The fortress town of le Quesnoy ( say 'ken wa' ),which is by the way ,another Vauban designed fortress,was an important link in this line and would have ordinarily been subject to a massive bombardment.
Enter the kiwis. A mixed NZ regiment entered the fort by scaling the walls at night , and with the element of surprise, captured the town. 
Look closely at the NZ memorial and you may see them scaling the walls. The town folk have since then, honored us with a service each year, flying our flag ,naming streets after NZ places and various statues and murals like this one on the primary school. And for our Cambridge grandchildren , le Quesnoy is twinned with Cambridge. ! 
What we didn't like about the place was the rain. Still ,First real rain in a month so mustn't grumble.
This morning our route back to the coast takes us through Ypres. This town was totally leveled by bombing and then completely rebuilt copying the old style.
Look closely at the NZ memorial and you may see them scaling the walls. The town folk have since then, honored us with a service each year, flying our flag ,naming streets after NZ places and various statues and murals like this one on the primary school. And for our Cambridge grandchildren , le Quesnoy is twinned with Cambridge. ! 
What we didn't like about the place was the rain. Still ,First real rain in a month so mustn't grumble.This morning our route back to the coast takes us through Ypres. This town was totally leveled by bombing and then completely rebuilt copying the old style. It's also the closest town to Passendale where NZ lost more men in a week ,than in any other war.
Only about 20% of the 5000 lost are here . The rest were never recovered and their names are among these on this memorial wall
Most losses for us occurred on 4th october 1917 ,including that of Katikati's own son and NZ's first all black captain Dave Gallaher. 
At 8 pm we joined about 600 others for the service at the Menin gate. This gate was built to house another 100,000 odd men who were never found. The last post has been played here every night since 1928 and pulls a large crowd every night
Only about 20% of the 5000 lost are here . The rest were never recovered and their names are among these on this memorial wallMost losses for us occurred on 4th october 1917 ,including that of Katikati's own son and NZ's first all black captain Dave Gallaher. 
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