Polygon Wood and Passchendaele Centenary Tour 5 October 2017
Today everyone was allowed to sleep-in, we did not leave until 1200. We drove up to Ieper, inspected the Menin Gate where many of the group found the names of their ancestors on the walls.
The visit to the Cloth Hall Museum brought home to all of us the tragedy of the war to all of us. The high quality high tech displays creating a sense of what the losses on all sides meant in a way unable to be established on a hillside quoting statistics.
After a meal at a local restaurant, we assembled early at the Menin Gate for the evening's ceremony. Our tour group were able to lay a special wreath to commemorate their ancestors. Organised by Don, it was the only wattle wreath.
Back late and straight to bed, our guests look forward to a visit to Bruges tomorrow; then on Saturday Cambrai.