Flanders Fields

The memorial plaque to the poem "In Flanders Fields"

Flanders Fields is a common English name of the World War I battlefields^[1] in an area straddling the Belgian provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders as well as the French department of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, part of which makes up the area known as French Flanders.

Description

Trenches and No Man's Land at Flanders Fields.

The name Flanders Fields is particularly associated with battles that took place in the Ypres Salient, including the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Passchendaele. For most of the war, the front line ran continuously from south of Zeebrugge on the Belgian coast, across Flanders Fields into the centre of Northern France before moving eastwards — and it was known as the Western Front.

The phrase originates from a poem titled In Flanders Fields by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, inspired by his service during the 2nd Battle of Ypres. The fields were left unmaintained for years before they were made into a proper memorial. Today Flanders Fields is home to thousands of poppies.

See also

• Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial
• In Flanders Fields
• In Flanders Fields Museum
• Red poppy

Notes

External links

• Media related to In Flanders Fields at Wikimedia Commons