‘Ypres’ and ‘The Somme’
Name:_______________________________________________
1
My Name is:
My Link Tutor is:
My roommates are:
Belgium
France
(Comment on the things that you see and
experience: Language, houses jobs etc)
(Comment on the things that you see and
experience: Language, houses jobs etc)
2
Contents Page:
N.B. Shadowed boxes i.e.
indicate an opportunity for you to enhance
your experience of the trip, it isn’t schoolwork but please attempt the task so
that you get the most from the visit. It’s nice to look back at a future time and
reflect on your experiences.
Itinerary (may be subject to change)
(* = Activity page)
Page 1: Visit Details; name, room-mates, link teacher etc.
Page 2: Contents Page
Page 3: Glossary and warning.
Page 4: Why Ypres and the Somme? Map of the Western Front.
Page 5: The Ypres Region map and places of interest.
Page 6: *The Cloth Hall and Ypres ‘The Martyred City’.
Page 7: *‘In Flanders Fields Museum’ and the Menin Gate.
Page 8: *Menin Gate (continued).
Page 9: *’Essex Farm’ Cemetery and Langemark German Cemetery.
Page 10: *Langemark.
Page 11: ‘Hill 60’, ‘Sanctuary Wood’/ ‘Hill62’.
Page12: ‘Tyne Cot’ Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing.
Page 13: * ‘Les Halles d’Ypres’ Poetry exercise.
Page 14: Introduction to the Somme; The Northern Battlefield
Page 15: * ‘Newfoundland Park’- Beaumont Hamel.
Page 16: * ‘Newfoundland Park’- Photograph comparison exercise.
Page 17: * ‘Newfoundland Park’- Map comparison exercise.
Page 18: Ulster Tower Memorial- Thiepval.
Page 19- 24: *‘Thiepval Trail’- Topographical study and walk.
Page 24: *Pozieres/ ‘Gibraltar’ and the Tommy Café.
Page 25: *La Boiselle and the ‘Lochnager Crater’.
Page 26: Albert Town and the Musee d’Abris.
Page 27: Delville Wood/ Butte de Warlencourt
Page 28: Vimy Ridge
Page 29: Reflecting on the Visit
Page 30: Further Reading
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Glossary:
During this visit you will encounter many words, some of which will be new to you, so to
make sure that you get the most from your visit, some are listed below:
Flanders
=
name given to the flat land across N. France and Belgium
Enfilade
=
when soldiers are shot/ attacked at from the side (flank).
Salient
=
a “bulge” which sticks out into enemy land
Artillery
=
large cannons or “guns”
Front line
=
where opposing armies meet
No-mans land
=
space between opposing armies
Passchendaele
=
A village name, also given to the third Battle of Ypres
“Wipers”
=
a nickname given to Ypres by British soldiers
Division
=
a military term approximately 10,000 fighting men i.e. 29th
Division- all armies were organised into Divisions.
WARNING!!
80 years after the war unexploded munitions are still ploughed up in a
dangerous, unstable condition. All such items must be treated with
extreme caution and avoided. This ‘iron harvest’ is still responsible
for death and disfigurement. It is absolutely forbidden that artefacts
such as these are tampered with and under NO CIRCUMSTANCES
picked up.
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Why Ypres and the Somme?
Introduction:
This visit has three main purposes. Firstly, to experience outside of the classroom, the
living aspects of History, in ways that text books never can. Secondly, to link the History of
World War One to the expression, through literature, of what soldiers and civilians
experienced. And thirdly, to experience a foreign culture in an age when the world has
literally got smaller due to new technology and the European Union.
Ypres and the Somme were selected, not by us the teachers, but by History itself. Any map
will show you just how close Ypres and the Somme are to the Channel coastline and how
Britain could never allow an enemy to occupy that part of the coast. Britain had to fight in
World War One; of that there is no question because the German decision to invade Belgium
meant war for Britain. For a fuller appreciation of the strategy see the map below:
The Western Front 1914-18:
Flanders and the
Ypres Salient
The Somme
Region
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Ypres in particular has had great deal of importance for Britain. For over 300 years British
soldiers have been dying there, fighting at different times against the French, Germans and
Spanish.
Read the article by Paddy Griffith.
The French regard the Somme region as the ‘terre sacre’ (sacred earth). During the First
World War the British did not arrive there until late in 1915 after the French asked the
British to take over more of the Western Front.
Belgium the Country and Ypres the town:
Places that we will be visiting in the Ypres Salient:
‘Essex Farm Cemetery’
Menin Gate,
‘In Flanders Fields’ Museum,
‘Tyne Cot Cemetery’ and Memorial to the Missing
‘Hill 62’
‘Sanctuary Wood’
Langemark German Cemetery
‘Hill 60’
‘Hell fire Corner’
Poelkappelle British Cemetery.
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Ypres: ‘The Martyred City’
A medieval town of outstanding architectural significance is how Ypres would have looked in
1914. Contrast the pictures below to see how 4 years of battle took its toll.
The Cloth Hall
St Martin’s
Cathedral
The Grote
Markt
The Cloth Hall (Ypres) during and after the War.
Ypres made a great deal of money in the 13th – 15th centuries as a trading centre for cloth.
The profits of this paid for the magnificent “Cloth” Hall and St Martin’s Cathedral which are
the main feature of the town square or ‘Grote Markt’. It is hard to imagine that since 1918
these two buildings have been totally restored, as has 99% of the town.
Belgium is a nation divided into two groups: Flemish and Walloon. Walloons speak French and
the Flemish speaks a dialect similar to Dutch called “Flemish”. You will see both languages
around the town, as well as may English names.
The English language influence comes from the fact that the British fought in and around
Ypres for four years 1914 – 18. British soldiers, who were never the best at learning
languages, made up their own versions of Flemish/French names i.e.
Wytschaete =
Ypres
=
Ploegsteert =
Poperinghe =
“White Sheet”
“Wipers”
“Plug Street”
“Pop”
Activity: There are allegedly over 20 different ways of spelling Ypres – how many
can you find during your visit: (There is a prize for the most variations found)
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‘In Flanders Fields’ Museum (Ypres):
Based on the main square or Grote Markt this museum has been totally refurbished in
recent years. There are traditional displays of memorabilia, such as artefacts and models,
but also multi-media interactive displays which give a real empathy with people from the
past, both soldiers and civilians.
“No boring stuff like other museums” – British schoolboy on a visit.
The Menin Gate:
Opened in 1927 and designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield, this is the most important monument
in Ypres. Originally there was no gate here, but as a record to the 54.896 men who have no
known grave (up to August 1917) it was deemed fit to erect a gate and inscribe all the names
by regiment. Every night at 8 o’clock the haunting bugle call, known as the last post, is
played by the local Fire Brigade, as a mark of respect from the good people of Ypres. (The
only exception was during World War Two when the Germans occupied the city).
You can access the city ramparts and take in the size of the memorial by using the
stairways.
Activity: What is your impression of this memorial?
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The Menin Gate:
Activities:
1. Try to find a panel with your with your surname on it.
2. Describe the ceremony of the Menin Gate and how you felt when you
experienced the bugle call of the ‘last post’.
3. How did you feel when you found the soldier you were looking for?
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The Cloth Hall
The Fire
Brigade
Buglers
Essex Farm Cemetery:
The name ‘Essex Farm’ was given by British soldiers in World War One and there are many
interesting aspects to this cemetery. Firstly, you will see the memorial erected in 1985 to
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (R.C.A.M.C.)
The story goes that McCrae was operating on wounded soldiers near to the concrete bunkers
on the canal bank and saw a poppy gently in the breeze on the damaged soil. He was so
moved that he wrote the famous poem – “In Flanders Fields” (see at the front of this
booklet).
Visit the restored concrete bunkers (left of the cemetery towards the canal bank) and
imagine what conditions were like to treat the wounded soldiers.
In the cemetery itself, there are over 1,000 soldiers from British and Commonwealth
regiments, one of which is Private Strudwick aged only 15 when he was killed in 1916. Spare
him a thought on your tour; use the register to find his final resting place.
Activities:
1. Describe the Essex Farm Cemetery:
2. Find the grave of Private Strudwick- is it different to some of the others?
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Langemark:
This pace has a special significance, as it is one of the first places that the Germans used
poisonous chlorine gas on 22nd April 1915. The village was fought over many times and by
1918 there were no buildings left standing at all.
German cemeteries are very different to British ones and it is hoped that you will be able to
compare them for yourselves. You will have been brought today to the German Military
Cemetery, the ‘Soldatenfriedhof’.
The whole cemetery is a place of commemoration, with chapels that record the names of
those known to have been buried here, including many students. There are two sections to
the graveyard:i)
‘Alterfriedhof’ (old cemetery): under the shadow of the great oak trees and has
grey slatish stones with names in white lettering. Here lie 10,143 of whom 3,835
are unknown. Scattered around are small basalt crosses. You will also see the’
Kamaraden-grab’ – the mass grave of 24,834 men. If you look up you will see
the brooding figures of mourning comrades.
ii)
‘Einbuttungs freidhof-Nord’ (Northern graveyard). Here you will find 3
concrete bunkers, which formed part of the heavily fortified “Langemark Line”, a
line of trenches and bunkers, which were very costly to British soldiers. 9,475
men lie buried here and there are many memorials.
Langemark is a forbidding, gloomy place with an atmosphere not like any other place on
the Western Front.
Activities: How is Langemark German Cemetery different to the British
cemeteries? Think about lay out and the grave stones etc:
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‘Hill 60’
This was a notoriously dangerous place throughout the war. ‘Hill 60’ gained its name
because it is 60 metres above sea level, nearby is ‘Hill 62’. The hill is actually spoil from
the railway, when it was dug in the 19th century.
Both sides dug mines under each other’s trenches and on the other side of the railway is
‘Caterpillar Crater’, blown up using 70,000lbs of explosive, creating a 90foot deep crater.
There is also Hill 60 crater, which was 60ft deep, and 260ft across the rim.
In the area of ‘Hill 60’ is an original German bunker and around the unevenness of the
ground is caused by old trenches and dugouts.
There is a café across the road selling refreshments and you can view some of the
battlefield debris that has been found in the surrounding area of Hill 60.
This author’s grandfather was involved in the fighting for Hill 60 and in 1915 as part of the
1st Battalion Cheshire Regiment was blown up here and buried alive, he was only located
because his fingertips were showing and moving above the soil.
‘Sanctuary Wood’/Hill 62’:
So called because in 1914 soldiers hid in this wood for shelter. By 1916 all of the trees were
shot to pieces and the land became a quagmire. Bunkers and strong points were built as the
ground was fiercely contested. You will have walked through the museum to get to the
originally built trenches (re-excavated). See the picture below:
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‘Tyne Cot’ Cemetery (and Memorial to the Missing):
‘Tyne Cot’ was given this name by men of the British 50th Division. It is the largest of all
of the British/Commonwealth cemeteries, with 11,908 graves. ‘Tyne Cot’ is situated on a
slope and further up on the slope is the village of Paschendaele (Passendale), which is often
regarded as the worst battle of the war (July – November 1917). Passendale was seen as the
typical muddy, “lunar” landscape vision from hell that is associated with World War One.
The Great Cross is built above an original German bunker. There are 34,880 names on the
panels to the missing, whom disappeared between August 1916 to November 1918. From the
cemetery across the road, in the distance, is Ypres. Such a view in 1914-18 would have been
impossible.
Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial to the missing:
The
Great
Cross
built
above
German
bunkers
The
memorial
to the
missing
Activities:
1. Stand in front of the gate way and turn to face the view behind. Can you see
the spires of Ypres?
2. Make your way to the Cross of Sacrifice. Look back towards the coach and
comment on the field of fire that the German Machine gunners in the
Concrete bunker beneath your feet, would have had.
3. Walk to the Panels at the Far end of the Cemetery. How do feel looking at
the names of men who still lie in the fields around you?
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‘Les Halles d’Ypres’:
A tangle of Torn iron rods and spluttered beams,
On brickwork past the skill of a mason to mend:
A wall with bright blue poster-odd as dreams
Is the city’s latter end.
A shapeless obelisk looms Saint Martin’s spire.
Now a leaning aiming- mark for the German guns:
And the Cloth Hall crouches beside, disfigured with fire,
The glory of Flanders once.
Only the four square tower still bears the trace
Of beauty that was, and strong embattled age’
And gilded ceremonies and pride of placeBefore this senseless rage
And still you may see (below moon serene,
The mysterious, changeless vault of sharp blue light),
The pigeons come to the tower, and flaunt and preen.
And flicker in playful flight.
By Edmund Blunden (1917) a soldier of the Great War
Activity: Label the images that Blunden uses to describe the cloth Hall
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The Somme:
Day One: the Northern Battle field.
Geography is the dictating factor of battle here. The lie of the land is
known as topography and in the Northern sector the dominating
topographical feature is the high ground. The advantages to an occupying
army are enormous. The high ground is determined by a series of ridges:
Hawthorn Ridge, Redan Ridge, Thiepval Ridge and the highest point on the
Somme the Pozieres Ridge.
Brief History:
The decision to attack on the Somme was made in 1915. It was intended that the French
would attack at the same time as the Russians and the British, this three-pronged attack
was meant to end the war in 1916. However the Germans attacked first and in February they
met the French at the fortress town of Verdun. By the spring of 1916 the French were
desperate for help and urged their British allies to attack on the Somme. The ‘Big Push’ as
the Somme was referred to began on July Ist 1916. Some 12 Divisions of British infantry
attacked the Germans on an 18mile front. The British lost 60,000 soldiers of which 22,000
were killed, most of them in the first 2 hours.
The day was disastrous for many Regiments for example the Newfoundland Regiment at
Beaumont Hamel losing 90% of their strength. This pattern was repeated elsewhere as the
German positions were so strong.
British Generals have come under a lot of criticism for the way that they handled the
Somme Battle, they have been accused of incompetence, in particular General Rawlinson and
Field Marshal Haig. You only have to look at the cemeteries to realise that the Somme is an
emotional place. However recently many historians have come up with other reasons why
there were so many casualties on the Somme and other Great War battles, an old soldier
who had fought on the Somme was once asked:
Interviewer: “Why did Field Marshal Haig kill so many British soldiers”.
Old soldier: “No lad it was the Germans that did that”.
You will form your own views on why the casualties were so high in World war one, but
remember the Germans at the time had the best Army in the World and as one British
General said “What ever you do you lose a lot of men”.
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The D929
road divided
the battle
field into
North and
South
Newfoundland Park- Beaumont Hamel:
The site of Newfoundland Park was the Divisional area of the 29th Division on 1st July 1916.
The area is unusual because it is one of the few places that the Germans were positioned at
the bottom of the hill. The Park is in fact Canadian soil.
Activities:
1. After your introduction to the park. Stand at the foot of the Caribou
Memorial and look down the hill to the old German positions. Can you see
the danger tree? Why do think it was called this?
2. Now walk towards the Danger tree, reflect here and look around. Then
carry on and stop on the German positions. Look back. On the 1st July the
Newfoundland Regiment advanced along the way you have just come, they
lost 90% of their strength (900) men. Most of the soldiers have no known
grave as they were killed in no-man’s land and the German positions were
not taken until November 1916.
3. Now turn to your right and walk around the perimeter of the park, heading
up the incline towards the memorials and the cemeteries. You should see a
large deep trench on your left (which is naturally occurring) this is a called
‘Y Ravine’ and was the centrepiece of the German positions. Look how
strong this position is and the field of fire that the Germans had of the
Newfoundland soldiers. Carry on into the trees and make your way to the
main gate.
4. What is your impression of Newfoundland Park?
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The preserved Trenches: a piece of Canadian soil given to by the grateful French
Nation.
How the Newfoundland Park would have looked at the end of 1916:
‘B’ is ‘Y’ Ravine
Activity: what changes can you see in the photographs?
A Copy of the original Trench map to shows the area covered by Newfoundland Park
and the British Regiments:
17
‘Y’ Ravine
Area that is
now the Park
Activity:
Which features are still recognisable on the 1916 photograph and the Trench map?
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The Ulster Tower Memorial Thiepval:
Ulster Tower (and visitor centre) was built in 1921 to remember the Ulster soldiers who
fought on the Thiepval Ridge. The memorial is an exact replica of a tower in Northern
Ireland (County Down) and it was felt that any returning Irish soldiers who recognise the
tower as symbol of their home land and a fitting tribute to the fallen.
The 36th (Ulster) Division attacked here on the 1st of July, they suffered massive casualties
as they attempted to break through. The failure of the 29th Division across the river Ancre
at Newfoundland Park meant that the Irish soldiers were enfiladed from machine guns in ‘Y’
Ravine. This was a common experience all over the Somme on the 1st July.
If the visitor Centre is open we can get refreshments and see a display to record the
fighting of the Thiepval Ridge.
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8/9.The
Memorial to
The Missing
5.Refle
ction
Point,
X road
Thiepval Trail:
2.Ulster
Tower
4.Mill Road
Cemetery
3. Connaught
Cemetery
10. Leipzig
redoubt
7. The 18th division
memorial and
Chateau
Please refer to the Trail guidance
notes.
1. Start the Walk here at
the German Machine Gun
nest.
Point 1: The Thiepval Machine Gun nest:

Stand on or near the MG nest and face towards the woodland. This wood is Thiepval
wood or ‘Connaught wood’, named so by the Irish soldiers who occupied it on the 1st
July 1916.
Activities:
1. Why do you think the Germans positioned this post here? What views are
provided of the woods and the area towards Newfoundland Park (directly to
your right on the horizon)?
2. How do think the Germans who occupied this post felt on the eve of the battle
with the Irish soldiers only 150 metres away?
Point 2. Ulster Tower:
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
Now walk back down the track towards the coach. Pass Ulster Tower on your left.
Make your way to the Cemetery (Point 3) on your right along the road about 50 yards.
Point 3: Connaught Cemetery:

Enter the cemetery grounds and ponder for a while.
Activities:
1. Why are there so many graves close to the wood?
2. Look back towards Ulster Tower and then beyond the Tower to Point 4
on the horizon up the hill. Now use the picture of the attack on the
Schwaben Redoubt. Describe the view that Irish soldiers would have
seen on the 1st July 1916:
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Point 4: Mill Road Cemetery:
Leave Connaught wood Cemetery. Be careful to cross the road and make your way up
the track to the cemetery. You are now standing on the immensely powerful German
position known as the ‘Schwaben Redoubt’. A ‘Redoubt’ is a military term meaning
strong point; the area is covered with interlocking strong points. If you use the
topography you can pick out where the strong points were on the landscape.
Activities:
1. Why do think that many of the gravestones are lying flat?

2. Look in the direction of Thiepval Wood and Ulster Tower. What views did the
‘Schwaben Redoubt’ command of the British troops advancing
Point 5: The walk to Thiepval:

Return to the road. Turn left and walk towards the Memorial to the missing about ¾ of
a mile away.
Task: Can you pick out the other vantage points of “stuff Redoubt”, “Goat Redoubt”,
“Wundt Werk” (Wonder work), Leipzig Redoubt and “Mouquet Farm/ Moo Cow Farm/
Mucky Farm”?
Activity:
1. Write down what you expect to find at the Memorial to the missing.
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Point6: The Cross Roads:

When you get to the crossroads stop, turn and face the way that you have come.
Reflect here for a moment and use your mind’s eye to imagine what it was like. Now
turn left and head along the road towards a wooded area and an obelisk memorial to
the 18th Division.
Point 7: The 18th Division Memorial:

Stop at the base of this memorial and look back where you have come from. Also look
down the hill towards Thiepval wood and the British positions on the 1st July. On your
left is a house set in it’s own wooded land; this is the site of the Chateau that existed
up to 1916 (see picture). Imagine if you can, the damage that the German machine
gunners could do to troops attacking up this hill and across the open land between the
‘Schwaben redoubt’ and the edge of the wood.
Thiepval Chateau before devastation in 1916 (only ploughed up bricks now mark the
place were it stood)
Point 8: The Memorial car park

Make your way towards the ‘Memorial to the Missing’ car park (follow the signs
‘Memorial Brittanique’) and wait. Do not enter the grounds of the Memorial until you
are instructed to do so.
Point 9: The Memorial to The Missing

This memorial occupies the high point of Thiepval and is viewable from any where on
the battlefield. It is a place of immense presence and commands the utmost respect.
There are recorded here the names of 73,000 men who were killed in the Somme
Battles (1916 and 1918) who have no known grave.
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The Memorial to the Missing of The Somme
You will be given special instructions here about how to get the most from this
memorial.
Activities:
1. What is the inscription fits across the two sections of the main arch?
2. Why are the British and French flags being flown?
3. What the details of the person you have come to commemorate?
4. Search the panels and piers to find your soldier. Lay your poppy.
5. How many Local Midland Regiments can you find?
6. Did you find a soldier with your surname?
7. How do you feel at this place?
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This is the view toward the Thiepval wood from the back of the memorial, the positions
the British attacked from on 1st July 1916. There are both French and British graves
here.
You will be given the option to see the topography of the Leipzig Redoubt.
Pozieres, “Gibraltar” viewing platform and Le Tommy Café:
Pozieres in 1916 after the Battle.
We are now on the site known to the Australians as ‘Gibraltar’, because this place was so
well defended it was as difficult to attack as Gibraltar. Climb up the viewing platform and
look back towards Thiepval. It was here that the Australian Albert Jacka won the Victoria
Cross.
You can see the views that the Germans had over the Thiepval Ridge from the Pozieres
Ridge. The British, Canadian and Australian troops attacked across this exposed landscape
spare them a thought as you look back across towards the Thiepval memorial. The striking
feature of the Somme is that it is dominated by the high ground. If your enemy has the high
ground then it is they who have the advantage!
25
Activity:
Make a field sketch of the area towards the Thiepval memorial: Firstly draw the horizon
line, add any notable features i.e.) roads etc, explain the direction and label features (see
the viewing platform table) form the top with arrows. Sketch as well as you can- take time
to do it:
To visit the Tommy Café for refreshments and to see the private museum in the garden at
the back, return to the D929 and turn left, the café is about 100 metres on the right.
Be careful crossing the road.
The Somme Day Two: The Southern Battle Field:
The most notable topographical feature of this sector is that it totally
dominated by woods- High wood, Delville (‘Devil’s’) wood, Leuze (‘Lousy’)
wood, Bazentin le Petit / le Grande woods, Mametz wood, Trones wood,
Bernafay wood. Once the British were unable to take the high ground
around Thiepval they ‘hopped’ from wood to wood to try to outflank (go
around the side) the German positions. Each wood was in itself a redoubt
and they all had to be assaulted in turn.
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La Boiselle and Lochnager crater:
La Boiselle
village
Battle scars on the
landscape
The Lochnager
Crater (Le Grande
Mine)
This crater was blown on the 1st July 1916 to destroy the strong German positions that
protected the village of La Boiselle. Attacked by the British 34th Division the initial assault
was a costly failure. Lochnager crater was an important position because it protected the
two sister valleys one called ‘Sausage’ because of its shape on a map and the other called
‘Mash’.
Activity:
Walk around the perimeter of the crater. Imagine the amount of TNT required to blow
a hole this big. (Beware of the edge and do not go down to the bottom). What are your
impressions of the Crater?
Opposite where you started your walk is a patch of rough ground with poppies and
tributes to a soldier called Nugent who was only discovered 24 months ago, he is
buried nearby in Olliviers Cemetery. How do you feel walking where undiscovered
remains lie only inches away in all the fields of the Somme?
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Albert and the Musee d’Abris:
The modern
entrance to the
museum
The Basilica of Albert became a symbol in the Great War to thousands of British soldiers
who fought on the Somme. The Virgin and Child statue on the top was damaged by shell fire
in 1915 yet would not fall, legend had it that when it did fall the War would end. During the
second Battle of the Somme in 1918 Albert was devastated and the statue was lost what you
see today is a restored Basilica and an exact replica statue.
The Musee d’ Abris is a complex of Second World War Air raid tunnels re-used to great
effect to display the war in the Somme Region. The entrance fee is very reasonable and
souvenirs can be bought in the shop at the end. The exit is into the town’s park about 200
yards from the entrance.
Delville Wood:
Delville Wood is a memorial to the South African Soldiers who were ordered to attack this
position at all costs in late July 1916. The South African brigade (4000 men) lost 75% in a
few days of ferocious hand to hand fighting. Nearby is a café and display area (seasonal
openings). Opposite the main entrance is Longueval British cemetery.
Delville wood is part of the village of Longueval and in the fields near to the Montauban road
this author’s great grandfather received a gunshot wound to the left arm on 27th July 1916.
28
The wound was a “Blighty” one (Blighty was the nickname at the time for Britain and to
receive a ‘Blighty’ meant that the wound was serious enough to be sent home to hospital). On
recovery my Grandfather left his original regiment The Cheshire Regiment and joined the
South Staffordshire Regiment (the Local Wolverhampton Regiment). Longueval is a very
special place.
Tanks:
On the 15th September 1916 tanks were used for the very first time in war. The battle was
fought over an area called Flers-Courcelette (after 2 villages at each end of the attack) the
village of Longueval is the half way point a long the battle lines.
Butte de Warlencourt
This man made mound is a prehistoric monument and marks the extent of the British
advance by November 1916. The British forces advanced approximately 5 miles along the
D929. The ‘Butte’ was purchased by the Western Front Association in 1989 so that it could
be preserved for future generations, it provides an excellent viewing platform. By the end of
November 1916 the ‘Butte’ had had all of the vegetation blown off so that the chalk soil
would glow an errie luminous white in the moonlight.
Task: What are your feelings as you survey the battlefield. How do you feel about
the young men who gave everything?
Vimy Ridge:
Vimy Ridge was a very important strategic position overlooking the Lens-Douai Plateau.
The Canadians were given the task of storming the ridge on the 9th April 1917 as part of the
battle of Arras. Excellent work with regard to communications, supplies and secrecy enabled
the Canadians to achieve one of the most celebrated and stunning victories of the war. This
memorial and visitor centre is part of a vast memorial park. The preserved trenches convey
some comprehension of the proximity of the opposing trenches but this is essentially an
artificial experience:
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Stick a picture of the memorial here!
Stick a picture of the trenches here!
I hope that you have gained a lot from this experience. If you
are not ‘changed’ then perhaps you have learned a little
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Stick a picture of the tour party here!
My final thoughts on the way home are:
My thoughts 6 months after going are…
Further Reading:
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‘Before Endeavours Fade’ by Rose Coombes (1983 also later reprints).
‘Flanders Then and Now’ by John Giles.
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‘They called it Passchendaele’ by Lyn Macdonald.
‘Passchendaele: Day by Day’ & ‘The Somme Day by Day’ by Chris McCarthy.
‘Battleground Europe series (many titles for Ypres and the Somme).
‘Somme’ by Lyn Macdonald.
‘The Imperial War Museum Book of the Western Front’ & ‘The Imperial War Museum
Book of the Somme’ by Malcolm Brown.
‘With a Machine Gun to Cambrai’- George Coppard.
Fiction
‘Memoirs of an Infantry Officer’ by S Sassoon.
‘Regeneration’ by P Barker (part one in a trilogy)
‘The Eye in the Door’ by P Barker.
‘The Ghost Road’ by P Barker.
‘’Bird Song’ by Sebastian Faulks.
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by H.M Remarque
Poetry
‘Up the Line to Death’: The War Poets 1914-18 Ed by B Gardner.
‘The Great War and Modern Memory’ by Paul Fussell.
‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen (Audio tape) (read by Kenneth Branagh).
The Internet:
www.cwgc.org/ (Specialist search site for casualties)
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/fww.htm (WW1 encyclopaedia)
www.trenchesontheweb (WW1 encyclopaedia)
www.westernfrontassociation.com (Major Association for Great War Research)
www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk Centre for First World War Studies (For Higher
Education and serious enthusiasts)
By Rob Hatch March 2006.
“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them”.
By L. Binyon
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