Jan.
30 2002:
Concern has raised in Great Britain over Flemish plans for
a new highway near Ypres. The road would destroy the former
battlefield name after the small village of Pilkem. Lord Faulkner
of Worcester, a member of the house of Lords, has asked the
Flemish government to withdraw the plans. In the meantime
he has asked the British Government to urge the Belgians.
British press also raised the issue of the destroyment of
the country which looks just like it did during the war. Pilkem
was in 1915 the first place in the world to be faced with
a gas attack, but is mostly known for the battle of the 31st
of July 1917. On the first day of the battle of Pilkem Ridge
30000 dead and wounded were claimed by the fighting. The battle
raged on during the period in which the allied forced achieved
some gain in terrain for the first time in trench warfare.
The offensive however was stuck in the mud, the trenches already
destroyed by fighting, of Passchendale. The complete operation
led to between 400.000 and 450.000 dead, wounded and missing.
source:
PZC
(Local Dutch Newspaper)
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