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| This year we decided to use a tried and tested way of travel. We used the "Lancemobile". After reading the instructions left by St. Catherine we headed to Dover and then across the Channel on a Ferry to Dunkirk. We stopped off on the Way to the Somme so we could pay our respects to Steve's Great Great Uncle - Herbert Preen at the Ferne-Ollivers CWGC Cemetery, just outside Ypres.
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After leaving Ypres we travelled across to a Second World War site and the Massive V1 and V2 Nazi Rocket Site at La Coupole, The La Coupole Museum was planned and constructed over a ten year period from 1987 to 1997. The Wizernes dome was declared an historical site in 1985 by the French government. The museum resides inside and around the old mining quarry where, in 1943, the German Army began work on the second of several giant hardened bunkers, intended for launching 40-50 V2 rockets at London each day. Inside the museum, the "Historical Centre about the war and development of the rocket," you will now find exhibits that document the German planning and contruction of the bunker, the Nazi occupation of France, mans conquest of space, and one example of a surviving A4/V2 rocket. The Museum is a "Must See" visit - just to see the size of the place. After leaving the V2 site we headed to our main goal - The battlefields of the Somme. (For Historical information on the Somme see "Somme 2001" page.) We headed first to Arras and the oddly named Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery - odd becasue Amiens is further south by 40 miles. Again as with all CWGC sites, this cemetery is wonderfully preserved and in tip top condition. Indeed whilst we were there a number of CWGC gardeners were tending to the graves. At Faubourg there is a large memorial to the Flying Services (what became the RAF) and two VC winner adorn the memorial - Major Edward Mannock and Major Lanow Hawker (who was the first airman to win the VC). Over a 1000 men are named on this memorial. The CWGC site at Faubourg has a huge screen wall with the 34,000 names of the missing. There are 2647 graves at Faubourg, making nearly 40,000 men remembered in one way or another. After leaving Fauborg and Arras we headed to the Gite (Christened as now tradition Ponderosa III). The Gite was situated right in the middle of one of the bloddiest battlefields of the Somme at Beaucort sur Ancre - The Ancre being ironically the main river in the area of the battle, The River Somme being further south. The gite was comfortable and again, not witholding tradition, Stu ran - yes ran to claim the best bedroom. The Gite was sited in the middle of a farming community, and was only a mile or so aware from great sites as Thiepval and The Ulster tower. Sadly there was no pub in walking distance - but bizarre there was a "Disco". On closer inspection of this Disco proved that the place must have shut down years ago as the Dance floor was not someones living room. Lance's John Travolta moves were stopped for another year. But I have no idea why Beaucourt sur Ancre would have a Disco - the village would have I guess 50 residents. I cannot imagine the French turning up doing "oops upside your head" at all to this place, so having a Disco there was just bizarre. After doing the shopping at the first of many supermarkets - This is the full list of Supermarkets we visited - Carrefour, Maxicoop, Aldi, Leclerc, Netto - it was a fine balance of keeping us in Cheese and Beer, we settled down for the night with a treat of the holiday. Kevin brought his DVD player and Steve brought the complete series of the comedy gem "Early Doors" - Lance and Gerry had not seen this delight and after a few episodes it became esential viewing each night. We also hit France right bang in the Middle of the Rugby World cup. The next day - our first full day on the Somme took us away from the main battlefield to the breathtaking site of Vimy Ridge. |
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The trip to Vimy Ridge was greatly anticipated by the NMBS as only Lance had seen the site. Vimy Ridge was missed on the 2001 trip to the Somme as it is a few miles north of the main Somme area - but is an important site. Whilst getting to Vimy, we took a wrong turning, and like most wrong turnings the NMBS make it ends up with us finding a a treat. Finding the Zivy Crater CWGC was one of those treats. In 1917, after the Battle of Vimy Ridge a Canadian burial officer decided to use shell craters as mass graves and in a crater at Zivy, near the village of Thélus, he buried 53 bodies. Of these 50 were of identifiable Canadian soldiers. Initially, the cemetery was simply given the designation CB.1: today it is known as Zivy Crater Cemetery. Zivy is a cemetery without headstones. The names of those who are buried here are inscribed on seven panels beneath the Great Cross and the CWGC register shows that all of them died on 9 April 1917, the day of the opening of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. They served in infantry battalions raised from places such as Quebec, Manitoba and Nova Scotia but the great majority are from Ontario. Undoubtedly the most compelling feature about Zivy crater is that it is still a crater, albeit no longer full of mud and water, but grassed and surrounded by a well-constructed wall. Standing here looking up at the cross it is possible to feel something of the sheer destructive power of World War I shells and to understanding the fear and dread of those who suffered, perhaps for the rest of their lives, under the full force of an enemy bombardment. Below is a picture of Zivy today and the "Group shot" at the top of this page is the NMBS sittong on the steps (which you see in the below pic, bottom right). Like Carl Lewis and Linford Christie, Kev and Steve set up the 10 second camera shot before running around the crater to join the group shot. |
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From the Zivy crater we cracked on to Vimy. Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Canadian National Vimy Memorial which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras. The Memorial does more than mark the site of the engagement that Canadians were to remember with more pride than any other operation of the First World War. It stands as a tribute to all who served their country in battle in that four-year struggle and particularly to those who gave their lives. The twenty statues present on the Vimy Memorial site were originally sculpted by Allward in roughly life-size out of unfired clay. These were then replicated in more durable plaster, and the plaster copies were sent to France, where French stone carvers replicated them again in stone, doubling their size. The plaster working copies, nearly destroyed in the 1960s, are now on display in Canada, with seventeen at the Canadian War Museum and the remaining three at the Military Communications and Electronics Museum attached to Canadian Forces Base Kingston.[6]
The novel The Stone Carvers, by Jane Urquhart, is set amid the creation of the memorial.
In 1996, the site was designated by the Canadian government as a National Historic Site, one of only two outside Canada, both in France (the other is Beaumont-Hamel NHS in Amiens, although St. Juliaan and Hill 62 in Ypres must also be on that list). In addition to the monument itself, the memorial includes a small museum, an area of preserved trenches and tunnels, and nearby cemeteries of those killed in the battle. The trip down the tunnels was a brave moment for Stu. Stu is not good with tunnels, but he did the tunnels at Vimy, without fear or moaning. The tunnel at Vimy had one horrible problem. We had a w*nker from another group who hought he knew everything about anything and was loud enough for others and the NMBS to hear. Pretentious and arrogant. Boring and tiresome we judged him and to be honest the highest court in any land would have to agree with us. Time and again we heard "I say, do you know that...." or "I will tell you now...." or "I think your are mistakened, actually I would say....". Such a bore got short-shrift from the NMBS and a few "W*nker" done in that coughing like way aimed in his direction stopped him. The NMBS wish we knew his name so we could name and shame him, but to be honest it made us realise why the NMBS is class compared to some groups who take everything far too seriously and miss the real reasons and highlights. Apart from that Vimy was brilliant and well worth anyone going to see. After Vimy we headed towards Notre Dame de Lorette, which is the French National memorial. on the way we stopped at a village called Souchez. Obviously we wanted a drinky poo or two after walking around Vimy, so we stopped at one French bar - and it was bibically infested with flies!! The pub called La Django was swarming with bluebottles - the cockroaches didn't even have a look in. Top NMBS tip - do not eat there ! We faired little better at the next pub in Souchez, it was a pub meets betting shop meets sweet shop. The locals were also very huffy about 5 Englanders coming into their bar. We stayed in this pub (Chez valerie) even less. We were begining to realise that The Somme was not going to be the bulk of the "Good French pub guide" During the Battle around here, General Foch said: I only know of three ways to fight: Attack, Defend, Piss Off - We did similar - Attack our thirst with a swifty pint, defend ourselves against flies, had enough and pissed off ! So, after the being dissapointed with the pubs in the area we left and arrived at Notre Dame is similar to L'Ossuaire at Douaumont, outside Verdun. Although at Verdun you see the 120,000 skeletal remains of the missing makes L'Ossuaire more breathtaking, Notre Dame de Lorette is still an amazingly somber and recollective place. Close to the Carnage at Vimy. The original oratory at Notre Dame de Lorette was raised in 1727 by a painter called Nicolas Florent Guilbert. A native of Ablain Saint Nazaire he had made a pilgrimage to Loretto in Italy and been cured of his illnesses. On his return home and in gratitude for his cure he raised his small oratory on the hill next to his village in order to shelter a statue of the Virgin Mary which he had brought back from Italy. The oratory was destroyed in 1794 and rebuilt in 1815 before being transformed into a small chapel in 1880. The battle for this imposing 165 metre high hill and its chapel raged for twelve months from October 1914 until October 1915. The first stone was laid by Marshal Pétain on 19 June 1921 preceding four years of construction before it was inaugurated on 2 August 1925 by Paul Painlevé. The lantern is 52 metres high on a 12 metre square base. At night the 3 000 candle power lamp revolves every 12 seconds and can be seen up to 70 kilometres away. The crypt contains the coffins of Unknown Soldiers from the Second World War, the Concentration Camps (A deportee), Northern Africa, and Indo-China. Immediately on entering you will see a marked tomb on the floor. The simple inscription states that here lie the remains of thousands of soldiers - in fact about 23 000 unknown soldiers. Steps lead you upwards to a small display showing personal items and the history of the construction. The hommes en béret are there every day to watch over the ensemble and to help visitors with information. They are made up of ordinary citizens who have taken an oath to attend the Ossuary at least one day each year. Their intention is to represent through their own ordinariness those who lie here at Lorette. The construction of the Basilica was inspired by Monseigneur Eugène Julien, Bishop of Arras, who wanted it dedicated to the memory of those who had fallen in this particularly bloody corner of France. He laid the founding stone on 19 June 1921 after the design had been drawn up by the Lille Architect Luis Cordonnier. The chapel was blessed in the presence of Marshal Pétain on 26 May 1927 and consecrated on 5 September 1937. The interior is marked by the colourful mosaic work. All around you on the walls are thousands of memorial plaques to units and individuals alike. One in particular is dedicated to François Faber who had won the Tour de France in 1909 and died near Carency in 1915 whilst serving with the 1st Infantry Regiment. Six of the windows were donated by Britain in thanks for the land given by France for British Cemeteries. |
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The site has a small museum called Musée Vivant. Lance had a nice wander around the Museum and the battlefield mock up next to it, whilst the rest of the boys found a nice little beer serving cafe next to it. Eventually the rest of us joined Lance. Leaving Lorette the aim was to cemeteries of all the combatants that day. We had been to the Britsih and Canadian, Just seen the huge scale of Notre Dame de Lorette and next was the massive German cemetery at Neuville St Vaast. It is the largest German Military Cemetery in France with 44 533 burials. Like most other German cemeteries it is a concentration cemetery. The fighting in this area was particularly bloody and bodies continue to be found in and around the area - many were recovered during the building of the A 26 autoroute through the Vimy area. One of the monuments brought here from another cemetery is that of the Hannover Inf Reg No 164 which was made by the soldiers during the war. There are members of over a hundred different units and corps lying here most of whom lost their lives in the heavy fighting for the Lorette and Vimy Ridges during 1915 and 1917. The land here is chalk and the original cemetery has received a lot of care and attention to bring it to the fine condition that it is in today. Most of the work was carried out by volunteer youth groups, who helped plant the trees and shrubs as well as tending the malnourished soil. The municipality of Neuville St Vaast donated a wooden cross with the inscription Paix aux Hommes de Bonne Volonté (Peace to men of good will). It was set up in the middle course where today's high cross is (a reproduction is at the outside wall of the new entrance building). |
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