Australian 1st Division Memorial
Day 3
The final day of our tour once again started with a hearty breakfast in Colin's kitchen. Our final half day would be mainly composed of sites locally around Martinpuich. We thus set out for the village of Pozières.
Our first stop was just outside the village at the Australian 1st Division memorial.
Australian 1st Division Memorial
Just across the road from the memorial are the remains of Gibraltar, a German blockhouse that commanded sweeping views of advancing troops, until it was captured by soldiers of the Australian 1st Division's 2nd Battalion on 23 July, 1916. The remains of the blockhouse are in disrepair but Colin told us that there are moves to restore and preserve the location. From a viewing platform you get an excellent view of the country side as well as the Australian 1st Division memorial.
Just past the town of Pozières, on the side of the road lies the Windmill site.
Windmill Site
Originally, just past the German trench lines, atop a small hill stood an old windmill. The plaque that stands at the end of the path explains the significance of the site. It reads :
| THE RUIN OF POZIERES WINDMILL WHICH LIE HERE WAS THE CENTRE OF THE STRUGGLE IN THIS PART OF THE SOMME BATTLEFIELD IN JULY AND AUGUST 1916. IT WAS CAPTURED ON AUGUST 4TH BY AUSTRALIAN TROOPS WHO FELL MORE THICKLY ON THIS RIDGE THAN ON ANY OTHER BATTLEFIELD OF THE WAR |
Colin told that the cost to take this small piece of ground was over 6,000 Australian lives in a period of about twenty four hours. As I walked to the top of the small mound where the windmill once stood and gazed out over the now peaceful French countryside it is hard to imagine what it must have looked like back then. Comprehending the lost of life is also staggering, it would like asking 6,000 people to stand in the fields and all fall down at once.
Just across the road from the Windmill site is the British Tank Memorial that commemorates the first use of armoured fighting vehicles by British forces in the region.
British Tank Memorial
At the base of the pillar of the memorial you will find replicas of four different types of British tanks used during the time.
Just north of Pozières is Mouquet Farm, the scene for some epic battles by Australian forces towards the end of their time in Pozières.
There is not a lot to see here but the location is marked by a battle plaque. In the distance you can see the location of the farm built after the War. Colin pointed out the location of the original farm as well as the location of the major encounters between Australian and German troops as well as the German strong points that proved impossible for the Australians to overcome. Although the Australians lost many lives trying to take the position it proved to too strong and dogged all resisted Australian attempts to take it.
From here, we proceeded to the objective of the Pozières attacks - Thiepval.
British Memorial
Perched atop a strategic hill, the British memorial at Thiepval can be seen for miles around. It is the World's largest war memorial with the names of 72,085 British and South African troops missing in action or with no known grave. At the back of the memorial is a cemetery in which lay an equal number of unknown British and French soldiers. It serves as a reminder of the alliance between these two nations and the men from both countries that gave their lives to the cause.
Shared cemetery at rear of British Memorial
No far from Thiepval is another unique memorial to Allied fighting men. The Ulster Memorial is once again a very unique structure on the battlefields.
Ulster Tower
The Ulster Tower is a tribute to all the Ulstermen who died in this location and elsewhere on the Western Front. The tower is an exact copy of the tower that is located on the grounds of Clandeboyne, County Down where the 36th trained before arriving on the Western Front. The original tower in County Down was a memorial to Helen, mother of the Marquis of Dufferin, located in the family park.
Every day, except Mondays, the tower is open for inspection and contains some interesting exhibits. Unfortunately, being Monday we had to miss out on what Colin assured us was a very worthwhile site.
The last town we visited was Albert, where the famous fallen Madonna was situated. During an initial attack, early in the war, the statue of the Madonna on the church spire was left hanging parallel to the ground, but still attached to the spire. There it remained perched for months. Many believed that when the Madonna did finally fall the war would end. Unfortunately it did fall, but a few months before the actual end of the war. Today the Madonna statue has been restored to its erect position above the church spire. Albert is a very pretty town and has many memorials to battles found in its vicinity. It also has a very good museum that, unfortunately, was flooded during our visit. Colin once again pointed many interesting features of the town that would have gone unseen to the average visitor.
We were now nearing the end of our tour and started back towards Amiens, where we would catch a train to return us to Paris. On the way Colin stopped by the side of the road to show us examples of the military hardware that farmers in the region still recover when they plough their fields.
Unexploded ordnance is still dug up every year
Local farmers collect shells, like those in these images, and leave them on the side of the road for the French military to take and dispose of. The problem is that much of this ordnance remains unexploded and potentially unstable. Unsuspecting ( or STUPID in my books ) tourists actually take these items home as souvenirs ! Knowing the potential results of unstable ammunition we were more than happy to leave all these items to the French military for proper disposal.
Unexploded ammunition awaiting collection
After what seemed like such time we were once again back at Amiens station awaiting another train trip. We thanked Colin very much for all his time and hospitality and bid him farewell as he went looking for his next tour party. We had seen so much in just a few days and it had left an indelible mark upon us all.
To anyone who has the time to visit the region, I strongly recommend that you do. You don't get a true indication of the mark that Australian left on the region unless you do. There are many self drive tours, but to get a real feel for the places I highly recommend a guide and from everything we saw, there is no doubt that Colin Gillard is the best in the business ! We can not recommend him highly enough. For those that may wish to contact Colin directly his email address is : colingillard@infonie.fr
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