Amiens, France- World War I Remembered
From our B&B on a farm near Bayeaux, we have driven to the village of Croissy-sur-celle almost 300 kilometers to the northeast. Everywhere we look, the fields and forests are lush with vegetation. Our B&B here is near the center of the village. Surrounded by a high wall with a locking gate, there is a large courtyard and a stream flowing across the back of the property. We slept with the window open, and it was perfectly quiet at night! These small ancient villages are everywhere, and we are wondering if they are maintaining their vitality, or are the young people moving to the cities?
Looking out our guest room window at the courtyard of our B&B. Our little T-Roc is parked in the shade. Our hostess speaks very little English, but we get by and she serves wonderful breakfasts.
Longueval. The memorial to South African and New Zealand troops who fought in the surrounding Delville woods. We are looking from a distance; the site includes a museum.
Beaumont-Hamel. Battleground and memorial to Newfoundland soldiers trapped in these trenches by fierce German gunfire. Remember, what we are seeing is more than 100 years old. Nearby is a massive monument at Thiepval commemorating more than 72,000 missing Commonwealth soldiers.
Lochnagar Crater was caused by underground explosives which were set off to completely eliminate the enemy front lines. A hole about 50 yards in diameter. Most notable are the placards detailing certain people and events. PTSD was not recognized at this time. This war was so wasteful of human life that 27,000 French troops mutinied, and the leaders of the mutiny were shot. Enlarge and read the inscription.
After a day of visiting WWI monuments, it makes WWII look like a cake walk. Imagine 60,000 casualties in ONE day on one battlefield. Imagine a unit of 3,200 sent to clear a forest and only 143 walk out at the end of the week-long operation. The British alone suffer a million dead, not counting the French, Germans, Belgian, US, and others. More soldiers lost in this war than WWII. The countryside here in the eastern Somme is dotted with military cemeteries. Not as crowded with visitors as Normandy..... these men are only faded memories to their descendants. At Thiepval is a monument to the more than 72,000 missing Commonwealth soldiers from this war. Think about that.... doesn't include French, German, or others; these are dead whose bodies were never found; bodies ground to pulp in the artillery barrages of "No man's land" and trench warfare.
Villers-Bretonneux. Site of the Monash Center, an outstanding monument/museum to the Australian contribution to the war. General Monash is celebrated because he carefully planned and coordinated all aspects of the attack with the result that the battle was won in 93 minutes with minimum loss of life. About 1000 US troops were included in the attack. The actual battlefield is located at Le Hamel, nearby.
We had a great day; our first stop was the American military cemetery at Bony. There we met the superintendent and his wife, Craig & Lorna, who invited us into their home and laid out a list of places to visit. They even told us where to find lunch, a restaurant run by a Brit expat frequented by British visitors. Had a bit of an "adventure" coming home (Sunday evening) when the gas tank read empty. The first gas station we stopped at was closed; the second was diesel only; and the third was automated but wouldn't accept our credit cards.... until the third try!
We stopped at the village of Frise to take a walk along the canal banks and encountered this party of boaters making their way through the locks and down the river on a beautiful day.
The monument at Vimy ridge. A large park, woods, trench system, tunnels, and a museum are all located at this site. We were given a guided tour of a section of the remaining tunnels.
Posted in the museum at Vimy ridge. The author, a Canadian, was later killed in battle.
Our farthest drive was to Vimy Ridge, just north of Arras. The battlefield there is well preserved. We were able to walk in a section of the tunnels built there over 100 years ago which still exist. There are still areas with signs warning of unexploded ordnance. Farmers in this part of France still find projectiles and other items in their fields every year. We visited the American monument at Belleau Wood on our last day here. Ask any US Marine; this is an important battlefield in the history of the Corps.
Monument at Belleau Woods. By the time we located this monument, we had less than an hour to explore before heading for Paris and our flight to England.
We have lightly covered the section of the battlefields and monuments of WWI between Arras and Chateau Thierry in the past few days. We have only sampled about 100 miles of the 500 mile long Western Front of WWI, but this includes the areas where most American troops were deployed. The area is beautiful, quiet, rural landscape with many prosperous farms and green leafy forests. Because this area is not so touristy, nice accommodations are not as numerous. The events that happened here may be considered more world-shaping than WWII, but the people who remember these events are all gone now.
After a day of visiting WWI monuments, it makes WWII look like a cake walk. Imagine 60,000 casualties in ONE day on one battlefield. Imagine a unit of 3,200 sent to clear a forest and only 143 walk out at the end of the week-long operation. The British alone suffer a million dead, not counting the French, Germans, Belgian, US, and others. More soldiers lost in this war than WWII. The countryside here in the eastern Somme is dotted with military cemeteries. Not as crowded with visitors as Normandy..... these men are only faded memories to their descendants. At Thiepval is a monument to the more than 72,000 missing Commonwealth soldiers from this war. Think about that.... doesn't include French, German, or others; these are dead whose bodies were never found; bodies ground to pulp in the artillery barrages of "No man's land" and trench warfare.
We had a great day; our first stop was the American military cemetery at Bony. There we met the superintendent and his wife, Craig & Lorna, who invited us into their home and laid out a list of places to visit. They even told us where to find lunch, a restaurant run by a Brit expat frequented by British visitors. Had a bit of an "adventure" coming home (Sunday evening) when the gas tank read empty. The first gas station we stopped at was closed; the second was diesel only; and the third was automated but wouldn't accept our credit cards.... until the third try!
We stopped at the village of Frise to take a walk along the canal banks and encountered this party of boaters making their way through the locks and down the river on a beautiful day.
Our farthest drive was to Vimy Ridge, just north of Arras. The battlefield there is well preserved. We were able to walk in a section of the tunnels built there over 100 years ago which still exist. There are still areas with signs warning of unexploded ordnance. Farmers in this part of France still find projectiles and other items in their fields every year. We visited the American monument at Belleau Wood on our last day here. Ask any US Marine; this is an important battlefield in the history of the Corps.
We have lightly covered the section of the battlefields and monuments of WWI between Arras and Chateau Thierry in the past few days. We have only sampled about 100 miles of the 500 mile long Western Front of WWI, but this includes the areas where most American troops were deployed. The area is beautiful, quiet, rural landscape with many prosperous farms and green leafy forests. Because this area is not so touristy, nice accommodations are not as numerous. The events that happened here may be considered more world-shaping than WWII, but the people who remember these events are all gone now.
posted by Wayne Grabow | 1:19 PM
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