Admin Michelle Young Posted 21 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 21 February , 2021 You can purchase a very nice beverage in the area, much better than the Winny beer we were drinking in the photo.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 21 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 21 February , 2021 34 minutes ago, Michelle Young said: You can purchase a very nice beverage in the area Any good boulangeries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 21 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 21 February , 2021 21 minutes ago, Fattyowls said: Any good boulangeries? I don't recall, as you can see, this is a long time ago, I think Tom is about 5 and Jack is about 2. They are 30 and nearly 27 now.....I should add you can buy a very nice alcoholic beverage in the area. cemetery again dates from 1918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 21 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 21 February , 2021 It's a lovely photo, complete with what I think may be an Austin Maestro? I worked for Austin-Rover in one of my former lives and my dad had one. As for your lord and master's follicles I prefer to think of him as aerodynamically efficient.......... Pete. P.S. If it's nice for alcoholic beverages are you in the Champagne? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 22 February , 2021 Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Wow Michelle - SBB with hair! Don't recognize the wall of your cemetery (quite unique) - but here's one for you, just as obscure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Pete, that is a Maestro. Dads car, he let us drive it on holidays. Yes you are on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Forge Posted 22 February , 2021 Share Posted 22 February , 2021 (edited) Hi @Fattyowls @JWK @Michelle Young, Referring back to p1 . . . I can't remember if the cross was still there, but here's a photo I took of the Christmas Truce information board (opposite the UEFA memorial) still in place in October 2020 (at the start of a very subdued four days in the salient) . . . Edited 22 February , 2021 by Old Forge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Forge Posted 22 February , 2021 Share Posted 22 February , 2021 (edited) Here's the view from the edge of Becelaere, looking west (taken 22 October last year). This is basically the German view of the southern end of 2/Wilts position (October 1914), with A Company either side of the road running to Reutel (the distant rooftops just right of the setting sun) and their junction with 2RSF down towards Poezelhoek on the left. It's difficult to determine exactly where 2/Wilts were dug in, but I'm fairly sure their line ran through the ploughed field beyond the valley coming up from the left - ie on the 'Reutel spur'. I stood in the ploughed field for an hour either side of dawn on 24th October, the anniversary of the battalion being overrun - the Germans had worked around the low ground on the left and into Reutelbois (just east of Polygon), so whilst the Wiltshires faced a frontal assault, they were sniped from behind and rolled up from left to right across this panorama. Edited 22 February , 2021 by Old Forge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Forge Posted 22 February , 2021 Share Posted 22 February , 2021 And looking back to Becelaere from about the centre of the 2/Wilts position (photo taken 2017): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 22 February , 2021 @frev it looks like a Charles Holden design, but I'm not sure. Is it France or Belgium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 22 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Michelle, in both your photo and Frev's the wall looks to be make out of chert and flint nodules (the distinction between the two is for geological anoraks), which are found in the chalk and limestone which underlie the more southern battlefields. I've seen the construction described on the CWGC site as 'rubble'. When I saw yours I thought of Vendresse British which I think has that construction, but the topography was all wrong. I looked at the CWGC site for all the cemeteries classified as Aisne but drew a blank again. It was fascinating as wild goose chases go, and since you've probably visited and photographed all of them the time spent may not be wasted. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Pete, I call it honeycomb stone. You are certainly getting warm, think of growing areas for the beverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 22 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Hold the front page. Now you mention it I see what you mean, the stone looks like the inside of a Crunchie bar, or cinder toffee. Back to the drawing board. Pete, P.S. Are you somewhere in the vicinity of Epernay in the grape growing hills? I have a very tenuous connection with an RAF man of 617 Squadron who is buried in the area and want to visit him someday. My chum Charlie is a big fan of the little pere et fils champagne vinyards that don't have swanky headquarters so we might one day combine the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Not far from Epernay and the other nearby town. We used to stop at a place in Charly sur Marne to buy champagne from a Pere et fils place. Also stayed in a great Chambre d'Hotes on a Domaine in Passy-Grigny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 22 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Marfaux? It's the only one I can make fit the panel. I'm not confident. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Not Marfaux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 22 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Thought not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 22 February , 2021 Share Posted 22 February , 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, Old Forge said: across this panorama. Hi Old Forge, That’s quite a stunning “at sunrise” panorama, gives you the idea and perspective of what was happening to the 2/Wilts. I have a distant relative, by marriage, who was killed in this action, no known grave but remembered on both the Menin Gate and Newbury war memorial Edited 22 February , 2021 by Knotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickaren Posted 22 February , 2021 Share Posted 22 February , 2021 On 21/02/2021 at 18:12, Michelle Young said: On the subject of beautiful settings, where is this family picnic from many years ago? So long ago that Mr Y has hair....... Courmas British Cemetery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 February , 2021 Admin Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Another Havana to Dickaren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 22 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 22 February , 2021 4 minutes ago, Michelle Young said: Another Havana to Dickaren As long as it's not the same one being passed back and forward. Great work Dickaren. So just Frev's flints and cherts to go I think, or have I overlooked someone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 22 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 22 February , 2021 Richard, just to echo Mr K's admiration for the Beselare photos; they add to a whole catalogue that WWW has posted beyond the area that most of us are familiar with. As for the picture of the plaque at Prowse Point it's years since I last looked at it and I know a lot more about the main subject than I did then. I'd forgotten the exact wording and how inaccurate recent research has made it. I think Michelle's first contribution of so many on this thread was evidence that the cross put up by Taff Gillingham and his merry men is still in place; there's even a photo of them somewhere on here. As for the UEFA Memorial I will say nothing; there may be ladies present. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 23 February , 2021 Share Posted 23 February , 2021 12 hours ago, Michelle Young said: @frev it looks like a Charles Holden design, but I'm not sure. Is it France or Belgium? Don't know who actually designed it (but love the flint and stone) - not on the list of Charles Holden designs. It's in France - Aisne region... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 23 February , 2021 Author Share Posted 23 February , 2021 17 hours ago, frev said: (but love the flint and stone) I do too; but the occasional red brick to break up the pattern is the masterstroke for me. Still haven't got a clue where it is mind. Hope all is well with you Madam F. Pete. P.S. Is it a communal extension cemetery? I did all the Aisne military cemeteries and drew a blank, I couldn't even find one with enough trees, a lot of windy hilltops but no woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frev Posted 25 February , 2021 Share Posted 25 February , 2021 Pete - all well here down-under - we're having it pretty easy compared to you guys in the old-country - hope you're all staying sane! No, it's not a communal cemetery extension, although there is one in the town - this is the British Cemetery - it was started in May 1917 - the town was occupied by British troops in April 1917, lost on the 21st March 1918, and recaptured by Australian troops on the 18th September 1918... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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