Martigny
Like all plans, sometimes you have to deviate from the original one. We decided that a 2 hour dash in the morning for a ferry just was not sensible so broke camp and found one nearer. This is lovely. Half-empty on a lake surrounded by very noisy ducks. Sharing the site with a travellignFrench Firman...
Terlincthun
Wimereux and the surrounding areas were home to a large amount of British Field Hospitals. Troops were shipped to the UK from Boulogne to places like Netley in Southampton. So it's no surprise to find a good many cemeteries here. walking along the rows today we noticed so many like Harry died the da...
La Bien Aussi
Have arrived at our final camp. Home for the next 2 days. This has the feel of being in the New Forest as it's only 20 miles from the Tunnel and Calais ferries, it is bumper to bumper Brits with the odd Dutch thrown in. Having said that it is a lovely place. Hugh pitches with plenty of space., wonde...
Tyne Cot Cemetery
There are no words that sum up the sacrifice one generation of men gave to the rest of us. Almost half the British Empire servicemen who died in Belgium during WW1 are missing. The Tyne Cot memorial commemorates 35,000 British and New Zealand men who have no known grave. Most died during the Battle...
Bruges
Today we thought we would let the train take the strain and travelled to Bruges. I like being a senior. 2 unrestricted return tickets, £15. Result. It was bit of a wet start but by the time we got to Bruges an hour later, the rain had slackened to a drizzle. The food market in the square was in full...
Ypres
Have arrived in Belgium. Arrived on the outskirts of Ypres before we realised we had even crossed the border. So much for Brexit non-open borders, no free passage, passports at dawn and no bacon. What border? I was looking forward to another stamp in my nice new blue passport. Found the Campsite whi...
John Thomas Tibbs 1882 - 1916 Age 34
Roger's Great Uncle - Private - 8th South Staffordshire Regiment 51st Brigade of 17th Division. First landed France & Flanders, 1st August 1915. Killed in Action on Wednesday, 16th February 1916. Named on the Menin Gate The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedi...
William Hackett. 1886 - 1917. Age 31
Roger's Great Roger's Great Uncle. Lance Corporal - Royal Worcester Regiment In mid-June 1917, the 1st Worcesters had marched into the ruined city of Ypres and took over front-line duty at Hooge including Sanctuary Wood and endured four days of shelling. After a few days at Vancouver Camp near Vlame...
Best laid plans of mice and us!
Today's operation Plan A converted to Plan B. We were going to go to Arras by train but today is Whit Monday in France. A bank holiday. Over running engineering works (why does that sound familiar). meant a 1-hour journey was going to take 3 hours. Zut alors!!! Non!! So we caught the train and went...
Happy Birthday to me.
Spent the day in camp. The weather was interesting. One minute thunder and lightning but no rain, the next, monsoon downpour. decided to take the bikes out for an explore of the area between squalls. Found a lovely little bar. they spoke no English so my rusty french was put into action. In the even...
Home for my Birthday
Made it to camp 2, Aubigny Au Bac. A quick fuel top up and a dash into Carrefour for provisions. Roger wanted to buy the masoosive T bone streak that would have fed half of France but we would have needed to mortgage the bus to do so.... The site is Huge! Not just campers and motorhomes but permanen...
Hargicourt
We always knew that this was going to be a challenge as Hargicourt cemetery is in a middle of a field, literally. Down a muddy dirt track took us to a massive field of potatoes. And there it was, pristine, in a field full of spuds, miles from anywhere. we paid our respects, turn the Sat nav on and m...
Bloody Sat Nav!
We were going to stop here to see the museum but being Saturday, it was market day and Peronne has a one-way system that makes Spaghetti junction look simple. Roger was fast losing the will to live as I made him turn around 3 times, eventually, we got the right road. we had turned the Sat Nav off at...
Onward
This morning was slightly cooler as we packed up for our next stop. The next cemetery was going to be a devil to find as it was down a dirt track. Helga, the sat nat threw all her toys out of the pram and had no idea so we had to resort to the AA map of France, paper Version. we have seen some parts...
Arthur Henry Roe. 1893 - 1918. Age 24
Sue's Great Uncle. Private - Machine Gun Corps. On 21 March 1918 when the Germans launched their immense Operation “Michael” offensive, also often known as the “Kaiserschlacht”, Hargicourt quickly fell. The village was blanketed in thick fog and came under exceptionally heavy artillery fire with hig...
Shopping and R &R
Back to the site for an afternoon sitting in the sun. A storm is threatened tonight so going to make the most of it. A quick stop for provisions in Intermarche and a top-up of fuel. I love poking around in foreign supermarkets so gave the local LIdl a miss as no doubt the rubbish in the middle of Li...
Newfoundland ( Canadian Memorial)
The tiny village of Beaumont Hamel is surrounded with Military cemeteries of all nations. I despair to see rows and rows of headstones where the average age of the men (boys) is just 23. What a horrendous sacrifice of a young generation of men. Just down the road from Serre Cemetery was the Newfound...
Lewis Henry Sills. 1885 - 1916. Age 31
Roger's Grandfather. Private - Scottish Rifles Lewis was a career soldier first enlisting in 1907. He was killed in action in 1916 and is remembered on the Thiepval Arch. His body was never found or if it was, he could not be identified. The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war m...
William Arthur Tibbs. 1881 - 1916. Age 35
Roger's Great Uncle. Sergeant - South Staffordshire Regiment Killed in Action Battle of the Ancre, 13–18 November 1916 The Battle of the Ancre was the last big British operation of the year. The Fifth (formerly Reserve) Army attacked the Ancre valley to exploit German exhaustion after the Battle of...
Albert
During WW!, Albert suffered appaling damage. occupied by the Germans in 1914 it was subjected to incessant bombardments. During the Battle of the Somme, the town became a centre for intense military activity. In 1918 Nothing remained of the town but a vast expanse of ruins. The town was completely r...
Jubilee Day
Thanks to multiple TV's on the ferry, we were able to watch the pageantry in London whilst we cruised across to France. nice gentle crossing of 4 hours to sunny Dieppe. no real checks on the french end so we and our contraband Bacon cruised into France. a bit of a hiccough with the sat nav ( she cou...
Newhaven
Our original plan was to go Dover to Calais however the P&O fiasco put paid to that. In fact, it did us a favour, a bit closer to home and not so busy. Ferries from Portsmouth were too far west in France for this trip. We have found ourselves a lovely overnight car park right on the beach and with a...
On the road again
This is the route we will be taking over the next 10 days if you wish to follow us. We have been planning this since the WW1 centenary in 2018 and then Covid got in the way. Made more urgent when we discover that we have direct blood relatives in Commonwealth War graves scattered across France and B...
Harry Rouston. 1885 - 1918. Age 33
Sue's Great Uncle. Private - South Staffordshire Regiment Harry died from his injuries at Wimereux field hospital the day the Armistice was signed and the guns finally fell silent The Rouston family sent 5 to the front only Harry's 2 older brothers returned.