Aurora - an emotional day in WW1

I'm speechless. It has been such an emotional day immersed in World War 1 history. We had an hours drive to our first stop and the guide gave us an overview of the Great War from 1914 and what kick started the war, through to Armistice Day.

The first stop was Tyne Cot Cemetery which was the first goosebump moment. 12,000 headstones and names of soldiers. Many of the headstones only said 'an Australian soldier, known unto God'. The bodies were never identified. New Zealand asked that their soldiers were listed at the cemetery as it's close to where they fell, so none are listed on the Menin gate, out next stop. As we drove through the countryside, I kept thinking of how boggy and wet it must have been in the trenches. The land is incredibly flat and wet.

Our next step was the Menin Gate in Ypres, with 55,000 names of soldiers without known graves. The guide told us that 100,000 are still unaccounted for, and every day the Belgian farmers uncover shells and bodies. At the Menin Gates was a display of poppies with personal messages. The scale of the sheer number of names was astounding and upsetting.

We stopped at St Georges Memorial Church, which was dedicated to the 500,000 men. Everything in the church was dedicated so the walls are covered in plaques from benefactors which gave to the church in memory of their pupils who went missing in Flanders. I found a chair from a brownie pack and guide pack.

We had 3 hours inside the 'In Flanders Fields' museum, voted the best museum in Europe and I can see why. It's interactive, with personalised bracelets with activate stories at the exhibits. It was the Christmas story that got me. The hologram actors gave their story from the German, English, Belgian and French point of view. They sang 'Silent night' together and that choked me up. It was so wonderfully presented to give the stories about how fire was stopped on Christmas day, they left the trenches, exchanged gifts, had photographs taken and sang together. Then the next day they were back to being enemies. What struck me is that nobody wanted to be there, it was there duty, but everyone is human.

A quick pit stop of quattro frommagio pizza and buying some chocolates, then for the museum again. At the end of the museum are panes of material holding the names of all conflicts since  1918. the last pane had space for more conflicts, which made me well up again.

A truly emotional day, but I'm so glad to visit Flanders fields and pay my respects.