26,623

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD


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Today I visited four Commonwealth War Grave Commission cemeteries around Ypres and Passchendaele. A total of 26,623 graves.

My Blip is from Lijssenthoek, a WW1 casualty clearing station (CCS). It holds 10,784 graves.

Other cemeteries included:
Tyne Cot ~ 11,956 graves;
Menin Road South ~ 1,538 and
Hooge Crater ~ 2,345. We drove past countless other cemeteries along the way.

It has been a sobering and humbling experience.