Day 10 – The Battlefields Pt 3

Today, the enormity of the WW1 losses was really brought home to us. The memorials from the various countries show that this was indeed a world conflict. We all know of the British, French, German, Russian and Australian participation, but other sacrifices by Canada, South Africa, India and even Morocco, were new to me. There are cemeteries, just from WW1, dotted all over the countryside. Some are small plots, hardly bigger than a residential lot, while others cover several acres. All are maintained respectfully. All have the same headstones, just with different names and inscriptions. There are so many that bear the epitaph “Known Unto God”.
Our first visit was to Villers-Bretonneux (VB). We stopped at Adelaide Cemetery where some of the inscriptions made me physically gulp for air. Relatives of one Walter Brown had left a short note next to his headstone during a recent visit. That lump in the throat returned. I hope you can read it from my photograph. In VB itself, we visited a primary school which was gifted by donations from school children in Victoria. 1200 men, fathers and brothers of these children died and are buried around the area. In a small churchyard, there is a cross, hand-carved in the image of the original which, sits in St. Georges Cathedral in Perth. It was a gift to the people of VB from the boys of 51st Battalion from Perth. As the only West Australian on the bus, they took me to look at it separately. I stood outside the fence for a few seconds while the gardeners were mowing near the cross. When they saw me, they waved me in, and went off to mow a different section for a short time. Such is the feeling in the community.
Next stop was the Australian War Memorial near VB. Like the Canadian memorial at Vimy, the grounds cover many acres. There are hundreds of headstones leading the way to the memorial, which records the names of more than 10000 Australian men from WW1, with no known grave. Among those names is that of James Robert Ross. I found him. I held his diary close and whispered that I would send others behind me to say G’day.
At nearby Albert, we stopped at a small memorial called the Lochnagar Crater. It is a huge gaping pit, the result of a mine that was tunnelled under the German trenches (just like Hill 60), and packed with 25 tonnes of high explosive. Witnesses said the spoil (debris) was blown 120 metres into the air. It was the start to an offensive by the British troops, but failed miserably. In the two minutes the British waited after the explosion, the Germans were able to restore their machine-gun posts, looking out over the open fields. More than 60000 British troops became casualties that day, mostly before lunch-time. The day was 1st July 1916.
On our drive towards a lunch stop, we passed Mouquet Farm, scene of some horrific fighting in late August 1916. To the best of my knowledge, this is where Pte. James Robert Ross 4693 fell on 31st August 1916. Unfortunately, the little back road that runs past the farm, does not allow for huge tourist coaches to park. The farmers do not allow access to the farm in any case. The best I could do was take a couple of snaps as we drove past.
Lunch, pumpkin soup and a sandwich, was taken at an Irish memorial for the Ulster Division. A delightful Irish couple live there to tend the memorial, and they run a small museum and cafe for visitors. Then on to Beaumont-Hamel where the Canadians have another memorial, run similarly to the one at Vimy. This time they have preserved an entire battlefield, and the dead are buried at the site of their initial objective, though they never made it on the night of battle.
The British and French have a joint memorial near Thiepval. Once again it is set on colossal acreage, and the memorial itself must be 15 stories high or more. The panels lining its walls record the names of more than 70000 men from WW1 with no known grave. It is one thing to see all the cemeteries and headstones, but the number of men never recovered stops me in my tracks. The South Africans also suffered great losses at Delville Wood, and chose to erect their memorial there. The grounds and memorial are quite beautifully presented. It nestles into the surrounding farm land, like a giant park. And finally on our tour today, we stopped at another Australian memorial near Pozieres. This one is for the AIF 1st Division. The inscription on part of the memorial states that Australian troops fell more thickly on the nearby ridge, than at any other battlefield of the war.
We headed for the hotel as the rain started to fall. It seemed symbolic.