World War 1 Battlegrounds & Cemeteries
Images of World War 1 battlefields, cemeteries, towns and cities across the Western Front in France and Belgium. In memory of my Great-Grand Uncle, Thomas Ridsdale - 8th & 10th Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment). RIP.
The Lille Gate (Rijselpoort), Ieper/Ypres
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
Menen German War Cemetery
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 Menin Gate Northern Stairwell - Ypres
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
Fricourt German Cemetery
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.
Ulster Tower - Somme
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.
Menin Gate - Remembrance Day Poppy Wreaths
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
Autumn Light-Menin Gate, Ypres
Looking down on to the Menin Gate in the early autumn, warm, soft light with Sint-Jacobskerk beyond.
Ypres, Belgium. Drone.
Menin Gate - Dusk
Looking across the Ieperlee (Yperlee) to The Menin Gate at dusk in Ypres.
Ypres, Belgium
Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing
Dusk falls in Ypres with the Menin Gate and ramparts reflected in the Kasteelgracht (Castle Moat).
Ypres, Belgium. June 2025
Tyne Cot - Silent but Never Forgotten.
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.
Canadian National Memorial - Vimy
Allward's magnificent memorial to the fallen Canadian soldiers on the highest point of Vimy Ridge.
Arras. France. 17mm TS-E
Misty Morning - Cloth Hall, Ypres (Ieper)
Cloth Hall from Grote Market on a cold, misty autumn morning in Ieper.
Thiepval - The Last Witness
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..
Loos Battlefield
Bois-Carre Military Cemetery with the triangular shapes of the Loos Double Crassier shrouded in mist.
Tyne Cot & Passchendaele
Evening summer light bathes Tyne Cot cemetery with Passchendaele village beyond in the Flanders countryside.
Cloth Hall - St Martin's Cathedral, Ypres
Aerial view of the central area of Ypres around the Grote Markt.
Ypres, Belgium
Thiepval
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.
Thiepval Revealed
A brief gap in the low cloud reveals the Thiepval memorial among the autumn trees. The Somme, France.
Thiepval Memorial - Autumn Colours
Thiepval memorial and Anglo-French cemetery set among autumn colours with the village and Monquet Farm beyond.
Thiepval Memorial - Dusk
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 - Autumn Fog
Ulster Tower shrouded in morning fog.
Somme, France.
Mametz Wood - The Somme
Foggy autumn morning above the woods at Mametz site of fierce fighting during The Battle of the Somme in July 1916.
Beaucourt Hamel Station
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.
Morning Above Albert - Somme
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.
Autumn in the Somme
Looking down on the woods near Bazentin.
Somme, France.
The Loos Battlefield
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.
Newfoundland Park Memorial - The Somme
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.
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery
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
Lijssenthoek Cemetery - Autumn Mists
Looking south beyond Lijssenthoek cemetery to France, Boeschepe and Mont des Cats on a misty autumn morning.
Flanders, Belgium
Serre Road No2 Cemetery - Redan Ridge.
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.
Serre - Redan Ridge Dusk.
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.