IJzerfrontommetje

The walk begins at the IJzertoren memorial site. After the First World War, the Flemish Front Movement developed an annual commemoration for Flemish soldiers who had died at the front. In 1924, the IJzerbedevaart committee bought a site at Kaaskerke where a large memorial would eventually be built.

In 1925, several hundred Heldenhulde headstones in military cemeteries were replaced by standard Belgian military headstones. Some of the original stones were broken up, with fragments even being used for road surfacing. The incident caused considerable anger within the Flemish movement and added further momentum to plans for a memorial of its own.

Construction of the first IJzertoren began in 1928 and the tower was inaugurated in August 1930. During the night of 15–16 March 1946, it was destroyed with explosives.

A large Heldenhulde cross was erected above the ruins in 1948. A year later, the Paxpoort was built using debris from the original tower. The present, much taller IJzertoren was built during the 1950s and inaugurated in 1965. Today it houses the Museum aan de IJzer.

From the IJzertoren, the route heads towards Kaaskerke along the Frontzate, the former railway line between Diksmuide and Nieuwpoort. During the First World War, this slightly raised railway embankment ran straight through the front area. It was important for transport and supplies, but also became part of the Belgian defensive system.

At Oude Dorpstraat, the walk passes Kaaskerke cemetery. Before the war, the village centre and church stood here. Several older bluestone grave monuments survive in the cemetery, together with a number of wartime graves.

Behind the cemetery, the Stiltepad begins. The path follows the line of a former communication trench linking Kaaskerke with the Trench of Death, later known as the ‘Trench of Hope’.

Out in the open polders, you also pass the ruins of Sabbe farm. The farm was rebuilt after the First World War, but today only parts of the later building remain.

When you reach the Yser embankment, you can either return towards Diksmuide or extend the walk to the Trench of Death.

From 1915 onwards, this Belgian position was developed as an approach trench towards the German lines. In some places, the opposing positions eventually came extremely close to one another. The trench remained under fire for years and is now one of the best-known surviving Belgian trench sites on the Yser Front.

Continue for roughly another 500 metres beyond the Trench of Death and you reach the site of the petroleum tanks. Before the war, two large reservoirs stood here, storing petroleum brought in along the Yser.

From October 1914 onwards, the area remained in German hands. The metal structures stood out above the flat landscape and were used for observation. German troops in this area could also fire towards the Belgian positions around the Trench of Death.

The original tanks have disappeared. Since 2014, two half-scale replicas have marked their former location, making this part of the old front easier to understand.

The return route follows the Yser embankment towards Diksmuide. The landscape is completely open here, making it easy to imagine just how little natural cover soldiers had in this part of the front.

Along the way, you pass the Calvarieberg. This religious war memorial was inaugurated on 23 September 1928 in the presence of Prince Leopold, Princess Astrid and Bishop Waffelaert of Bruges. It was dedicated to Allied soldiers who had died on the Yser Front.

During the interwar period, the Calvarieberg was also seen as a Belgian patriotic counterpart to the Flemish IJzertoren taking shape on the opposite side of the Yser.

From here, it is only a short walk back to the starting point. In just a few kilometres, the IJzerfrontommetje brings together several very different parts of the former frontline landscape.