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Welcome to the Ypres Salient
This site presents the story of the First World War in the West Flanders region. The various categories provide a wealth of information about a range of subjects.
The Roll of Honour category is where you will find the details of all the men from Falkirk District who are buried or commemorated in the Immortal Salient.
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British: Lock 8
This British shelter is well hidden as it is dug into the bank of the embankment were the road N365 crosses the canal just south of Lankhof Farm. It is hidden by bramble bushes, long grass, and other vegetation. The remnants of the 16th and 17th Battalions, Manchester Regiment, holding the line here and enduring heavy German shelling for three days.
Feb 21, 20231 min read
British: Lock 7, King's Way
The lock and the canal bank gave protection from shelling and the British built shelters here. The work was carried out in March 1917, in the main, by 520th Field Company, Royal Engineers, 47th division, and completed by the 518th Field Company, Royal Engineers.The shelters were used during the Battle of Messines as an artillery headquarters and were also used in February 1918 by the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, 1st Australian Division as their headquarters
Feb 21, 20231 min read
American: Nine Elms Bunker
This bunker is located some 500 metres west of Nine Elms Cemetery. The Nine Elms Bunker was built by the 105th Engineers, US 30th Division and it formed part of the West Poperinge Line defence system. It originally had an observation post built on top but this has been removed by the farmer. The remainder of the bunker is incorporated into the farm shop.
Feb 20, 20231 min read
British: Hellfire Corner, Gordon House Siding
This bunker dates from the end of 1916 and the beginning of 1917 and was built in the standard style of concrete cast over a lining of elephant iron with sandbags to provide additional protection. The bunker was used as a shelter by the depot troops from the German shelling targeting the railway junction. The German spring offensive brought the front line to within one hundred yards of this site and the bunker would have been used as a shelter by front line troops.
Jan 22, 20231 min read
British: Bibge Cottage, Machine Gun Farm
Located within private ground, the bunker is within the barn of the farm. It is visible from the Norderring road where it joins the Adriaansensweg. This was a busy area with railway sidings and depots and was known to the British as Bibge Cottage or Machine Gun Farm. The farm was used as a Casualty Clearing Station however, in 1918 the defences in the area were strengthened following the German spring offensive and the farm became a Brigade Headquarters
Jan 20, 20231 min read
British: Boezinge Main Street
This ivy clad observation British bunker is situated in a garden on the main street of Boezinge. It is constructed of concrete and brick and gave a good view over the canal and the German front lines. It would have been used by artillery observation officers to observe the accuracy of fire.
Jan 17, 20231 min read
British: Tunnel, Hill 62 Museum, Sanctuary Wood
The trenches we see today, are the remainder of the trench complex that comprised Border Lane, Fort Street and Hill Street. They have been cleaned up and maintained from time to time however, they are in their original location. The tunnel connects Fort Street and Hill Street trenches.
Jan 17, 20231 min read
British: Wimbledon Bunker
Wimbledon Bunker was built by the Royal Engineers of 8th Division and sheltering in the slope of the rising ground it is located some one hundred yards from the New Zealand Memorial on Gravenstafel Ridge. It was built as a headquarters bunker as part of the Gravenstafel defence line in February 1918.
Jan 16, 20231 min read
British: Essex Farm ADS
This is one of the most famous and visited sites in the Ypres Salient. The CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery gets its name from the small farm building that was here in the War and which the Dressing Station was established in April 1915. The 4th Division took over this sector in April 1915 and an A.D.S. was established by their Field Ambulance. The land south of Essex Farm was used as a Dressing Station cemetery from April 1915 to August 1917.
Jan 16, 20232 min read
British: Essex Farm Canal Bank Bunker
Essex Farm Canal Bank Bunker is a good example of the many bunkers in existence here during the war. Only the arched concrete front with a doorway and windows facing away from the front, and low walls, containing an elephant iron roof panel, remain of this bunker. After the Armistice the bunker was used by homeless Belgian families returning to the area.
Jan 16, 20231 min read
British: Essex Farm Royal Engineers Orderly Room
Often overlooked, is the low concrete wall remains of the Royal Engineers Orderly Room at Essex Farm. It was constructed by the Royal Engineers of the 38th Division, who supplied the engineering support and maintained the bridges across the canal, and was used as their headquarters. On 8 May 1917, 124 Field Company, Royal Engineers held a Field General Court Martial in this bunker. On trial was 92575 Sapper D M Grace. He was sentenced to 90 days Field Punishment No.1.
Jan 15, 20231 min read
British: Ypres Ramparts
On the Ypres Town Ramparts there are two Moir Pill Boxes, designed by Sir Edward Moir a prominent engineer attached to the Ministry of Munitions. These were designed to be easy and quick to assemble in the battlefield without the need for mixing concrete and reinforced steel. They consisted of interlocking concrete blocks with a revolving protective steel plate, and a machine gun mounting suspended from a steel cupola. A concrete roof was added to provide protection from shel
Jan 15, 20231 min read
British: Palingbeek (small shelter on Golf Course)
This is an observation post and is constructed using German concrete blocks that were produced at the Wervik factory and probably already as part of the original German trench mortar position. The British had named the German trench mortar positions that ran along the Palingbeekstraate Arthur, Archie, Austin and Angus. It was the Australian 2nd Field Company who built the shelter from German blocks. During the German spring offensive in April 1918.
Jan 14, 20231 min read
British: Hill 60
Hill 60 was one of the most murderous places on earth during the years 1914 to 1918. Today, Hill 60 is now a quiet, pockmarked piece of land that is in as an unaltered state as is practicable. This is one of the most visited and famous sites of the First World War. Created from the spoil dug from the nearby railway cutting Hill 60 is hallowed ground which saw four VC’s won and countless other bravery awards during the four years of fighting in the Ypres Salient.
Jan 14, 20232 min read
British: Lankhof Farm (sometimes called Langhof)
The British bunkers at Lankhof Farm date from 1917/18 and came to prominence when the 47th (London) Division sited artillery here for the Messines ridge offensive in June 1917. The 23rd Division also used the bunkers for the defence of Hill 60 during the German spring offensive in 1918. At the end of the Passchendaele offensive 153 Field Company Royal Engineers built a railway siding here for the delivery of engineering materials which were to be used in the construction of a
Jan 7, 20231 min read
British: Onraet Farm
This British shelter was built into the farmhouse that originally stood on this spot, the farm was rebuilt one hundred meters to the south, evidence of the original farmhouse is still visible, and was originally a German command post. This had been fortified by the Germans to make it shell proof. The shelter was constructed as a Brigade Headquarters by 153rd Company Royal Engineers, 37th Division, in August 1917 and they reinforced the German shelter with reinforced concrete
Jan 7, 20231 min read
British: Transport Farm
This British bunker is of a standard design and is located in the field opposite the Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm) Cemetery. It is likely, given its location to the nearby cemetery and on the light railway network at the junction known as C2, this connected the front line with the spur at Zillebeke Lake Sidings, that the bunker was used as a reception point for wounded brought by light railway to the Advanced Dressing Station at Transport Farm.
Jan 7, 20231 min read
British: St Eloi
The British Observation Bunker at St Eloi. This is a fine example of a British observation bunker. The embrasure is at the wrong height for it to have been used for anything else. Possibly built by Australian engineers in the winter of 1917/18. It would have had good views towards the German lines at Warneton and towards the Ypres-Comines railway line near Hollebeke. Today, the views are obscured by housing and trees.
Jan 7, 20231 min read
British: Lettenberg Shelters
Dug into the western bank of the Lettenberg, which is north-east of Mont Kemmel, today Kemmelberg, are these four British concrete shelters, some with tunnelled chambers into the hill. They were constructed in May 1917 by 175 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers and were to be used as a Brigade Headquarters by IX Corps, this Corps had responsibility for the capture of Wytschaete and the central area on Messines Ridge. The Germans captured this area in April 1918
Jan 7, 20231 min read
British: Derry House
Located to the east of Messines this small concrete shelter, which is part of the boundary wall of the Derry House No.2 Cemetery, was built for a field artillery unit of the 37th Division. The cemetery was begun among the ruins of the farm in June 1917 by a Field Ambulance unit of the 32nd Brigade, 11th Division. This division began the cemetery here. It was the engineers of 154th Field Company, Royal Engineers who built the shelter the roof of the shelter is made of three fe
Jan 7, 20231 min read
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