Hooge in World War I

Hooge is a small village on the Bellewaerde Ridge, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. Hooge and the nearby locations of Bellewaerde and Zillebeke were merged into Ypres in 1976. The economy of Hooge is dominated by tourism and agriculture. Tourists are attracted by the World War I battlefields as well as Bellewaerde, the oldest operating theme park in Belgium.

The Battle of Mont Sorrel (Battle of Mount Sorrel, Battle of Hill 62) was a local operation in World War I by three divisions of the British Second Army and three divisions of the German 4th Army in the Ypres Salient, near Ypres, Belgium, from 2 to 13 June 1916. To divert British resources from the build-up being observed on the Somme, the XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps and the 117th Infantry Division attacked an arc of high ground defended by the Canadian Corps. The German forces captured the heights at Mount Sorrel and Tor Top, before entrenching on the far slope of the ridge. Following a number of attacks and counterattacks, two divisions of the Canadian Corps, supported by the 20th Light Division and Second Army siege and howitzer battery groups, recaptured the majority of their former positions.

Hooge Crater Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front. Hooge Crater Cemetery is named after a mine crater blown nearby in 1915 (since filled in, see below) and located near the centre of Hooge, opposite the "Hooge Crater Museum" (founded in 1994) and separated from it by the Menin Road. Hooge itself is a small village on the Bellewaerde Ridge, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres in the Flemish province of West Flanders.

Bellewaerde is a theme park in the West Flemish countryside at Zonnebeke near Ypres, Belgium (it is physically located just inside the Ypres municipality boundary). It was established in 1954, on the grounds of the World War I Battle of Bellewaarde. Named after an old castle in its territory that still stands near the main entrance, Bellewaerde is the oldest operating theme park in Belgium. Originally a zoo and safari, the park expanded in the early eighties to become more of a general theme- and thrillpark, catering towards teens and families. The 54-hectare (130-acre) park is known for its beautiful gardens, marvelous landscaping and its attention to theming. Its mascotte is a lion dressed as a king, King Lion. Bellewaerde draws about 850,000 - 900,000 visitors a year and is the main theme park in Flanders. Major rides include the first Boomerang coaster in Europe (1984), a duelling alpine coaster (Dawson Duel), a Vekoma Mad House (Houdini's Magical House), several water rides including a log flume, a river rapids ride and a spillwater ride, the Screaming Eagle vertical drop tower, various stock rides such as a pirate ship, a swing carousel, an original Zierer beetle coaster, old-timers, carousels, an octopus, tea-cups and a Jungle Cruise-like boat ride, and an entertainment schedule that changes every year. Bellewaerde's additions since 2000 are the world's first Topple Tower from Huss, El Volador (2005), a Zierer indoor coaster, Huracan (2013) a duelling alpine coaster, Dawson Duel (2017), and a Gerstlauer family coaster, Wakala (2020). In June 2019, the park opened the 3000m² Bellewaerde Aquapark, which features a variety of slides, pools, and a lazy river.

Dawson Duel is a racing alpine coaster at Bellewaerde near Ypres, Belgium. The attraction became the first in Europe to race two alpine coaster tracks against one another, and the first to also be built on an artificial, man-made slope instead of natural terrain. Dawson Duel's name and theme pays homage to the town of Dawson City in the Yukon Territory, and the Yukon Quest Sled dog racing event. The ride was constructed at a cost of €4,000,000 and is one of the most popular attractions in the park.

Wakala is a steel family roller coaster located at Bellewaerde near Ypres, Belgium. The coaster pays heavy homage to the Kwakwakaʼwakw natives of the Canadian Pacific Northwest. It is manufactured by Gerstlauer and is targeted at families, with two lift hills, a meandering layout, and a vertical spike rollback element.

Sanctuary Wood Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemetery for the dead of the First World War, 5 km east of Ypres, Belgium, near Hooge in the municipality of Zillebeke. Located off the main Ypres-Menin Road on Canadalaan (Canada Lane). The Canadian Hill 62 Memorial is 100 metres further down the road from the cemetery. Sanctuary Wood itself was named by British troops in November 1914 when it was used to shelter troops. Fighting took place in it in September 1915 and it was fought over by Canadian and German soldiers during the Battle of Mount Sorrel in early June 1916. Three small Commonwealth cemeteries were established in it between May and August 1915 but were largely obliterated during the Battle of Mount Sorrel. When the war finished, traces of one of them were found, containing 137 graves, and became the core of the present Sanctuary Wood Cemetery. It was greatly expanded between 1927 and 1932 with graves being moved in from surrounding areas, with a few being moved from as far away as Nieuwpoort. The majority of these graves were from the battles around Ypres in 1914 and the Allied offensive in late 1917. One of the 637 identified graves belongs to Lieutenant Gilbert Talbot of the Rifle Brigade (Plot 1, Row G), in whose memory Talbot House at Poperinghe was established in December 1915 by two army chaplains, Talbot's brother Neville Talbot and Philip 'Tubby' Clayton. Just outside the cemetery is a Celtic cross, with an engraved sword on top, a memorial to Second Lieutenant Thomas Keith Hedley Rae. He was killed on 20 July 1915 at Hooge, and the memorial was built there in 1921, but transferred to its present location in the 1960s.

The Sanctuary Wood Museum Hill 62, 3 km (1.9 mi) east of Ypres, Belgium is a private museum located in the neighbourhood of the Canadian Hill 62 Memorial and the Sanctuary Wood Cemetery. The museum was owned by Jacques Schier, the grandson of the farmer who founded the museum and owned the site of the museum since before World War I and left it as he had founded it. He was known as 'Fat Jacques' to generations of visitors. The museum has a collection of World War I items, including a rare collection of 3-dimensional photographs, weapons, uniforms and bombs. A preserved section of the British trench lines is located behind the museum. The museum also has a small bar, café and gift shop.

The Canadian Hill 62 (Sanctuary Wood) Memorial is a war memorial that commemorates the actions of the Canadian Corps in defending the southern stretches of the Ypres Salient between April and August 1916 including actions in battle at the St Eloi Craters, Hill 62, Mount Sorrel and Sanctuary Wood. These battles marked the first occasion in which Canadian divisions engaged in planned offensive operations during World War I. In those actions the Canadians reconquered vital high-ground positions that denied the Germans a commanding view of the town of Ypres itself.

Zillebeke (also known as Zellebeck) is a village in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. It is a former municipality which is now part of Ypres.

Sunrise, Inverness Copse is a 1918 watercolour by English artist Paul Nash, which was produced during World War I. It depicts a scene from the Western Front near Ypres in Belgium, and was developed from an eye-witness sketch which Nash drew whilst at the scene in 1917. The drawing is in the collection of the Imperial War Museum, in London.

The Arrondissement of Ypres (Dutch: Arrondissement Ieper; French: Arrondissement d'Ypres) is one of the eight administrative arrondissements in the Province of West Flanders, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. However, the Judicial Arrondissement of Ypres also comprises the municipalities of Staden and Moorslede in the Arrondissement of Roeselare.