Belgium.

My first impression of Belgium was my God this place is flat, it would have been a horrible place to hide from snipers, no wonder the trench system was established so quickly during the First World War. I had always thought that the majority of WWl was fought in France imagine how chagrined I felt to discover that a great part of the territory contested by the British and Commonwealth troops was actually in Belgium. I have been exploring and the sheer number of military graves here plus the knowledge that there are nearly 100,000 men whose graves are not known shocked me. I have seen the cemeteries on films and the news, but to stand in the actual cemetery just brings it all home, that and the ceremony at the Menin Gate tonight was what I will remember about my first day in Ypres. I always feel sad when I hear the Last Post played especially when I remember former comrades who are no longer here but to hear it played in that place after having visited a number of cemeteries today memories of Pete Reford, Stan Lewis, Neil Sheldon and Chris Lawson all came flooding back to me and I don't mind admitting tears were rolling down my cheeks, in fact I am filling up again while writing this.