Europe 2025

One thing about this Back Roads tour is that the days are very busy. Other tours gave us some free time in each of the places we visit but so far with this one we have only had an hour or so. Not that this is a bad thing, the content of the tour is fascinating it’s just that it makes it hard to keep my dear readers informed of our activities!

Today started early. Being a Saturday breakfast didn’t start until 7.30 so Trace and I went for a walk around the main square in Ypres. They were setting up for their Saturday markets and there were all kinds of things available - cheeses, seafood, bread, pastries, flowers, and more. A shame we couldn’t have a look when it was all set as it was going to be a big event!

After breakfast we left Ypres and headed out to Rue Petillion Cemetery to learn about the treatment of wounded soldiers and the development of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

After the second Boer War the British army changed their approach to medical treatment. By the time WW1 came it was a bit better but there was still only one doctor per thousand men. If a soldier was wounded their first stop was the Regimental Aid Post, they were either brought in by stretcher bearers, their mates, or they walked. The RAP was within range of guns at the front and was really only a triage station so if you had hope of surviving they sent you back to the Advanced Dressing Station. This was further back out of range of machine guns and here they further triaged and may do some basic treatment - like putting on a dressing. Then you were passed on to the Casualty Clearing Station which is more like a field hospital. In theory the CCS could move if essential, it was usually out of artillery range.

The aim was to get you reasonably stable so you could get to the larger General Hospital which was usually on the coast and they would pass you on the one of the big hospitals in the UK. Once you were on the road to recovery you went to a Convalescence hospital after which you were sent back to your unit or were invalidated out of the army.

It sounded very cumbersome and slow. One of the really noticeable things as you drive around this part of Europe is the huge number of cemeteries. These cemeteries were typically located where one of these treatment facilities were.

The army also needed to do better than the simple wooden crosses used to mark graves. They started recording where people were buried and to also make the grave markers more durable. The Imperial War Graves Commission was set up and gave us the Portland Stone headstones we have today and they also manage the multitude of cemeteries spread around the world.

The Rue Petillion Cemetery was next to an aid post. It is different in that it actually has a couple of Indian soldiers buried here.

After this we headed to the site of Australia’s worst day of the war, Fromelles. It was only ever meant to be a diversionary attack to take the pressure off the Somme but it was poorly planed and badly managed. In July 2016 inexperienced Australian soldiers were expected to attack well fortified positions across flat ground with no cover and no artillery support. Of course it was a disaster with 5533 Australian casualties.

The Sugar Loaf was a well positioned German strong point that stuck out into no man’s land and fired along no man’s land so it mowed down anyone that moved. The high water table meant the allies couldn’t dig trenches instead they dug what they could and then put walls in front and behind the trench. After the battle the Germans put 250 Australians and British soldiers into a mass grave which remained lost until 2006 when an Australian historian worked out where the grave was and the remains were found. This led to the creation of the first new cemetery on the western front in 50 years.

We went through the Fromelles museum which did a good job of explaining the battle. There is also a statue there of an Australian carrying one of his wounded mates.

The statue is right next door to the VC Corner Cemetery which is the only all Australian cemetery on the Western Front.

By 1917 the Germans were aiming to hold the ground they had so they built concrete bunkers and extensive trench systems. They also always aimed to hold the high ground where ever possible. This meant it was very difficult for the allies to dislodge them.

Of course a lot of Germans died in the war and had to be buried so there is a large German cemetery at Neville-St.-Vaast. They do it a bit different, each cross has 4 names on it, two on each side. The cross states the soldier’s name rank and date of death. This cemetery has 45000 graves.

Nearby is the large French cemetery with 11500 graves. They get a cross with their name, date and the statement ‘He died for France’.

We moved on to the town of Arras. This town was always close to the front line. Under the town is a network of tunnels that dates back to medieval times when they wanted limestone blocks for building. In 1917 it was decided to expand and connect many of these tunnels so the allies could launch a surprise attack close to the German lines. Much of the tunnelling work was done by New Zealanders. It is a constant 12 degrees in the tunnels and it was chilling to think of the close to 40000 troops who lived in these tunnels in the days before the attack.

One of the key places I wanted to see was the Bullecourt battlefield as this is where Uncle Norm was injured and subsequently captured. Our guide explained where the front lines were and what happened on 11 April 1917, even I could see this was a really bad idea. The whole area is in a basin surrounded by Germans on the higher ground. Of course it was a disaster and then they tried again on 3 May - at least this time they had some artillery support and so it was a little more successful.

It was emotional walking the field where it all happened and seeing what little they achieved for the massive losses. Like I said WW1 was very different to any previous war but you would have thought by 1917 they would be starting to learn how do things. It’s also amazing to think of what drove Australians to volunteer to go fight on the other side of the world.

We stopped off at the Bullecourt Digger statue which was stunning against the autumn colours.

Our stop for the next two nights is in Amiens in a small hotel right next to the Cathedral.Leggi altro