WW1 trenches in Flanders : the Dodengang alongside Yser River

Walking in the World War One remaining location of belgian trenches on the Yser battlefield near Diksmuide : the Dodengang, or Trench of Death 

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

The Western Front was a trench network covering thousands of kilometres, extending south from Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast to the French border with Switzerland. Bitterly cold, waterlogged and thick with mud, the trenches offered soldiers precious little protection. In the countryside, 1.5km from the town of Diksmuide, a small section has been preserved. Known as the ‘Trench of Death’, conservation work ensures that this remains a unique example of battlefield life.

(Lonely Planet)

In Dutch it is called “De dodengang” which means “the way of the dead”. The name refers to the many people who died while fighting in these trenches for around four years. Next to the trenches you can also take a look at the visitor center, here you can take a look at the daily life of the soldiers in the trenches.

(Itineri)

The Trench of Death consisted of two parallel trenches in the Yser dike at Kaaskerke near Diksmuide. The fighting trench was located close to the left bank, and the support trench behind it. The trench comprised observation and firing positions, bunkers and the ‘Mousetrap’ at the end, a position equipped with barbed wire fencing and a bunker with loopholes intended to stop German attacks from the direction of the ‘oil tanks’.

(Be 14-18)