The Great War, Somme

[george013]

For me a Dutchman the Great War isn't a living story. It does in Belgium, France and the Commonwealth. Being in France on the Somme I understand why.
The Somme is a place where the British fought, just as in Flandres. The neigbourehood is full of that time. Full of British wargraves, memorials and if you look to the ground you will find all kind of things from that time.

The Thiepval Memorial.

Behind that cross, the cross of sacrifice, there is a graveyard with British and French soldiers.




The battlefields of the Somme. This monument bears the names of over 72.000 British and South African missing soldiers.




The graveyards were build at the place where the bodies where first burried. This one was a trench. They all died 1st july 1916.




I want to finish with this grave. It's said that when Eric Bogle wrote his song Nomansland he was thinking of this grave.


And the song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkhBvO8_kM

George

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Very sobering when you look at the ages of the dead.

They were just kids.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Texas Dave]

I agree with Alan, very sobering indeed. Nicely captured and thankful for your sharing.

[rpcrowe]

The Somme was a horrific debacle which doesn't take anything away from the outstanding bravery of the British and South African forces.

[george013]

The Somme was a horrific debacle which doesn't take anything away from the outstanding bravery of the British and South African forces.

A debacle still visible there. From the Commonwealth War Grave Commission http://www.cwgc.org/somme-history.aspx the end of 1st July

By the day's end, some 57,000 Commonwealth and 2,000 French soldiers had become casualties, of whom more than 19,000 had been killed. At Beaumont-Hamel, the Newfoundland Regiment of the British 29th Division was destroyed, suffering 85% casualties. Overall, most of the Commonwealth dead were British volunteers of the 'New Armies', and many belonged to 'Pals' battalions: men from the same towns, social clubs or places of work who had volunteered, trained and fought together. This had a profound impact on their communities in Britain, shaping the collective memory of the conflict.

The bold is from me. I believe it happened more in Europe that units were formed from villages etc. In that first day many village in France and England turned to be villages without vivid men.
In Amsterdam during the Great War there was a potato revolt. Army was send to protect the warehouses with potatoes but they refused to shoot. It where boys from Amsterdam that were ordered to shoot at their own mothers. Since then you were always placed somewhere else.

Don't forget, to fight a war you always must have two parties. There is also a German part that suffered the same way. On the British graveyard near Yper, Belgium they are rememberd too.



George

[Donald]

Don't forget, to fight a war you always must have two parties. There is also a German part that suffered the same way.

Indeed. And if anyone is visiting the WW1 battlefield (though not specifically the Somme), one place you should consider going is the German war cemetery at Langemark in Belgium. A very different place than the many French and British commonwealth cemeteries.

If you are ever visiting the Thiepval memorial (first picture) - As you walk up to the momument from the visitor centre, instead of immediately turning right up the the memorial itself walk straight on, on a path through some trees and then out into a track on open fields. Walk for about 500 metres/yards. That is you on the Leipzig Redoubt (you can Google that).

On the morning I was there, we were the only people. It was silent ... apart from the sound of skylarks singing in the sky above us. A profoundly moving moment in my life.

Incidentally, when I was there, I managed to locate two names of young men who are also named on the war memorial in our little village. Had done a lot of research before we left and knew which panel on the memorial their names were on.

[IzzieK]

Very touching series, George and the way you put them together with your narrative is very remarkable. Thank you for sharing.

[John 2]

What hits me hardest is the average age of the soldiers buried there. Many of them still in their teens and denied the best part of their lives.

[Suzan J]

Hello George: Thank you for posting these images. We are going to visit the Somme and other locations in September of this year with a tour company. After having done some genealogical research my husband has found ancestors who participated in the Great War. I'm looking forward to seeing these sites in person.

[selig1656]

Serene and well done the series.

[george013]

Thanks, I'm glad it's appreciated.

The land is still showing results of the war. By example the Lochnagar Crater. British miners digged a tunnel til under the Germans and filled it with an explosive. The crater was about 100m wide and 20 meters deep.
In Belgium there is still a huge mine that didn't detonate. Original there where 2 but one exploded in 1955.
http://www.lochnagarcrater.org/
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/messines.htm


And all over the place smaller or bigger parts of the trenches, canon-foundation.


But also things coming out the ground. You see them everywhere in that part of the countrty.
Somewhere on the road.


We stayed in Cafe Le Tommy. A billboard along the road.


It's enough now.
George

[NorthernFocus]

Very poignant photos and story. There are far too many war memorials in the world.