Off to France tomorrow !

[dusty350]

For 4 days, to retrace the footsteps of my Grandfather, who was part of Kitchener's New Army, raised to fight the German's in the first world war. He joined what was then the Royal Field Artillery, gaining the rank of Sergeant and commanding an 18 pounder field gun. He won the Military Medal during the first Somme battle, continuing to fire his gun after the rest of his crew were killed. A bullet or shell splinter shattered his upper arm, and he lost consciousness due to blood loss. He was seen to move by stretcher bearers during a lull in the fighting, and ended up in a field hospital in France, being fed Champagne daily until he was well enough to be moved back to England. He was lucky to keep his arm - the Doctors initially wanted to amputate it but thankfully didn't, although for the rest of his life he couldn't raise his arm higher than shoulder level.
My wife booked this for me and my lad as a Xmas present, and we are going with one of my best mates and his son. It just so happens that we are going with a Battlefield guide who I trained with in the Fire Service 32 years ago !! This is a trip I have wanted to do for so long, and we are staying in a B&B in the middle of the Somme.
I'll update with some pics as we go !!

Dusty

[veg]

Dusty have fun it is incredibly moving, I go to Normandy most years and have done lots of these trips they are incredible. Make sure you do the menin gate for the last post. Enjoy.

[iwantalc]

should be a very interesting and emotional trip , hope you enjoy yourselves..

[markhoopy]

If you get chance go see the crater at Lochnagar on the outskirts of Albert it is well worth a look.

www.lochnagarcrater.org/

[JonW]

Fantastic you get to do this Dusty! If you get a chance to visit the Caverne Du Dragon on the Chemin De Dames you should.. Great biking (and fast car) roads out there and no one about, we used to go annually, ahem... The Caverne is a good museum but doesnt always have an English speaking guide on hand, maybe book if you want to go... and if you see and hear the story of Caronne (we visited both the old and new towns) you get more of a feeling for the devastation of war. The sheer number of crosses and the minimal distance between cemeteries is mind boggling, such a waste of humanity. A great experience and one everyone should do I think, young blokes dont realise how easy their life is now, really makes you think.

www.caverne-du-dragon.com/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemin_des_Dames

[dusty350]

Cheers fellas
Gonna squeeze as much in as we can ! Ian - our guide, has been running trips in his spare time for over 20 years, and now he is retired does it as his main job. He has an unbelievable amount of knowledge.

Regards

Dusty

[arrow]

Enjoy your trip dusty.

[mouse]

Fantastic Dusty, what a great thing to do. Must go myself sometime.

All the best

Mouse

[Shytalk]

Prepare to be humbled, the cemeteries are both beautifully maintained and poinient.
I think it's one of those areas that everyone should try to see, I hope you have a great visit.

[jollyr6]

That's sounds like an awesome trip in a respectful way. would love to do Normandy myself on bike for a full week

[skydemon]

Have a fab time Dusty. Sounds amazing

[ellasae]

I returned yesterday from a four day trip to Normandy to,visit the D Day beaches

It was an incredibly moving , humbling experience which I intend to do again soon ( and the calvados distillery was an excellent diversion)

[Mr Kipling]

I echo others on here wishing u the best thoughts on your travels , its easily forgotten what WE ALL OWE to our forefathers , I for one have massive respect to all who fought , its a shame other countries seem to have forgotten ... Best regards...

[ian350n]

Amazing place have a great time.

[steven]

Hi Dusty,
Will look forward to hearing about your trip, never been but would like to go.
Heard about the place where the piper still plays his bagpipes every night, but not sure where that is ?
steven.

[JonW]

Apr 9, 2017 17:51:15 GMT 1 steven said:

Hi Dusty,
Will look forward to hearing about your trip, never been but would like to go.
Heard about the place where the piper still plays his bagpipes every night, but not sure where that is ?
steven.

The Aussie War Memorial in Canberra (a vast museum too, one of the best in the world) does this as the sun goes down, very very sombre indeed. We go to this every time we visit our seat of Govt.

[dusty350]

Hi all
The trip to the Somme battlefield has been an unbelievable experience - certainly one I will never forget. As I said at the beginning of the post, this is something I have wanted to do for years but never quite got round to. My missus knew how much I wanted to go, and after speaking to colleagues of mine at my retirement do last September, she found out that a fellow retired Firefighter led tours to WW1 and WW2 battlefields. She jacked it all up without me knowing, and told me and my lad Sam that we were booked to go on April 7th ! There was space for 6 of us, so Sam and myself, one of my best mates and former colleagues Gerry and his son Jack, and tour leader Ian and co tour guide Jeff, also an ex Firefighter who I've known for years.
Ian and Jeff hired a minibus and met us at Leatherhead where we left the car, and headed down to Dover to take the Eurotunnel train, which takes about 30 minutes and is so easy. Once we drove out at the other end, we had about a 90 minute drive to get to the edge of the Somme region. The Somme, both then and now is mainly a farming region - it is mile after mile of fields, and we hardly saw any locals all the time we were there !
There is a long, straight road at runs between Bapaume and Albert, and we made our first stop here, at the Butte de Warlencourt, which is a prehistoric burial mound. It was a German position in 1916, a position of great strength which also offered a superb vantage point over the surrounding land. It's worth remembering that the Germans held virtually all the high ground in the area, and were happy to stay in place as they fully intended to claim the land they had invaded. The British and allies were intent on pushing them back so British trench systems weren't as deep or well protected as the German ones as they didn't expect to be staying in them long !!

[mouse]

God, what a place! Any more pics Dusty?

Mouse

[dusty350]

The view from the top gives you an idea of how important it was for the Germans - the site gave great observational advantage over the allied positions;




This site saw vicious fighting as the allies tried to take the position - only finally taking the position in 1917 when the Germans were pulling back. A walk along the edge of the fields next to the Butte gave us are first look at the live shells that still litter the Somme battlefield;



This is part of the "Iron Harvest", live ordinance that is often churned up by the farmer's machinery when ploughing the land. The farmers inform the authorities who come and collect the shells and dispose of them. Due to the desperate need for shells in the lead up to the attack on 1st July, shells were produced in such huge numbers that it was found that many - as much as 1 in 3 were "duds" and failed to explode. Many people have been killed handling these shells over the years and when we saw them we certainly didn't handle them !! They are left on the side of the field next to the roadway so easily found ! We also found lots of shrapnel, and lead balls which littered the area - these being the anti personnel ammunition from airburst shells - you can collect a handful of these in a few minutes of looking. A cutaway of an airburst shell, showing the lead shot is pictured after we found one in a display;



Dusty

[iwantalc]

looking like a very interesting trip , so much of this is forgotten about..great pictures..

[JonW]

Loving the reports Dusty!

[arrow]

Keep the pics coming dusty.

[dusty350]

Will do Gary - my lad took over 600 digital pics alone !!
I forgot to mention that the "Iron harvest" often yields over 100 tons of ordinance every year ! It is illegal to use a metal detector to hunt for artifacts as you can imagine, as people could end up digging up live shells. The brass nose caps from the shells are a particular prize, and many have been killed over the years trying to chisel off the nose cap in their garden shed - crazy but true !!
Once back in the van we headed back up the road towards Pozieres. Along the way we stopped at 2 memorials opposite each other - the Tank Memorial, which remembers the first use of tanks in the war, near this spot on 15th September;



On the other side of the road is the site of a ruined Windmill. This is a memorial to the Australians who lost 6500 killed, wounded or missing fighting their way up to it, by early August;



The Germans had incorporated many natural features and man made structures into their defensive lines. They had time to prepare and were able to defend their positions very successfully. Machine gun fire claimed many casualties, and their artillery was particularly accurate. The high ground gave their observers a perfect view of the battlefield, and thus able to direct fire very accurately. They operated on a grid system, and even when trenches were captured they were able to direct fire down upon it to kill and dislodge allied attackers. It also means that the battlefields throughout France were shelled many times over, so fallen men were often churned up time and again by shelling, hence so many graves of unknown soldiers in the Cemeteries. Men literally disappeared in the hail of metal that filled the air.
After a stop for some food in Pozieres we walked along to "Gibraltar", another German strongpoint in their line which was a heavily defended "blockhouse" that had been further fortified by the Germans;



Not much to look at now but it's machine guns claimed many lives. Next to Gibraltar is the monument to the First Australian Division;





Many of the Aussies fighting here had fought previously in Gallipoli. By the time they captured Pozieres on 23rd July they had lost more than a third of their men, and the village itself was completely destroyed. Such was the impact on the Australians fighting in this place, a village in Queensland adopted the name after the war.

Dusty

[wonkywheel]

Thank you for sharing your photos, experience and family history.
My wife and I will be visiting the Somme in early May.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07lst9b

Worth buying on dvd- neutral view and considers 'both sides of the wire'

[dusty350]

Hi
Thanks for the link - I will watch that when I get time
Ian had loads of maps and we would visit a place and get a feel for the terrain. We would then end up in a position looking back at where we had been - so we got the perspective from the allied side and then the German side. We spent a lot of time orientating ourselves on the battlefield to better understand the difficulties the allies had in making gains during the battle, which is really important. In virtually every instant, the Germans had a commanding view of the attack and could employ enfilade and defilade fire to tragic effect for the allies. The Germans had chosen their positions well and gaining ground was always going to be a bloody affair. You'll see in photos later on that trench lines are still visible in the fields - chalky lines zig zagging across the ploughed land can still, amazingly, be seen from afar, but not seen when you stand near them. A good trench map will help you pinpoint them.
So we left Gibraltar behind and headed for La Boisselle. Minutes before the Infantry attack, at 07.30 on July 1st, several mines were detonated beneath parts of the German lines, designed to punch a hole through German defences. One of these mine detonations left the crater known as "The Lochnagar Crater". It's size is absolutely breathtaking. 91 meters in diameter and 21 meters deep. 27 tons of explosives had been detonated, resulting in an estimated 6000 Germans being killed in an instant - their dug outs being full of troops awaiting the expected attack;



I selected this pic as there is a coach parked in the background and hopefully shows the scale of the crater. The site was bought by an Englishman in 1978 and preserved. Interestingly for me, looking across the fields you could see the site of Becourt Wood. Ian had traced Regimental war diaries with info I had given him, and it showed that on July first my Grandfather's battery were situated in Becourt, shelling the German lines. I imagine he had a good view of the mine detonation across the fields from him. And again, the ploughed fields surrounding the site were full of lumps of shrapnel, and lead shot from airburst shells. This is Becourt in the distance;



My Grandad's war didn't end here though. Records show his battery was moved several times, and as he was wounded near to the end of the battle, which lasted until November, he didn't receive his injuries at Becourt. Artillery positions were always targeted by opposing artillery as it caused so much carnage, so each side would try and destroy the guns of the enemy. The cemeteries are full of artillerymen, so being behind the lines was no advantage for a gunner !

Dusty

[dusty350]

So as we left Lochnagar, we were getting an idea of the scale of devastation that this campaign caused. I was shocked by the size of the crater, and that men had tunnelled for months beneath the Germans to place the explosives. The final meters of digging were done with bayonets, so the Germans wouldn't hear the tunnellers beneath them.
We were now heading for the memorial at Thiepval. Along the road before we arrived, we stopped at Mouquet Farm, a German strongpoint during the battle. The allied soldiers nicknamed it "Mucky Farm", and "Moo Cow" farm. The Australians took and held the farm at the beginning of September, having lost 23,000 casualties in just 6 weeks. There are famous pics of aerial photos of the farm before and after the battle. The "after" picture looks like the surface of the moon - nothing is left. Looking at the fields surrounding the site now shows no sign of it's tragic past. I said to Ian how beautiful a view it was from our vantage point on the side of the road. He agreed, and then told me that an estimated 4000 Australians still lay beneath the rolling fields before us.
Thiepval is the largest Commonwealth War Memorial in the world, standing at 45 metres high. Inscribed on it's walls are the names of 72,205 soldiers who were never found, or could not be identified. Thiepval was a German position, incorporating a chateau, and had a commanding view of the area due to it's elevation, and was a maze of trenches and defences. British troops finally took it on 27th September after weeks of bitter fighting;







300 French and 300 Commonwealth soldiers are laid to rest in the grounds;



Dusty

[dusty350]

So we left Thiepval, for now, and headed for our B&B in a village called Auchonvillers, nicknamed "Ocean Villas" by the British troops that occupied it in 1916, it being behind allied lines. Owned by an English woman - Avril Williams - the site was bought and renovated by her and turned into a B&B. During the work she found evidence of military use - the soil in the cellar had hidden glass ampules used to treat wounds, and the walls had "graffiti" scratched into them. Further investigation showed that the cellar, along with over 100 others in the village had been used by the allies as both a medical aid post, a communications centre and even a holding cell for prisoners. A trench map was produced and showed a trench had once ran through her garden. Volunteers got to work, and in 1996 the trench was unearthed and restored to how it would have been in 1916;





After dinner, we took a walk around the village as the sun went down. At the end of the village, tucked out of the way, we found a small cemetery. This held the soldiers who were brought back from the fighting and couldn't be saved. The farm next to the Cemetery had been an aid post during he war, and the men that couldn't be saved were buried here;



It's a panorama shot again, so the lines of grave stones are actually straight and not curved as they appear. I will talk more about the Cemeteries later, but everyone that we visited, regardless of their remoteness or size, were absolutely immaculate - beautiful, peaceful places. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission do a fantastic job of keeping them in such wonderful condition.
So that is the end of day 1.
Tomorrow we visit Albert.

Dusty

[JonW]

Thats something you dont notice until youve been to a few of the cemeteries and they it hits you. They are perfect, totally immaculate. Its quite stunning how many they are and how much work is done there to keep them so clean.

[dusty350]

Hi Jon
You are absolutely right - each and every one of them, regardless of size or geography, is immaculate. No mean feat when you consider there are 410 Commonwealth cemeteries, 22 French military cemeteries and 14 German Cemeteries in the Somme. There was no repatriation of British war dead after 1915, plus after the war the Imperial War Graves Commission decided to maintain many of the burial sites created during the fighting, hence the need for so many Cemeteries.

Dusty

[ellasae]

Thanks for posting this thread Dusty , it gives a superb insight of the Somme .

My great grandfather died of his wounds in a military hospital in Deauville in 1916 , his brother was killed within a month of him and is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial .

I intend to visit the area again next year with my brother to pay our respects.

I agree totally with the comments about the commonwealth war graves commissions work, I visited the Ranville cemetery whilst in Normandy last week , it is where the casualties from the assault on the Merville Battery and Pegasus Bridge among others are buried , and it is immaculately kept and a very peaceful, moving place.
I felt somewhat uneasy at the US cemetery at Colleville sur Mer , it was again immaculately kept but somehow it seemed to be almost bordering on being a tourist destination over a site of commemoration.
Mid week in early April there were coach loads of tourists all over the place many showing little or no respect for where they were which was very disappointing.