Day 9 – The Battlefields Pt 2

This morning we were bussed back to Fromelles to get the historical feel for the happenings there 94 years ago. Some of the group decided to go to the cemetery to walk among the graves and read the epitaphs. Our historian offered us a chance to walk to the 1916 front lines, and I jumped at the chance. Using his map showing the exact positions of the various battalions in the attack on 19 July, we were able to get very close to where Mervyn might have been when he fell. I felt a real sense of closeness, but better was to come.
After we rejoined the bus, our next stop was “Cobbers” statue and the nearby VC Corner Cemetery. The cemetery commemorates the names of more than 1000 Australian men with no known graves from WW1. And Mervyn is among them. Sadly, it is unlikely that his remains, if found, will be identified, although scientific miracles surprise us every day. But at least we know that his name will be remembered forever at this memorial, which is maintained in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The “Cobbers” statue is pretty self-explanatory. It represents a soldier, Simon Fraser, carrying his wounded mate back to safety, and is hugely evocative. A terribly sad note is that we found a wreath laid at the statue, from his descendants, and stating that it was in his honour AND for a relative who had died at the ceremony on Monday. We have not had any way of confirming the veracity of the claim, but find it hard to believe that it would be a prank. Maybe you might hear something on the news at home.
From there we ambled on to several other battlefields and memorials, all names that are recognised, but whose story may not be familiar. The Hindenburg Line, Le Trou, Bullecourt, Vimy Ridge, and the list goes on. I won’t even attempt to make this a lesson in war history, but I urge you to take an interest. The stories are fascinating, yet bewildering; uplifting, yet horrible. But they will give you a grounding into why the people of France hold all the deceased soldiers in such high regard.
We stopped at the Canadian WW1 Memorial at Vimy for lunch. They have a completely different way to honour their fallen soldiers. They have maintained a battlefield, complete with mine craters, and a set of trenches, so you can get an idea of life under threat of fire. It’s really well done, and the guards are hot on anybody who dares to enter the battlefield or show disrespect to the facilities. The memorial itself is a towering sculpture, built on top of the Vimy Ridge, and has a commanding view of the surrounding rolling plains. Quite beautiful. We continued on to our new home of Amiens, but stopped for a beer or three at a little cafe called Le Canberra in Bullecourt. The streets of the town are often named after Australiana like rue de Melbourne and rue de 11 Novembre. They love everything Australian, and have lots of memorabilia and kitsch on shelves or hanging on walls. It’s very touching.
Dinner was in the hotel tonight. The meal was OK, but they ran out of draught beer after 30 minutes, and then bottled beer shortly after. Organisation: 0/10. More battlefields tomorrow.