Great War Battlefields Tour

My grandfather served in Gallipoli from 1915  - 1916 and then was shipped out via Egypt and the Uk to  Passendale and the Western front. I visited Gallipoli 3 years back, always wanted to complete the puzzle to visit Flanders and Passendale. Today I joined a tour of the Great War battlefields sites and loved every minute of it. We began at the trenches of death, the actual western front. I stood  on the front line amongst the trenches, and the red poppies, 50 m from the German bunkers. We visited the Flanders Museum in Ypres which was incredible. Very much a hands on museum with interactive exhibits, informative and refurbished. After lunch it was off to Passendale, Hill 60, the site where the Germans let off the poisonous gas in 22 - 24 April, Tyne Cot Cementary, John McCraes Essex Farm Cementary,  the Passendale Museum. The last stop was Menin Gate in Ypres where they played the last post and hasd a wreath laying ceremony. All very poignant and a little bit emotional. I found a photo at Passendale of a chap in the trenches who looked so much like my Grandfather.

Perhaps the biggest impact is the statistical data. Between Australia and NZ they committed 500,000 troops. My Grandfather Jock Meikle belonged to The Canterbury regiment. In Tyne Cot alone, are the names of over 250 men from that regiment who were missing in action, not to mentioned the ones who are buried there ,from Canterbury. That Cementary contains 12,000 head stones with lots of much smaller cementaries dotted all around the areas each containing over 1,000 head stones. The loss of life was horrendous, even then one hundred tears ago. 

Jock Meikle served in 2 hotspots around the world for 4 years. The law of averages would suggest he was a very lucky man to come home alive, with out major injury. 

When the Germans let off their chlorine gas the first day, the gas wafted over the Canadian troops. 2000 died in those first 2 days from gas poisoning. Over the period of the war they let off 4 different types of gases. 

The video footage of men climbing out of the trenches and running over the top, through the barbed wire is horrific. Life in the trenches, when you walk in the actual trenches was not a picnic. The dugouts around Passendale with men sleeping in a space less than 2 ft wide under ground. 

The types and the distances that the mortar shells would reach, really kept every one alert. There really was no hiding when a shell could travel up to 10 kms. No wonder the bunkers were so thick. 

We stood in Menin Gate for the playing of the last post. Written all over the gate are the names of the allies who served  and died in the specific area of Ypres alone. Thousand and thousands, separate of course to Passendale, Flanders, Essex Farm, the UK cementaries , the huge Canadian one etc etc. 

My big regret is that I failed to talk with both my Grandfather and my Mum about his exact movements. 

Jock Meikle you were one very lucky man, not to have been there but to have survived.