JBee Posted 9 September , 2019 Share Posted 9 September , 2019 Since I visited this place last Thursday in first ever trip, I've read more into it on return. What strikes me, looking at earlier posts and photos is how more sparse it looks. Do others agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genegwf Posted 9 September , 2019 Share Posted 9 September , 2019 JBee, I have visited the lane many times over twenty years but not in the last three years. If anything the lane appears narrower due to much thicker undergrowth on the right side. The left side appears to have been thinned down to nothing. Things do change with time and new owners. I will be there next month so I can check out the changes for myself. Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robuk88 Posted 4 December , 2019 Share Posted 4 December , 2019 I visited in September also and i wasn't sure what to expect in all honestly. I guess there isn't too much there as such other than thinking what was there and what took place especially on the 1st July. I did see a personal memorial someone left aswell as crosses. Other than that i walked up to the Redan Ridge which gave you amazing views and a nice place to reflect. In all this was my favourite place to visit thinking what the lancashire fusiliers must of been thinking that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Thomson Posted 4 December , 2019 Share Posted 4 December , 2019 Those photos look pretty much identical to how it looked in early May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17107BM Posted 6 December , 2019 Share Posted 6 December , 2019 Is it not now time to have this site preserved? Before it is lost by plough or change of owner. Does anyone know the actual status of access and ownership of this thin stretch of History is? I have pondered for years about making it part of the Cemetery and a much needed British Memorial on the Somme. But, the only voice to have this opinion. It is not a great expanse of land, but of great historical interest. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 6 December , 2019 Share Posted 6 December , 2019 (edited) 48 minutes ago, 17107BM said: Is it not now time to have this site preserved? Before it is lost by plough or change of owner. Does anyone know the actual status of access and ownership of this thin stretch of History is? I have pondered for years about making it part of the Cemetery and a much needed British Memorial on the Somme. But, the only voice to have this opinion. It is not a great expanse of land, but of great historical interest. Cheers Good luck with that one. I don’t think it has any special status in French law. And whatever French law states it did not prevent the landowner (the same one?) ripping out the visible remains of Malin’s hide on the edge of the White City to put in a water-pumping station. This was only about 60 metres to the west of the Sunken Road. This would be in 2005 or thereabouts. A more fruitful approach for its protection and conservation might be through the EU Cultural Affairs office in Amiens. After all, this was a spot where British and Irish soldiers fought Germans in France over the question of Belgian independence. It has EU written through it like letters through a stick of rock. I always thought that the WFA should have take this line on the Butte de Warlencourt. Edited 6 December , 2019 by Hedley Malloch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted 7 December , 2019 Share Posted 7 December , 2019 Interesting on Malins' hide. I didn't realise that the pump house had actually destroyed it, I assumed it was lost to a more general drawing back of the bank. Are there any photos of the remnants prior to their destruction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 7 December , 2019 Share Posted 7 December , 2019 The remains of the hide, namely the sand-bag footings, were there before the pump house was erected, and could no longer be seen after its construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 7 December , 2019 Share Posted 7 December , 2019 8 hours ago, Hedley Malloch said: The remains of the hide, namely the sand-bag footings, were there before the pump house was erected, and could no longer be seen after its construction. The pump house isn't where Malins filmed from. He was closer to the sunken road than that. There were many dugouts all along that embankment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Regiano Posted 7 December , 2019 Share Posted 7 December , 2019 21 minutes ago, Ken Lees said: The pump house isn't where Malins filmed from. He was closer to the sunken road than that. There were many dugouts all along that embankment. Ken. Have you got a lat/lon position? I know there has been some debate previously as to exactly where Malins was when he shot the film of the explosion. I keep meaning to visit the White City area but so far have been singularly unsuccessful in doing so. It would be nice to check out Malin's spot too and perhaps give me more incentive to take time out to visit. Thanks. Reg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 9 December , 2019 Share Posted 9 December , 2019 On 07/12/2019 at 23:38, Don Regiano said: Ken. Have you got a lat/lon position? I know there has been some debate previously as to exactly where Malins was when he shot the film of the explosion. I keep meaning to visit the White City area but so far have been singularly unsuccessful in doing so. It would be nice to check out Malin's spot too and perhaps give me more incentive to take time out to visit. Thanks. Reg There are a number of stills from Malins' film. The one I found most useful was the one where he had turned the camera about 90 degrees to his right and filmed two men crawling forward in No Man's Land, between his position and the road. Beyond the road you can see the Old Beaumont Road and that allows you to find his position. The photo is in the Battleground Europe Beaumont Hamel book, if you have access to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Regiano Posted 9 December , 2019 Share Posted 9 December , 2019 1 hour ago, Ken Lees said: There are a number of stills from Malins' film. The one I found most useful was the one where he had turned the camera about 90 degrees to his right and filmed two men crawling forward in No Man's Land, between his position and the road. Beyond the road you can see the Old Beaumont Road and that allows you to find his position. The photo is in the Battleground Europe Beaumont Hamel book, if you have access to that. OK Ken. Thanks, I'll have a look at the film and I do have the book too. They are both over at our place in France so I will check it out on my next visit and probably take a trip out. Thanks again. Reg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEW Posted 9 December , 2019 Share Posted 9 December , 2019 I'm sure the photos of crawling men were taken by Brooks. IWM Q745 & Q752. TEW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horrocks Posted 11 December , 2019 Share Posted 11 December , 2019 (edited) It isn't a good print of the film, but Malin's and Brook's position can quite clearly be judged from the sequence which shows the (Fusiliers?) advancing along the Hawthorn Ridge, from about 31:20. The road and its embankment, unchanged to this day, can clearly be seen. I remember reading that the footage is believed the first that ever caught men falling in battle. As I say, the print isn't good, but it appears to show the fall of machine gun fire on the flank of the ridge, picking up a lone soldier who attempts, unsuccesfully, to turn to avoid it. That machine gun fire would have come from the Bernwerk immediately in front of the Sunken Lane, the trenches to this day running just inside the face of the copse, and it illustrates very well the use of enfilade. Edited 11 December , 2019 by horrocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Thomson Posted 15 December , 2019 Share Posted 15 December , 2019 Chilling but absolutely fascinating stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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