Visiting Ypres

[ARHinVA]

Folks -

 

I will be visiting Ypres in a few weeks; am curious if there are any WW1 aviation-related things to see?

 

Thanks

 

Alan in Yorktown

 

ps - with luck I'll see the Mademoiselle from Armentieres as well.  Now its been like 140 years since she has been kissed!

[Kev The Modeller]

The nearest RFC airfield I can find is Clairmarais aerodrome near St Omer which is in France.  There were/are WWI airfields in Belgium but from what I can find they don't appear to have been used by RFC Sqn, but it's very possible they were.  One airfield I visit regularly and have done for 30 yrs is Koksijde which is still operational albeit in the SAR role.  It does have a few WW1 structures but I don't think any RFC history.   

 

There're quite a few airfields though Airfields  some would have been WW1 and possibly German which might be of interest.  I read somewhere that the Allied offensives of 1918 RFC occupied/used ex German airfields or set up temporary ones to support the ground offensive, I can't say with any certainly this is true but again could be an area for you to research if you've a mind too.

 

Best of luck, please do let us know what you find.               

[Admiral Puff]

Not an airfield, but there's a memorial to Georges Guynemer in Poelkapelle, near where he went missing.

 

I presume you'll be going to the Menin Gate; the war cemetery at Tyne Cote is also worth a visit, if only to get some idea of the utter waste of life that occurred in the Flanders battles.

[Tramatoa]

What you need is a copy of Mike O’Connor’s book from the Airfields and Airmen series specific to Ypres ( ISBN: 9780850527537). To be honest you wouldn’t regret buying the set, they are well written and informative guides to aviation activity in a specific area, exactly what you are looking for.

Pip pip,

Tramatoa

Edited May 6, 2019 by Tramatoa

[ARHinVA]

Thanks to all!