Pozieres and Thiepval

We got off early as we had a lot to do. We found a garage with LPG for our gas bottle in Albert and filled that up - then filled up the diesel. After we finished and paid the station attendant was outside and we all saw the guy filling up beside us just drive off without paying. Glenn got his rego and I wrote it down for her so hopefully they got their money.

We stopped in Lidl for a few things. Glenn stayed in the car as it seems to be a dodgy area.

He witnessed this truck pull up, 2 cars then pulled up with lots of guys. The truck driver chatted to them then drove off in one of the cars. The guys went into Lidl. As we were leaving they came back out and got into the truck. A bit dodgy.

We kept going on our objectives and arrived at the Lochnagar Crater - a massive big hole in the ground caused by the British tunneling under the German tunnels and blowing them up. Unfortunately the Germans got wind of it beforehand and made sure they were safe. The British soldiers who then got out of their trenches were then cut down with machine gun fire. This day on 1st July 1916 was the worst day for British forces with more than 11,000 casualties for no result. There were all sorts of stories about soldiers on the way around the crater. Also the story of Vera Brittain is inspiring.

We then saw the smaller crater the Glory Hole on the way out of the village - not nearly as big.

Our next stop was the Pozieres Cemetery with British and Australian troops.

The memorial to the Australian 1st Regiment was another 1km further on beside a destroyed German blockhouse that was the centre of a lot of firing.

We stopped into the Tommy Restaurant in Pozieres which contains lots of WW1 memorabilia. It even had fake trenches out the back that you could go into for 7 euro. We didn’t bother as there was plenty to see already.

The next monuments were opposite each other.

The tank monument recognized when tanks were used for the first time. It had 4 small metal models of tanks that were being maintained by 2 chaps from Commonwealth War Graves.

Then across the road was the Windmill memorial to Australian and British forces who eliminated a German post at the old windmill where they had a good view of the area. There were heavy losses here to win this post by the Australians.

We then continued to Thiepval where there is a large memorial and museum - but lunch came first at a little restaurant tucked in between them. As we were cold and hungry we had the 3 course formula for the special price of 20 euro - a bargain. The food was excellent. I had an interesting local dish Ficelle Picardy which is a crepe stuffed with ham and mushrooms in a cheese sauce. It was excellent.

I liked this very French sign.

After that we had the energy for another museum.

This one was different starting with a huge 50 meter frieze on 2 walls by Joe Sacco. It shows the 1st July 2016 showing the stages of the British getting ready - then getting beaten. It’s really well done and quite mesmerizing going through each stage.

The next part was about finding the body of a soldier many years later. Using the belongings of this soldier in the 1990s they managed to figure out it was a David Kitto from Arbroath who was in the Ambulance Division. They do a full burial with honors when they find another body.

There was an aircraft of the time and information to the public on recognizing their own or enemy aircraft.

The next step was to visit the Thiepval Memorial next door with the names of 72,337 missing soldiers from Britain and commonwealth nations.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission keeps records on each person.

Here is an example of William Porteous who went to Watsons Academy, used to live in 14 Arden Street in Edinburgh and was a stockbrokers clerk. His medals were provided by his family for display in the museum.

The memorial is huge - and towers over your head.

It has a nice outlook over the graveyard and fields.

The French graves are looked after differently from the British ones with a lot more vegetation.

We had a wander around in the late afternoon sunshine and found a Peace Garden by an artist who had created bumps to offset the craters made by war - interesting!

We found another monument and went for a wander through the village - rebuilt after the war. It was quiet apart from tractors driving through with sugar beet that they are harvesting - and other things.

We had found out we could stay here overnight. We went back to the van and settled down for night. It was very quiet - just a few cars going past and owls hooting.