Great Great Uncle Charles

Just beyond Vimy in the town of Neuville St. Vaast we found La Targette cemetery where Great Great Uncle Charles Gray is buried. This is a "British" cemetery but there were almost as many Canadians buried here as there are British. By their headstones its pretty clear that most of these men died at Vimy in the spring and summer after the great push on Easter Monday 1917. Charles died in June of that year. He was buried very close to a number of other Canadians who all died on or around the same day. His plot is beautifully tended with a lovely garden in front of it. A rose, still pretty small, will be growing just in front of him in no time.

Beside La Targette was the first French cemetery that we have come across. The British and Commonwealth cemeteries all have real headstones with country or regimental markers engraved on the top and then the name, rank, company and date of death engraved below. For the most part, the stones are all laid in completely straight lines, all facing the same direction. In contrast, the French cemetery is all white crosses, no headstones, no flowers or anything that seems to mark or differentiate any cross from the next. The French have laid their crosses in interesting patterns that seem to radiate out from a centre point. They are beautifully designed.

Just beyond La Targette and the French cemetery was the largest (and only one we have seen) German cemetery which apparently holds the bodies of some 44,800 soldiers. Theirs are marked by black crosses which are very dramatic. This cemetery was huge - at least double the size of Tyne Cot. Each cross marks the place of 4 soldiers, not just one. There are, amongst the crosses the odd headstone which is engraved with a Star of David, for those Jews that fought and died for Germany the first time around.

Vimy

We left early this morning and good thing. We got lost on our way from Amiens to Vimy - a journey that should have taken about 1 to 1 1/2 hours took us about 2 1/2. We struggled getting out of Amiens and then into and out of Arras, when we should have been able to bypass Arras altogether. In any event, we had given ourselves plenty of time and arrived at Vimy by about 10:30.

Though we arrived in sunshine, within minutes it started to pour as we were half way around the Vimy Memorial. Such a beautiful monument. Very moving. I hope that our pictures do it justice. The landscape is spectacular and its clear why this location was so important for both sides to capture.

After visiting the monument we took a guided tour, again by a Canadian student, who was very informative. We were taken down into the subway system (the 8 meters underground tunnels that led from the front line back). Hard to imagine that people lived and operated in there. We came out of the subway (we were in the Grange Subway line) right into No Man's Land with the German trenches about 25 meters away. We were then able to explore the German trench system. Canada has done a great job restoring some of the actual trench systems so that you get a real sense of what it was like right on the front.

Brugges and Beaumont-Hamel

We awoke (a bit late) to sun today and enjoyed a few hours of sunshine in Brugges. We wandered about the streets and then took a boat trip on the canals around Brugges. It was a wonderful way to see the town. Really photos don't do it justice (and we can't upload them anyway so you will have to take our word for it). We are having troubles uploading pix as we go. They seem to take about 10 minutes each which, at the end of a long day, is too long.

After we left Brugge we headed south west into France and towards Amiens, where we are based for two nights. We had a picnic in Arras en route then decided to head south and leave Vimy for tomorrow. This turned out to be a great idea as the Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel is about 45 minutes south of Arras and would have been a long haul had we tried to do it tomorrow.

After a somewhat lengthier-than-expected drive we came upon the Canadian Memorial at Beaumont-Hamel. By far the most impressive site we have seen so far. This is the site that was purchased by the Newfoundlanders after the war to commemorate the Royal Newfoundland Regiment's heroic efforts in the Somme. Canadian students lead you around the battlefield which remains very much in tact and gives you a real sense of the difficulties that these men faced. We lost close to 800 men in 30 minutes and in one day the British forces lost a total of 60,000 troops. Quite amazing.

Canada (and the Newfoundlanders) have made a beautiful memorial to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment here and this was a wonderful place to visit.

We travelled a further 1/2 hour or so to Amiens where we are now based for 2 nights in a lovely hotel with an amazing view of the 12th Century Cathedral literally across the street. The hotel is quite modern and the service is french....we are not impressed. Iain's meal in the restaurant took 3 tries to get it right (and one hour)... it was unbelievable and Miles would have been in his element ridiculing the French service... We got the meal for free in the end but a sad way to end a great day.

We are well based to head back north to see Vimy tomorrow and then take in the inside of the Cathedral across the street. We will not be visiting the restaurant again and have cursed but a few french people today :)

Menin Gate

At the south end of Iepers is the Menin Gate which is a spectacular memorial to all those who died in the Ypres Salient and who were never found or buried in one of the many local cemeteries. There on the wall (along with thousand and thousands of others) is Alfred Judge Gray, Cathy's Great Great Uncle. We found his name engraved on the wall and were able to leave a small remembrance cross in his honour. At 8:00 every night they play the Last Post here and tonight's event was a special tribute to the Australians. In attendance were the Australian Ambassador and members of the armed forces, other dignitaries, school children and lots of people. It was very moving. After a long day, we headed home to Brugge and have settled in for the night. Pictures to come bit by bit, they are slow to upload...

Canadian Memorials

We visited 3 Canadian Memorials today. One outside of Passchendaele, one at Sanctuary Wood (Hill 62) and the last, on our way home to Brugge at St. Julian - the famous Brooding Soldier. All three were very special. They all have great locations with beautiful views over the hills (the best one probably being at Sanctuary Wood). All are circled by mature maple trees and the sites have been very well kept by either the Canadian Government or the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. They are very special. We all agreed that our favourite was the Brooding Soldier at St. Julian, commemorating the losses at Ypres in the gas attacks. The monument itself is lifelike, sad, pensive and beautiful. It was raining fairly hard when we got there so our pictures may not do it justice.

Hills 60 and 62

Driving around Ieper is interesting. The small roads are not very well marked and despite our thinking that we had enough maps to get by, we were regularly frustrated by non-marked turns. Miraculously, we were still able to find everything we wanted to see. Hills 60 and 62 (strategic strongholds for both the Allies and the Germans) were both amazing. Hill 60 (where the Australians are honoured for their efforts in holding the Hill) is a very natural park. You can walk around (and we were the only ones there) amongst the battlefield, with pill boxes still standing, many craters still in existence. You can't help but appreciate the terrain, pock-marked, hilly and treacherous. We had rain on and off today but can only imagine what it would have been like in the day after all the rain they had. Impassable. Hill 62 was interesting mainly for a small private museum filled with artifacts and photographs. But for the smell of cat piss (which was overwhelming) we could have stayed there for hours and hours taking it all in. Outside of the museum is an unspoiled Canadian trench system. It was remarkable. We only got about 10 steps into the trench before having to turn back. So much water and mud, but nothing at all like what our troops would have encountered. Iain was of course blown away by this place.

Passchendaele

A little outside of the town of Iepers is the town of Passchendaele. There we visited another very interesting museum with a very realistic dugout experience, where you descend some very steep steps into a quite scary series of rooms, which can barely be described as rooms. Iain had gone ahead of the two of us and he was noticeably spooked by the environment.

From the museum we went off to Tyne Cot Cemetery and then to the first of three Canadian War Memorials. Tyne Cot Cemetery was the biggest and best cared for cemetery we saw with another informative Visitors Centre. The flowers planted in this cemetery were gorgeous. The cemetery is built around 3 german pill boxes that still stand.

Just beyond the Tyne Cot Cemetery was the Canadian War Memorial for those that died at Passchendaele - about an acre, set up on a rise, surrounded by Maple trees and a wonderful view of the vicinity.