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From hereon, our journey takes us almost exactly along the route of the
frontline trenches, a route which changed so little during four years
of bitter fighting. We will pass along the top of Messines Ridge and through
Ploegsteert Wood, the scene of the famous Anglo-German truce and football
match of Christmas 1914.
Crossing the border into France again at Armentieres, it’s interesting
to note how this large town is split through the middle into the French
and Flemish halves. En route to our hotel, there will be plenty of sights
to see from the car - most of which we will be paying a return visit to
tomorrow as we pass through the area in which Hughie was serving for so
long.
Our hotel, the Hotel Formule 1, is just south-east of the town of Arras,
which Hughie describes as a ‘town of squares’. Hopefully in one of these
squares we will find a good French restaurant! The hotel itself is located
exactly on the line of the Allied front line trench during the Battle
of Arras in April 1917. Tanks were used here, although their progress
was hampered by unusually large amounts of snow that year. Virtually on
the doorstep of the hotel is ‘Observation Ridge’, which provides an ideal
opportunity for a pleasant walk to start our next day.
Trench map of 1917 showing
location of our hotel and Observation Ridge (centre)
Day two is the time to really explore the area around Bethune where Hughie
and his comrades worked on their tunnels. Following a bracing walk along
Observation Ridge, whose ploughed fields yield an annual crop of shell
cases and shrapnel, we head northwards again for a few kilometres to Notre
Dame de Lorette. On the way we pass by the German cemetery (a rare site
on the Western Front) at Neuville St Vaast, and the beautiful Allied cemetery
at Le Cabaret Rouge.
Notre Dame de Lorette is the French National Cemetery, set high on a
hill - one of the two pieces of natural high ground in the area, the other
being Vimy Ridge. From here an excellent view can be had of the entire
area that Hughie would have been so familiar with - Noeux les Mines, Vermelles,
Givenchy, Cambrin and Loos. The long mining tradition of the area is betrayed
by the enormous spoil heaps, so favoured by the German snipers of 1915.
Also visible from this vantage point is the ruined church of Ablain St
Nazaire to the south, and the Canadian monument on Vimy Ridge to the east.
Notre Dame de Lorette is fascinating in itself - the tower
is actually a lighthouse which can be seen for miles around at night,
a feature that will be ably demonstrated on our return here this evening.
On the hilltop is a small but interesting military museum, with sections
of preserved trenches in the back yard. The close proximity of the Allied
and German trenches here is truly frightening.
Moving back down into the valley, we will be stopping at
all the places in this area mentioned by Hughie, including Sailly Labourse,
where he had a cup of tea compliments of the Church Army, and Annequin,
where he had his egg and chips! Of particular interest in this area are
Cambrin, site of the dump, and Cuinchy, site of the infamous brickstacks,
also written about by the author Robert Graves, who served in the Royal
Welch Fusiliers.
Extract from Robert Graves’ Goodbye to All That:
| Cuinchy bred rats. They came up from the canal, fed on the plentiful
corpses, and multiplied exceedingly. While I stayed here with the
Welsh, a new officer joined the company and, in token of welcome,
was given a dug-out containing a spring-bed. When he turned in that
night, he heard a scuffling, shone his torch on the bed, and found
two rats on his blanket tussling for the possession of a severed hand.
This story circulated as a great joke. |
Trench map
of areas mentioned in Hughie’s diary
Aerial photograph
of a section of the above map, showing the canal, railway, brickstacks,
shell craters and trenches
Later in the day we will be visiting the Loos Memorial -
this is in the heart of the battlefield and I never cease to be amazed
by the flatness of the ground here with its lack of cover. This is the
site of the Allies’ first use of poison gas in 1915 - with disastrous
results.
Our afternoon will be spent on Vimy Ridge. Although captured
from the Germans by the Canadians, and still administrated by the Canadian
Government today, this area gives a good general idea of the type of tunnelling
that went on around this area. Some of the tunnels are still open to the
public, and we may be lucky enough to get a guided tour through one. The
area is now famous for the superb Canadian Memorial, and the shell-cratered
landscape, although now grassed over, cannot fail to convey the horror
of what went on here.
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