Post by alf on Aug 10, 2023 9:59:15 GMT
Weirdly, through no pressure from me, my daughter (sitting her A levels next summer) now wants to do History at Uni like I did, following a tradition of being interested in history I got from my dad. We took a long weekend in France last weekend, she really wanted to see the Palace of Versailles for a project she is working on, so we drive to Amiens for a night, visiting the cathedral, then Versailles for two, with a guided tour of the palace. Then on Monday we drove back for an early evening Eurotunnel via a variety of WW1 Somme battlefield sites/memorials, as it was on the way (very near Amiens, which the Germans briefly entered). I sent "jobs" to the TomTom for 5 places, we ended up visiting Mametz Wood, the Thiepval memorial (the main Somme one) and Beamont Hamel, preserved as a memorial and officially part of Canada now, as the sacrifice of the Newfoundland regiment there on 1st July 1916 was so great. We then lacked time to visit Lochnager crater and the German cemetary at Fricourt as we had to high-tail it for the tunnel, to sit in long queues through the joke of a traffic flow someone designed on the French side.
It was really interesting to see the sites, knowing a bit about the history, and particularly in places like Beaumont Hamel where the ground has been left as-was. I would recommend it, but then I have always been fascinated by 1st July 1916, it is hard to comprehend 100,000 casualties and well over 20,00 deaths in a single day - more than the British army had lost in the previous 100 years. Indeed most of that was in a couple of hours in the morning. We can only pray this never happens again.... And stay militarily well prepared to ensure that.
Mametz Wood. The 38th (Welsh) division attacked here on 1st, losing over 400 men before even reaching the wood, attacking in the direction the dragon is facing. Appalled, their general stopped the attack, only to be visited by Haigh and his staff and relieved of his command. 4,000 men were lost over the next 3 days in taking the wood, which is still full of ordnance and shreds of leather boots and uniforms:
The Thiepval Memorial to the >70,000 men lost, whose bodies were never recovered, in the Somme battles. Much bigger than it looks in the photos, there is also an interesting museum there with a lot of recovered kit from underground, and the actual Maxim machine gun captured by a British soldier who was killed soon after, and whose name is on the memorial. Reading through the unit names, it is striking that so many were from Yorkshire, where some of the units were among the most unfortunate (with the Newfoundlers, see next) in that <10% of some units made it to roll call on the 2nd July. The site here was bitterly contested for months, sitting on top of German bunkers and headquarters.
And lastly, and the most evocative and interesting to visit, Beamont Hamel, where the Newfoundland regiment took >90% casualties in two hours on 1st July. Part of Canada now and replete with Canadian government guides offering free tours, and Canadian signs, very surreal. This is part of the British front line, facing down the field towards the German lines. From poor communications the Newfoundlers, sited in the reserve trenches back from here, thought the British attack was going well and joined as per the plan. Many never made it through the hail of bullets and shells to this British front line, and when the got there it was literally full with the bodies of dead and dying soliders from the first attack.
Nevertheless, they attacked on down the hill, and at this point, the "Danger tree", the german fire grew heaviest and most fell. This is the original stump of the tree that was there then. More than 90% of the Newfoundland Regiment's 900 odd men were lost, wounded or killed in this field on that morning. And lets not think the wounded survivors were that lucky. One man, shot through the right arm, both legs, and with both hips smashed by machine gun bullets, took 17 hours to crawl back up the hill dragging his smashed body with only his left arm. I can't imagine what that was like, or what that did to him mentally.
This is the German front line at the bottom of the slope, and just beyond it (with the sign) Y Ravin, where in dugouts the Germans in this sector were able to weather the storm of the 1.5 million shells fired across the Somme front in the week or so ahead of the attack, which were supposed to have destroyed all the defences. Y Ravin was briefly occupied by Allied troops on the first day but in tiny numbers. In the end this field was fought over for for four more months, finally being taken by Scottish troops in November, there is a memorial to them on the site as well as their attack was barely less bloody. There are a few cemetaries about the site, very well presented:
Finally the famous Caribou monument at the top of the field, looking towards the German lines, as the Welsh dragon also does. A beatiful site, well worth taking in in depth, and reading the excellent handouts that the characteristically cheery Canadian volunteers will offer you on entry:
It was really interesting to see the sites, knowing a bit about the history, and particularly in places like Beaumont Hamel where the ground has been left as-was. I would recommend it, but then I have always been fascinated by 1st July 1916, it is hard to comprehend 100,000 casualties and well over 20,00 deaths in a single day - more than the British army had lost in the previous 100 years. Indeed most of that was in a couple of hours in the morning. We can only pray this never happens again.... And stay militarily well prepared to ensure that.
Mametz Wood. The 38th (Welsh) division attacked here on 1st, losing over 400 men before even reaching the wood, attacking in the direction the dragon is facing. Appalled, their general stopped the attack, only to be visited by Haigh and his staff and relieved of his command. 4,000 men were lost over the next 3 days in taking the wood, which is still full of ordnance and shreds of leather boots and uniforms:
The Thiepval Memorial to the >70,000 men lost, whose bodies were never recovered, in the Somme battles. Much bigger than it looks in the photos, there is also an interesting museum there with a lot of recovered kit from underground, and the actual Maxim machine gun captured by a British soldier who was killed soon after, and whose name is on the memorial. Reading through the unit names, it is striking that so many were from Yorkshire, where some of the units were among the most unfortunate (with the Newfoundlers, see next) in that <10% of some units made it to roll call on the 2nd July. The site here was bitterly contested for months, sitting on top of German bunkers and headquarters.
And lastly, and the most evocative and interesting to visit, Beamont Hamel, where the Newfoundland regiment took >90% casualties in two hours on 1st July. Part of Canada now and replete with Canadian government guides offering free tours, and Canadian signs, very surreal. This is part of the British front line, facing down the field towards the German lines. From poor communications the Newfoundlers, sited in the reserve trenches back from here, thought the British attack was going well and joined as per the plan. Many never made it through the hail of bullets and shells to this British front line, and when the got there it was literally full with the bodies of dead and dying soliders from the first attack.
Nevertheless, they attacked on down the hill, and at this point, the "Danger tree", the german fire grew heaviest and most fell. This is the original stump of the tree that was there then. More than 90% of the Newfoundland Regiment's 900 odd men were lost, wounded or killed in this field on that morning. And lets not think the wounded survivors were that lucky. One man, shot through the right arm, both legs, and with both hips smashed by machine gun bullets, took 17 hours to crawl back up the hill dragging his smashed body with only his left arm. I can't imagine what that was like, or what that did to him mentally.
This is the German front line at the bottom of the slope, and just beyond it (with the sign) Y Ravin, where in dugouts the Germans in this sector were able to weather the storm of the 1.5 million shells fired across the Somme front in the week or so ahead of the attack, which were supposed to have destroyed all the defences. Y Ravin was briefly occupied by Allied troops on the first day but in tiny numbers. In the end this field was fought over for for four more months, finally being taken by Scottish troops in November, there is a memorial to them on the site as well as their attack was barely less bloody. There are a few cemetaries about the site, very well presented:
Finally the famous Caribou monument at the top of the field, looking towards the German lines, as the Welsh dragon also does. A beatiful site, well worth taking in in depth, and reading the excellent handouts that the characteristically cheery Canadian volunteers will offer you on entry:
