Again, my single day in the Somme could only be a brief look round to get a flavour of what went on. Major and Mrs Holt once more acted as my guide, with their Pocket Battlefield Guide of the area, starting at the town of Albert, in France.
First port of call was the Somme Trenches Museum. It’s all housed in underground tunnels beneath the Basilica, in the middle of the town. The tunnels were used as an air raid shelter during the war. Very interesting museum, with loads of exhibits/presentations showing the reality of the conditions under which men fought. There’s even a 3D film to watch !
Then it was off to a big hole, in this case the Lochnagar Crater. Mine warfare was widespread during the war, with tunnels from both sides sometimes only yards away from each other. This particular crater was formed by the explosion of tow charges of ammonal – 24,000 and 36,000 lbs. Debris rose 400 ft into the air. Crater is 300ft across and 90 ft deep. Various memorials have been erected on this privately owned and maintained site. Their website (see link) shows the scale of the crater, using a drone mounted camera.
Next major stop was at the 38th Welsh Division (Red Dragon) memorial. This commemorates the loss of 4,000 men in capturing the Mametz Wood, seen in the background. Despite a preparatory artillary bombardment, the attackers had to face the German machine guns across the open terrain, to capture the wood. They did so, not without fierce hand to hand fighting. port of call was the Somme Trenches Museum. It’s all housed in underground tunnels beneath the Basilica, in the middle of the tow. The tunnels were used as an air raid shelter during the war. Very interesting museum, with loads of exhibits/presentations showing the reality of the conditions under which men fought. There’s even a 3D film to watch !
One place that particularly impressed me was the South African National Memorial and Museum. Set in Delville Wood, its a reminder that many Allied nations were very involved with the war. Delville Wood was the scene of a complex and bloody battle ( see link), with many casulties, many of whom have not been found. A very tranquill place that belies the true horror of what probably happened here. The Museum has striking bas reliefs of the battle.
Back on the main strategic road between Albert and Bapaume, just outside the village of Pozieres I came across the Australian Windmill Memorial, together with the Tank Corp Memorial.
This was the highest point on the Pozieres Ridge, so bitterly and bloodily fought for by the Australians. It was also at this same point (across the road from the Australian memorial) that tanks mustered ready for the attack during the battle of Flers-Courcette, the first time tanks had been used in the war on the Somme.
Just behind the Windmill memorial is the Animal Memorial include reference to horses, dogs and other animals lost during WW1.
Then it was on to ‘the big one” – the Thiepval Visitor and Education Centre, together with the Thiepval Memorial and Anglo/French Cemetery. The centre contains the “usual” services required by visitors + many informative panels, etc. The building is half buried, so as not to take anything away from the actual memorial. The memorial itself is HUGE ! It’s both a battle memorial and a person memorial. The battle memorial commemorates an Anglo-French offensive in the Somme. The personal memorial carries the names of the over 73,000 British and South African men who have no known grave and who fell on the Somme between July 1915 and March 1918. Other Allied nations have their own memorial elsewhere. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and stands 140 ft tall, with a 10 ft thick concrete base. It’s the largest British war memorial in the world. Very impressive. As ever, immaculately kept by the CWGC.
In contrast, my next stop was at the Ulster Tower Memorial and Visitors Centre. It’s modelled on a similar tower on an estate in County Down, where the 36th Ulster Division was trained before coming to France.Now officially designated as the Norther Ireland National memorial, it stands on a ridge which again was the scene of fierce fighting. In all these places, it’s very difficult sometimes to imagine how this seemingly tranquil rolling landscape was ever subjected to such total devastation.
The penultimate site visit was to the Newfoundland Memorial Park located in Beaumont Hamel. Eighty four acres were purchased by th Government of what was then Newfoundland as a memorial to their soldiers and sailors killed in the war. The visitor centre is housed in a “typical” Newfoundland wooden building. In the middle of the park is a memorial mound topped off by the statue of a caribou, the emblem of the Newfoundland Regiment. From the top of the mound it’s easy to see some of the other parts of the battlefield and get an idea of the overall scale of the whole area involved.
Now on my way back to the IBIS Hotel in Albert for a well earned rest. Temperature had relentlessly climbed into the early 30’s C during the course of the day, so quite happy to stop !
As usual, a couple of days driving round these WW1 sites is probably enough. Enough to get a ‘feel” of the whole, without getting into the quagmire of the detail. I guess you could spend weeks here, if you had a particular interest – and people do !
So, tomorrow (Thursday), onto something a little less sombre – some engineering !!!!!!!!