Today was a rest day in Lille so we took a driving tour of
the Somme Battle fields. Ken agreed to
give Agnes a day off and drive the van.
The parking expired at 9:00 AM so we were at the van and ready to
go.
The first order of business was to drive down to the Thiepval
Memorial to the Missing. This memorial was constructed to honor the
British and French soldiers who were missing in action on the Somme battle
fields. The memorial included a very
interesting museum which brought to life through a series of murals the live in
the Somme. It started with the initial euphonium
that the war would be over by Christmas to the grief and despair of the
battle. The Somme was the worst day in
British military history with 19,240 killed and 57,470 casualties. The monument
is a huge brick structure which is 140 feet high and sits on top of a
hill. When we got there the wind was just
howling. It was screaming through the
huge arch ways. Some of the wreaths were blowing off into the grass field.
There is a cemetery or marker on almost every corner. Stopping to look at everyone would take a life
time. So we drove past a lot of them but the Welsh Tower monument caught our
eye so we stopped. The regiment was
having a ceremony so we watched for a while.
From there we drove over to see the Newfoundland Memorial at
Beaumont-Hamel. It is set on the site of the Newfoundland action in the Somme
and covers 47 hectares. In this action
almost all of the Newfoundland regiment was killed. The monument includes a visitors center which
recreates a typical 1915 Newfoundland
home, a large parcel of the 47 hectares which are still in the same condition
as it was in 1918 and the monument which is a large caribou. It is a very striking monument. The caribou
is a well know symbol of Newfoundland.
From there we headed over to the Lochnagar Crater. It was
created when a tunnel which had been dug under the German trench and packed with
45,000 pounds of explosives was set off.
This was the kick of the infantry charge of the first battle of the
Somme. The crater is at least 250 feet
in diameter and 75 feet deep. It is a
really deep hole. The perimeter of the
crater has a board walk around it and every board has a brass plaque to a
soldier who was on the Somme.
What tour would be complete without a trip to the boulangerie and that was the next
stop on the tour. The blue cheese and
ham sandwiches were great.
The last stop on the driving tour was the Fricourt German
Military Cemetery. It is a very stark
contrast to the Commonwealth cemeteries which have large well-manicured lawns
and grounds and individual grave markers. In the German cemetery there are four
graves per marker. Two side by side in
the front and two in the rear. Name,
rank, and date of death are given. It is
certainly a much different perspective on the war memorial.
Tomorrow we are off to Saint Quentin. It is a 105 kms day with 458 meters of climb,
however there is a very nasty wind out of the south forecast and I am not
looking forward to a full day of struggling into the wind.
Terry hot
biker
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