I saw a few as we passed on the motorway Stan but our journeys between cities were quite long (738km's one day alone) and the other lads were losing beer time so in short, no. I will make a point of visiting them the next time I am in that area. The Le Mans 24 hour was just over and that made traffic quite heavy as we headed towards Lille and Ghent.
It's worth a dedicated trip mate. I'm sure the opportunity will arise. Let me know if you are thinking of it, I did it a few years ago with a very good friend of mine (despite being Scottish) who is a real expert on this stuff, knows his way round the battlefields and monuments, has the stories hard wired in. And knows where all the bars are too. I would quite like to do it again, and I'm sure he'd be up for it.
I may well make a dedicated trip at some stage. I have an idea of the geography of the area now so watch this space, as they say.
The number of men to fall from both sides are just horrific, along with the conditions they had to endure. My utmost respect to them all, God bless.
The sound of the whistles after the two minute silence this morning sent shivers down my spine - it is almost impossible to imagine the terror that was going through everyones heads as they headed up the ladders to charge into the enemy.
Just heard a very moving story on the radio about a family who have gone to the site of their grandfather's/great grandfather's death on the battlefield to finally lay him to rest. He was killed on the first day and, like so many, his body was never recovered. His wife, pregnant at the time, wouldn't/couldn't acknowledge his death, and for years, they weren't able or allowed to talk about him. All his photos and belongings were burned on the fire. A terrible, tragic event. RIP.
Stan Apologies for being slightly pedantic but I'd like to acknowledge the thousands of Irishmen who also died that day fighting under the British flag. It's a tragic event that's close to my heart and I'm delighted with your post. My country, previously so caught up in its nationalistic views is only starting to properly acknowledge these fine soldiers who died heroically for a better cause. Ar dheis dé go raibh a n-anamnacha
Would certainly like to visit such places. I have some fellow researchers in England, the Nederlands and Paris who make the pilgrimage to identify Bomber Command crews who crashed in Europe.
Fair point Nuts, I have amended the OP to reflect all the nations which lost men in this terrible event. It's a bit less elegant now but more inclusive, as it wasn't meant just to be about us. I think I am right in saying that it was the British and Irish who suffered most in the first few dreadful hours. Many of them had never seen action before. The two minutes silence at 7.30 this morning, the time the men went over the top, was impeccably observed in my house. I observed it, my daughter and dog were asleep and my wife was on a plane on the way back from working in Boston. But I had the pleasure of talking about it to my daughter giving her a lift into school. She is a well informed young lady, knows all about WW1 from the Russian perspective due to the GCSE she has just finished. But this was news to her, she was genuinely shocked, immediately resolved to learn more about it. Interesting discussion on the radio this morning about the rise in interest and attendance at memorials, Remembrance Day events, visits to the cemeteries etc, which pre dates our revised attitudes to war stemming from Iraq and Afghanistan, In other words it's not political or anti war. Some vicar was going on about the 'search for meaning in our lives'. I think it's more basic - we have an unconscious yearning for a simpler time where people were more concerned about fulfilling their duty than protecting and realising their 'rights', the collective was put before the individual. The tragedy is, of course, that their willingness to be dutiful had such consequences. But our respect for those who did their duty is boundless.
Very moving stuff on Radio 5 this morning from the Battle of the Somme commemoration in Thiepval, France. The old recordings of memories from a few of the survivors were particularly poignant. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04030g8
I was watching this on BBC1 and after a poignant speech they played Edward Elgar's Sospiri and the skies opened up. The rain just came down literally as the music played.
Anybody seen any of these blokes about? Apparently 'ghost tommies' about 1500 of them, have been turning up in train stations, shopping centres, on beaches etc all over the country for the last couple of days. Each carries the name and age if available of a soldier killed on the Somme. Really striking idea. My daughter saw some in Birmingham, when cheered and waved at they simply touched their caps in return.
I heard a clip that was recorded by a Somme veteran 30+ years ago this morning and he said that when they were ordered over the top it was somewhere between bravery and suicide. Sums it up perfectly for me.
