ChrisC Posted 14 April , 2013 Share Posted 14 April , 2013 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amberdog Posted 14 April , 2013 Share Posted 14 April , 2013 Glad I came across this thread tonight. Thanks for sharing your tour with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandy hall Posted 14 April , 2013 Share Posted 14 April , 2013 Looking forward to the next instalment. Looks like a sunny day in your photos. Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 15 April , 2013 Share Posted 15 April , 2013 what I absolutely adored was the fact that this place, so full of painful memories is now covered in the most beautiful white flowers, which made up for the most amazing pictures!!! MM. wood anemones, I believe. They'll be out in the forests near chez moi as well, except that I,m not there to see them. Thanks for the thread Marilyne: reminds me of a similar trip I took some years ago -- time to go back. cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 15 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 15 April , 2013 Looking forward to the next instalment. Looks like a sunny day in your photos. Mandy Yes, yesterday was beautiful !! and now rain again... oh well, I'mm off to the museum in Péronne right now..; that's inside !!! MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 15 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 15 April , 2013 The Somme... at last we meet !!! The visit to the Mémorial de la grande guerre this morning was quite fast... I tought it was bigger than that. But still very interesting. By the time I got to my hotel in Albert, the waeher was dry... and even a bit sunny. So I took out the excellent "Walking the Somme" by Paul Reed (second edition of course) and set off to Authuille for the "Thiepval" walk. To park the car, the guide says to park next to the cemetery, but I found some very nice places next to the church. So in case of... there's some space there, on dry ground. the "Walking the Somme" is really well done, there's no way to get lost or be mistaken in a road. It's a pleasure to follow, Slowly, under way, the Thiepval memorial started to point its head out of the woods and I began to be amazed. But before that, I guess as every decent Somme-visitor, I had the right to my shells !! On the road going from Leipzig Redoubt to the memorial ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 15 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 15 April , 2013 The memorial is so amazing. I knew it's big, but this was just simply overwhelming!! There was a group of Australian students there. If one of them reads this, I hope they had a good trip in France !! Then after visiting the visitor-centre (and the bookstore ... aoutch... not the best of plans when you're on foot... counts as training?? ) the road continued over Ulster Tower (closed on mondays, nota bene !!! ) and then back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 15 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 15 April , 2013 I was thinking, whil marching... (is known to happen to me sometimes... ) We were talking with my friend from Reims while standing at Belleau Wood cemetery, how big it is, and that he finds Belleau more impressive than Montfaucon and anyway more impressive than the British cemeteries, for sheer number... Now let's count. on this 14K walk, there are the following cemeteries: AUTHUILLE : 468 burials (of which 434 identified) BLIGHTY VALLEY: 1027 (491) LONSDALE: 1542 (726) THIEPVAL: 300 (61) CONNAUGHT: 1268 (643) MILL ROAD: 1304 (389) (Picture with Thiepval in the back if taken here) That's a grand total of 5909 burials... more than half of what's in Belleau Wood. so yes, the Americans may have very big and impressive cemeteries... I think that the fact that the Commonwealth has so many small ones to make up for one or two big ones is worth a thought !! On the way back to Albert I saw the sign to "la grande mine" right on time and went for a peek at Lochnagar Crater... again... Wouaouw!!! that's it for today... going to prepare the walking book for tomorrow... MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 15 April , 2013 Share Posted 15 April , 2013 Thanks for sharing your holiday with us, Marilyne. Hopefully you'll inspire others to sample areas of the Western Front that they're not familiar with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 16 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Big walking day for the Bear today... I took some liberties with Paul Reed's book and combined The Beaumont Hamel walk, the Pals - Serre and Ancre Valley in one, starting from Newfoundland park. For a total of proximately 28km. And it was well worth it. The somme is not a region I know, historically seen. I have the "Wikipedia-knowledge" of it, but it ends there. But this day allowed me to discover some places I know from other threads in the forum are interesting. Last week someone posted pics of Sunken Lane, for example, and that was one of the things I definitely wanted to see. Thanks to Paul's walks, it' now done!! What I realise now is that I did a good part of the departure line of 1st July on the various sectors. walking through sunken lane and trying to imagine that this was a starting point, that just on the other side of the road was no-man's land and a certain death at Zero hours is kinda special. this second picture is Beaumont Hamel Cemetery seen from Sunken Lane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 16 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Just coming back on the topic of the sheer immensity of the burials. I think today I'm way over the 10.000 burials, considering all the cemeteries on the road. But not only cemeteries are important, also the monuments and just personal tokens of remembrance. First thing that one notices is this date of 1st July coming up again and again and again... I understand better - or more- why it was such an awful day. then the personal aspect... crosses, special memorials where X fell or Y was found again, even 90 years after. In the fields behind Serre Road N°2, three soldiers were discovered in 2003 and buried alongside their comrades. Another interesting aspect: at the sheffield Memorial, someone lay down a fan-scarf from Accrington football team. This might seem funny, or maybe not on its place, but I think it's original and certainly a true mark of remembrance: football is a man thing, something to bond over. The Accrington Pals most certainly met some times at a football game of their home. Why should a modern day fan not share with the ancient fans?? And then my favourite sight today. In the first row of Serre Road N°2, are next to one another, a German tomb and a British... they were enemies in life, although they probably never met or never saw one another, and now they have been laid to rest together, for nearly a century. For me, as head of an international marching team, this is truly very, very special... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6th Shropshires Posted 16 April , 2013 Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Hi Marilyne The Somme is a wonderful place to visit, I felt very at home there, great pics. Annette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 16 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Before I forget... Someone passed me today on the road to Serre, a few times, and waved.... would not be someone here??? in the afternoon i passed some time at Newfoundland park... had to see the Cariboe, of course!! And marvel at the gallantry of these soldiers, who came from the other side of the world!! I finshed the walk of the afternoon earlier than foreseen. After seeing today's share of abandonned shells, I noticed that time was running out and I hurried back to the car. I still wanted to see Ulster Tower, so instead of walking up and running the risk the car-park would close before I got back, I drove up to the Tower, where I had a very nice cup of coffee after the visit, which warmed me up a little bit... needed that!! Had a very nice chat with the tenants and after a last play with my camera, got back to the hotel. So by now I have visited German on the one side and French, American, British and Newfoundland front lines on the other side... tomorrow going for some more of Canada!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 16 April , 2013 Share Posted 16 April , 2013 You have a good eye for photography, nice composition and focus. Well done TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 16 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Thanks, TT !!! By the way, just "entre nous", do you know what TT means in the horse world?? in German?? Turnier-Trottel !!! MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisC Posted 16 April , 2013 Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Nice photos - great insights Chris C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 17 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 17 April , 2013 Hi guys, Today's trip took the Bear to Vimy Ridge. Arrived at the monument before anyone else - exception being made of the odd runner and an old lady with her dog - so had a free view and... bless thee, photography gods!!! - a great sky!! This monument is gigantic. and so poignant. But in a way also sober... now how to explain that?? You can feel the pain in the figures. It is so real that you have the idea the monument is still too small to encompass it all. a great monument... for an amazing feat, that came with a cost!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 17 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 17 April , 2013 This picture I'd like your opinion... it's black and white... some might say over-lighted, maybe even "burnt" but I wanted it just like that !! After the memorial, I went the the trenches and tunnels, where I was lucky to catch a starting tour. the guides - very good guides by the way. these youngsters do a four month "Tour of duty" at Beaumont Hamel and Vimy as guides to their patrimonium. And if you ask me, they do a great job!! the tunnels are interesting to visit, and the tour through the trenches show how small no-man's land was. the craters and the shell-pocked landscape make that feeling even bigger. What hell it must have been here!! the trenches follow exactly the same positions as in 1917, but were remade. the guide told us something very interesting, that happened also in Belgium, notably at the Death Trench in Dixmuide: the ancient combattants did not want the positions to be remade. It was nothing that they had experienced and thus a lie... who can blame them?? On the other hand, for today's visitors and especially for Canadians, it is a part of their history and an important job to keep those sites preserved, for memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 17 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 17 April , 2013 but beware... the lines at Vimy ridge are still in strong hands and the position will be held at all costs!! the enemy is watching your every move and the lines will be defended to the last ma ... euh... sheep!!! Then in the afternoon I visited the Wellington quarries in Arras. Very interesting visit, although the guide could have been better... a member of our tour caught her completele off guard when asking about Fromelles... she had no idea what he was talking about!! But the feeling down there, imagining having to wait there for more than a day before attacking in a snowstorm... brrr... I just thought we would see a bit more of the famous graffiti everyone is talking about. Saw some drawings and numbers and figures on the wall, but that's about it... pity. Tomorrow already the last day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 18 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 18 April , 2013 My last half day on the front... What I definitely wanted to do today was go to Loos and pay a visit to Kipling Junior. I very much likes the book by Major and Mrs Holt on the search after Kipling's body. i used his story in this year's article for the 4 days of the Yzer. Of course, it's a story amongst hundreds and thousands, and we care about it because he is "the son of..." but still I think it's very interesting to see how even years later we can look for answers. In short... read the book, saw the movie, now I had to see the tomb for itself. First went to Loos military cemetery, then Dud Corner, where I had a very interesting conversation with one of the workers. They are very busy with the preparations of the centenary but fear for the "after-100" era. that's a topic we should tackle one day. What then?? Then searched for St Mary... on the map it's in Haines, but it's actually in the middle of nowhere, in a field between Hulluch and Vermelles... good luck. Nice cemetery, and found the tomb quite fast. could not resist trying this picture: the tomb of the son with behind it, the words the father chose to commemorate him and his comrades. As said... a story to remember !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 18 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 18 April , 2013 Last stage: Fromelles. on the way to Fromelles, I suddenly saw a sign to a German cemetery on the road to La Bassée. It's very far from being as well tended to as the CWGC cemeteries, that is a thing that's quite obvious when you enter that one after 5 other Commonwealth ones over the few last days. But a nice place... And finally I arrived at Fromelles. The works for the museum are going well... Fromelles is a story I followed from far, but that can only be described as a real miracle !! the cemetery is beautifully shaped and radiance a calmness that is only deserving to those troubled minds. what I noticed is that a far bigger proportion of the gravestones than anywhere else have inscriptions chosen by the families. What must it have been for them to hear, 90 years later, that their ancestors would finally be put to rest!! I really could not have found a better place to finish my one-week tour of the western front. It was a great week and I hope that the pals enjoyed following the Belgian Walking Bear on these roads. It certainly is the start to a lot of others, because if I have learnt one thing this week, it s that I have far from learned enough!!! see you on the road !! Marilyne and the Belgian Walking Bear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 18 April , 2013 Share Posted 18 April , 2013 Thanks Marilyne, I've enjoyed your tour. Time for the Bear to soak his sore feet. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 18 April , 2013 Share Posted 18 April , 2013 I've enjoyed your tour. Time for the Bear to soak his sore feet. Sore paws surely? But paws or feet I too have greatly appreciated hearing about your trip. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 19 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2013 Thanks!! Don't worry, the Bear's feet are doing well!!! Actually, we're off for another 25 tomorrow at the Bloezemtocht, in Geldermalsen, the Netherlands!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r30rvp Posted 23 March , 2014 Share Posted 23 March , 2014 what a great diary. Think i'm going to have to get a bear to keep me company on my trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now