How to visit WWI dressing stations and field hospitals from Bruges Published: 18 February 2026 ## Intro For travellers staying in Bruges and curious about the medical side of the First World War, the most insightful way to explore is with Visit Flanders Fields on a private battlefield tour to Ypres. This guide focuses on the Advanced Dressing Station at Essex Farm and the casualty clearing stations at Lijssenthoek, offering a compassionate look at wartime medical care. ## Essex Farm: John McCrae and the Advanced Dressing Station A few kilometres north of Ypres, Essex Farm Cemetery sits beside the canal. During the war, this site hosted an Advanced Dressing Station (ADS) from April 1915 to August 1917, treating wounded soldiers from battles around Ypres. The irregular layout of graves shows this is a wartime cemetery; 1,205 servicemen are buried here, 103 of them unidentified. Behind the graves stand concrete bunkers that formed part of the ADS, restored by the city of Ypres to allow visitors inside. In these cramped chambers doctors and orderlies worked under fire, often in knee‑deep mud. Canadian doctor John McCrae served here in May 1915. After the death of his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, he wrote the poem In Flanders Fields, inspired by poppies blowing among the graves. One of the youngest soldiers buried at Essex Farm is Valentine Joe Strudwick, who died aged 15 in January 1916; his mother chose the epitaph “Not Gone From Memory Or From Love”. Their stories remind us of the human cost of war. ## Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and casualty clearing stations South-west of Ypres near Poperinge lies Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. Its location, close to the front but out of the range of most German field artillery, made it an ideal place to establish casualty clearing stations. The cemetery was first used by the French 15th Hôpital d’Évacuation and, from June 1915, by Commonwealth casualty clearing stations. During German advances in 1918 these stations withdrew and field ambulances took their place. Today Lijssenthoek contains 9,901 Commonwealth burials, with 24 unidentified, and 883 graves of other nationalities. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, it is the second largest Commonwealth cemetery in Belgium. Panels and a visitor centre explain the evacuation chain: wounded men were stabilised at Essex Farm ADS and then transported by narrow-gauge railway to casualty clearing stations here. The site conveys the scale of medical operations and the care given to the wounded. ## Understanding the evacuation chain When a soldier was wounded near Ypres, stretcher bearers carried him from the trenches to a Regimental Aid Post. From there, he was taken to an Advanced Dressing Station, like Essex Farm, where doctors controlled bleeding and treated shock. Once stabilised, he travelled by ambulance or light railway to a casualty clearing station at Lijssenthoek, which had operating theatres and wards. Severely wounded men were evacuated by train to hospitals in Étaples or Boulogne. Visiting these sites helps you follow this journey and appreciate the work of medical staff. ## Practical information This dressing-station tour begins at 09:00 in Bruges and lasts approximately 6 hours. We visit Essex Farm, John McCrae memorial, the bunkers, and then drive to Lijssenthoek to explore the cemetery and visitor centre. The tour is private and adapted to your interests. Wear comfortable shoes; the bunker interiors can be dark and damp. The tour runs year-round and is accessible to most visitors. Families and historians alike will gain a deeper understanding of wartime medicine. ## After your visit Standing where doctors worked feverishly to save lives and where thousands of soldiers are buried is a moving experience. By arranging your journey with Visit Flanders Fields, you ensure respectful access and expert interpretation. Begin planning your visit by heading to visitflandersfields.com and discover how these medical sites fit into a wider tour of the Ypres Salient.