Abandoned places

A severe storm lashed Belgium on Monday, 29 November 1897. Over a length of hundreds of metres, the sea dyke was washed away in the sea town Middelkerke. A drinking water reservoir did not remain unscathed either.

Bunker 'Ermitage Sud' was part of the Maginot Line, a series of fortifications erected by the French army along its border after the German attack during World War I.

During the First Battle of Ypres, on 1 November 1914 to be precise, Bavarian troops succeeded in capturing the West Flanders village of Wijtschate and the Croonaert Forest.

An ultra-secret NATO command centre was hidden in the belly of Cannerberg during the Cold War.

The Battle of the Polygoon Forest took place in Zonnebeke from September 26 to 27, 1917. Australian and New Zealand soldiers eliminated the German bunkers and fortifications one by one.

To defend the nation against foreign attacks, a series of forts were built around Antwerp, Liège and Namur from the end of the nineteenth century. For example, the Defense Line of Antwerp consisted of sixteen larger strongholds in a wide circle around the city, including Fort Breendonk.

In early May 1915, Canadian doctor and poet John McCrae wrote the world-famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' from a medical aid station a stone's throw from Ypres.

For army leaders wanting to survey the front line from Messines across Wytschaete to Ypres, the Kemmelberg was the place to be during the First World War. From 1914 to 1917, the British army controlled the strategic hilltop.

The British army ruled Ploegsteert woods throughout World War I, except from April to September 1918, when the German army held Ploegsteert for six months.

The Irish Peace Park in Belgium is next to the Battle of Messines, which started on June 7, 1917.