War cemeteries and memorials from a balloon
Scores of war cemeteries lie scattered across the Ypres Salient, many of them small plots at the edge of a field, others vast. From a balloon you see them as you can never see them from the road: neat, white and quiet, set in a landscape that has gone back to farming.
A flight is not a substitute for visiting a cemetery or memorial in person. But many of our passengers tell us it helps them grasp the scale of the front and how the places they visit on foot relate to each other. It is part of our balloon flight over the Ypres battlefields.
What to look for
- Rows of white headstones in a rectangular, walled garden, usually with a low wall or hedge around it
- The Cross of Sacrifice, a tall stone cross with a bronze sword, found in Commonwealth cemeteries with more than 40 graves
- The Stone of Remembrance, a large altar-like stone, in the largest cemeteries
- Small cemeteries sited where soldiers fell or near former dressing stations, often right beside a farm or road
Cemeteries of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission all follow the same simple design, so once you have recognised one from the air, you will pick out the next.
Sites you may see
Our route always depends on the wind, so we can never promise to fly over a particular site. Depending on the day, some of these may lie below you or in view:
The Menin Gate, Ypres
The memorial in the town’s ramparts, with the names of more than 54,000 Commonwealth soldiers who have no known grave. The Last Post is sounded here every evening at 8 pm.
Tyne Cot and Passchendaele
The largest Commonwealth war graves cemetery in the world, on the ridge fought over in the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917.
Essex Farm
Near Boezinge, where Canadian doctor John McCrae wrote ‘In Flanders Fields’ in May 1915.
Canadian memorials
The ‘Brooding Soldier’ at Vancouver Corner, St Julien, and the Canadian memorial at Hill 62 in Sanctuary Wood.
Messines and the Heuvelland
The New Zealand memorial, the Island of Ireland Peace Park and the mine craters of 1917.
Langemark
The German cemetery at Langemark, a reminder that there were losses on both sides of the line.
A quiet moment of remembrance
A balloon has no engine, only the occasional sound of the burner, and that makes it a good way to take in this landscape in silence. For many families it is the quietest part of a remembrance trip, away from the crowds.
We launch from Ypres, Zonnebeke and Poperinge. A shared flight costs €170 per person for 1–2 people and €165 per person from 3 people (children under 12: €130), including insurance, taxes, VAT and champagne after the flight. If you are researching a particular person, read how to plan a flight around an ancestor’s front line.
No. A hot-air balloon drifts with the wind, so our route is decided on the day. We launch in the heart of the former salient and will tell you honestly what is likely.
Many passengers find it a valuable complement to visiting a cemetery or memorial on foot: a quiet, sweeping view that shows how the sites relate to each other.
A tall stone cross with a bronze sword that stands in Commonwealth war graves cemeteries with more than 40 graves. It is one of the easiest features to recognise from the air.
