Quote:
Originally Posted by jack neville
I did a tour of the Western Front a few years ago and stopped to look at a few cemeteries, but it wasn't till I did a guided tour from Ypres in Belgium that I understood the significance of the layout of the headstones. It gave me a whole new appreciation of the importance of the cemeteries. Especially when you see the headstones situated around the edge of the perimeter and the headstones that are positioned touching each other. Seeing those makes you stop and think. There is a set of five headstones in the Alemein Cemetery in Egypt that has five stones together. It means five men died at the same time in the same place so they are buried side by side. Maybe from a shell burst or a tank crew or something similar but understanding the way the cemeteries are laid out and seeing the different headstones in different positions is really moving at times.
|
Speaking of five headstones: in a German Cemetary (the one where Michael Wittman and his crew are buried), the name of which escapes me right now, are rows of crosses in black stone all in five unit groups. The peculiar thing is that the middle cross is larger and higher than the two beside it. Nobody seemed to be offer an explanation as to their significance.
Edit: Just remembered...it's La Cambe German cemetary.