Attrition of first World War etched like scars into Flanders landscape

Candles placed in front of the graves during a first World War centenary commemoration in Ploegsteert, Belgium, on October 17th . Events commemorating the war are continuing in Belgium and further afield. Photograph: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA

Last Friday evening, quietness descended over a corner of northern Europe as Belgium paused to remember the 600,000 victims of the first World War who died on Belgian soil.

From Nieuwpoort on the North Sea to the town of Ploegsteert, 50km south on the French border, 8,400 torchbearers lined up to honour those who fell between 1914 and 1918.

The front of light illuminated the arc of the western front, the line between allied and German powers which, though no longer visible, is etched into the Flanders landscape like a scar.

Though the position of the front shifted periodically during the four-year war, reflecting the advances made by each side, it was the relative stagnancy of the western front that was one of the great tragedies of the war, as it became a battle of attrition rather than conquest.

While commemoration of this years centenary of the outbreak of the war reached its peak during the summer, as countries marked the chain of events that began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28th, 1914, and culminated with the outbreak of the war less than six weeks later, commemorative events are continuing in Belgium and further afield.

The approach of the traditional armistice date of November 11th in a few weeks time is likely to bring the issue of commemoration back into focus.

The Republic will be taking an active role in the commemorations, as the country continues its engagement with a chapter of history that had long been hidden.

Perhaps of most significance will be the participation of Irelands Ambassador to Britain, Daniel Mulhall, in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the cenotaph in London for the first time this year.

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Attrition of first World War etched like scars into Flanders landscape