Ypres in Ruins, 17th July 1915.

An anonymous description of Ypres by a Nottingham Royal Engineer was published in a New Zealand newspaper on 17th July 1915. He suggested that the ruins of Ypres be preserved – an idea later taken up by Churchill.

“DESOLATION AS A MEMENTO OF “KULTUR.”

“A corporal of the Royal Engineers, in a letter to his parents in the “Nottingham Guardian,” gives the following description of Ypres, and makes an interesting suggestion:–

“The most wonderful thing of all is Ypres. Unless you actually see it you could not believe such a thing could exist... There is not a single house that is habitable. They have either been smashed by shells or burnt out, and there is only just room in some of the streets for the passage of a car, the rest of it being blocked up by fallen masonry. There are certainly no windows left in the town, and in some places the stench is far from pleasant. The road has some big shell holes, too, and when you have no lamps on, and don't know the road, you get terrific bumps, and wonder whether the car will break up, and this even though you are going at walking pace.

“I think the town ought to be preserved as it is as a memento of 'Kultur.' There is nobody living there, and it is most weird to go down street after street with not a soul about, and deserted and gutted houses on either side. The absolute silence of the place is uncanny.”

'Dominion' (New Zealand), 17th July 1915.

Image: Imperial War Museum, Q 2921.