Flanders Fields

Flanders Fields refers to the battlefields in northern Belgium between West Flanders and East Flanders, as depicted in the poem "In Flanders Fields" during the First World War. Visitors may learn more about the conflicts waged on the Flanders front – and the 600,000 soldiers who died there – at the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres.

The names of 55,000 allied troops who died on the battlefields are carved on the stone walls of Menin Gate, making it one of the most heartbreaking war monuments in the world. The hamlet of Ploegsteert, located just south of Ypres, is the location of one of history's most unexpected sporting occurrences. An informal ceasefire broke out as fatigued men from both sides celebrated Christmas by playing soccer, singing songs, and swapping beer, tobacco, and food across the lines, dubbed the “Christmas Truce of 1914”.