8 September 2017
Three huge battles were fought around the town of Ypres in Belgium during World War One, but it was never captured by the Germans.
History
Ypres, one of the few parts of Belgium to be held by the allies, was the scene for three battles in 1914, 1915 and 1917. The Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, although, it was called by the soldiers who fought there The Battle of the Mud.
This one fight alone cost the allies roughly 250,000 casualties, with nearly 80,000 dead.
The town's St George's Memorial Church was built to honour the dead, but funds ran out before bells were fitted. St George's was built in 1927, but the bell tower has stood empty since.
The Great Dorset Steam Fair
Fast forward to 2017 and new bells have finally been made in Loughborough by John Taylor & Co. They left the factory on their journey Ypres in Belgium on the 22nd August 2017 carried by two WW1 era lorries. They made a stop over at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, where our, now retired, founder Towbar Tom was helping to run the stage show for Graeme Atkinson of The Scarborough Fair Collection who runs a show with their Antique Organs.Leaving for Belgium
After the Great Dorset Fair the Bells set off on the 1915 WW1 Thornycroft Wagon en route to Belgium via ferry to The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing.
All was going fine, until the 270 mile trip became too much for the 102 year old wagon and the prop shaft snapped leaving the Ypres Bells stranded on their journey.
Fortunately Towbar Tom was around to provide some more modern towing power in the shape of our Izusu D-Max, with a towbar kindly supplied by PCT Automotive.
The D-Max can tow up to 3500kg, with a noseweight of 750kg, so made light work of the job.
https://www.towbarexpress.co.uk/towbars/isuzu-towbars/isuzu-d-max-towbars/
[caption id="attachment_540" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Towbar Express, helping to tow the Ypress Bells[/caption]
