Ypres is an ancient town, known to have been raided by the Romans in the first century BC. It is first mentioned by name in 1066 and is probably named after the river Ieperlee on the banks of which it was founded.
During the Middle Ages, Ypres was a prosperous Flemish city with a population of 40,000 in 1200 AD, renowned for its linen trade with England, which was mentioned in the Canterbury Tales.
Ypres occupied a strategic position during the First World War because it stood in the path of Germany's planned sweep across the rest of Belgium and into France from the north (the Schlieffen Plan).
The German army surrounded the city on three sides, bombarding it throughout much of the war. To counterattack, British, French, and allied forces made costly advances from the Ypres Salient into the German lines on the surrounding hills.
At the start of the Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917), a series of underground explosive charges were detonated by the British Army beneath German lines near the village of Mesen (Messines in French, historically used in English), in Belgian West Flanders. The mines, secretly planted by British tunnelling units, created 19 large craters and are estimated to have killed approximately 10,000 German soldiers. Their joint explosion ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time. The landscape around Ypres is to this date dotted with giant craters, now peaceful ponds or drinking holes for cows.
During the course of the war the town of Ypres was all but obliterated by the artillery fire. The surrounding area is still littered with unexploded ordnance.
During World War Two, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) would fight the Germans in a delaying action at the Ypres-Comines Canal, one of the actions that allowed the Allied retreat to Dunkirk. Adolf Hitler fought at Ypres in the First World War and later visited the town during the Battle of France.
This pack includes:
- Flanders language valley
- Cloth Hall
- Saint Martins Cathedral
- Vauban ramparts
- Menin Gate
- Detailed Ypres Harbour
- City Station and surroundings (Petrolstation, groendienst, lijnwinkel, busstops, frituur Speedy, etc.)
- Het Perron (Cultural Center + JOC)
- Bellewaerde theme park
- WW1 cemetary crosses dotted around
- Handplaces forrest, waterways, ponds, WW1 craters, etc.
- Ypres Jan Yperman Hospital
- Vauban Tower at Dikkebus Vijver
- much more
As they say: leave a like or comment ;)
C'est du très bon travail, merci beaucoup pour tous vos efforts !!!!
2 years ago
bricio
3 years ago
3 years ago
Sir_vAce
Berend
3 years ago
3 years ago
Sir_vAce
jbvox
3 years ago
ikbenik
3 years ago
3 years ago
Sir_vAce
jbvox
3 years ago
GoonerKev