WWI 
Heuvelland
has visible traces of the First World War. The dividing line between the German
aggressor and the allied troops went straight through Heuvelland. The bloodiest
feat of arms on the Heuvelland territory were the Battle of Messines in
Wijtschate (June 1917) and the Battle for the Kemmelberg in April 1918. The
numerous bunkers, mine craters, military cemeteries, war monuments, and so on,
are enduring scars. The 30 British military cemeteries in the different
boroughs, the French monument and the mass grave on the Kemmelberg, the Pool of
Peace in Wijtschate and the grave of the British major William Redmond in Loker
are places that give you pause for thought. The First World War becomes very
vivid in the bunkers of the Lettenberg in Kemmel and on the German site of
Bayernwald in Wijtschate.
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At the foot of the Lettenberg, a hill next to Kemmelberg, concrete bunkers that allowed access to the subterranean headquarters of the British have been opened. You can visit the bunkers freely via a walking corridor with information panels. One bunker is set up as a refuge for bats. |
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If you want to discover the German site of Bayernwald with its two mineshafts, 320 meters of trenches and four bunkers, you will have to go by the Heuvelland tourist information office first. There, you can get a ticket to enter Bayernwald. Information panels and a scale model explain the events of war and life at the front. What you definitely must do is walk to the restored trenches. A unique experience! Attention: Bayernwald is closed on the 20th of October, 3rd and 17th of November and on the 21st of December 2012. |
