{"id":20218,"date":"2026-05-26T20:13:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/kirkcaldyhighschool\/?p=20218"},"modified":"2026-05-26T20:13:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:13:36","slug":"khs-battlefields-trip-2026-day-three-the-south-salient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/fi\/kirkcaldyhighschool\/2026\/05\/26\/khs-battlefields-trip-2026-day-three-the-south-salient\/","title":{"rendered":"KHS Battlefields Trip 2026 – Day Three, “The South Salient”"},"content":{"rendered":"

We were awoken by Sam, and a bluetooth speaker of pipes, and drums. Following ablutions of various descriptions a light breakfast was taken, and lunches were formulated. We departed at 8.30am, heading to the south.<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/p>\n

During World War I, the town of Ypres became a “salient” as a result of German attempts to capture it. This meant that it was essentially surrounded on three sides by the German army. They knew that the capture of Ypres could very well lead to teh capture of the costal towns, and the winning of the war. The Brittish forces were determined to prevent this, but we disadvantaged first by the lower ground that Ypres lies on, and also by having to defend essentially on three fronts. As a result, something close to one in four Brittish soldiers who were killed in World War One became casualties in Ypres. There was a lot to find out.<\/p>\n

Stop 1 – Wytschaete Military Cemetery<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was a place where the graves are mostly from the Irish regiments. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland at the time. The political, and religious divides still evident today were evident then and there was tensions between communities. Despite this, Wytschaete (or “Whitesheets”) became a place where Irish regiments put aside their differences and fought side-by-side. They are also now of course burried side-by-side.<\/p>\n

Stop 2 – Pool of Peace, Spanbroekmolen<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"KHSSam, our guide described this as a “Place of Utter Horror” in 1917. In that year, the British Army laid a number of underground mines, to be detonated on Thursday 7th June 1917 at 3.10am. 19 went off, and it is said that it was the biggest explon in history, up to the detonation of the atom bombs during World War II. Around 10 000 German soldiers were killed as a result, and this became “The Battle of Messines”.<\/p>\n

Today, this the site of one of the explosions is a beautiful lake where we could hear ducks, and frogs. We stood and tried to imagine the “utter horror” Sam described, and anjoyed the beauty of this place.<\/p>\n

Stop 3 – Christmas Truce Memorial<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a beautiful statue comemorating the famous “Christmas Truce” of 1914.\u00a0 Sam pointed out that the playing of a football match is perhaps apocraphyl, but there is evidence of a kick-around between the opposing sides.\u00a0 The statue represents nicely the fact that the two sides did temporarily reconcile, but were still enemies in that the figures representing each faction are just about shaking hands…but not quite.<\/p>\n

Stop 4 – Church of Our Lady of Messines<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the town of Mesinnes itself, is the Church of Our Lady of Messines. Outisde it is a memorial to Sam Frickleton. He is described as a New Zealander, but in fact was born in Falkirk. He was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for his efforts in tackling machine gun posts during the Battle of Mesinnes.<\/p>\n

\"KHSWe were lucky enough to hear the bells from outside the church. These also carried a story involving Alber, a local to the area. He had not been around during World War I, but had been during World War II. He came up with the idea that the church needed some bells, music is a universal language after all. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone involved in World War I donated one, given the importance of the town during that conflict? Locals thought this was impossible and yes, his initial requests were ignored. However, he persevered, and eventually the donations came in to the extent that the churhc now has quite a range of high, and low pitched bells. One of the smaller one was in fact paid for as a result of fundraising by a school in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Albert had a phrase when asked how war should be avoided:<\/p>\n

“Learn Languages, Be Optomistic, Nothing is Impossible.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In the crypt we learnt about the connections to World War II. A young German soldier called Adolf Hitler fought in the area, and had his wounds treated in the crypt of the church which at the time, was being used as a first aid post. A number of years later he was in charge of Germany, and this area so he came back for a visit. Sam was able to poing at the member of our batallion who happened to be standing where Hitler had stood. How did he know that? Albert had been there, and had reported it back. Sam had in fact met Albert on occiasion during his earlier visits to the area. It’s odd now to think that myself, and the other Kirkcaldy pals are now only three handshakes away from someone whom many would regard as the worst person ever to have lived.<\/p>\n

\"KHSAfterwards we climbed the tower. Many were unsure of the height, and spiders but were undeterred. As a result, they were treated to a stunning view of the area, and we could see the extent to which anyone who captured the church had an excellent view of everything going on around.<\/p>\n

Stop 5: Hill 62<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here there was a memorial marking the Canadian soldiers who defended the southern Ypres Salient in 1916.\u00a0 I am Canadian by birth so I laid one of the stones from Fife I’d brought with me.\u00a0 I drew a maple leaf with an acrylic pen. It looked more like a cross, but it sort-of-worked and I enjoyed paying this wee bit of respect.<\/p>\n

Stop 6: Sanctuary Wood<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the first of the sites we visited that I have been to before. I was here as part of my second Battlefields Trip in 1998. This is the location of one of the only remaining original sections of trenches formerly used by the British. Sam guided us along, and we noded how cramped, and awkward it felt being in it. He described the conditions including…<\/p>\n