It was going to be a Wheelers only trip ... to go and visit the Somme Battlefields, to re visit my great grandad's final resting place at Menin Road South cemetery just outside Ypres, and his son's quiet and tranquil final resting place at Bernafay Wood. My great grandad Frank Taylor was 43 years of age when he died, his son, also Frank Taylor, just twenty years old.
I was treating my two sons to the ferry and accommodation, they would just need their petrol and bier money
Time to complete their education then eh!
Martyn, the youngest at 39 years of age, came with his pal Jan, two up on his R1150GS-A and Peter (Laughing Gas on here) would have been on his R1150GS-A but in the end wasn't able to make the trip ... we missed ya kid!
The word got out and one or two others asked if they could come. The kids and me were booked in at Orchard Farm, Combles, where Martin and Kate Pegler offer superb bed and breakfast, evening meals, bier and tours of the battlefields of the Somme. I had been meaning to go there for some time now ... and now was the time to put plans in to actions.
But why half fill a farm house when you can fully fill it and share the experience with other like minded bikers ... so the numbers grew to eight and in doing so made the full day tour of the battlefields with Martin a well worthwhile day out.
Orchard Farm, Combles ...
Martin Pegler with the gang at Serre Road No 3 Cemetery. It was here that Martin read an account by a German machine gunner as we looked across the fields to the position he would have occupied. His testimony to the bravery of the English Tommy was incredible. How lucky am I to have a grandfather that returned from the Somme ...
Serre Road No 3 Cemetery, note the unexploded shell awaiting disposal by the French army ...
Serre Road No 2 Cemetery, not a stone out of line ...
Thiepval Monument to the missing of the Somme. Approximately 73,000 names are carved on the sixteen huge pillars. These are the names of those that have no known grave ...
Lochnagar Crater, that's Garry (Garbo on here) in the bottom. It was tunnelled by the Royal Engineers and the 24 tons of Ammonal were exploded at 7.28am on the 1st of July 1916. It was witnessed by 2nd Lieutenant C A Lewis of No 3 Squadron Royal Flying Corp, who said ...
"The whole earth heaved and flashed, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up in the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earth column rose higher and higher to almost 4,000 feet. There it hung, or seemed to hang, for a moment in the air, like the silhouette of some great cypress tree, then fell away in a widening cone of dust and debris".
The French later wanted to fill the crater in, but the land was purchased by Richard Dunning so that it might be preserved for evermore as a memorial to the brave men of the Somme.
There aren't many cemeteries dedicated to the Germans that fell, but the one at Fricourt is well worth a visit. In its own way very respectful, very different and very moving ...
One for the West Yorkshire lads ... bless 'em ...
This is my grandad taken in the 1960's, I was lucky to get to know him well. He never spoke of the war, even though my father and myself asked him about it. Only in his last few days, while in a coma, half conscious, he relived the trench warfare. He was trying to help his pal in a water logged bomb crater, but his pal he had joined with was now a headless corps. Much later my father was in tears when he told me about it.
While my grandad was away on the Somme 1914 - 1918 his father in law and brother in law were both killed out there, again he never spoke of it. Only in the past few years did we become aware of my grandmothers great loss. God only knows what she felt like with her husband out there and knowing that her dad and brother had been killed ...
Son Martyn and myself at Bernafay Wood. Frank Taylor was just twenty years of age, he was my grandmothers brother ...
Son Martyn and myself at Menin Gate Road South, just outside Ypres. Frank Taylor was 43 years of age when he died. He was relatively old compared to those around him. He was my grandmothers father, my great grandfather and Martyn's great great grandfather ...
So we bid our farewells to Kate and Martin Pegler and rode across for three days at my 'local' Hotel Forsthaus at Riedener Mühlen.
Coffee stop, Jan, Howie, Dave, Andy and Garry ...
Micky, son Martyn and Dave Craxton ...
The town square at Bastogne has had a refit, a new Tourist Information centre and a ramp for the WWII American tank that has graced the square for years. It's had a coat of paint too ...
Now in the Eifel's we just had to have a razz round der Nürburgring of course
Me on the F800GS being 'chased' by son Martyn on his R1150GS-A round the double right hander at Brunchen
It looked a darn sight better in real life than on the photo, Bratwurst and Pommes at the Imbiss on the side of the Mosel near Treis Garden. Delicious ...
A great week of motorcycling, 1,300 miles. Superb weather, no rain and crackin' roads. Good company, great craic
My thanks go to Kate and Martin Pegler for their warm hospitality and excellent food. Martin was the Curator of The Royal Armouries for ten years and has written several books regarding the Somme battle fronts and firearms. He even has fully working German Maxim and British Vickers machine guns behind the settee. I've never seen another door stop like them
A few biers on the ferry home and a gorgeous sunset out at sea ended a fabulous week
I was treating my two sons to the ferry and accommodation, they would just need their petrol and bier money
Time to complete their education then eh!
Martyn, the youngest at 39 years of age, came with his pal Jan, two up on his R1150GS-A and Peter (Laughing Gas on here) would have been on his R1150GS-A but in the end wasn't able to make the trip ... we missed ya kid!
The word got out and one or two others asked if they could come. The kids and me were booked in at Orchard Farm, Combles, where Martin and Kate Pegler offer superb bed and breakfast, evening meals, bier and tours of the battlefields of the Somme. I had been meaning to go there for some time now ... and now was the time to put plans in to actions.
But why half fill a farm house when you can fully fill it and share the experience with other like minded bikers ... so the numbers grew to eight and in doing so made the full day tour of the battlefields with Martin a well worthwhile day out.
Orchard Farm, Combles ...
Martin Pegler with the gang at Serre Road No 3 Cemetery. It was here that Martin read an account by a German machine gunner as we looked across the fields to the position he would have occupied. His testimony to the bravery of the English Tommy was incredible. How lucky am I to have a grandfather that returned from the Somme ...
Serre Road No 3 Cemetery, note the unexploded shell awaiting disposal by the French army ...
Serre Road No 2 Cemetery, not a stone out of line ...
Thiepval Monument to the missing of the Somme. Approximately 73,000 names are carved on the sixteen huge pillars. These are the names of those that have no known grave ...
Lochnagar Crater, that's Garry (Garbo on here) in the bottom. It was tunnelled by the Royal Engineers and the 24 tons of Ammonal were exploded at 7.28am on the 1st of July 1916. It was witnessed by 2nd Lieutenant C A Lewis of No 3 Squadron Royal Flying Corp, who said ...
"The whole earth heaved and flashed, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up in the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earth column rose higher and higher to almost 4,000 feet. There it hung, or seemed to hang, for a moment in the air, like the silhouette of some great cypress tree, then fell away in a widening cone of dust and debris".
The French later wanted to fill the crater in, but the land was purchased by Richard Dunning so that it might be preserved for evermore as a memorial to the brave men of the Somme.
There aren't many cemeteries dedicated to the Germans that fell, but the one at Fricourt is well worth a visit. In its own way very respectful, very different and very moving ...
One for the West Yorkshire lads ... bless 'em ...
This is my grandad taken in the 1960's, I was lucky to get to know him well. He never spoke of the war, even though my father and myself asked him about it. Only in his last few days, while in a coma, half conscious, he relived the trench warfare. He was trying to help his pal in a water logged bomb crater, but his pal he had joined with was now a headless corps. Much later my father was in tears when he told me about it.
While my grandad was away on the Somme 1914 - 1918 his father in law and brother in law were both killed out there, again he never spoke of it. Only in the past few years did we become aware of my grandmothers great loss. God only knows what she felt like with her husband out there and knowing that her dad and brother had been killed ...
Son Martyn and myself at Bernafay Wood. Frank Taylor was just twenty years of age, he was my grandmothers brother ...
Son Martyn and myself at Menin Gate Road South, just outside Ypres. Frank Taylor was 43 years of age when he died. He was relatively old compared to those around him. He was my grandmothers father, my great grandfather and Martyn's great great grandfather ...
So we bid our farewells to Kate and Martin Pegler and rode across for three days at my 'local' Hotel Forsthaus at Riedener Mühlen.
Coffee stop, Jan, Howie, Dave, Andy and Garry ...
Micky, son Martyn and Dave Craxton ...
The town square at Bastogne has had a refit, a new Tourist Information centre and a ramp for the WWII American tank that has graced the square for years. It's had a coat of paint too ...
Now in the Eifel's we just had to have a razz round der Nürburgring of course
Me on the F800GS being 'chased' by son Martyn on his R1150GS-A round the double right hander at Brunchen
It looked a darn sight better in real life than on the photo, Bratwurst and Pommes at the Imbiss on the side of the Mosel near Treis Garden. Delicious ...
A great week of motorcycling, 1,300 miles. Superb weather, no rain and crackin' roads. Good company, great craic
My thanks go to Kate and Martin Pegler for their warm hospitality and excellent food. Martin was the Curator of The Royal Armouries for ten years and has written several books regarding the Somme battle fronts and firearms. He even has fully working German Maxim and British Vickers machine guns behind the settee. I've never seen another door stop like them
A few biers on the ferry home and a gorgeous sunset out at sea ended a fabulous week
)
