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T H E T R U S T Y S E RVA N T
seen in the wood. And the OW party had
a picnic lunch in spring sunshine sprawled
on the grass at the dragon’s feet.
Newfoundland Park, where the statue
of a Caribou points to where the
Newfoundlanders dug trenches, now
restored so that one can really visualise
what a close-quarters war it was.
John Roskill at Raymond Asquith’s grave
Tom Ooi at Arthur Kilby VC’s grave
highlighted OW casualties and searched
out the graves of several VCs, of brothers
who are both commemorated in the same
cemetery, and in some cases discovered the
graves of our own relations. It was truly
moving and memorable.
erected by the family of OW Val
Braithwaite outside the Serre Road
Cemetery, we discovered it had been
knocked down and damaged,
probably by a farm tractor. We
couldn’t move it. Alex Roe has now
written to the CWGC and they have
repaired it.
Villages
Newfoundland Memorial
Delville Wood, where the memorial
to South African troops is set amongst
beautiful tree-lined avenues.
Mines, such as Hawthorn ridge and
Lochnagar, the latter with a walkway
surrounding a crater 130ft across and 80ft
deep, created by 45 tons of high explosive,
carried through underground tunnels to
explode beneath enemy positions.
Cemeteries
Cemeteries too numerous to mention,
ranging from Serre Road No 2 with over
7,000 graves to, for example, Railway
Hollow, Hunter’s Cemetery or Flatiron
Copse, with comparatively few graves but
wonderfully tranquil settings, all beautifully
maintained by the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission. (The name Somme is
derived from a Celtic word for tranquillity.)
Visiting the British cemeteries, with their
individual headstones, is a moving
experience, and in strong contrast to the
more sombre German cemeteries with
their mass graves and dark crosses. We laid
wreaths on the graves of some of our
Villages with charming
names (such as BeaumontHamel, Ovilliers and La
Boiselle) many of which were
literally flattened during the
battle but are now restored to
their original sleepy,
agricultural nature.
Braithwaite Cross down…
…and mended
Poetry
The Battle of the Somme stimulated
quantities of war poetry. We visited the
exact spot, researched and identified by
Michael and James, from which Siegfried
Sassoon watched some of the fighting. We
had a talk about Sassoon before dinner
one evening and heard a fascinating
recording of Sassoon reading some of his
own poetry after the war.
Others
Thiepval Memorial (bearing the
names of over 70,000 soldiers who have
no known grave), where we laid another
wreath, and its excellent visitor centre.
The maze of underground tunnels
under the town of Arras, which served as
home to British troops awaiting their next
engagement.
Three memorable, but not necessarily
serious, incidents:
•
When we visited the stone cross
6
•
When
we left
the coach on our return to Lille and
said goodbye to our excellent and
friendly driver, Bruno, he made a
speech about what a marvellous
group we were and what a pleasure it
had been to drive us. Nothing to do
with the large tip we had collected for
him, of course!
•
On the last morning, as our coach
drew away from the hotel, en route to
Lille and the Eurostar home, we
spotted Michael Wallis running up
the street after the coach, having
delivered someone’s hotel key back to
Reception. We didn’t have the heart
to leave him behind!
In conclusion, a wonderful, varied,
informative, moving and emotional tour,
well organised and in delightful company.
Michael and James are planning a trip to
Ypres in 2017.
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