Thanks. My Grandfather (RIP) - East Lancashire Regiment was wounded and taken out of the war not all that far away in Passchedaele during German spring offensive in 1918. Immigrated to Canada early 1920s - loved and admired him greatly.
Mine too, M H... his medals and death plaque are displayed in the museum there... and it was his death which spurred my grandfather to try joining up, under age. A year later he did join the King's Rifles, before transferring to the MG Corps, just in time for the third battle of Ypres. Best regards to you,
Yes mine too. 18/07/1917 RIP Alfred Gray. Along with other soldiers of Loyal North Lancs, they went on a skirmish into German trenches around the area of the Hooge Crater cemetery and surrounding fields. Quite a few never came back. All remembered on Menin Gate.
I lived in the area and knew a few farmers whom each year -for decades- found ordnance on their fields, including mustard gas shells. The many times I visited Tynecot are countless. It had a strange charm mid of autumn when wind and rain battered the landscape. Loved living there
I’ve always wanted to go to France to visit some of these places (I live in the US).Your videos are the next best thing. They are very well done, and your knowledge and ability to explain the events that took place in these areas is outstanding. Thank you!
Thank you Mr. Upton for bring our this History. Your work is so enjoyable I love the work you do. I hope you continue doing this fine work. Thanks so much!
This has given me a new insight into the area. Been there four times and for the first time I can grasp the layout from Railway Wood and the tunnels, Hooge and Hill 62. Much appreciated. Awesome drone footage.
Thank you for watching. I will be staying right next to Hooge crater for the next four days, 7 Jan 20. I want to get more footage of the Bellewaarde ridge.
Steven, thank you so much for these videos. My Grandfather served with the United States Army in the 32nd Red Arrow Division. He saw action as a machine gunner. Your videos and description do much to fill in the gaps of my knowledge of the war and the devastation it had on the soldiers, the communities and the land. Grandpa never shared much about what he experienced other than a general description of the weather. The censorship was very strict with locations, as you know. He lost a brother in France due to injuries. Thank you again and I hope you continue to upload as you can.
When I heard you say Bellewaerde Ridge it made me stop and listen again to make sure. That's where my regiment, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, took its most serious losses of the war, in what's called the Death of the Originals. Much of the original regiment was killed there and replaced by university student recruits. In one of our regimental marches, "Has Anyone Seen the Colonel", there's an optional verse: "Has anyone seen the old battalion? "I know where it is, "I know where it is, "I know where it is. "Has anyone seen the old battalion? "I know where it is. "It's lying on Bellewaerde Ridge. "How do you know? "I saw it, I saw it, "Lying on Bellewaerde Ridge. "I saw it lying on Bellewaerde Ridge."
Thank you for watching. I will be at Hooge in another four weeks. I am staying in a hotel a few yards from Hooge crater. I want to film Bellewaerde ridge and the Railway Wood area.
Thank you for showing us all those very interesting films! It makes up a bit for me not visiting most of them while I was only living a few hours drive away from them. Would love to visit all these historic places in Belgium and France but don't see it happening now I live more than 1000 miles away from them.
Steven, I'm Flemish - I'm a regular visitor to Western Front - not many people know this, but the hamlet of "'t Hooge" was the worst part of the salient, it had an evil, sinister reputation amongst commonwealth forces and no-one looked forward to be stationed there. The Germans could easily shoot and shell Hooge from three directions, straight into the allied trenches. And very few visitors to Bellewaerde, the amusement park located on this stretch of frontline, are aware that where they stand the first flamethrower assault of the war took place.
Steven, your collection is becoming quite a gold mine. Your voice is perfect for this, your word content is very well thought out and informative, and your video shots whether taken on foot or with drone are breathtaking. When all is combined, the end result leaves me wanting more and more. It is difficult to believe there are only 1250 views at the time of this message. Out of all of the documentaries I have seen concerning ww1, with your talent in action it takes very little effort to get a good feeling for what happened at these locations a century ago. I hope you can network out and get the right people with influence to help make you the star you deserve to be. I would love to watch as you guide us around all of the fronts across the globe, as you bring the great war to life so effectively. Please keep up the excellent work, and thank you for sharing your insight and talent.
Steven, you are very welcome. If you want some original music for your videos, let me know. You can hear examples of my more recent work here: ua-cam.com/video/MXzHi_Vv9og/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/795KtF0y8SI/v-deo.html Let me know if you would like me to write something for you. I have nothing better to do and would be proud to be a part of your project if I can write something that meets your expectations. All it would cost you is to give me credit in your video description. Please reply here. I am always signed on with this different username to maintain anonymity for commenting on videos, so if you reply to my videos direct, I will not be notified.
Many thanks for yet another wonderful video, Steven. Those poor men must be spinning in their graves when they look at what our modern day politicians have done to our country. They can only be asking themselves what they gave their lives for, I'm sure.
Excellent footage Steven. Thanks for sharing. As a 70th birthday present, my two sons arranged a trip to the battlefields only a couple of weeks ago . The trip has left such a lasting impression on the three of us. One of the battlefields we visited was where out of many hundreds of Canadian soldiers who fought only 60 remained . I will always remember the sweet scent of roses wafting up from the immaculate cemetery at the foot of the battlefield. I thought it was Hawthorne Ridge but now not so sure, maybe you can help. Many thanks again
What an amazing vid, Steven. Very well done! Years ago I visited virtually all of the CWGC cemeteries in the old Salient but your videos provide and added and unusual bonus to understand the lie of the land. Thank you for your hard work. JMD from Brussels
Job well done. I've been to Sanctuary Wood because my great grandfather got injured there on July 7th 1916. He was with the 60th CEF battalion. I found as I went to different sites exploring I got disorientated . With your film it makes more sense of where the battlefield was.S. McQueenCalgaryCanada
Brilliant video's and commentary from you. Only discover you a couple of days ago not stopped watching your videos. 2 ..years ago spent a week in Belgium including the Ypres area and went to the Rampart's Cemetery. Wanted to get to more of the area but went to the coast for a couple of days and the Atlantic wall locations. Different war but still a brilliant place to see. Thanks again Steven
Absolutely brilliant. Love the drone footage. My great uncle was killed at Passchendale (19th Battalion AIF), literally the day before the Australians were retired and the Canadians took over. Would love it if you did something similar from Zonnebeke to Passchendale. Truly sacred ground.
Absolutely fantastic video's Steven! Very informative and very nice memorials to all the men that never came home and those that were forever scarred either physically or mentally by their experience on both sides of the conflict. People often avoid the German perspective but they were also 18 year old boys that didn't chose to be there which shouldn't be overlooked. I've visited many of the locations you have used and your video's give a great area perspective that you cannot gauge from the ground. Keep the updates coming please!
Thank you for the series of videos. Watching these videos I am reminded of a scene from A Bridge too Far where Kate ter Horst asks the doctor treating wounded in her house if can get any worse. His reply was “ oh yes, much worse”. I think places like this are what he had in mind.
Thank you for watching. In 1976 (I think) I stumbled onto he set of A Bridge Too Far. It was at the northern end of the Nigmegan bridge when the US Airborne had just crossed the river in boats. They were rehearsing the scene.
My grandfather did 2 years in France with the 37th Battalion First AIF. My dad told me he used to describe the second world war as a "side show". Relative to the battles of the 1 we the 2ww was a side show at least in western Europe. The scale fighting and suffering in Russia was even worse than that seen in the 1ww.
The view across the Belewarde ridge to Railway Wood made me shiver, my Great Grandfather was there with the Liverpool Scottish, I really need to go there.
I also stayed at the bed and breakfast next to the crater during a WWI battlefield tour in 2015. My room had a balcony that looked out on it, and I was able to walk through the trenches. Thanks for the video!
I visited the Sanctuary Wood museum and trenches some years ago. Very interesting and a worthwhile visit. Like yourself I've been amazed at how the landscape has recovered from the wasteland left at the end of the war, the work it must have taken is incredible.
Thank you Steve, I visited these areas on a guided tour, although the tour was very good we were subjected to a barrage of information which left me somewhat shellshocked trying to absorb it your short video has helped me to get a grasp of it. no puns intended.
I was at Hooge back in May - the large missing crater to the west was filled in postwar, possibly as a mass grave, and this was created by British forces in 1915. The remaining 3 or 4 craters (as when on the ground, you can clearly see the 3 craters that created the pond, plus a dried out 4th crater to the immediate east - they were actually landscaped into a feature, but at the same time blockhouses and trenches are clearly visible on the ground) were blown by the Germans when the Canadian lines were on top of them. So while the original Hooge crater is now a memory, other Hooge craters are available!
Another spot on vid Steve. Was at Kemmel last summer camping on motorcycle. Went to hill 62 and Hooge. For me the last post at the Mennin gate was mind blowing. Going back this year with some maps try and get a better understanding. 👍
Thank you for watching. I intend going on my bike to Ypres in June using trench maps and GPS to explore from Hooge to the Bluff. Just hope all the travel bans are over by then.
Can you show chateau woods and the modern location of the famous photo showing British solders walking on the duck boards? I think that was in this area?
Thank you for watching. Not sure when I will get back to this area, but Chateau wood is on the film, just. My next one will be Railway wood. Its already filmed, just need to edit it.
I love that the Belgians have restored so much of that devestated zone to a state where it is difficult to discern, for the most part, that some of the most hideous battles of WW1 took place right there. I think it is admirable that, whatever may lie beneath the soil, this landscape has been returned to its more natural state of agriculture and normality. While knowledge and understanding of that conflict is important, the normality of the landscape, despite the ravages that it endured, is a powerful message for peace.
Many thanks for these superb drone footage videos of some of the most important and most poignant locations on thw Western Front. Being able to see them from the air provides a whole new dimension to our understanding of the events that took place there. Looking forward to many more.
The Belgian demining service DOVO - SEDEE was created after WWI to get rid of all the unexploded ordnance on the battlefields. 100 years later they are still digging up ordnance.
Fantastic videos Steven! Anything on the 2nd battle of Marne? I lost a great uncle to artillery attack on Aug 6th 1918, he’s buried in Harponville cemetery and I’m planning on visiting soon. He was only 19.
My wife's great uncle died in these woods and is buried at Sanctuary wood cemetary.... When we went to visit to pay our respects to where he and others had fallen, we were horrified to find that we had to pay to go into the woods,.... F*cking disgraceful and don't give me all that bollocks that the money is for the upkeep, that should be a honour for the sacrifice that they gave ... P.s your film is fantastic and you are very respectful
I got a drone recently, in preparation for a trip to France to film battlefields as well. You're not kidding, that exposure is very difficult. It's like we're overexposed when filming the horizon, and underexposed if we pan down to darker trees. I need lots of practice making sure I can capture footage with the correct settings before heading over there.
I've noticed in some of your other videos that the land is still pockmarked from the shelling it took during the war (Vimy Ridge, for example). Is there a reason those areas remain scarred while others appear smoothed over?
Thank you for watching. Places of great importance to nations like Canada such as Vimy Ridge and Beaumont Hamel have created national memorial parks and preserved the area. Whilst the majority of the frontline has been recovered for agriculture. Areas designated and unrecoverable usually had trees planted on them and if you go into these Forests you will find the remains of trenches and bunkers.
@@trek520rider2 That is correct. After the war the French colour coded everywhere, red zone was too difficult to recover, so they planted forest, can’t remember the other colours but you get the idea.
I went into the Hooge Crater cemetery and from ground level you can't see it at first and then when you get in it slopes down. I found it breathtaking to see so many graves spreading out downhill. I walked down to the bottom and it was so quiet just bees and butterflies getting at the flowers. My grandfather is buried at Vlamertinghe on the other side of Ypres. You can trace the sorry moral state of the UK right back to the two wars of the twentieth century. Us and the Germans lost so many good men thanks to the rotten scum that ran things from comfort at the back.
@@StevenUpton14-18 The loss was always far reaching my dad was born in 1914 and his father a volunteer was killed in 1917. My dad never knew his father and was brought up by his mother on a pittance war pension and school cleaning. My dad did firewatching in Clerkenwell in WW2 and helped make torpedoes among other things then he lost his mother when a V2 rocket landed in 1945. My mother didn't go with my grandmother that evening so she escaped although the house was damaged. Another man came home from work and found the house totally destroyed and his wife and three daughters gone. I reckon few people that live in the area now know or even care about what went on before. It's nice to see videos like yours keeping the history alive the people living in London now should think themselves very lucky.
Great video. Been trying to understand better all the battles around Ypres, but difficult since I don't live on that continent and Bing and Google maps have their limitations. Your drone work and narration does wonders. Thank you!
the soldiers called it Sanctuary Wood because they thought they could get some respite from the war there - initially the tree coverage provided a brief respite until artillery shelling turned it into a stumped forest - it was a misnomer - how fierce was the fighting ? - one tactic the Germans used was to either light a fire in the forest and burn them out or use flamethrowers - there is a famous heroic Last Stand account about the 5th Canadian Artillery Battery in Sanctuary Woods that kept firing point blank into attacking German infantry till the last shell and last man standing even though surrounded on all sides by Germans in the Battle of Mount Sorrell June 2-13 1916 - Sanctuary Woods was a blood bath offering no sanctuary at all
Like many so many other people , I also lost my great uncle, Pte A. Larsson on the Ypres front. Buried where he died in an unmarked grave. I still have the original Telegram from the British Enquiry Department for Wounded and Missing.
I live on a remote island that didn't have human beings on it until 50 years ago. It was wilderness before. I could never live in this place, the restless spirits there would give me no rest.
Thankyou for your respectful video. The arial shots are very informative. I hope that you continue to produce such well researched material. Cheers from Australia.
This is all very interesting piece of my country’s Flemish history, beautifully filmed,and commented, but may I remind the British that this region is called Ieper,and not Yores. For an unknown reason picked,up in history, many Flemish (thus not French) places are misspelled, and gives the impression that in West Flanders, my fellow countrymen there speak French, which is not the case ! Just something I find, we have to respect the placenames as they are. Thank you for your understanding & greetings from.Antwerpen !
Very kind reaction Paul ! Also my respects to the fallen soldiers in that era. Every year we watch the remembrance service on BBC and the related programmes. My grandfather Karel De Bie (1893-1964) was also one of these tough soldiers who survived that nightmare ! Glad that you enjoy the region and it’s famous beers, i’m also a fan of the little unknown breweries, scattered among our little country. If you ever pass through Antwerpen, just blow the you tube-whistle. Is my English a bit o.k. ? Fine greetings 👍
There's a great museum at Sanctuary Wood. Absolutley loads of equipment behing glass and an an amazing room full of slide viewers, with, I must add some photos of terrible injuries received by troops.
Watching this made me curious about how much combat the Yepres area saw in WW2. The British fought a short successful delaying action here during the retreat to the channel in 1940 and it looks like they were pretty much bypassed in 1944. I can just imagine a Belgian farmer with his new house in both 40 and 44 hearing the guns get closer and saying, “anywhere but here, anywhere but here”.
My grandfather fought at Ypres. Alexander Gordon McConnach. We have never been able to confirm where he fought and which unit he was with as all his records were lost in WW2 Bombings. He would never speak about the war other than small snippets. I just wish I'd had the sense to question him before he left us.
In the last war cemetry shown at the end of this video, there are 20 graves in each row. There are 11 rows in each block and there are 23 blocks. That = 5,060 war graves from just one battle. The majority of them would have been under 25 years old. Why would anyone down arrow this video.
I would like to ask, all of my family are Scottish including myself and I recently found a relative, my great-grandfather's cousin. He was Lt John Mackay from Carloway and he served in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and I would like to ask whether that regiment was around these trenches. I've been to France and Flanders twice before and I am fascinated by the history of this war. If anyone could reply that would be great.
Thank you watching. To find out exactly when a particular person was at a location you can do a search on the Internet. You will need to know more than just that he was in the PPCLI. You will need to know which battalion. When someone was posted to a particular battalion they generally stayed with it for the duration.
@@StevenUpton14-18 Thank you very much. I do much research on different regiments that fought during the war, Royal Irish Rifles, Seaforth Highlanders, Royal Scots which all had new army battalions and multiple regular and territorial battalions. However and rather lucky for me I understand that the PPCLI was a regiment which contained one battalion as it was very unique in its formation as it only recruited men of high experience such as south Africa etc. Thanks I'll have a look through the war diaries for the regiment.
PPCLI was in the 7th brigade 3rd division CEF and pretty sure one of the first major battles they were involved in and as it didnt really go their way as the Canadians were still learning casualties were high.
Hello Steven, I would like to thank you for all the WW1 videos! I have thoroughly enjoyed them. I was in France and Belgium last year almost to the day! Great job ! My one question to you is where do you get your trench maps? Looking for Fromelles which I also enjoyed your video of that as it gave me a better understanding of that horrific battle. Looking forward to more of your videos/ Cheers Rob
Thank you for watching. I have some DVD's from Croonaert Research Series and Lines Man. I can download a trench map to mu iPad and then use Bluetooth GPS to see exactly where I am on a trance map.
@@StevenUpton14-18 oh really? I always thought they were made after the war for the museum. So there are probably bodies of soldiers under the ground where the visitors walk every day?
@@StevenUpton14-18 Who knows what else is still under the ground of these fields. For a lot of soldiers this will probably be their final resting place, because it's inpossible to find all the bodies of all the fallen.
@@pcgamez4ever14 About 50% of all those killed have no known graves. Look at the memorials to the missing. The List of British missing just for the Somme battle is 70,000 on one memorial.
Thank you for watching. I would go to Verdun and Massiges. there is not a lot to see regarding WW2 other than Normandy. Because WW1 was mostly static there is a vast amount of places to visit.
My great uncle is buried in the Hooge crater cemetery, he was killed there during 1915. If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven. The Soldier. BY RUPERT BROOKE. Rest in peace, great uncle Lionel.
I have read that the Germans used land mines at Ypers. If so, have these mines been located and dealt with to a degree of being able to walk around in safety?
Thanks for your reply. aubgabraclandmines.weebly.com/uses-in-ww1.html I must say, I don't always understand or believe what I read. I have been a heavy reader long before home computers. Excerpt~ Who Used Land Mines in WW1The largest recorded use of land mines in World War 1 was mostly by Germany, most notably in the second battle in Ypres in April 1915. In all roughly 500,000 soldiers were injured and almost 30,000 were killed.
In 1918 the then obsolete 2 inch 'toffee apple' bombs (minus stem) were used as anti tank land mines as the crude 107 fuze only needed direct pressure to strike a 303 blank to initiate the main charge. Most references from the British to 'mines' in WW1 will refer either to the huge tunnel mines, one of which exploded in 1955 and one of which is still unexploded and its exact location is unknown. References from German sources will refer to the trench mortar bombs they called Minenwerfers (lit. mine thrower) these came in 3 main sizes, 7.62cm 17cm and huge 25cm. There were also numerous other types such as the 1916 Granatenwerfer or 'Priest mortar' and the 9cm smoothbore Lanz mortars. The Germans used trench mortars extensively causing many allied casualties, it was only really in 1916 when the British Stokes appeared that the allies had a really effective equivalent. In no sense were any of these German 'mines' what we would today call land mines.
@@jimzeez - I have over 800 trench maps ranging from 1915 to 1918 and there are some very interesting names given to trenches. You can see British soldier humour in many of them. As a veteran myself I see that nothing has changed in this respect in the last 100 years.
Visited this area last November along with various other sites from WW1 around the Ypres area, well worth it. This video was a nice reminder of the time we spent, thank you.
Are the locals happy with their swimming pools literally within a few feet of reminders of where there is visual proof of where they may have lost their whole family? Are these people fortunate, wealthy of unfortunate? I intend no disrespect what so ever.** Thanks for the great video.
None for this video. I checked online what Belgian laws require and you should not fly over someones house. For a previous film I did ask a home owner for his permission. He was very happy to grant it.
thanks for the info, I have been talking to the CWGC for permissions, they say they will grant it, but I need to get permission from the local Belgium authority, the CWGC want times an dates when I plan to fly etc, it seems you have to jump through hoops to get anywhere.
Exacly no laws here that forbid you fly a drone unless you fly over a military building thank you help us rember the pain and suffer its our duty to keep it like it was
I'm not sure any species capable of this will last very long. Nor do they deserve to. Like an addict past all redemption, humankind is bereft of reason or remorse. Complacent and wretched.
Thank you so much for continuing to make these battlefield videos. I wonder if it would be possible to intercut between your footage and the footage taken just at the conclusion of the war from a dirigible. Your films have been a treasure to those like me interested in seeing the battlefields but unable to make the journey in person. I hope you'll consider doing a video covering the Passchendale battlefield as well. ua-cam.com/video/SdFwEfoIM3E/v-deo.html
Thank you for watching. Very good suggestion about splicing in the footage taken after the war. Although I have seen it, I had not considered doing this.
@@StevenUpton14-18 are you aware of whether or not the aerial reconnaissance photographs have become publicly available? Although I confess to being biased toward film footage such as that covered in this documentary: ua-cam.com/video/zpRMJxiOyk0/v-deo.html. Perhaps it would be the better part of wisdom to instead use aerial photographs should you attempt to interweave between the two in your films. It would certainly make for a great Google project, knitting all those pics together to allow for a google earth style view of the western front. If they did this, it would make matching with your your footage much easier. I guess I'm concerned that the amount of work involved in actually accomplishing this kind of imagery will become unnecessarily burdensome on your part and overwhelm your so far noble efforts. Your films have thus far been imbued from beginning to end with what I feel is the true legacy of those who fought and perished in the First World War, the value of human life.
Thanks. My Grandfather (RIP) - East Lancashire Regiment was wounded and taken out of the war not all that far away in Passchedaele during German spring offensive in 1918. Immigrated to Canada early 1920s - loved and admired him greatly.
Thank you for watching.
My great uncle is still there somewhere, no known grave. 24 November 1914 R. I. P.
Thank you for watching. Sorry for your families loss. Half of those KIA have no know grave.
Mine too, M H... his medals and death plaque are displayed in the museum there... and it was his death which spurred my grandfather to try joining up, under age. A year later he did join the King's Rifles, before transferring to the MG Corps, just in time for the third battle of Ypres.
Best regards to you,
Hold steady and god speed my brother, Only know we'll all see them again soon
Yes mine too. 18/07/1917 RIP Alfred Gray. Along with other soldiers of Loyal North Lancs, they went on a skirmish into German trenches around the area of the Hooge Crater cemetery and surrounding fields. Quite a few never came back. All remembered on Menin Gate.
I lived in the area and knew a few farmers whom each year -for decades- found ordnance on their fields, including mustard gas shells. The many times I visited Tynecot are countless. It had a strange charm mid of autumn when wind and rain battered the landscape. Loved living there
Thank you for watching.
I’ve always wanted to go to France to visit some of these places (I live in the US).Your videos are the next best thing. They are very well done, and your knowledge and ability to explain the events that took place in these areas is outstanding. Thank you!
Thank you for watching. I hope you get to visit someday.
This is actualy in Belgium. But it is a few miles from the French border.
Thank you Mr. Upton for bring our this History. Your work is so enjoyable I love the work you do. I hope you continue doing this fine work. Thanks so much!
Thank you for watching.
This has given me a new insight into the area. Been there four times and for the first time I can grasp the layout from Railway Wood and the tunnels, Hooge and Hill 62. Much appreciated. Awesome drone footage.
Thank you for watching. I will be staying right next to Hooge crater for the next four days, 7 Jan 20.
I want to get more footage of the Bellewaarde ridge.
Steven, thank you so much for these videos. My Grandfather served with the United States Army in the 32nd Red Arrow Division. He saw action as a machine gunner. Your videos and description do much to fill in the gaps of my knowledge of the war and the devastation it had on the soldiers, the communities and the land. Grandpa never shared much about what he experienced other than a general description of the weather. The censorship was very strict with locations, as you know. He lost a brother in France due to injuries. Thank you again and I hope you continue to upload as you can.
Thank you for watching and sharing.
When I heard you say Bellewaerde Ridge it made me stop and listen again to make sure.
That's where my regiment, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, took its most serious losses of the war, in what's called the Death of the Originals. Much of the original regiment was killed there and replaced by university student recruits. In one of our regimental marches, "Has Anyone Seen the Colonel", there's an optional verse:
"Has anyone seen the old battalion?
"I know where it is,
"I know where it is,
"I know where it is.
"Has anyone seen the old battalion?
"I know where it is.
"It's lying on Bellewaerde Ridge.
"How do you know?
"I saw it, I saw it,
"Lying on Bellewaerde Ridge.
"I saw it lying on Bellewaerde Ridge."
Thank you for watching. I will be at Hooge in another four weeks. I am staying in a hotel a few yards from Hooge crater. I want to film Bellewaerde ridge and the Railway Wood area.
I visited the 'Pats' memorial on Bellewaarde ridge lat week. If you want some photographs email me: steven@s-upton.com
Rob Glenn sad days
Thank you!
Thank you for showing us all those very interesting films! It makes up a bit for me not visiting most of them while I was only living a few hours drive away from them. Would love to visit all these historic places in Belgium and France but don't see it happening now I live more than 1000 miles away from them.
Thank you for watching.
Steven, I'm Flemish - I'm a regular visitor to Western Front - not many people know this, but the hamlet of "'t Hooge" was the worst part of the salient, it had an evil, sinister reputation amongst commonwealth forces and no-one looked forward to be stationed there. The Germans could easily shoot and shell Hooge from three directions, straight into the allied trenches. And very few visitors to Bellewaerde, the amusement park located on this stretch of frontline, are aware that where they stand the first flamethrower assault of the war took place.
Thank you for watching. I am aware of all you state. I will be there for a few days in January.
Steven, your collection is becoming quite a gold mine. Your voice is perfect for this, your word content is very well thought out and informative, and your video shots whether taken on foot or with drone are breathtaking. When all is combined, the end result leaves me wanting more and more. It is difficult to believe there are only 1250 views at the time of this message. Out of all of the documentaries I have seen concerning ww1, with your talent in action it takes very little effort to get a good feeling for what happened at these locations a century ago. I hope you can network out and get the right people with influence to help make you the star you deserve to be. I would love to watch as you guide us around all of the fronts across the globe, as you bring the great war to life so effectively. Please keep up the excellent work, and thank you for sharing your insight and talent.
Thank you for watching and your encouraging comments.
Steven, you are very welcome. If you want some original music for your videos, let me know. You can hear examples of my more recent work here: ua-cam.com/video/MXzHi_Vv9og/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/795KtF0y8SI/v-deo.html Let me know if you would like me to write something for you. I have nothing better to do and would be proud to be a part of your project if I can write something that meets your expectations. All it would cost you is to give me credit in your video description. Please reply here. I am always signed on with this different username to maintain anonymity for commenting on videos, so if you reply to my videos direct, I will not be notified.
Many thanks for yet another wonderful video, Steven. Those poor men must be spinning in their graves when they look at what our modern day politicians have done to our country. They can only be asking themselves what they gave their lives for, I'm sure.
Thank you for watching. Don't talk to me about British politicians at this time!!!
@Din Djarin true. It is said 50% of all KIA have no known graves.
Excellent footage Steven. Thanks for sharing. As a 70th birthday present, my two sons arranged a trip to the battlefields only a couple of weeks ago . The trip has left such a lasting impression on the three of us. One of the battlefields we visited was where out of many hundreds of Canadian soldiers who fought only 60 remained . I will always remember the sweet scent of roses wafting up from the immaculate cemetery at the foot of the battlefield. I thought it was Hawthorne Ridge but now not so sure, maybe you can help. Many thanks again
Thank you for watching. I would need more information to identify where you were. Was it near Ypres or on the Somme?
What an amazing vid, Steven. Very well done! Years ago I visited virtually all of the CWGC cemeteries in the old Salient but your videos provide and added and unusual bonus to understand the lie of the land. Thank you for your hard work.
JMD from Brussels
Thank you for watching.
Thanks Steven....this puts your most recent video on Hooge Crater into perspective for me at least....keep them coming cheers
Thank you for watching.
Alway’s enjoy your films. Keep up the good work. The story still needs to be told to the younger generations so that they understand what war is.
Thank you for watching. Next film will be Railway wood.
Job well done. I've been to Sanctuary Wood because my great grandfather got injured there on July 7th 1916. He was with the 60th CEF battalion. I found as I went to different sites exploring I got disorientated . With your film it makes more sense of where the battlefield was.S. McQueenCalgaryCanada
Thank you for watching.
Thanks for bringing us along
Keep up the awesome drone footage
The perceptive view is spectacular
Very informative
Thank you for watching.
Brilliant video's and commentary from you. Only discover you a couple of days ago not stopped watching your videos. 2 ..years ago spent a week in Belgium including the Ypres area and went to the Rampart's Cemetery. Wanted to get to more of the area but went to the coast for a couple of days and the Atlantic wall locations. Different war but still a brilliant place to see. Thanks again Steven
Thank you for watching.
Absolutely brilliant. Love the drone footage.
My great uncle was killed at Passchendale (19th Battalion AIF), literally the day before the Australians were retired and the Canadians took over. Would love it if you did something similar from Zonnebeke to Passchendale.
Truly sacred ground.
Thank you for watching. I will be there next month. Depends upon the weather if I can film.
@@StevenUpton14-18 cheers mate.
Absolutely fantastic video's Steven! Very informative and very nice memorials to all the men that never came home and those that were forever scarred either physically or mentally by their experience on both sides of the conflict. People often avoid the German perspective but they were also 18 year old boys that didn't chose to be there which shouldn't be overlooked. I've visited many of the locations you have used and your video's give a great area perspective that you cannot gauge from the ground. Keep the updates coming please!
Thank you for watching.
Your work is vitally important, Steven. Thank you.
Thank you for watching.
Thank you for the series of videos. Watching these videos I am reminded of a scene from A Bridge too Far where Kate ter Horst asks the doctor treating wounded in her house if can get any worse. His reply was “ oh yes, much worse”. I think places like this are what he had in mind.
Thank you for watching. In 1976 (I think) I stumbled onto he set of A Bridge Too Far. It was at the northern end of the Nigmegan bridge when the US Airborne had just crossed the river in boats. They were rehearsing the scene.
My grandfather did 2 years in France with the 37th Battalion First AIF. My dad told me he used to describe the second world war as a "side show". Relative to the battles of the 1 we the 2ww was a side show at least in western Europe. The scale fighting and suffering in Russia was even worse than that seen in the 1ww.
@@andersonsroad5161 - My GF also served in both wars.
Thanks for your videos, theyre all interesting, well made and informative.
Thank you for watching.
The view across the Belewarde ridge to Railway Wood made me shiver, my Great Grandfather was there with the Liverpool Scottish, I really need to go there.
Thank you for watching. I will be there in Early January 2020. I did some filming there in April 2019 but just not round to editing it.
I also stayed at the bed and breakfast next to the crater during a WWI battlefield tour in 2015. My room had a balcony that looked out on it, and I was able to walk through the trenches. Thanks for the video!
Thank you for watching.
"whether there's any such thing as a good weapon" Thank you Steven.
Thank you for watching.
Trek520 rider peace
Great job Steven. Your comments are clear en just, as always, love Your video's.
Thank you for watching.
Great video.......it is so pleasing to see the actual grounds of World War I after reading so much about the BEF's history in Belgium and France.
Thank you for watching.
Thanks Steve for the aerial views, we've visited on foot many times this area but from the air it gives another perspective...
Thank you for watching.
I went to this place on a school trip 3 years ago. I’m reminiscing all the places we went.
Thank you for watching.
cheers for latest upload, ever thought of doing then and now aerial reconnaissance?
Thank you for watching.
I visited the Sanctuary Wood museum and trenches some years ago. Very interesting and a worthwhile visit. Like yourself I've been amazed at how the landscape has recovered from the wasteland left at the end of the war, the work it must have taken is incredible.
Thank you for watching.
Thank you Steve, I visited these areas on a guided tour, although the tour was very good we were subjected to a barrage of information which left me somewhat shellshocked trying to absorb it
your short video has helped me to get a grasp of it. no puns intended.
Thank you for watching.
I was at Hooge back in May - the large missing crater to the west was filled in postwar, possibly as a mass grave, and this was created by British forces in 1915. The remaining 3 or 4 craters (as when on the ground, you can clearly see the 3 craters that created the pond, plus a dried out 4th crater to the immediate east - they were actually landscaped into a feature, but at the same time blockhouses and trenches are clearly visible on the ground) were blown by the Germans when the Canadian lines were on top of them.
So while the original Hooge crater is now a memory, other Hooge craters are available!
@@DiverPants - Thank you for watching and this information.
Once again, a fantastic video. Many thanks!
Thank you for watching.
Hello Steve, what fantastically interesting and well presented videos...really enjoying them
Thank you for watching.
as a kid i went to bellewaerde theme park with my school, now 30 years later i wish they had taken us to see the trenches and cemeteries.
Thank you for watching.
Another spot on vid Steve. Was at Kemmel last summer camping on motorcycle. Went to hill 62 and Hooge. For me the last post at the Mennin gate was mind blowing. Going back this year with some maps try and get a better understanding. 👍
Thank you for watching. I intend going on my bike to Ypres in June using trench maps and GPS to explore from Hooge to the Bluff. Just hope all the travel bans are over by then.
Yet again superb ..thank you ( MC the Somme...The Somme then and now)
Thank you for watching.
My grandad KRRC, was there in 1915, it was the first military cemetery I visited on the western front, it took my breath away, so sad.
Thank you for watching.
I couldn't imagine living in a place with such a violent history. Bones and remains still all around you.
Thank you for watching.
And ghosts. There is an atmosphere there you ewont find anywhere else.
Your drone work is good Steve. You have really prepared your flight plans.
Thank you for watching and commenting.
Can you show chateau woods and the modern location of the famous photo showing British solders walking on the duck boards? I think that was in this area?
Thank you for watching. Not sure when I will get back to this area, but Chateau wood is on the film, just. My next one will be Railway wood. Its already filmed, just need to edit it.
Another moving video Mr. Upton.
Thank you for watching.
Amazing I'm glad I did not have to be in that madness. My great uncle was with the 42nd Rainbow division.
Thank you for watching.
I love that the Belgians have restored so much of that devestated zone to a state where it is difficult to discern, for the most part, that some of the most hideous battles of WW1 took place right there.
I think it is admirable that, whatever may lie beneath the soil, this landscape has been returned to its more natural state of agriculture and normality.
While knowledge and understanding of that conflict is important, the normality of the landscape, despite the ravages that it endured, is a powerful message for peace.
I agree. Life must go on. Better to grow food than have a vast memorial to a tragic four years. The cemeteries are the reminder.
Many thanks for these superb drone footage videos of some of the most important and most poignant locations on thw Western Front. Being able to see them from the air provides a whole new dimension to our understanding of the events that took place there.
Looking forward to many more.
The Belgian demining service DOVO - SEDEE was created after WWI to get rid of all the unexploded ordnance on the battlefields. 100 years later they are still digging up ordnance.
Fantastic videos Steven! Anything on the 2nd battle of Marne? I lost a great uncle to artillery attack on Aug 6th 1918, he’s buried in Harponville cemetery and I’m planning on visiting soon. He was only 19.
I have visited the Marne area, but not done any filming yet.
Look forward to any filming you do Steven, thanks for reply.
My wife's great uncle died in these woods and is buried at Sanctuary wood cemetary.... When we went to visit to pay our respects to where he and others had fallen, we were horrified to find that we had to pay to go into the woods,.... F*cking disgraceful and don't give me all that bollocks that the money is for the upkeep, that should be a honour for the sacrifice that they gave ... P.s your film is fantastic and you are very respectful
Thank you for watching.
Ive been to sanctuary wood. Its a real eye opener as to the real conditions that were lived in.
Thank you for watching. I had a trip planned for last year to walk from Hooge to the Bluff through Sanctuary wood, but then along came Covid.
Brilliant work!
Thank you for watching.
Excellent. Thank you.
Thank you for watching.
Beautiful video love the music I wish I could visit these places
Thank you for watching.
I got a drone recently, in preparation for a trip to France to film battlefields as well. You're not kidding, that exposure is very difficult. It's like we're overexposed when filming the horizon, and underexposed if we pan down to darker trees. I need lots of practice making sure I can capture footage with the correct settings before heading over there.
Thank you for watching. I had less exposure problems with a Phantom 3 advanced. I thought the Mavic pro would be better. But ....!
Thanks for these images, my G.Grandfather's remains are there somewhere, Sgt John Ernest Elgie 2nd Durham Light Infantry, d. 9th August 1915, age 33.
Thank you for watching.
I've noticed in some of your other videos that the land is still pockmarked from the shelling it took during the war (Vimy Ridge, for example). Is there a reason those areas remain scarred while others appear smoothed over?
Thank you for watching. Places of great importance to nations like Canada such as Vimy Ridge and Beaumont Hamel have created national memorial parks and preserved the area. Whilst the majority of the frontline has been recovered for agriculture. Areas designated and unrecoverable usually had trees planted on them and if you go into these Forests you will find the remains of trenches and bunkers.
@@StevenUpton14-18 Are there not some areas e.g. around Verdun which cannot be used for anything due to the amount of unexploded ordnance there?
@@trek520rider2 That is correct. After the war the French colour coded everywhere, red zone was too difficult to recover, so they planted forest, can’t remember the other colours but you get the idea.
I went into the Hooge Crater cemetery and from ground level you can't see it at first and then when you get in it slopes down. I found it breathtaking to see so many graves spreading out downhill. I walked down to the bottom and it was so quiet just bees and butterflies getting at the flowers. My grandfather is buried at Vlamertinghe on the other side of Ypres. You can trace the sorry moral state of the UK right back to the two wars of the twentieth century. Us and the Germans lost so many good men thanks to the rotten scum that ran things from comfort at the back.
Thank you for watching. Sorry for your families loss.
@@StevenUpton14-18 The loss was always far reaching my dad was born in 1914 and his father a volunteer was killed in 1917. My dad never knew his father and was brought up by his mother on a pittance war pension and school cleaning. My dad did firewatching in Clerkenwell in WW2 and helped make torpedoes among other things then he lost his mother when a V2 rocket landed in 1945. My mother didn't go with my grandmother that evening so she escaped although the house was damaged. Another man came home from work and found the house totally destroyed and his wife and three daughters gone. I reckon few people that live in the area now know or even care about what went on before. It's nice to see videos like yours keeping the history alive the people living in London now should think themselves very lucky.
Great video. Been trying to understand better all the battles around Ypres, but difficult since I don't live on that continent and Bing and Google maps have their limitations. Your drone work and narration does wonders. Thank you!
Thank you for watching.
the soldiers called it Sanctuary Wood because they thought they could get some respite from the war there - initially the tree coverage provided a brief respite until artillery shelling turned it into a stumped forest - it was a misnomer - how fierce was the fighting ? - one tactic the Germans used was to either light a fire in the forest and burn them out or use flamethrowers - there is a famous heroic Last Stand account about the 5th Canadian Artillery Battery in Sanctuary Woods that kept firing point blank into attacking German infantry till the last shell and last man standing even though surrounded on all sides by Germans in the Battle of Mount Sorrell June 2-13 1916 - Sanctuary Woods was a blood bath offering no sanctuary at all
The Canadians had a fearsome reputation. Superb soldiers.
Like many so many other people , I also lost my great uncle, Pte A. Larsson on the Ypres front. Buried where he died in an unmarked grave. I still have the original Telegram from the British Enquiry Department for Wounded and Missing.
Thank you for watching and sorry for your family's loss.
The pool left from the wood at 08:17 (rigght from the Menin Road) was also there during tha war. You can see it in trench maps & aerial photos.
Thank you for watching.
We dug out 4th crater @ hotel thooghe last month
Thank you for watching. I will be back there in June, will look for it. Did you find anything interesting?
I live on a remote island that didn't have human beings on it until 50 years ago. It was wilderness before. I could never live in this place, the restless spirits there would give me no rest.
Thank you for watching.
If youre one of them, it's like a family reunion. They still have so many stories to tell. T
Fantastic Steven. Terry&thepirates
Thank you for watching.
Thank you for making this vid.
Thank you for watching.
Thankyou for your respectful video. The arial shots are very informative. I hope that you continue to produce such well researched material. Cheers from Australia.
Thank you for watching.
Very educational video, Stephen thankyou.
Thank you for watching.
This is all very interesting piece of my country’s Flemish history, beautifully filmed,and commented, but may I remind the British that this region is called Ieper,and not Yores. For an unknown reason picked,up in history, many Flemish (thus not French) places are misspelled, and gives the impression that in West Flanders, my fellow countrymen there speak French, which is not the case ! Just something I find, we have to respect the placenames as they are. Thank you for your understanding & greetings from.Antwerpen !
Thank you for watching. British soldiers called it 'Wipers'.
Very kind reaction Paul ! Also my respects to the fallen soldiers in that era. Every year we watch the remembrance service on BBC and the related programmes. My grandfather Karel De Bie (1893-1964) was also one of these tough soldiers who survived that nightmare ! Glad that you enjoy the region and it’s famous beers, i’m also a fan of the little unknown breweries, scattered among our little country. If you ever pass through Antwerpen, just blow the you tube-whistle. Is my English a bit o.k. ? Fine greetings 👍
Beautifully done. Subscribed
Thank you for watching and subscribing.
There's a great museum at Sanctuary Wood. Absolutley loads of equipment behing glass and an an amazing room full of slide viewers, with, I must add some photos of terrible injuries received by troops.
Thank you for watching.
The car coming from the bottom of the screen at 10:13 is heading toward Ypres (now Iper), which is only a couple of miles away
Thank you for watching.
Watching this made me curious about how much combat the Yepres area saw in WW2. The British fought a short successful delaying action here during the retreat to the channel in 1940 and it looks like they were pretty much bypassed in 1944. I can just imagine a Belgian farmer with his new house in both 40 and 44 hearing the guns get closer and saying, “anywhere but here, anywhere but here”.
Thank you for watching.
Very interesting. Thank you...
Thank you for watching.
My grandfather fought at Ypres. Alexander Gordon McConnach. We have never been able to confirm where he fought and which unit he was with as all his records were lost in WW2 Bombings. He would never speak about the war other than small snippets. I just wish I'd had the sense to question him before he left us.
Thank you for watching.
In the last war cemetry shown at the end of this video, there are 20 graves in each row. There are 11 rows in each block and there are 23 blocks. That = 5,060 war graves from just one battle. The majority of them would have been under 25 years old. Why would anyone down arrow this video.
Thank you for watching.
Great video!
Thank you for watching.
Sir, Where were the German soldiers buried? Thank you for another great video.
Thank you for watching. There is a large German cemetery at Langemark. Also, many more behind the German front lines all along the Western Front.
Magnificent memorial as always, and so humbling. Isn't it odd that the trees seem to point to the memorial spot.
Thank you for watching.
I would like to ask, all of my family are Scottish including myself and I recently found a relative, my great-grandfather's cousin. He was Lt John Mackay from Carloway and he served in the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and I would like to ask whether that regiment was around these trenches. I've been to France and Flanders twice before and I am fascinated by the history of this war. If anyone could reply that would be great.
Thank you watching. To find out exactly when a particular person was at a location you can do a search on the Internet. You will need to know more than just that he was in the PPCLI. You will need to know which battalion. When someone was posted to a particular battalion they generally stayed with it for the duration.
@@StevenUpton14-18 Thank you very much. I do much research on different regiments that fought during the war, Royal Irish Rifles, Seaforth Highlanders, Royal Scots which all had new army battalions and multiple regular and territorial battalions. However and rather lucky for me I understand that the PPCLI was a regiment which contained one battalion as it was very unique in its formation as it only recruited men of high experience such as south Africa etc. Thanks I'll have a look through the war diaries for the regiment.
PPCLI was in the 7th brigade 3rd division CEF and pretty sure one of the first major battles they were involved in and as it didnt really go their way as the Canadians were still learning casualties were high.
42 battallion Royal Highlanders"the Black Watch" was also in that brigade, a Scottish unit
Hello Steven, I would like to thank you for all the WW1 videos! I have thoroughly enjoyed them. I was in France and Belgium last year almost to the day! Great job ! My one question to you is where do you get your trench maps? Looking for Fromelles which I also enjoyed your video of that as it gave me a better understanding of that horrific battle. Looking forward to more of your videos/ Cheers
Rob
Thank you for watching. I have some DVD's from Croonaert Research Series and Lines Man. I can download a trench map to mu iPad and then use Bluetooth GPS to see exactly where I am on a trance map.
@@StevenUpton14-18 Hello, thank you!
Your way ahead of me when it comes to technology.
Please advise when you have done the above!🙃Cheers Rob
@@roblambert1196 - Covid permitting, I should be filming on the Somme in May.
Well done Sir. SUBSCRIBED to watch more
Thank you for watching and subscribing.
Steve - great videos - can you do one of Sep 2016 when the Irish Guards went into action ?
I presume you mean 1916? Was this on the Somme? where exactly?
Are the trenches of Sanctuary wood original ones from WW 1, or are they made for the museum?
Thank you for watching. They are original. I have trench maps from the time that show them.
@@StevenUpton14-18 oh really? I always thought they were made after the war for the museum. So there are probably bodies of soldiers under the ground where the visitors walk every day?
@@pcgamez4ever14 About three years ago whilst making a new road through a field in Alsace they found a German bunker with a dozen bodies in it.
@@StevenUpton14-18 Who knows what else is still under the ground of these fields. For a lot of soldiers this will probably be their final resting place, because it's inpossible to find all the bodies of all the fallen.
@@pcgamez4ever14 About 50% of all those killed have no known graves. Look at the memorials to the missing. The List of British missing just for the Somme battle is 70,000 on one memorial.
Good work!
Thank you for watching.
If you had limited time to go to a visit a front from WW1 or WW2 are there any you would recommend over others?
Thank you for watching. I would go to Verdun and Massiges. there is not a lot to see regarding WW2 other than Normandy. Because WW1 was mostly static there is a vast amount of places to visit.
@@StevenUpton14-18 Thank you. Your expertise is greatly appreciated.
Thanks, my Great Grandfather's remains are there somewhere, Sgt John Ernest Elgie 2nd Durham Light Infantry. D. 9th August 1915, age 33 and
Thank you for watching.
My great uncle is buried in the Hooge crater cemetery, he was killed there during 1915.
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
The Soldier.
BY RUPERT BROOKE.
Rest in peace, great uncle Lionel.
Thank you for watching. We will remember them.
Thank You !!!!!!
Thank you for watching.
I have read that the Germans used land mines at Ypers. If so, have these mines been located and dealt with to a degree of being able to walk around in safety?
Thank you for watching. I have not heard of the use of land mines by anyone during WW1.
Thanks for your reply. aubgabraclandmines.weebly.com/uses-in-ww1.html I must say, I don't always understand or believe what I read. I have been a heavy reader long before home computers. Excerpt~ Who Used Land Mines in WW1The largest recorded use of land mines in World War 1 was mostly by Germany, most notably in the second battle in Ypres in April 1915. In all roughly 500,000 soldiers were injured and almost 30,000 were killed.
In 1918 the then obsolete 2 inch 'toffee apple' bombs (minus stem) were used as anti tank land mines as the crude 107 fuze only needed direct pressure to strike a 303 blank to initiate the main charge. Most references from the British to 'mines' in WW1 will refer either to the huge tunnel mines, one of which exploded in 1955 and one of which is still unexploded and its exact location is unknown. References from German sources will refer to the trench mortar bombs they called Minenwerfers (lit. mine thrower) these came in 3 main sizes, 7.62cm 17cm and huge 25cm. There were also numerous other types such as the 1916 Granatenwerfer or 'Priest mortar' and the 9cm smoothbore Lanz mortars. The Germans used trench mortars extensively causing many allied casualties, it was only really in 1916 when the British Stokes appeared that the allies had a really effective equivalent. In no sense were any of these German 'mines' what we would today call land mines.
Thanks Bob.
Are those trench maps at 0:30 second mark original maps? And if so, did the British actually name the German trenches the "Ignorance" trenches?
Thank you for watching. The maps are digital copies of the originals, and all names are what they were know as during the war.
@@StevenUpton14-18 Thank you! That is quite funny to me, in its own sort of macabre, sad sort of way.
@@jimzeez - I have over 800 trench maps ranging from 1915 to 1918 and there are some very interesting names given to trenches. You can see British soldier humour in many of them. As a veteran myself I see that nothing has changed in this respect in the last 100 years.
My great uncle, Lance Corporal Christopher Dartnell, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry is buried there.
Thank you for watching and sorry for your families loss. Have you visited his grave?
My son , who is also a Lance Corporal , visited Christopher’s grave when he visited the Somme battlefields as part of his phase one training.
great as usual.
Thank you for watching.
Visited this area last November along with various other sites from WW1 around the Ypres area, well worth it. This video was a nice reminder of the time we spent, thank you.
Thank you for watching.
Well done, exellent footage and a very different angel from which to view the battle field, 👍
Thank you for watching.
Are the locals happy with their swimming pools literally within a few feet of reminders of where there is visual proof of where they may have lost their whole family? Are these people fortunate, wealthy of unfortunate? I intend no disrespect what so ever.** Thanks for the great video.
Thank you for watching. People lived there before the war. When they came back they rebuilt and just wanted to get on with their lives.
Thanks for your reply Steven and, thanks again sharing your video. I believe the people in that beautiful area must be very nice.
can I ask what permissions did you get to fly the drone over there?
None for this video. I checked online what Belgian laws require and you should not fly over someones house. For a previous film I did ask a home owner for his permission. He was very happy to grant it.
thanks for the info, I have been talking to the CWGC for permissions, they say they will grant it, but I need to get permission from the local Belgium authority, the CWGC want times an dates when I plan to fly etc, it seems you have to jump through hoops to get anywhere.
@@si33uk - If you are careful and respectful I do not think there is a problem. If I am fly directly over private property I ask the house owner.
Exacly no laws here that forbid you fly a drone unless you fly over a military building thank you help us rember the pain and suffer its our duty to keep it like it was
Who the hell could dislike it grrrr
Thank you for watching.
I'm not sure any species capable of this will last very long. Nor do they deserve to. Like an addict past all redemption, humankind is bereft of reason or remorse. Complacent and wretched.
Thank you for watching.
@@StevenUpton14-18 And thank you sir, for some extremely well thought out content and for helping us remember... 'Lest we forget'.
Thank you so much for continuing to make these battlefield videos. I wonder if it would be possible to intercut between your footage and the footage taken just at the conclusion of the war from a dirigible. Your films have been a treasure to those like me interested in seeing the battlefields but unable to make the journey in person. I hope you'll consider doing a video covering the Passchendale battlefield as well. ua-cam.com/video/SdFwEfoIM3E/v-deo.html
Thank you for watching. Very good suggestion about splicing in the footage taken after the war. Although I have seen it, I had not considered doing this.
@@StevenUpton14-18 are you aware of whether or not the aerial reconnaissance photographs have become publicly available? Although I confess to being biased toward film footage such as that covered in this documentary: ua-cam.com/video/zpRMJxiOyk0/v-deo.html. Perhaps it would be the better part of wisdom to instead use aerial photographs should you attempt to interweave between the two in your films. It would certainly make for a great Google project, knitting all those pics together to allow for a google earth style view of the western front. If they did this, it would make matching with your your footage much easier. I guess I'm concerned that the amount of work involved in actually accomplishing this kind of imagery will become unnecessarily burdensome on your part and overwhelm your so far noble efforts. Your films have thus far been imbued from beginning to end with what I feel is the true legacy of those who fought and perished in the First World War, the value of human life.
Nicely appropriate music.
Thank you for watching.