Pals Tour to Verdun

[Terry Denham]

The whole visit was simply awe inspiring.

As someone who knew virtually nothing about Verdun, I found the whole experience both educational and humbling.

The forays into the woods to walk along trenches untouched by anything except nature (Hill 62 - eat your heart out) with their rusting spikes, barbed wire etc still intact was an experience not to be missed. The whole area is in a time warp.

The underground visits were equally fascinating and left us all marvelling at the resilience of both the German and French men who had to endure Hell on earth.

Chris' tours of the Cambrai and St Quentin areas were an added bonus to the package.

The rigours of the days were matched equally by further evening activities back at base. However, we have agreed to draw a veil over the mysterious formation of the Kwak Klub (whose agenda is known only to its members!) and the launch of T.R. Enterprises whose company philosophy will put Dell Boy and Arthur Daly to shame.

My own thanks to Chris, Brian, and Christina without whom we would have seen nothing. Organisation, driving and guiding were first class (I suspect they have done it before!).

Also, thanks to all the others on board for adding to the bonhommie and happy atmosphere throughout.

[Chris_Baker]

Here is an outline of where we went, and what we did.

Day 1, Thursday 22 April

Outgoing journey. Quite a feat of organisation: 7 pick up places including an expedition into deepest Milton Keynes, and we still got to Folkestone on time.

Crossing the English Channel via Eurotunnel.

A stop in the Cambrai area. We had a brief tour of the La Vacquerie- Villers Plouich - Marcoing area, looking at the advance of the British 20th and 29th Divisions, as an opportunity to get out of the bus, and see a few interesting things, before we continued.

Checked into the Hostellerie Saint-Vincent, at Laon. A welcoming, clean, comfortable hotel. Dinner together in hotel. Some intrepid travellers walked towards Laon from the hotel in search of liquid refreshment, and having defeated the locals at table football, returned, shall we say, next day.

Day 2, Friday 23 April

The morning was spent wending our way through the Champagne (the place, not the bottles) where we looked at the Russians on the Western Front, by visting their cemetery at St Hilaire le Grand; and then to the hilltop site at Navarin Farm, where there is an area of preserved trenches, shellholes etc. Very good site but paled in comparison to what we saw later on. Driving up through the Argonne we stopped at Haute Chevauchee, where there is a large memorial and some vast craters in amongst the trees.

We then halted in pretty Varennes, to await rendezvous with Christina. Beer was consumed, and cakes eaten (as we could find no other food), under glorious blue sunny skies. Mystified by Christina's absence we eventually made a phone call to her mobile, and it turned out that the lady in the blue car 50m away across the square who had been there all along was in fact Christina. She had thought that the beer drinking cake eating mob across the road were starving vagrants who had come down from the forests. Our tell tale minibus was parked out of sight!

The afternoon was spent largely in a truly memorable guided tour of the riven hill of Vauquois. As seen, hard hats were de rigeur, and necessary as we explored German and French tunnels. Our guide was from the splendid organisation Les Amis de Vauquois, and we were given a real treat of a tour.

On via a short stop on the summit of the Mort Homme and check in at the Hotel St-Paul at Verdun, for two nights. Dinner together in hotel, then an exploration of the bars of the Quai de Londres, where I believe Kwak was taken.

Day 3, Saturday 24 April

“Ils ne passeront pas”: the battlefields of Verdun. Christina's true expertise and infectious enthusiasm made this a memorable day. We concentrated largely on the main Douaumont ridge, visiting the ossuary (including climbing the steps to the top), fort (cratered on top, dank and dripping below), then across to Fleury and the Verdun Memorial. Christina's knowledge of the fort is simply incredible - then again she does venture in there, alone, and crawls under locked gates etc to explore it! The weather was what you might describe as balmy; the warm evening was an influence in us gathering in town for drinks before as well as after dinner.

Day 4, Sunday 25 April

Before checking out of our hotel, we made an unscheduled visit to a small militaria fair that we had seen advertised, in Belleville. Very interesting, although we made no large-scale purchases. A few prints, postcards etc were acquired along the way. There was no Military Cross offered at a knock down £10, or an original Vickers Gun, or ... mind you, we did see some genuine WW1 issue plimsolls...or was that an hallucination? (Apologies- an old forum joke...)

Christina took us to Fort Vaux, much more damaged than Douamont, but a symbol of French defiance rather than defeat. We then motored up to the Bois de Caures, and the area made famous by Colonel Driant. After a picnc near his command post, we walked into the trenches described above. This was an extraordinary expedition, into and along both French and German positions. At times, we watched our step, as some areas are littered still with barbed wire, caltrops and ammunition. Fantastic.

Time to go, we said our goodbyes to our guide, and drove back along the motorway towards Saint-Quentin. My quick planned leg stretch at Moy de l’Aisne did not work out quite to plan, as tree growth has now elminated the stunning view of a row of Hindenburg blockhouses along the Sambre-et-Oise canal. Checked into the Hotel Ibis, in central St-Q facing the Basilica. A pleasant late evening in a bar sitting outside on the main square, with stories of 1914.

Day 5, Monday 26 April

Some quick stops at Riqueval, Bony and finally Le Ronssoy where we sprang a surprise on Kate Wills, visiting the grave of Ernest Bristow Farrar, a notable English composer that she has been studying.

And back to the forum.

I should perhaps just add that the battlefield tourists were

Chris Baker

Mike Cross

Linda Davies

Terry Denham

Mike Dooley

Brian Morris

Will O’Brien

Terry Reeves

Jon Saunders

Andrew Shaw

Kate Wills

Martin Wills

John Wilson

and of course

Christina Holstein.

Image below: the statues on top of the Navarin Farm memorial.

[John W]

THe Pals look on in amazement as Christina relates her plan to clean up on ebay with a range of large bird baths / water features based on the turret remains at fort Vaux

[John W]

Fun aside It was a great trip made enjoyable by the hard work of Chris and Christina, not forgetting Brian.

Lots of great memories and only one question where are we going next?

John

[Jonathan Saunders]

Lots of great memories and only one question where are we going next?

John

Sounds like you are sharing the same withdrawal problems I have encountered this morning

Once again thanks to all concerned for an excellent few days away.

Jon aka Sigs

Founder Member KWAK KLUB

[John_Hartley]

OK. Time for you to fess up. Identify yourselves in the group photo. Your readers deserve to be told.

My only deduction is that the hirsute Pal in the tunnel photo, taken by Kate, is not present in the main group one and, therefore, must be Martin. Other than that, I dunno.

[paul guthrie]

Well a couple of notes from one who was not there but has been to Verdun 3 times.

Go back! There is a lot more to see!

Interesting you were eating cake at Varennes, that's where Louis 16th was cpatured & I think his wife had something to say about cake!

Chris's picture of the sculpture above Navarin Farm ossuary, General Gourard is buried there with so many of his men who died in the futlie Champagne offensives of 14, 15 & 17. One of the figures is modeled after him.

French tunnels were not open the 2 times I've been to Vaquois. The butte was captured by the US in 1918, 77th Division I think.

[Terry Denham]

For the members of the Kwak Klub only.....

The design of the proposed members' lapel badge is below. This discrete and tasteful design is aimed at ensuring that the real purpose of the Klub is never discovered by non-members!

T.D.

Marketing Director

T.R.Enterprises

[Terry Denham]

My only deduction is that the hirsute Pal in the tunnel photo, taken by Kate, is not present in the main group one and, therefore, must be Martin. Other than that, I dunno.

Sorry, John. Wrong!

[Mike Cross]

Another thank you to the many contributors who made this Verdun trip so memorable. Reckon you know who you are. It was great !!

Try to match my avatar to the group picture maybe?

[Guest Pete Wood]

Interesting you were eating cake at Varennes, that's where Louis 16th was cpatured & I think his wife had something to say about cake!

Yeah, didn't she say "Not tonight...." or something like that

[Terry_Reeves]

Terry

Excellent work on the logo design, and very discreet as well. This will ensure secrecy. By the way, on the way home we found a brand of motor car that will only indicate left. The reason for this is that I bought up all the right hand signalling gear for this particular model. If you can get together with Jon (Signals), we will be able to clean up this particular area of the market.

Yours ect

T.R.

Chairman and Chief Executive T.R. Enterprises

PS For all Kwak Klub members, we need to set up a Kwick Kwack meeting as soon as possible to discuss the way ahead.

[Terry Denham]

Mr Reeves (soon, no doubt, to be knighted for your services to commerce).

I had forgotten that Jon had been put in charge of the transport division. I'll add it to the business plan right away.

Kwak Kwak

[John_Hartley]

My only deduction is that the hirsute Pal in the tunnel photo, taken by Kate, is not present in the main group one and, therefore, must be Martin. Other than that, I dunno.

Sorry, John. Wrong!

So.......I made the right career choice in NOT becoming a detective.

[Kate Wills]

John,

I took both photos and I am the only pal missing from both. Everyone else is in the Turret picture. Christina does not have a beard, but has been advertising on the forum. Now there is a clue or two.

Kate

[MartinWills]

More than one member of the party sports a beard and Lynda is one of three members of the party sporting sunglasses at Douaumont. One member of the party, resident near the Pink Punter club (a predecessor to the Kwak club...?) was also concerned that he might return home to find a new addition to the family.

[Andy Shaw]

Mystified by Christina's absence we eventually made a phone call to her mobile, and it turned out that the lady in the blue car 50m away across the square who had been there all along was in fact Christina. She had thought that the beer drinking cake eating mob across the road were starving vagrants who had come down from the forests.

The beer drinking, cake eating mob in Varennes

[Terry_Reeves]

Re: photograph

I am sure that you will remember me going to some lengths to explain to the proprietor of the estaminet how to spell "pals". Judging by the poster on the door, either she didn't understand my Franglais or was just being plain mischevious.

Terry Reeves

[Chris_Baker]

Here's another one. Messrs Reeves and Morris stand by just in case the Bosche have another attempt. This is at the town memorial in Verdun, overlooking the Meuse in pre-breakfast-time sun.

[John W]

Ok and one of Terry attempting to re-enact a very famous photo on his own whilst trying not to fall into the canal.

Oh yes and who is going to post the picture of the pal trying to crawl out of the bunker? or are we going to auction it on ebay?

[Terry_Reeves]

I won't comment on the photo mentioned above, but here is a one demonstrating the right way to get yourself out of a hole. Chris Baker and Kate Wills are the plucky duo. Before anybody mentions the pink trousers, Kate tells me they are high visibilty for safety reasons and they match her safety helmet of course.

[Kate Wills]

Ahh!! Pink trousers.

Thinking ahead, I decided that pink trousers and a Forum shirt would be THE way to announce to the world, or passing minibuses, my presence in the vicinity. Thus clad, I boarded the bus at Rothersthorpe Services. We made our way to Milton Creaks (punishment enough for a Cobbler gal), past the Pink Punter nightspot, and five more Pals climbed aboard. We journeyed on to Brentwood for Mike and Andy, and into Kent where Jon and Terry joined….

Next day, we all wandered around Varrennes, seeking Christina. I was still sporting pink trousers and Forum shirt with pals logo. No sign. Telephone calls were made – and she emerged from her car 50 yards away. Shaking hands (with the left unfortunately, as my right was sticky with squidgy cake) Christina said she had already noticed me nearby. “That’s why I wore these” said I, indicating the pink trousers. “Oh, I didn’t notice those…”

and neither had anyone else!!!

So, dedicated followers of fashion, heed my tale and don something noticable, like a brown cardie and grey joggers.

[paul guthrie]

Did you all see the large monument to Pennsylvania men in Varennes? It's hard to miss.

Certainly did, Paul. This is the view as you walk up the street from the river.

[Christina Holstein]

Sorry, Paul, it's very easy to miss if you are eating cake/drinking beer or hopefully waiting for a minibus that is already parked in a sidestreet. I'm sure Pals have got the idea now that it was a wonderful weekend and I hope the idea will catch on. It was too much fun not to do it again. Think of all that Kwak just waiting to be drunk!

And as for withdrawal symptoms, you have my sympathy. I get them every time I drive home and it's only a 50-mile journey for me. I'll be raising a glass to you all next time I'm there (Friday next week).

Christina

PS Will I be struck off for advertising on the forum? And will it count in my favour that another Pal stuck the offending article in my hand as I was innocently seated on the gun turret at Douaumont? Not guilty, my lord!

[Jonathan Saunders]

Interesting you were eating cake at Varennes, that's where Louis 16th was captured & I think his wife had something to say about cake!

Imagine how different European history would have been if she had said "Let them drink KWAK"