Day 27 - Respect

When walking across the rolling verdant landscape of Picardy, with the trees now in bud, it is hard to imagine how it would have looked in 1916. It is only the numerous monuments, memorials and cemeteries that anchor you to the scale of the human tragedy that took place here. We cannot, nor should we, undo these events, even though there is a vocal minority that would like to. What we can do, is visit and pay tribute to the thousands of young men who gave their all for their country, irrespective of race, creed or colour. It is a sobering, emotional privilege to walk across the Somme and we should take heed of the final words of Lieutenant Colonel John MaCrae’s poem in Flanders Fields:

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from falling hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

After a good sleep, a couple of medicinal beers, some nurofen, not to mention half a roll of support tape and Isla was ready tackle day 27. In her words ‘I haven’t walked 750km to miss out on the f**king bit that I most wanted to see.’ We had discussed for some time changing the route on Day 27 and 28 to maximise our time on the Somme, which now, considering Isla’s injury, seems a sensible idea. So today, rather than follow the southern bank Somme we took a taxi out to Guiliemont, which is a small village that sits approximately on the right flank of the 1916 British attack. From there we walked just under 25km into Albert.

Having spent most of the last 10 days ‘TABing’ along towpaths, passing the occasional WW1 site, we immediately noticed a difference as soon as we set of from Guiliemont, passing a memorial to the men of Jersey who died on the Somme, fighting as an attached unit to the Royal Irish Rifles. From a population of 50,000 around 1,500 Jersey men made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.

From Guiliemont, we followed the road northwest to Longueval. Our Linesman trench map indicated that a German trench system and field defences (presumably the second or third line) had run parallel to this road before combining with more detailed defences around the village and within Delville Wood. The attack on Longueval and Delville Wood took place between 13th and 18th July 1916. It was a hard-fought affair, where the South African Brigade was ‘bloodied’ on the Western Front; 3,200 South African soldiers went into Delville wood with only 143 surviving only 3 days of fighting. Today the South African Memorial and Delville Wood cemetery stand as a peaceful reminder of the courageous actions of the South Africans and British soldiers that fought and died here. The visitor centre, run by a lovely South African lady called Michelle, details the history of South Africa’s participation in WW1. Michelle gave us an insight into places that we might wish to visit, whilst making us our first daytime cup of coffee. We also bumped into our WW1 tourists in 4 weeks; 3 generations, father, son and grandson from Brighton making their first visit to the Somme.

Heading west from Delville we stopped at Caterpillar Valley cemetery. Caterpillar Valley was the ‘jumping off’ point for the assault troops involved in the 13th to 18th July attack. A beautifully maintained cemetery, where over 5000 British and Commonwealth soldiers are buried, most killed during July 1916. Of note is 36784 Private FC Shackell of the Royal Berkshire Regiment, killed on 22nd September 1916, whose great-granddaughter, Keela, we met signing the visitors register. She was understandably moved, having just found his grave, and kindly shared her great-grandfather’s story and allowed us to take her photo as she stood proudly by.

We dropped down towards Mametz, one of the few primary objectives taken on 1st July 1916, passing Flat Iron cemetery nestled in the shadow of Falt Iron Copse. Flat Iron Copse was taken by the 3rd and 7th Divisions on 14th July 1916 as a pre-cursor to the Battle for Bazentin Ridge and became a forward dressing station and field burial site. Passing the 38th Welsh Division monument, a red dragon on high ground stares defiantly out over Mametz wood, the Division’s objective on 1st July 1916. We headed on to Mametz and Fricourt and then finally across to the Lochnagar Crater, just outside La Boiselle. Named by the British after a 60,000-pound mine (27 tons) one of 19 mines, that was detonated minutes before the first wave of British troops went over the top. The 34th Division attacked this sector, with the Grimsby Pals taking the crater. Sadly, the troops on either flank were driven back by heavy German machine gun fire, leaving the battalion in the crater with its flanks ‘hanging’. The 34th Division sustained some of the heaviest casualties on the first day with over 11,000 men killed, wounded or missing. Today the enormous crater (large enough to contain a jumbo jet) is privately maintained and is a reminder of ferocity of fighting on the Somme.

The cold wind which had plagued us all day was now joined by heavy rain showers which saw us walk into La Boiselle, hoping to find the ‘Blighty’ Tea Room open and a chance to shelter and dry off. Like many others sadly it was closed, so damp and disappointed, we about turned and headed down ‘Sausage Valley’ into Becourt, passing Becourt Cemetery containing over 700 British soldiers killed on the Somme.

Having spent a thoroughly interesting and life-affirming day on The Somme, we finally made it into Albert around 1700, delighted to find a kettle in our room enabling us reflect on the day whilst enjoying that most British of pleasures, a good old cup of tea.