Eleven Guild members have just returned from an extensive two
day Recce trip to the 1916 Somme battlefields. The Recce was organised by
Dudley Giles and Mark Banning and was specifically designed to show those who
are less familiar with the essential Somme locations where they were, how to
get between them and to note other essential guiding requirements, such as
lunch and comfort stops.
The party travelled together by minibus, driven by Mark and
provided by Backroads Touring as part of the rationale was to keep costs to a
minimum. To that end, we stayed at Snowden House in Longueval, a self catering
location run by Guild Members Richard and Jonathan Porter. The house was plenty
large enough for us all and well equipped for a weekend or longer stay.
Having arrived quite late on the Friday evening, we were off at
a reasonable hour on Saturday. Perhaps understandably, the agenda had been set
to include the 1st July frontline on Day 1, with Day 2 being allocated to the
later actions around the woods and the actions from mid September onwards.
Picking up fellow Guild member Dave Platt from his home in
Auchonvillers, we headed north to Gommecourt, but the February mist was against
us. Dave suggested a further short detour north, to the small communal cemetery
at Bailleulmont, where four soldiers Shot at Dawn are buried, including Alfred
Ingham, the only soldier with that resonant phrase as part of his epitaph.
By the time we returned to Gommecourt, the mist had relented a little,
but not as much as we would have liked. Such are the obstacles to be expected
in February! Nevertheless, maps and photos gave the story, and we continued to
follow the line south throughout the day. The expected locations featured;
Sheffield Memorial Park, the Sunken Lane at Beaumont Hamel, Newfoundland Park,
the Mesnil Ridge, the Ulster Tower and Thiepval. Taking lunch 'on the hoof' we
moved on past Ovillers and down to La Boisselle.
We then went on a 'behind the lines' route towards Heilly Station
Cemetery with its multiple burials and headstone commemorations, many of whom
would have likely died of wounds received during the opening days of the
battle.
Picking up the frontline again at Fricourt, we visited the
Citadel area, the village itself and the German cemetery there, before a walk
to Fricourt New Military Cemetery. Returning to the main road, we stopped at
Devonshire Cemetery, before our final stops at Carnoy and Maricourt, to see the
WFA board to record the joint Anglo-French nature of the battle.
Our day was still to be completed, as we had been invited to the
Somme branch of the WFA meeting in Albert, where we were entertained by a talk
about the 9th Kings Liverpool Battalion during the Great War and had an
opportunity to view the medals of the some of the members of the battalion
featured in the talk, owned by the presenter, Ken Lees.
Day Two saw us attempt to capture the Gommecourt Salient again,
but the mist was even thicker, so we aborted and headed toward Lovencourt and
Forceville, where Dudley explained the genesis of the design principles for
future cemeteries, first put into practise here by the Imperial War Graves
Commission. Then, following invitations from some of our hosts the previous
night, we had a coffee stop at Silent Picket, a new Bed and Breakfast in
Martinpuich owned and run by John and Jennie Knight.
As well as being a welcome break, all of us took the opportunity
to look in at the well appointed rooms which would provide an ideal base for a
small group of battlefield visitors.
After refreshment, we carried on, following the battles from mid
July to the culmination of offensive operations in November. All the woods were
pointed out and ideal stand locations were noted. Conversation, questions and
comments were abounding, with everybody contributing with their own knowledge,
for the benefit of all, surely one of the Guild's best practises.
As the day started to draw to a close, we had a final tea stop,
this time with Kate and Martin Pegler at Orchard Farm, in Combles. Again, rooms
were shown and prices explained, as this is another ideal location for a small
group to base themselves for a couple of days.
Our final evening was a wonderful event, with everyone
contributing to a relaxed meal and ensuring that the bottle bank was well
filled the next morning.
Those attending this Recce were: Dudley Giles, Mark Banning,
Tony Wade, Ran Shepherd, Peter Fensome, Jip Meijer, Charmian Griffiths, Brett
Hayward, Robert Hudd and Hugh and Elke Jenner. Dave Platt was only able to join
us for just half a day, due to other commitments.
Further recces are planned, the Ypres Salient and Normandy being
favoured locations, although with the guiding season soon to be upon us, it is
unlikely that the earliest of these will be until October. If you are not as
familiar with these areas as you would like to be, the consensus from this
Recce was that the input from those who were happy to be the main givers of
information was well worth the cost for a few days with like minded friends on
the battlefields and of enormous benefit for planning further tours to the
Somme.
.JPG) |
| From the Welsh Dragon to FlatIron Copse we walked the ground |
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| Looking over the ground from which the advance was made from Fricourt New Military Cemetery |
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