Hell Fire Corner Print

Ypres. 1917 For four years, the main easterly access for the British Army to the Ypres Salient was via twelve mile of the Menin Road. About a mile out of Ypres, the Ypres-Roulers railway crossed the road & this intersection provided a perfect bulls-eye for German gunners and their spotters. To obscure their vision the corner was hung with canvas screens but because the spot was preregistered and under constant observation by the enemy, it was a place where troops, supply trains and artillery caissons felt extremely vulnerable. The Tommies quickly nicknamed the spot "Hell Fire Corner" and it became standard practice for troops to transit the site only at a full run, for horses a gallop and for lorries with the accelerator pushed to the floor. The location became notorious throughout the British Army as the most dangerous spot on the Western Front and the troops even mounted a sign at the crossing. Today the railroad still runs on the same right of way, but the post war surrounding buildings now all have a commercial look. Battlefield tourists beware though, it’s rumoured that there is a speed trap located nearby.