WW1 trenches, craters and bunkers from the air
The front line around Ypres barely moved for most of four years. The ground was dug, shelled and fought over again and again. Today it is farmland once more, but the war left marks that are still easier to read from above than from the ground.
This page explains what to look for on a balloon flight over the Ypres battlefields. A few things are easy to spot, others are subtle, and we will be honest about which is which.
Craters: the round ponds
Many of the small, round ponds scattered across the fields are former shell and mine craters. The ground around them was left unfilled or filled with water, and they have stayed ever since. Not every pond dates from the war, but a perfectly round pond in the middle of a field is often a clue.
The best-known mine craters lie on the Messines Ridge in the Heuvelland, where British mines were detonated on 7 June 1917. One of them, the Pool of Peace at Spanbroekmolen, is now a quiet pond in a small nature reserve. We cannot promise to fly over it, but ponds of this shape appear all over the Westhoek.
Trench lines in the fields
In places you can still see the outline of old trench lines through the fields, as faint lines, zigzags or slight differences in the colour of the soil or crop. The zigzag shape comes from the trenches being dug in short straight sections to limit the effect of a shell burst.
These traces are subtle, not dramatic. They show best in low light, which is why we fly shortly after sunrise or just before sunset, and often on fields with bare soil or young crops. A field full of tall maize in late summer will hide them.
Bunkers and blockhouses
German concrete blockhouses, often called pillboxes, still stand in fields and hedgerows, especially along the ridge around Zonnebeke and Passchendaele. From a balloon they look like small grey blocks beside a field corner, a farmyard or a road. Farmers built around them rather than remove them.
The ‘iron harvest’
More than a century later, farmers still turn up unexploded shells and other war debris every year. It is one reason this landscape is both a place of remembrance and a place to treat with respect. If you visit on foot, stay on marked paths.
Tips for getting the most out of your flight
- Fly shortly after sunrise or just before sunset, when low light casts shadows that reveal the ground
- Bring a phone or camera with a good zoom, and binoculars if you have them
- Bring a modern battlefield map or trench map so you can match what you see to the ground
- Tell your pilot which sector or place interests you, and we will say what is possible on the day
Our route and altitude always depend on the wind, so we can never promise a particular spot. We launch from Ypres, Zonnebeke and Poperinge, right in the middle of the former front. 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. For the other side of the story, read war cemeteries from a balloon, or see the broader overview the Westhoek and the Great War, seen from a balloon.
Faintly, in places. Old trench lines show as lines or colour differences in fields, mostly in low light and on bare or young-crop fields. Craters and bunkers are easier to spot.
Many are shell or mine craters that filled with water and were never filled in. Not every pond is from the war, but a perfectly round one in a field often is.
Shortly after sunrise or just before sunset, when low light casts shadows that bring out shapes in the ground. These are also the calmest times for flying.
