Sandbag alignments of Diksmuide's Dodengang restored trenches

Aspect of restored trenches of World War One in Flanders Fields : the Dodengang, or Trench of Death,  Memorial  site on the frontline of the 1914 battle of the Yser River

(Browse the collection : West Flanders Province time lapse and video stock footage)

In 1915, under heavy fire, Belgians started digging a trench along the west bank of the river to try to retake the base. Through the use of saps (the extension of a trench to a point below the enemy fortifications), both sides got closer to each other until they were yards apart.

(Trip Savvy)

More than 100 years after the actual facts the Great War trenches continue to amaze. The Trench of Death in Dixmude is the perfect setting in which to discover the horrific conditions the soldiers had to endure. The Trench of Death is the last remaining stretch of Belgian First World War trenches.

(Trench of Death)

Located in Dixmude the ‘Trenches of Death’ comprise preserved trenches featuring galleries, shelters, firesteps, chicanes, concrete duckboards and concrete sandbags. Together they give a fair impression of the makeup of trenches during the First World War – that is, notably leaving aside the quiet, serene nature of the trenches as they appear today.The Dixmude trenches were in fact held by the Belgians for over four years during the Battles of the Yseragainst determined German forces (often ranged just 100 yards away), hence their grim name.

(First World War)