WW1 Boezinge and Poelkappelle

AgathaPoirot

We are planning a trip to the WW1 battlefields and cemeteries around Ypres.

One of the things we have seen is that hundreds of WW1 shells are still being discovered by farmers and workers in such a quantity that these shells are exploded on a daily basis by the Belgian army at Boezinge, near Poelkappelle.

Has anyone been to Boezinge to hear/see these explosions or know anything else about it?

Thanks

PasturesNew

It's been going on for 100 years ..... so they've probably got half of them by now. I'm sure "accidents happen", but if it were any sort of an issue we'd all have heard about it.

Most of these shells etc will be in private farmers' fields and not places that people are tramping about. If people are walking around specific areas, they'll have already been cleared/be safe by now.

Just make sure you always walk 30 paces behind the fattest person you can see

AgathaPoirot

Hmm I'll do that 30 paces behind thing

I read about Boezinge/Poelkappelle in an online Telegraph article.

I didn't actually mean us accidentally finding any shells but instead being close to the point where the Belgian army regularly (seemingly weekly if not daily) explode the discovered WW1 shells in controlled explosions.

pollypenny

I was taken on a drive around sites mentioned by WW1 poets. My friend stopped at one point to show me shells piled at the edge of the field ready for collection.

That was normal, he said.