DAY 2 Friday 13th June
The Somme
33°C was forecasted for today so we were glad to board the air conditioned coach for the trip to the Somme.
Fr Gleeson at Rue du Bois
Our first stop was at Rue du Bois where an almost insignificant little cross with a laminated newspaper article marks the site where Irish Fr Frances Gleeson gave a last general absolution to the Munster Fusiliers on the eve of battle of Aubers Ridge.
A picture of this absolution was requested by the commanding officers wife and painted by Fortunino Matania. The battalion suffered heavily in the battle. Andy, one of our fellow travellers’ great-grand-uncle was one of the soldiers who stood here and later was killed.
Guillemont
As we looked out at the beautiful rolling hills on the way to Guillemnt, Iain told us that this was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the war. And yet Guillemont now was a calm little town of a few houses and a red bricked church. Two memorials stand outside the church, the village’s memorial to its war dead, and a granite replica the famous Ginchy Cross, an Irish Cross to commemorate the victory of the 16th Irish Division in the Battles of Guillemont and Ginchy in September 1916. There were more than 5,000 casualties as the Irish attacked into a hurricane of steel and lead for 10 days. Guillemont was taken in this “battle of little tactical sense and of negligible impact on the war”. (Irish Times)
It was during this battle that 18-year-old Lieut Emmet d’Alton witnessed the death of Tom Kettle, the former Home Rule MP, the same d’Alton who as a 24-year-old major general in the Free State army, cradled the head of the dying Michael Collins at Beal na Bláth.
Other interesting facts about Guillemont:
You could not imagine that you would find the colours of the rainbow inside the drab little church. Look up and you see the ornately painted roof with images of shamrocks and other symbols and the words: C’est ma paix que je vous donne. The left rear of the church has a marble memorial to the 16th Division and a statue of St Patrick.
Something much more surprising was on the baptistry rails opposite – a large photograph of a German soldier, Ernst Junger and an account of his life here, erected by the community in a spirit of magnanimity. He was an officer during the battle but while his entire unity was wiped out, he survived. Jünger was a war diarist, author of Storm of Steel, described by Charles Moore in the Daily Telegraph as “the greatest war memoir I have ever read “. During WW2 he did great work on behalf of Jews, hiding them and helping them to escape.
The community of Guillemont has also named the street above the church the Rue Ernst Jünger, and the street below the Rue de la 16E div. Irlandaise.
Lochnagar Crater
This impressive crater lies on private land and is maintained by donations. It was created by the detonation of a huge mine which had been laid be tunnelers under the German line. The explosion here took place July 1st 1916 and marked the start of the Battle of the Somme.
There is a boardwalk around the crater with a small plaque commemorating someone who fought in a war. There are also information panels with some lovely stories of families and pre- and post- war lives. https://www.lochnagarcrater.org/history/lochnagar-labyrinth/panels-6-10/
Lochnnagar once the bloodiest square mile of ground, the largest crater made in anger by man, now aspires to be a place of peace, remembrance and reconciliation.
The Lochnagar Promise For Peace:
‘In Remembrance of all those
who have suffered in conflict,
and of those who are suffering still,
may we live our lives today with more
Compassion and Kindness,
Understanding and Forgiveness,
Reconciliation and Unity.
Let us now, in their honour,
wage Peace.’
Thiepval Memorial
We stopped at the Thiepval Memorial for lunch, sharing a picnic table with some young secondary school tourists. They had all been given a name to research and now had to find it on the memorial. They were particularly taken with the fact that Pte Reginald Giles age 14 was the youngest soldier to die, younger than any of themselves.
Thiepval is the largest memorial to the missing from any war. 72,000 names are inscribed. The loss of life at the Somme was catastrophic, beyond imagination, these lists and lists of names are just incomprehensible.
Here are recorded names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields July 1915 February 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.
Like the students we lunched with, I too was looking for a name, Tom Kettle (think I impressed Iain by asking about him and luckily he was at hand or I’d still be there reading the 72,000 names!) So why Tom Kettle? He was a Dubliner, reportedly ‘one of the most brilliant minds of his generation in Ireland’, a qualified barrister, a poet, a prolific writer and an MP for East Tyrone. I first read about him as a supporter of Dublin’s locked out workers during the strike in 1913. He joined the Irish Volunteers but rallied to the call to defend Belgium against German invasion. during his days at the Somme he said: If I live, I mean to spend the rest of my life working for perpetual peace. I have seen war and faced artillery and know what an outrage it is against simple men.
His last words were reputedly :“Died not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor/But for a dream, born in a herdsman’s shed/and for the secret Scripture of the poor.”
Ulster Tower
The Ulster Tower is a memorial to the 36th Ulster Division. It stands on what was the German front line during the Battle of the Somme. It was a strongly fortified position which the Ulster Division captured
I think we were all at information overload at this stage and so hot that we bought cold drinks and ice-creams, and taking chairs we sat in the shade of the trees and admired the tower. My phone was dead so no more photos till this evening.
We did take a quick dash to visit the small chapel in the tower where there were pictures of and plaques from various towns around the north and a plaque at the door commemorating the nine men of the Division who were awarded the Victoria Cross
Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial
Almost an entire regiment were slaughtered on the first day of the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel. The objective of the day was to break through the German lines. The Newfoundlanders had already marched for 5 hours when expected to cross the half mile of exposed front. The chances for success were almost non-existent as the Germans were dug-in in deep trenches. Within half an hour 733 of the 801 were killed.
A bronze Caribou Stag was erected in the park and the names of all those who died are inscribed on the monument.
Pozieres Windmill – unplanned stop for Mick the Aussie
The windmill was situated on high ground and was used from September 1914 as a German field artillery observation post and command post. The views were magnificent to the front and rear of this position.
On 1st July 1916 the British offensive had failed in its attempt to capture the position. The 1st ANZAC Corps arrived on the Somme battlefront on 14th July and captured Pozières village. The Irish Division, from Witschaet succeeded in securing the windmill.
The windmill was gradually smashed up by French and then British artillery fire. It was eventually reduced to a pile of rubble. Remains of the windmill and the German blockhouse have been left and grassed over, leaving the undulating ground as a preserved battlefield site at this place.
Tank Corp Memorial, Pozieres
This memorial is just across the road from the Windmill site. In 1919 the Tank Corps applied for permission to put up a memorial on this site comprising a granite obelisk on a plinth with four models of tanks.
Back to Ypres
Attended Menin Gate ceremony again this evening. I didn’t need as good a vantage point as yesterday. A piper also played this evening making it a bit different! Still very moving.
Took suggestion of Hotel for Traditional Restaurant in Grote Markt. All the trad dishes seem to be stew and with 33 degrees heat couldn’t be tempted. So asked for House salad – I should have photoed – enormous – but I managed it. Wine helped!
Watched some BEACH VOLLEYBALL – could you imagine this in Naas??
