Stay: Ieper free parking along the canal N50*50.8302 E2*53.6016'
Spent the better part of the day exploring Ieper on foot.
30 August 2013
Fromelles France to Ieper, Belgium
Travelled: 111km
Stay: Ieper - parking along the moat near Menin Gate N50°50.8302' E2°53.6016' / 50.84781, 2.8933
Another foggy start to the day. We drove through Arras on the way to the Vimy Ridge Canadian War Memorial. As we approached the sun broke through the fog, shining on the beautiful monument built here.
We then journeyed onto Fromelles, where we stopped at the newly built Pheasant Wood Cemetery in which the recently exhumed bodies of Australian soldiers found in a field nearby.
We also went to the 'Cobbers Statue' which commemorates the bravery of those who ventured into no mans land to rescue the wounded, and to the VC Corners Australian Cemetery, which contains the graves of 410 soldiers, unknown by name, who fell in an attack at Fromelles on 19/20 July 1916. There is also a memorial to 884 Australian soldiers who fell in action and whose graves are unknown.
We then drove to Ieper/Ypres Belgium and found a lovely quiet spot along side the moat just down the road from Menin Gate. Later after dinner we went to listen to the Last Post which is played every night since 1928.
Stay: Ieper - parking along the moat near Menin Gate N50°50.8302' E2°53.6016' / 50.84781, 2.8933
Another foggy start to the day. We drove through Arras on the way to the Vimy Ridge Canadian War Memorial. As we approached the sun broke through the fog, shining on the beautiful monument built here.
After admiring the 10 statues and the shear scale of it, we made our way to the visitors centre, where a Canadian student gave us a free tour of the trenches and tunnels used in the battle in 1917. At one point the Canadian and German trenches were only 25m apart!
We then journeyed onto Fromelles, where we stopped at the newly built Pheasant Wood Cemetery in which the recently exhumed bodies of Australian soldiers found in a field nearby.
We also went to the 'Cobbers Statue' which commemorates the bravery of those who ventured into no mans land to rescue the wounded, and to the VC Corners Australian Cemetery, which contains the graves of 410 soldiers, unknown by name, who fell in an attack at Fromelles on 19/20 July 1916. There is also a memorial to 884 Australian soldiers who fell in action and whose graves are unknown.
We then drove to Ieper/Ypres Belgium and found a lovely quiet spot along side the moat just down the road from Menin Gate. Later after dinner we went to listen to the Last Post which is played every night since 1928.
29 August 2013
Somme Battlefields Day2 France
Travelled: 62km (same as yesterday, how spooky is that!)
Another busy day visiting Australian Monuments in the Somme Battlefields.
Stay: Bullecourt - car park free, no services N50°11.6880' E2°56.2872' / 50.19485, 2.93811
Another busy day visiting Australian Monuments in the Somme Battlefields.
Began with the 3rd Australian Division Memorial. Even though their first battle was in Belgium, the memorial is built here where they fought in March 1918.
We then proceeded to Albert, which we had visited 10 years before. We had a look at the Basilica which had been severely damaged by 2000 shells in WW1 but now beautifully restored.
Our next stop was at the 1st Australian Division Memorial at the 'Gibraltar Site'in Pozières where they had captured the town on 23 July 1916.
On the way to Thiepval we then found the memorial for the battle at Mouquet Farm starting on the 5 August 1916.
We spent some time reading and looking at the British Memorial in Thiepval before we had a stop in Bapaume.
Having decided to continue on, we stopped at the Australian memorial at the Windmill Site just out of Pozières where there were extensive Australian losses.
Our final stop for the day was just outside the town of Bullecourt to see the the statue of the 'Bullecourt Digger' . In the surrounding fields 10,000 Australian soldiers lost their lives. So so sad. The surrounding fields are scattered with poppies and you can understand why it is the symbol of remembrance.
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