Having done the ANZAC Dawn Service in Gallipoli last year, Paul and I decided to go to the Western Front and the Somme for this year's Dawn Service. Little is ever mentioned of the ANZAC contribution to the Somme and Western Front, but here we lost nearly five times the amount of men that were lost in Gallipoli - over 40,000. I have read the acclaimed book "Somme Mud", which is an amazing first hand story/diary of a young Australian soldier and his time through the First World War in the Somme. I feel it is a must read for any Australian, and to visit the places mentioned in the book gave it an extra dimension.
Again we did this via an organised tour group, which included full transport to and from London, full accommodation as well as 3 days of touring the WWI battlefields through Belgium and Northern France.
An early morning start on the Saturday saw us leaving London at around 7am with a full coach load of Australians of varying ages. One of the better parts of the trips was that there were none of the "bogan backpacker" crowd like you get at Gallipoli. The Saturday, Sunday and Monday were to become quite full on days of travelling and seeing as much as our guides could show us - and it was a lot! I won't go into it all, as it would take just far too long, but I'll stick to the more major items.
Our guide was, of all things, Welsh. He lived (and still does) in Ypres in Belgium. He was truly a walking encylopedia when it came to WWI as well as having an amazing passion for it. Peter simply made the trip. Without him I doubt we'd have learnt or experienced as much as we did. We collected him in Ypres (pronounced: Ee-prris or Ee-per depending on whether you're French or Belgian), and he showed us the first and seventh item of the Saturday afternoon, the Menin Gate. We went on to visit battlefields, monuments and cemeteries at Polygon Wood (2), Hill 60, Passchendaele, Tyne-Cot, Langemark (a German cemetery), Hoog Crater (cemetery, restaurant & museum) before returning to the Menin Gate. All the while, Peter, would point things out along the way as our coach navigated the roads and lanes through the region known as Hellfire Corner. I won't go into them all, but here's some notables:
The Menin Gate
This is a massive monument in the heart of Ypres, (as you can see) and inscribed upon it is the name of every Allied soldier who was killed in the Ypres salient but has no known grave. About 55,000 names in all of just the missing. Ypres itself was just about levelled in all the fighting that went on in this area over the years of WWI. Every night here at 8pm, the Last Post is played. And after our earlier history lesson and exploration of the "gate", we returned for this. Many more people had gathered and it did take a bit to get a view. Quite a ceremony surrounded the playing of the Last Post. The people of Ypres hold this in very high regard, as do the members of the fire brigade who actually supply the men and bugler. Very moving to be amongst the folk there.
Tyne Cot Cemetery
This is the largest Commonweatlh cemetery in the world, with tens of thousands buried here. The main wall at the back continues the list from the Menin Gate and adds another 35,000 names of missing. The four German pillboxes that were the original site are still there - two of which are in those two clumps of trees you can see above. This was a major battlefront that became a cemetery as those killed during the 100 days of fighting in 1917 were buried on site. The sheer numbers of dead from this region really start to make an impact here. All the others, while smaller, were starting to add up, but here at Tyne Cot you start to really appreciate just how many lives were cut short. The combined photo you see here is only about two thirds of the whole cemetery. It also has a visitor centre/museum.
Langemark
This is a German cemetery and is in stark contrast to the Allied ones. Each stone on the ground marks the site of several soldiers. It seemed somewhat darker in both appearance and mood. An interesting contrast to see "the other side". And why not? Their young men went forth and died just as ours did, and most likely in the same spirit as ours...
The Sunday was to prove to be just as busy a day, and began early enough with visits to a British memorial and cemetery, a German stronghold/cemetery, the Wellington tunnels of Arras, Bullecourt, a French cemetery, Vimy Ridge and several spots around Fromelles. Towards the end of the day I started to get a bit “cemeteried-out” - there’s only so many graveyards you can visit regardless of their significance. Our guide turned out to be a keen cyclist - we drove past his favourite bike shop, which he duly pointed out. One of the old guys on the tour was from Perth and runs some sort of cycling training programme with youngsters. It did make a good change to talk riding at one point instead of war atrocities. But I digress... The evening was ours to explore Lille before a relatively early night.
The Wellington Tunnels
These are an amazing series of tunnels dug by the Kiwi miners near Arras. 12kms in all, they served to transport some 24,000 troops over 8 days to a significant location for an attack on the German lines. Obviously we didn't go through all twelve kilometres, but it was an incredible place to be 20metres below ground knowing what had taken place and what been achieved here. On the right is one of the exit tunnels.
Vimy Ridge
This is the location of the biggest Canadian achievements and also the site of their main memorial. At the ridge itself, the original trenches have been restored, with all the landscape untouched. Just like at Chinuck Bair near ANZAC Cove, the trenches were incredibly close. To walk through them and see across the cratered area between these trenches is sobering. Football fields are shorter and with a good tail wind I could throw Kevin Rudd across the gap.
Fromelles
This is where the first Australian attack of WWI took place in 1916. Here we visited the recently built cemetery and monument that now houses 250 Australians. You may recall the news articles covering this a couple of years back when a mass grave was found on nearby farmland. Near here we also visited the Australian Memorial Park with the famous "Cobbers" statue (the pic at the very top), as well as VC Corner Australian Cemetery. A roll call of 1,294 'missing' adorns the large wall here while another 410 are buried here with no tombstones.
Monday morning was a very early start for ANZAC Day. We had well over an hours drive to get to Villers-Bretonneux for the dawn service, and it meant that most of us were trying to get in an extra hour of sleep after having to get up at 2.30am.
After the dawn service we headed into the township of Villers-Bretonneux itself, and to the Franco-Australian museum at the Victoria school. Actually named after the Australian state of Victoria as the school building itself is a gift from the schools of Victoria. In the main yard of the school is a very large yellow sign with "Never Forget Australia" in green on it (below). I think this really encapsulates 'ANZAC' - to travel to a foreign land and nearly 100 years later be remembered for the deeds you have done and the sacrifice you've made. If ever there was something to be proud about Australia, this is it.
Before we headed back to London, we visited the Adelaide Cemetery, which is where the Unknown Soldier in Canberra is from. We also visited the memorial at La Hamel, the site of one of the most successful Australian battles, as well as where the Red Baron was shot down. La Hamel was the first attack that was completely organised by the Australian Generals. It was so successful that it became the model for all Allied forces for the rest of the war. We visited a few memorials in nearby Poziéres, including a memorial to one of the first ever tank battles. All the while, our welsh guide imparted great amounts of his knowledge. It was hard to retain as many of us were quite tired after the night's lack of sleep, but we caught up on a good amount of it on the drive back to London.
From ANZAC Cove I gave you the moving words of the Turkish Commander in Chief's words, and for the Somme, I will leave you with these:
"When the Australians came to France,
the French people expected a great deal of you...
We knew that you would fight a real fight,
but we did not know that from the very beginning
you would astonish the whole continent...
I shall go back tomorrow and say to my countrymen:
I have seen the Australians. I have looked in their faces.
I know that these men will fight alongside of us
again until the cause for which we are all
fighting is safe for us and for our children."
- French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, 7 July 1918
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