the nearby fields.  UK headstones are curved, and the French choose to use crosses for their markers.  Notice the one cross separate from the others.  It is for a German soldier.

To be honest, the morning was getting pretty heavy, so I spontaneously decided to drive to Dunkirk/Dunquerque, France, since I'd seen the movie.  It was a foggy day, with a very low tide, and easy to see why it was so difficult to rescue 300,000 UK soldiers in WW2.  Had a terrific seafood cassoulet and felt rejuvenated enough to drive the Western Front from the ocean back to Poperinge.  What fun it was to see a poppy, and make a turn to follow the road and see something.

While I'd done extensive research, and had many "must see" spots, this method was much more fun.  We saw the King Albert Memorial, dedicated to the King of Belgium who held this section of the line for all four years of the war.  How did he do it?  Engineering.  He flooded the fields with this lock system, and blocked the Germans with water and mud.

Places we visited today:
Execution Post
Officers' Club at 12 Gasthuisstraat, Poperinge
Talbot House, Poperinge
Lijssenthoek Cemetery (2nd largest British military cemetery in Europe)
Dunkirk WW2 Operation Dynamo exhibit
Nieuwpoort - where the Western Frontline met the sea
King Albert's Memorial
Dykes and Locks by King Albert
Ijzenfront trail from Nieuwpoort to Poperinge:
        Diksmuide
        Brandhoek Cemeteries (All 3)
        Boezinge (autocorrect keeps trying to make this town Boozing!)
        Hop Farm Cemetery
        Vlamertinge.

A happy end to the day:  in our search (failed) for the little Vlamertinge Red Farm Cemetery where they filmed part of Joyeux Noel, we were stuck in a narrow land in between two farms.  A little lamb had escaped through the fence, and when he saw us, he panicked and tried to jump through the fence.  He was crying "maaaah, maaaah" so of course I immediately thought of the deer I rescued last week across the street from my classroom.  I got out of the car and herded him back inside his pasture.  He had a joyful reunion with his mama while I got into the car and tried to perform a reverse Y-turn without ending up in a ditch, or ruining the new cornfields.