A home exchange stay in the heart of the medieval Flemish city of Bruges (Brugge) made a convenient base for excursions to the First World War battlefields of the Ypres Salient, better known as Flanders Fields. Australians and New Zealanders considered themselves British at heart and signed up enthusiastically to be transported around the world to fight in an essentially foreign war. By the standards of any modern conflict, casualty numbers were scarcely credible; it is often said that an entire generation were lost. In my own family, five or more brothers and cousins enlisted. One lies buried at Messines, near Ypres (now better known by its Flemish name, Ieper).

Images captured in RAW format with Nikon D300 and are available for licensing.