Walking Wipers 90th Anniversary Tour

Post Tour Report

Our gallant band departed from London Victoria on route to Flanders to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Passchendaele fighting via four walks across the ground. Our base was the well appointed Best Western Pax Hotel, Dixmuide a pleasant Flemish market town within 20 minutes of the Ypres Salient.

On arrival we checked in and re convened in the bar where via a hi-tech whiteboard and marker pen, we embarked on one of Julian & Clive’s trademark pre tour briefs of the Great War, on this occasion from the 4 August 1914 to 4 October 1917. Even omitting the panache of Lt Gen Brian Horrocks or artistic skills of Rolf Harris the audience appeared “spellbound” or maybe the large Leffe blondes all around were kicking in. That night the bars that line the main square of Dixmuide plied a brisk trade, notably to the O.R.A.S.O.T boys that swelled our ranks.

Our first walk took us from Clapham Junction to Polygon Wood; here we discussed the initial advance of July 31 1917, up to Nonne Boschen to look at the 1914 fighting and later 1917 advances. The gallant Clement Robertson led his tanks along the road we followed under heavy was awarded the VC for his actions and today lies in Oxford Road cemetery, we were now on the outskirts of the infamous Polygon Wood. A welcome refreshment break was taken at the Café De Dreve where Johan Vandewalle gave us a fascinating insight into the recent discovery of some Australian bodies whose funeral service we were to visit later that week.

We followed the 5th Australian Division attack into the wood with a visit to, amongst other bunkers, Scott’s Post here we learnt the art of capturing concreted positions using the 1917 thinking and the excellent SS143 army pamphlet of the day. Lt Col Scott who gives his name to the impressive structure was killed when handing over his newly won positions and is buried in the nearby Buttes New Military Cemetery.  

After lunch at Hooge Crater we were joined by the extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic Franky Bostyn from the Passchendaele Memorial Museum in Zonnebeke. He took us on a site visit to both the Cheddar Villa & Cryer Farm Bunker complexes. To get up close and personal to these usually “off limits” locations (one of which required a fair amount of manure avoidance the other the ability to jump large waterlogged holes!) in the company of such an expert as Franky rounded off an excellent days touring of the immortal salient. Even the Mills bomb found by Arthur Potton refused to explode, which was nice….
That evening a run into Ypres for the Last Post and a social gathering was attended by all.

Day three started with a walk from the intimate Bridge House Cemetery and then began the climb onto the Gravenstafel Ridge, a local farmer invited us into his farm yard to share this months haul of ordinance uncovered by the plough and lots of Flemish/English hand signals and smiles made for another memorable moment, typical of those that can only be experienced by smaller groups walking the ground.

We heard of P.J. Campbell’s experiences when in this sector so brilliantly recorded in his memoir “In the Cannons Mouth” and then followed the 61st Divisions attack where a new memorial had been unveiled to Ivor Gurney only days before. After a visit to Dochy Farm CWGC where we visited the grave of Jimmy Spiers who scored the winning goal in the 1911 Cup Final whilst playing for Bradford City. We then turned our attention to the New Zealanders as we walked the ground of their successful October 4 attack. An ample lunch was taken at the Old Dairy where they had a very informative exhibition on to coincide with the 90th commemorations.

The afternoon saw a shorter walk from Zonnebeke along the newly opened railway line path to Tyne Cot, this pleasant stretch of battlefield with its memorials and information panels is an excellent addition to the Ypres Salient and we passed the remains of Thames Farm and the site where an unknown soldier of the Lancashire Fusilier had been buried until his discovery by fellow guide David Bartlett in 2006. He today lies with honour in Tyne Cot CWGC where we spent an extended time to visit the new visitors centre. This walk was of special meaning to Dee Gilchrist and her father Bill as their Uncle fell on the Broodseinde Ridge with the 78th (Grenadier Guards) of Canada.

The final days walking was the 4 October, and a morning walk from Langemarck to Poelcapelle brought further tales of sacrifice and valour as we charted the advances of the 29th Division across what would have been a quagmire 90 years earlier. A visit to the Poelcapelle CWGC was brought to life by the personal stories of Arthur Potton whose relative fought here with the 2/4 London’s and Charlie Kerr’s tale of local lad Andrew Craig, a poppy wreath and heather were laid at their graves, Lest we forget.

We could not have prepared the afternoon’s events as we returned to Polygon Wood for the burial of 5 Australian soldiers. Two had been identified as Sgt Calder & Private Hunter, members of their family were present alongside a guard of honour from the Australian Defence Forces, a Belgium Marines Band, A lone Piper, a firing party, visiting dignitaries and around 1,000 fellow pilgrims who had made the journey. It was a day that none of us would forget and all felt privileged to participate in such a unique event. That evening the tour was completed with a further attendance at the last post ceremony.