This isn’t going to be a typical tour since most of the participants are only advancing a trip they will be taking with their students next April 9th 2012 to mark the 95th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge. The agenda is compressed and today’s trip will include shorter visits to three sites: Theipval; Beaumont-Hamel, and Vimy.
Our journey starts with a typical Parisian breakfast of croissants, pain au chocolat, cheese, eggs, and of course coffee. Nearly 80 teachers and tour leaders load into the bus with me for the 2-hour drive to the Lille region. As we approach the areas where most of the World War I battles were fought, author Tim Cook (Shock Troops; The Madman and The Butcher) sets the scene for us, explaining the events and strategies that brought over a million men onto the fields alongside of us. There is a sharp contrast to the destruction, decay, and rot he describes, and the tranquil, impeccably groomed rolling hills we see.
As we walk up to our first site, the British memorial at Theipval, the group falls silent. Although Theipval, the largest British war memorial in the world commands this response, it will be the pattern as we approach all three memorials. The only noise we hear is the hum of the lawn mower as workers ride around grooming the lawns surrounding the impressive stone structure. Judging from the impeccable state of the lawns, I imagine these workers must be ever present. Tim Cook again takes a few minutes to provide more details about the First Battle for The Somme, and the British experience in the war. Afterwards we are provided with an opportunity to explore the monument which was constructed as a memorial to the missing British and South African soldiers who fought in the battle. Every so often, there is a space where a name has been removed, indicating that their remains were discovered and identified in the years after the war. Throughout the monument there are small wooden crosses with handwritten messages and other symbols of remembrance tacked to specific names chizelled into the stone. They draw me closer to the monument, and reinforce in a way nothing I’d ever read could that these are truly monuments for the living as much as they are for the fallen.
Just a short drive from Theipval, we arrive at Beaumont-Hamel the legendary site of the July 1st 1916 battle where the entire First Newfoundland Regiment was wiped out after less than an hour of combat.
Young Canadian interpreters hired by Veterans Affairs guide us through a walk toward the trench lines. The front line has been left alone to weather the effects of almost 100 years of erosion and some iron stakes to stop it from falling in. The second has been restored to the same width and depth the soldiers would have lived in so we can walk through them and see the soldier’s perspective for ourselves. No matter how much I’ve read about Beaumont Hamel, I don’t think I ever had a full appreciation for just how close the lines were between allies and enemies. Seeing the distances they were expected to cross to achieve their mission, and how little distance they were actually able to advance, I couldn’t help but wonder if they felt the same futility then watching and waiting to go over the top. And if so, how could they possibly have drawn to strength and courage to try anyways. As we continue to walk across no man’s land toward the enemy line, we approach the grave site where most of the Newfoundlanders at Beaumont-Hamel are buried. It’s impossible not to wonder about who these young men were and what they must have been thinking on that day, on the night before as you read their ages, and the inscriptions provided by their families.
As we board the bus to Vimy Ridge, I am filled with anticipation, knowing the day will only get more emotional. In a way, I am glad they planned the tour this way, so I can better prepare myself for my visit to the Vimy Ridge site and the Vimy Monument.