Day on The Somme

[Tricky]

Grabbed a day of work last Friday and needed a fair run to blow away some winter cobwebs, but where to go?

My grandad fought in the Battle of the Somme and although I’d passed through the region on several occasions had never taken the opportunity of visiting it properly.

So it was up with the lark and a quick blast down to Dover for an early ferry crossing.

The SeaFrance boats look a bit rusty but I don't care as I'm with P&O (£15 return ) Made a nice change from the Tunnel.

More white cliffs.

We decided to head for the small town of Albert stopping for a quick break and a bite to eat. From here the original 1916 battlefields can be reached in minutes.

The famous Basilica in Albert as it looked in 1916 after being hit by a shell. The troops believed that when it's golden virgin fell the war would end.

Looking better today.

Poignant mural on the side of a house.

Many of the 1916 battlefields are between Albert and Bapaume (an objective for the Somme offensive). We chose to head for Thiepval with its imposing Memorial to the Missing. This is the largest British war memorial in the world.

I found the atmosphere around Thiepval incredibly moving. Maybe due to the fact that alot of the villages in the region where rebuilt after the war. Thiepval being one of the few exceptions.

The surrounding chalk downlands remaining very similar in appearance to how they would have looked in 1916.

Time was running out for us and we had to make a late dash for the ferry.

The area is well worth a visit but needs maybe a couple of days next time, to take it all in.

Told you we'd make the last boat (just).

 

[Trippy]

What a great day out. I would like to visit Bailleul near Ypres where my great uncle Charles Malin Sorby is buried after being killed on the 8th May 1915 during the Battle of Frazenberg Ridge. Maybe I'll get there later this year.

 

[MikeP]

It must be great to have that region in a "day out" range. If the weather's good (as it appears) it's a nice place to be even granted its history.

Great photo's, thanks.

By now, there cannot be a family in this country that doesn't have at least one member who was 'lost' in that conflict.

I've been a few times now and although the big memorials are very moving, my advice to anyone going there is to fit some TKC's (you'd be surprised how "rural" some of the access to cemeteries can be!) and follow as many of the CWGC green signposts as possible.

You will 'discover' some tiny little, quiet cemeteries out of the way where the dead have remained since they were first interred. These IMHO are far more moving than the big memorials because as you go from one to another, you can see the regiments overlapping. This shows their dispositions at the time.

Often the burials are in former trenchworks, used as graves once the fighting moved-on.

Crump Trench Cemetery, near Arras.

 

[mermoto]

Hey Tricky, Sounds like the Hop was a bit of bargain, I wonder how you got such a good deal too much standing around on street corners...
Great pictures How many miles did you do that day?

Mermoto

 

[Tricky]

Thanks for your comments guys.

(Mike, will try your suggestion next time)

Merv, we did about 430 miles that day - 240 round trip to Dover and the rest in France. We avoided the motorways down to Albert but had to thrash it back on the peage to make the last boat.

Thanks for the 'heads up' on the cost of the P&O return.

 

[KMD]

You still off the fags Tricky ? Nice pics, must have been very poignant for you with that Family history.

 

[Tiger2]

I don't know about how the others feel, but whenever I visit a military graveyard I ALWAYS get a bloody big lump in my throat and even been know to fill up.
I was 5th generation in our family to join up. (Royal Hampshire Regt), and now my son is also in the Army (Royal Engineers), who will soon be going over to Normandy, as part of his training to visit the beaches. While there he will be attending my uncles grave,of which he was one of the first to die on that day (Royal Engineers.... and a landmine).
But as I said these places ARE special, and let us never forget.
On a more cheerful note, you are lucky that you can hope on the ferries and got to Europe in a day.
And the pics are great.

 

[Posh Pete]

Do yourselves a favour and read ...

"The First Day on the Somme" by Martin Middlebrook. First published in the 70's but still a superb account.

A wonderful book which deals with the background to the battle as well as the individual stories of many of those who perished. Can't recommend it highly enough.