World War 1 Battlegrounds & Cemeteries

An integral part of the ramparts, fortified by the French military engineer Vauban in the late 17th century, the Lille Gate is the original southern gateway into the old fortified city. During WW1 the round towers provided protection against the German artillery shells and the British Army used them as a location for unit(s) HQ.

Ypres, Belgium

Autumn leaves fall on to the granite gravestones arranged in geometric precision. Almost 48,000 are buried here, making it the largest German war cemetery in Belgium.

Wevelgem, Belgium

The northern stairwell lit by a solitary lamp lined with poppy Wreaths following Remembrance Day on Nov 11th 2025. Thousands of names of missing British and Commonwealth soldiers from the First World War are inscribed on the walls.

Ypres, Belgium.

17mm TS-E

A foggy autumn day on the Somme creates an ethereal atmosphere in the Fricourt German cemetery where some 17,000 are buried.

Fricourt, Somme, France.

The Ulster Tower - memorial to men of 36th Division who died on the Western Front and Thiiepval, 1 July 1916. Located on the front line trench attacked by the 9th Royal Irish Rifles.

Somme, France.

Inside the Menin Gate poppy wreaths are laid in quiet trubute to the fallen of World War 1. While each wreath tells its own story it is a collective act of memory and gratitude, of sacrifices that will never be forgotten.

Ypres, Belgium

Looking down on to the Menin Gate in the early autumn, warm, soft light with Sint-Jacobskerk beyond.

Ypres, Belgium. Drone.

Looking across the Ieperlee (Yperlee) to The Menin Gate at dusk in Ypres.

Ypres, Belgium

Dusk falls in Ypres with the Menin Gate and ramparts reflected in the Kasteelgracht (Castle Moat).

Ypres, Belgium. June 2025

The largest commenwealth in the world with 11,961 Commenwealth servicemen of the First World War, 4 German burials and almost 35,000 servicemen from UK and New Zealand who died after August 1917 with no known graves.

Allward's magnificent memorial to the fallen Canadian soldiers on the highest point of Vimy Ridge.

Arras. France. 17mm TS-E

Cloth Hall from Grote Market on a cold, misty autumn morning in Ieper.

The fields leading up from Thiepval wood reveal the scars of former trenches mirroring the shape of the memorial beyond. A shadow in the lower left appears to resemble a crouched soldier..

Bois-Carre Military Cemetery with the triangular shapes of the Loos Double Crassier shrouded in mist.

Evening summer light bathes Tyne Cot cemetery with Passchendaele village beyond in the Flanders countryside.

Aerial view of the central area of Ypres around the Grote Markt.

Ypres, Belgium

Looking across the River Ancre valley up to the Thiepval Memorial sitting high on the ridge with the Somme battlefields bathed in afternoon autumn light. The Somme, France.

A brief gap in the low cloud reveals the Thiepval memorial among the autumn trees. The Somme, France.

Thiepval memorial and Anglo-French cemetery set among autumn colours with the village and Monquet Farm beyond.

A perfectly calm, silent, misty autumn afternoon looking to the memorial on the Thiepval ridge. It commemorates over 72,000 servicemen with no known grave who perished during WW1. The Somme, France.

Ulster Tower shrouded in morning fog.

Somme, France.

Foggy autumn morning above the woods at Mametz site of fierce fighting during The Battle of the Somme in July 1916.

The now disused station, rebuilt after the Battle of the Somme and became a popular station cafe. Now, it is disused, and derelict.

Somme, France.

Looking north above the city of Albert. The golden virgin sculpture atop of the Basilica Notre Dame de Brebiers is lit by the early morning light. Further beyond the Somme countryside merges into the distant fog.

Looking down on the woods near Bazentin.

Somme, France.

Looking north above the Bethune-Lens road. The Loos Memorial & Dud Corner Cemetery stand on the crest of the Grenay ridge. The Loos battlefield extends north between the villages of Vermelles and Hullach.

Loos-en-Gohelle, France.

The bronze cast Caribou , the emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, overlooking the battlefield where so many of its soldiers were killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Somme, France.

Looking across Lijssenthoek cemetery to Poperinge on a misty autumn morning. The main road running through the upper centre was once the Hazebrouck-Poperinge railway line. The Royal Engineers built the Remy siding along this road to evacuate patients from the nearby hospital. The hospital extended from the centre of the picture to the road and beyond.

Flanders, Belgium

Looking south beyond Lijssenthoek cemetery to France, Boeschepe and Mont des Cats on a misty autumn morning.

Flanders, Belgium

Serre Road No 2 cemetery, the Redan ridge with several smaller cemeteries beyond at dusk. The hamlet of Beaumont Hamel and Thiepval Memorial are both visible.

Somme, France.

Dusk light falls on the cemeteries and former battlefields of the Great War. Serre Road No 1 cemetery, the Necropole Nationale de Serre-Hebuterne & Chapel, Memorial of the Bradford Pal & West Yorkshire.

Somme, France.