More Mortar Mangling - part 2

I mentioned the build of this dodgy bodge a while back here.  The ensemble has now had paint and forms part of a Category 3 Motor Rifle Battalion.  Pics of the full battalion coming soon.

Tank Memorial

Near the Guynemer monument is this nice little memorial to the Tank Corps.

It includes this off cut from a British tank....

...and this 2-foot long model.  Apparently there used to be a real tank here for a few years after The Great War.

Georges Guynemer

On a traffic island in the village of Poelkapelle stands this rather splendid memorial for French air ace Georges Guynemer.  Having been turned down for military service he was eventually accepted as a mechanic and became a pilot in June 1915.  By September 1917 he was a Captain commanding Escadrille N.3 'Storks' with 53 victories to his credit.  He failed to return from a mission in the Langemarck - Poelkapelle area on 11 September.  His funeral took place in Brussels, complete with an honour guard of Prussian Guards.  Guynemer was aged 22.

The memorial was erected by Belgian officers in 1923 and saved from demolition during WW2 by Luftwaffe generals.

One of Guynemer's claims to fame was having his SPAD XII fitted with a (manually loaded) 37mm cannon.  I should think that was something of a handful to fly!

Mesen about

We've all heard of Messines Ridge, right?  Perched atop this feature is the small town of Mesen (that's how the locals spell it), rebuilt after something of a pummelling during the Great War.  Incidentally, the degree of elevation afforded by this much fought-over ridge is akin to standing on a table, but given the flatness of the surrounding terrain it remains a commanding position.
The church above - fully open to visitors - was levelled during the fighting, though wounded soldiers were treated in the crypt,including one Corporal Hitler!

I know I have a number of readers in NZ, so I made a point of photographing this fine memorial.

The other Great War statue in town recalls the 1914 Christmas Truce.  I think it's rather charming.

More news from Belgium soon.