The South Shore Tide Watch: Euro 2024 ~ The Somme to Flanders ...

After one night at with Bart and Karen (from The Netherlands) at “14-18 Somme Chambres” located the quiet rural village of Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre, in the Somme, it was an early start for my drive to Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.

Bart and Karen's place in Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre

With a few planned stops along the way, the first one was at the Thiepval Memorial, a rather dominating WWI memorial to 72332 British and South Africans, who are recorded as missing from the battles in The Somme.

Historical information about the Thiepval Memorial and Cemetery ~

On July 1st 1916 the first day of the Somme offensive, supported by a French attack to the south, thirteen divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an attack on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the offensive met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured, the village had been an original objective of July 1st. Attacks north and east continued throughout October and into November with increasingly difficult weather conditions. The Battle of the Somme finally ended on November 18th with the onset of winter.

During the spring of 1917, the German forces fell back to their newly prepared defences at the Hindenburg Line, there were no further significant engagements in the Somme sector until the Germans mounted their major offensive in March 1918.

The Thiepval Memorial, a memorial to the missing of the Somme, bears the names of 72332 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before March 20th 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. It also serves as an Anglo-French Battle Memorial in recognition of the joint nature of the 1916 offensive and a small cemetery containing equal numbers of Commonwealth and French graves lies at the foot of the memorial.

Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was constructed between 1928 and 1932 and unveiled by the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII, in the presence of the President of France on August 1st 1932. The dead of other Commonwealth countries, who died on the Somme and have no known graves, are commemorated on national memorials elsewhere.

The Thiepval Memorial and Cemetery ~

French graves on the left, Commonwealth graves on the right

My next stop located not too far from the Thiepval Memorial is the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, a site dedicated to the commemoration the of Dominion of Newfoundland forces who were killed during WWI.

The memorial which can be found within a park, is managed and maintained by the Canadian Department of Veterans Affairs, it has the names of 810 inscribed on its panels. In addition to the Newfoundland Memorial, there are two other battle memorials located in the grounds to the British 51st Highland and the 29th Divisions and three Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery No. 2, Hunters Cemetery and Y Ravine Cemetery. Almost 700 war casualties are buried or commemorated at these sites, with approximately 25% remaining unidentified.

Historical information about the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial ~

Beaumont-Hamel was attacked by the 29th Division (which included the 1st Battalion of the Newfoundland Regiment) on July 1st 1916, and although some units reached it, the village was not taken. It was finally captured by the 51st (Highland) and 63rd Royal Naval Divisions on the following November 13th.

The attack on Beaumont-Hamel in July 1916 was the first severe engagement of the Newfoundland Regiment and the costliest. On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, no unit suffered heavier losses than the Newfoundlanders which had gone into action 801 strong. The roll calls the next day revealed that the final figures were 233 dead, 386 wounded, and 91 missing. Every officer who went forward in the Newfoundland attack was either killed or wounded.

Due to the tremendous losses, the Government of Newfoundland chose the hill south-west of the village, where the front-line trenches ran at the time of the battle, as the site of their memorial to the soldiers (and also the sailors) of Newfoundland. Of the few battlefield parks in France and Belgium where visitors can see a Great War battlefield much as it was, Beaumont Hamel is the largest. From my photos you will see that the actual trenches are still there and in present day can offer some indication of the difficulties those who fell in battle had while trying to advance.

The memorial itself stands at the highest point of the park and consists of a great caribou cast in bronze, the emblem of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. At the base, three tablets of bronze carry the names of over 800 members of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve and the Newfoundland Mercantile Marine, who gave their lives in WWI and who have no known grave. The memorial designed by R.H.K. Cochius, with sculptures by Basil Gotto, was unveiled by Earl Haig on June 7th 1925.

The sheep keep the grass short

Like many locations within the Somme, there is still harmful shells and mines

A 30-minute drive north from Beaumont-Hamel, I arrived at the town of Beaurains in the Hauts-de-France region of Northern France. It was here that I ticked off a major item that has been on my bucket list for a very long time, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Visitors Centre.

The location takes you behind the scenes of the remarkable work the commission undertakes to maintain Commonwealth cemeteries and memorials around the world. Located in the heart of the former Western Front, the Visitor Centre spotlights the highly skilled craftsmen, carpenters, stonemasons, mechanics and blacksmiths, highlighting their tireless efforts ensure all CWGC locations globally are kept to the high standards and beautiful aesthetics associated with commission sites.

Every year the CWGC is informed of around 150 new discoveries of human remains worldwide. Although there was a systematic search of the battlefields after both world wars, the severe conditions meant that some bodies were never located. Today, with the expansion of towns, cities, and the associated improvements to infrastructure such as roads and wind turbines, together with the seasonal cycle of agricultural work, regularly results in the discovery of human remains on the former battlefields.

Every country has its own regulations which apply when human remains are found. The police must be informed immediately in case they are those of a more recent victim. It is also possible on rare occasions, that a much older archaeological site has been disturbed. Once it has been confirmed the remains are those of a Commonwealth war casualty, the CWGC is notified. After that a thorough process of identification is begun to determine the name, nationality, regiment and other details about the casualty, before burial. If no details can be determined then he is buried as Known Unto God.

Today, I was absolutely thrilled to have the chance to see the inner workings of one of the world’s foremost commemoration organizations. I have always had the utmost respect, admiration and gratitude for the continuing work the CWGC does worldwide.

I often say, if there is another life ~ I will want to work for the CWGC and probably would never want to retire ...!!!

Historical information about the CWGC ~

The commission was founded by Sir Fabian Ware and constituted through a Royal Charter in 1917 as the Imperial War Graves Commission, in 1960 was renamed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The British Empire chose to bury its battlefield dead from the WWI near the sites where they had fallen, and not to repatriate remains to their home countries as many grieving families and politicians had demanded. While thousands of bodies had been buried in makeshift graves during the fighting, military units assisted first by the Red Cross and later by official grave registrars, had made efforts to note temporary sites for future reburials. After battles, special grave detachments attempted to collect the unburied dead for proper burial, and to disinter remains from temporary graves for proper reburial elsewhere. After the Armistice of November 11th, 1918, this process began in earnest with the vastly expanded Imperial War Graves Commission moving remains into newly established imperial military cemeteries. The process involved tens of thousands of burials and took many years. As mentioned previously, it still continues on a smaller scale today, as agricultural or construction work across old battlefields regularly uncovers additional human remains.

The commission imposed a sense of social equality in its cemeteries and made no rank distinctions in the physical construction of grave markers. Each simple white gravestone carries the name, rank, and unit symbol of the deceased, and a religious symbol if the soldier’s religion was known. The unknown dead carry an inscription chosen by British author Rudyard Kipling, who lost a son during the war: “A Soldier of the Great War – Known Unto God.” No other personalized adornments were allowed other than the opportunity for next of kin to pay for a short motto to appear at the bottom of gravestones.

Today, the CWGC cares for the graves of 1.7 million members of Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars and in subsequent conflicts around the globe. They remain under the perpetual care of the CWGC at 23,000 locations in 153 countries. The Commission consists of six member countries – the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa. Member states jointly fund the Commission’s operations, with the United Kingdom paying more than 75% of the costs.

After the absolute privilege and delight of this stop at the CWGC Visitor Centre, I was off to another major item on my bucket list, the Vimy Ridge Memorial and Visitor Centre, where I went 8m (26') below ground to the tunnels built by WWI Royal Engineers and Canadians

In a similar way to the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, the Vimy Ridge Memorial is also managed and maintained by the Canadian Department of Veterans Affairs. The ground on which the Vimy Monument sits, as well as the surrounding 100 hectares of land, were given to Canada by France in 1922 in gratitude for sacrifices made during WWI, and for the victory achieved by Canadian troops in capturing Vimy Ridge in April 1917. The monument was built by the people of Canada as a tribute to their countrymen who fought in the Great War and particularly to the more than 66,000 men who gave their lives. The panels on the memorial have the names of 11000 Canadian servicemen who died in France, many of them in the fight for Vimy Ridge and have no known grave.

Historical information about Vimy Ridge Memorial ~

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during WWI. The monument is the centrepiece of the preserved battlefield park, that encompasses a portion of the ground over which the Canadian Corps made their assault during the initial Battle of Vimy Ridge offensive of the Battle of Arras. On the opening day of the Battle of Arras, 9th April 1917, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting side by side for the first time, scored a huge tactical victory in the capture of the 60-metre high Vimy Ridge.

The monument was designed by Canadian architect and sculptor Walter Seymour Allward. His design was selected from 160 others submitted by Canadians who participated in a competition held in the early 1920s. Construction work began in 1925 and eleven years later, on July 26th, 1936 it was unveiled by King Edward VIII. It cost approximately $1.5 million, including site preparation and the building of roads.

Built into the side of the hill at the highest point of the ridge, the monument rests on a bed of about 15000 tonnes of concrete, reinforced with hundreds of tonnes of steel. The excavation had to be done with great care as the ground was littered with live bombs and shells. Many of these were unearthed as digging proceeded. The deepest part of the foundation is under the monument's eastward facing front walls, where it goes down 13 metres.

The base and twin pylons contain almost 6000 tonnes of a special type of extremely durable limestone brought to the site from Yugoslavia (present day Croatia). The 20 sculptured figures which grace the monument were actually carved where they now stand from huge blocks of this stone. The carvers used half-size plaster models produced by Walter Allward and an instrument called a pantograph to reproduce the huge figures to the proper scale. Finishing touches were then added by a master carver. All this work was carried out inside temporary studios built around each figure, including those at the top of the pylons.

Walter Allward once said that his inspiration for the monument came to him in a dream. The two pylons represent Canada and France - two nations beset by war and united to fight for a common goal - peace and freedom for the Allied nations. To some, the pylons may seem like twin sentinels, silently guarding a peaceful world or they may be seen as a gateway to a better world where peace prevails.

Many historians and writers consider the Canadian victory at Vimy a defining moment for Canada, when the country emerged from under the shadow of Britain and felt capable of greatness. Canadian troops also earned a reputation as formidable, effective troops because of their stunning success at Vimy Ridge, which did come at a terrible human cost.

WaltWalter Allward said of the Vimy Memorial ~

Without the dead we were helpless. So I tried to show this in this monument to Canada's fallen, what we owed them and we will forever owe them.

The Vimy Visitors Centre ~

The Vimy Memorial ~

My final planned stop in France before driving north for a two-night stay in Ypres, Belgium, was at the newest CWGC cemetery, Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. A WWI cemetery built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the outskirts of Fromelles in Northern France, near the Belgian border. Constructed between 2009 and 2010, it was the first new CWGC cemetery for more than 50 years.

Historical information about Fromelles (Pleasant Wood) Military Cemetery ~

In the early evening of 19th July 1916, near the village of Fromelles two infantry divisions newly arrived on the Western Front, the 5th Australian and British 61st (South Midland) attacked a 4000-metre section of the German frontline centered on a notorious strongpoint called the "Sugar Loaf". Advancing over unfavourable ground, in clear view of the resolute and expectant defenders, the attackers suffered terrible casualties in a matter of minutes. The action turned into a bloody catastrophe, the Australians had over 5500 killed, wounded and missing; 61st Division reported over 1500 killed, wounded and missing. No tactical advantages resulted from the action, which remains as the worst day in Australian military history.

The cemetery contains a total of 250 Australian and British soldiers. 225 are Australians, of which 59 are unidentified, 2 are unidentified British soldiers and 23 are entirely unidentified Commonwealth soldiers. The 250 were recovered in 2009 from a number of mass graves located behind nearby Pheasant Wood, where they had been buried by the Germans, following the disastrous battle over the two days of 19th and 20th July 1916. The cemetery was officially dedicated on 19th July 2010 exactly 94 years to the day after the start of the battle in which they perished.

Today while taking many quiet country roads between my planned stops, I drove around a significant part of the Somme. I passed countless memorials dedicated to the tens of thousands of the Commonwealth missing. In addition to that, on every road and in any direction there were dozens or even hundreds of walled Commonwealth cemeteries, containing a few dozen to many hundreds. By the time I reached Ypres in Belgium in late afternoon, I was overwhelmed, completely drained and filled with much emotion.

On my way to Vimy Ridge, I passed La Targette French Cemetery and the adjacent La Targette British Cemetery at Neuville-St. Vaast , I felt my heart drop from my chest when I saw the French cemetery …