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We are currently holidaying in Northern Europe and have taken sometime out to visit various historical military locations.

So far I have visited Arnhem and the "bridge" and today we visited Ypres, various cemeteries along the way and attended the last post in the evening at The Menin Gate. Whilst it makes me feel very humble/sad/grateful of the sacrifices made what took me aback was the shear scale of it all. We all know thanks to the poppies at the tower that something like 850,000+ lives were lost from Commonwealth but it is when you put that into some sort of context that it hits you.

I visited Tynecot Cemetery which has 12,000 graves and as you walk around the corner from the visitors centre you see a few graves, then with each passing step this number grows exponentially - until you see the full picture which was utterly, utterly shocking - and this is only 12k out of the 850k. Menin Gate has over 54,000 names on it, another 35,000 are at Tynecot.

I also saw the name of a possible relative who died fighting so will have to follow that up.

Anyone else been to any ?

Two years ago, the one down the road from Pegasus Bridge & also the Merville Battery which was the first objective taken before the troops landed on D Day. Very, very humbling.

My time spent at Wipers visiting Tynecot etc. Will always stick with me. Deeply humbling.

Been to the cemetery at the River Kwai, I'm not an emotional person, but that bought  tear to my eye, It's also very well kept, constant tending.

Went there last month. Agree it's very moving, and the museum over the road is excellent.

Many moons ago, when in Normandy we visited Bayeux, Cimetière américain de Normandie & La Cambe.
Very nice to see such beautiful reminders of those who lost their lives, and very moving

My dad took us the Normandy beaches & cemeteries probably ten years ago. As a 14/15 year old, I can't say I really needed to see all six beaches and four cemeteries, not much of a fun holiday, but the one that sticks out was the American landing point Omaha. It's just a sheer 50ft cliff, the fact that they ended up landing so many people there is terrifying.

Last year we went to Northern france and took in Bayeux.  We went to the war cemetary there.  Massive and a lot of local names and regiments.  Really choked me up.  The following day on our drive back we took a trip off the motorway for a change and ended up going through the Somme.  Quite striking to see how far the western front progressed month by month. 

I didnt realise I was going to be quite as emotional as I was.  Im glad we didnt do the beaches as well.  Maybe another year!

Can't wait to see your holiday snaps :eek:

This kind of trip has never interested me. In fact I find it very creepy that anyone would want to go on such a trip. Big business though.

Did you do the tapestry? If not it is amazing. Also not to far away Mont St. michel

Did the tapestry.  To be honest, not really for me and ruined by an American talking shite too loudly.  I prefer to talk shite in a whisper.

Check.

Try the national memorial arberetum, it says it all with quiet dignity, it's not all military with the other services represented ambulance police and fire all represented.

The tapestry is a truly wonderful thing.....OK it's Norman propaganda, but thhat shouldn't cloud one's judgement.

Interestingly, some say it's embroidery rather than a tapestry

That's because it is.

It was also made by English nuns told by the Bishop who was William's Brother to do it. He didn't take part in the invasion by every account and yet appears on it for some reason. Can't imagine why.

Some? Names please!, And addresses. Thanks.

We didn't go on holiday specifically to do these trips but

a) as we were close by,
b) I have a keen interest in history,
c) I wanted to pay my respects to the fallen and
d) the kids have been learning about WWI & II at school

it seem daft not too. Not really sure why that is creepy - it not as if we are visiting Cromwell St.

My lad's just done the Ypres military cemetery as part of his basic training (Apparently all new army recruits visit). For someone young enough to have never really known anyone who played a combat role in either World Wars it really brought home to him the huge sacrifice whole generations, from all countries, paid. It was the first time I've known him to use the word 'humbling'.

We did have a specific Somme based few days last year to visit places we hadn't seen on a trip years ago...having later found out a relative was buried two miles from a cemetery we'd been to compelled us to go back.

Anyway, as we arrived at the Thiepval memorial (to 70 odd thousand of the never found), a French TV crew asked if we minded being filmed, as we were looking for a great uncle of mine.  There then followed two of the most bizarre hours of my life, as we were followed around different places, filmed doing our research, and asked to re-shoot various bits of mooching about.

With my French no longer up to conversational scratch, all discussions were in a sort of English...my boys were warning me not to go all Steve McClaren / Joey Barton...and of course I was determined that I wouldn't.  Alas, history will judge otherwise.  When we'd finally trudged up a hill through the mist to find a characteristically inspiring / depressing cemetery, the moment came.

We found my great uncle's grave, and with a microphone thrust in my face I was asked "Ow doo you veel at zis very eeemotional moooment?"  All I could do was my best not to giggle, and responded in a franglais accent that the brolly wally himself would have chuckled at.

There we were though, on a TF1 news magazine programme, two hours cut into two minutes - with something for us to remember us remembering.  The Christmas 'Who Do You Think You Are' special never quite happened, but I won't hold that against anyone.

If you have any interest in WW1 or history in general - and many will find direct relatives fairly simply - the war graves are a sobering, beautiful, monumental and ghastly reminder.  It's 100 years since the Somme next year - I'd thoroughly recommend a look.