Peronne, the Somme

We drove out of the champagne area in sunshine on ‘World Champagne Day’ - thank you George for the info.

There were lots of interesting sites along the way including war memorials and graveyards.

We arrived at the Australian 2nd Division Memorial in Peronne on the Somme and learned in 5 steps at each location about the battle.

Step 1 - the church.

A lot of the success was down to General Monash’s good planning and taking an unexpected route over the Somme to surprise the Germans from behind. The Australians then took the hill Mont Saint Quentin , a strategic spot that the Germans had been holding for some time above Peronne village.

Step 2 - the monument with a lot of photos.

Step 3 - the field overlooking the approach they took. There was an old French man sitting on the memorial box. He had lived in the area all his life so he was quite used to tourists and quite friendly. However he didn’t bother getting up.

Step 4 - climbing the hill towards the highest point.

Step 5 - beside an old abbey wall just below the summit. Showing a photo 5 minutes after they took the hill - with a lot of destruction. There is an unexploded shell still imbedded in the wall.

Step 6 - there was a lot of fire coming from 1 large crater in the woods. Captain Sullivan went to eliminate it. The field beside us was covered in craters from all the shelling. The ponies didn’t seem to mind - I hope they don’t step on an unexplored bomb!

After our little walk we drove to the supermarket for a stock up and then the campsite du Port de Plaisance right on the river Somme. There were only a few vans there si the system was to choose your own site. We went up the end away from everyone. It was the first time for ages that it was warm enough to sit outside.

Later over dinner we had a sparkling wine to celebrate world champagne day.