This is an account of the my trip to Europe in June of 2016. It is based on my recollections, so let me just say that I may not exactly remember all the incidental details correctly.

Hopefully it will serve as a helpful guide to those thinking of replicating such a trip, or it will simply inform and entertain the readers with tales of daring do, cultural differences, or simply by looking at lots, and lots, of pretty photos.

Introduction

With my 50th birthday looming in May of 2016, I long ago decided that I wanted to celebrate this landmark birthday with a bucket list style trip to Europe. Specifically, the trip would be to the hallowed ground of the Somme and Flanders fields of the Great War.

The Great War, otherwise known as WW1, the First World War, or more ironically as The War To End All Wars, has long fascinated me. The Great War also holds a peculiar place in the European psyche as it much misunderstood while also being so less well known when compared to the Second World War. In general, the First World War is very much overshadowed by the easier to comprehend Second World War. The opportunity provided by the centenary allowed the events 1914-1918 war to be revisited by the masses, and by the media. Countless articles, documentaries, and a few films would be created to mark the 4 year centenary period. This is a good time for the people of the many countries involved to reflect on what happened 100 years ago. A time to review the events and the decisions made. A time to review the ongoing effects of the conflict. A time to remember the huge cost in lives and material.

Lest it happen again.

These areas conjure strong emotions as iconic British and Empire battlefields on the Western Front in the Great War. The 1st of July 2016 would also mark the centenary of the start of the 1st Battle of the Somme, a pivotal battle in the British and Empire involvement in the Great War.

 

My desire to visit the Western Front as also due to family connections. I had already researched two members of my father’s family who I knew had served on the Western Front.

My grand father, known to us as Pop, was born in 1899 and had served later in the Great War. Apart from his enlistment papers I had drawn a blank on which regiment, brigade, or division he had served in. Although I had known him in person, he had died when I was 16, at this time I had found little substantive information on the details of my grand fathers service. This left me frustrated as I dearly wanted to go where he had been. He was a man that I hardly knew, he never spoken to me about his service. It was here that I used by intuition from researching the British Army operations in the Great War. As was common for British units in the Great War, if you spent much time on the Western Front it would mean that the units would move between different sectors. They could be resting, training, preparing for offensive action, or simply taking their turn in occupying the front line trenches. The two major British sectors were the Somme, in France; and Flanders, in Southern Belgium. If I was to visit some iconic Western Front areas, these were the ones that I had to see.

The story was different for my great grand father, Thomas Hilliar. The father-in-law of Pop, my research into Thomas had revealed a wealth of information on regiment, medals, and medical history. This allowed me to piece together a comprehensive timeline for Thomas’s service in the Great War. Among the many places he has served, he had been on the Somme in 1916, and Flanders in 1917. Not only that, but my grandfather had won a DCM on the Somme in June of 1916. Destiny was drawing me there, now it was a matter of when and how.

In line with the anniversaries of other Great War battles, there would be official ceremonies on the centenary of the 1st of July, 1916. With royalty and politicians on the list of dignitaries there was to be a security cordon with limited access to the Somme battlefields. It would be a good idea to take that into account in my planning. There was even a lottery for the common people to attend the centenary ceremony. The lottery was oversubscribed and had closed over a year before. Not a big fan of too many people, it seemed very wise to visit before it got busy.

 

Here is a map of where we went. Most of the locations already exist in Google Maps.

The rest of my story plays out a day at the time. Each day recounting the events, and locations, encountered on that day. The posts are picture heavy

• 8th June 2016 – Travel from LAX and jet off to Paris.
• 9th June 2016 – Arrive in Paris. Visit Monet’s Garden at Giverny. Travel up to Butterworth Farm, Pozières.
• 10th June 2016 – Part 1 covers Thiepval Memorial and village, Auchonvillers. Part 2 includes Beaumont-Hamel, and Albert.
• 11th June 2016 – To the east we go, to Caterpillar Valley, Longueval, Delville Wood, Fricourt, and Lochnagar Crater.
• 12th June 2016 – We first head south on our last day, crossing the River Somme, and visiting Villers-Bretonneux. Later we visit some places near Pozières itself, including the Windmill, Courcelette, and the New Zealand Division Memorial.
• 13th June 2016 – A day of travel to Flanders, with stopovers at Haisnes, Vimy Ridge, and Neuville-St-Vast.
• 14th June 2016 – The first full day in Flanders. We have car trouble and Tyne Cot.
• 15th June 2016 –
• 16th June 2016 –
• 17th June 2016 –
• 18th June 2016 –
• 19th June 2016 –
• 20th June 2016 –
• 21st June 2016 –
• 22nd June 2016 –
• 23rd June 2016 – Heading towards London, Windsor and the Castle, Langshott Manor.
• 24th June 2016 – Taxi time, Brexit Zombies, WOW in Iceland, and back in La La Land.

Tim
7th June 2017

For the next chapter see To France We Go!