Day 7: McRae's dressing station, Brooding Soldier, Kitchener's Wood,Passchendaele, Tyne Cot

We continue our overview of Canada's role in World War I and the battles of the Somme area with a visit to the Essex Cemetery where one of the youngest soldiers, Valentine Strudwick, is buried. He was 15.

In the same area, is John McRae's dressing station. 2Lt Cooper read McRae's famous poem to help set the stage.

Our next stop is the Brooding Soldier Memorial located in the St. Juliaan area. This is significant because all cadets who wish to obtain their glen must write the exam that tests their knowledge on the Battle at St. Julien.

From there, we made our way to the Kitchener's Wood Memorial. There is not much left of the actual wood. It was completely decimated during the war. All that is left is a relatively large stone marker and a plaque explaining the significance of the battle. We had WO Caine and MCpls McRae and Munday lay a wreath.

Poelkapelle was our next stop, where Sgt John Henry Thompson, MCpl O'Sullivan's great-great-great uncle is buried. He played a lament and we allowed him and Mr. O'Sullivan some time alone to remember.

We then moved on to Passchendaele. Although this was a rather bloody battle, which changed hands many times over the course of the war, all that remains is a small memorial.

Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth war grave cemetery: 12000 soldiers with about 8000 of them unknown. The cemetery is stunning. Incorporated into the design of the cemetery are 4 German concrete bunkers. The Sword of Remembrance is built on top of one of these bunkers.

We then made a brief stop at Hill 62 before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate. The ceremony starts promptly at 2000hrs and occurs every night since the end of 1944. Our wreath layers for that night's ceremony were RSM Fischer, Sgt Rawleigh and MCpl Bagley. We had WO Miles play a lament as the wreaths were laid and Maj Morris read.

Once the ceremony was finished, we marched into Menin with WO Miles piping us in. It was an incredible feeling. No words can really describe the experience.