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Trip back home.

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A extensive breakfast was promised and boy did they deliver. Cereal, bread, omelette, apple juice (squeezed from their apples), strawberries, local hams and cheeses, tea and coffee. Our hosts encouraged us to make some rolls for lunch as there was so much food. View of the garden from my window... We bade them farewell and returned briefly to Ypres to take better photos of the Menin gate and to buy souvenirs, well not me! An hour back to Calais and a trip around the wine hypermarket. Then onto the ferry and the 90 minute trip across the channel back to Blighty. I set the controls of the Mondeo for the heart of the sun and we arrived back chez moi at around 1700. A lovely trip, loads of history, really pleased we did it. Lest we forget. Footnote: I was half way through watching the Lions play their first natch in New Zealand when my phone rang, an unknown number. To my delight it was Diane from the Ulster tower cafe saying that she had found my wallet comple...
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Sunday 28th May PM.

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Back on the horse, well in the Mondeo, and another short drive to the Black-Watch memorial at Polygon Wood. The next stop was a must, Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing located outside of Passchendale. It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war. The name "Tyne Cot" is said to come from the Northumberland Fusiliers, seeing a resemblance between the many German concrete pill boxes on this site and typical Tyneside workers' cottages The concrete shelters which still stand in various parts of the cemetery were part of a fortified position of the German army. 11,961 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War are buried or commemorated in Tyne Cot Cemetery. King George V visited the cemetery in 1922. At his suggestion the Cross of Sacrifice, also called the Great Cross, was built on the position of one of the concrete German blockhouses which had dominated the ridge.The Queen visited 12 July 2007 ....
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Sunday 28th May AM.

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We were awoken at 0500 by what sounded workers outside, on a Sunday too. Well I suppose we were right next to the station. Another simple, but nice, breakfast later and we were heading for Belgium. First stop Ploegsteert (or as the british soldiers called it plugstreet) and the Berks Cemetery Extension. All official Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 graves or more have the same design of cross, the cross of sacrifice. Designed by Sir Reginald Bloomfield, it contains a bronze longsword, blade down, usually mounted on an octagonal base. Driving up the road we saw a sign for a few cemeteries etc. and decided to take an early detour. We were delighted to find the site of the unofficial Christmas truce in 1914 where we played a football match against the Germans (lost on penalties- joke) the Germans actually won three goals to two. FIFA have erected a memorial in honour which was dedicated by Michel Platini. They have also recreated a couple of trenches beside a nearby ceme...
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Saturday 27th May PM.

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Lots more to see, up the road to the tank memorial. A a granite obelisk on a plinth with four models of tanks. The boundary fence consists of ten upright 6 pounder tank gun barrels with tank driving chains mounted across them. Across the road was a memorial to the second Australian division. We then drove to Thiepval to see the memorial to the missing. It was unveiled in 1932 and designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens (who also designed the cenotaph in Whitehall) and commemorates more than 72,000 men from the British and South African forces who were reported missing in the Somme before 20 March 1918. Nearly 90% of the men commemorated on the memorial were killed during the Battle of the Somme; 12,000 were lost on the first day alone. Next stop Ulster Tower Memorial and two ice creams in their cafe. The tower is a replica of a well known Ulster landmark, Helen’s Tower, in County Down, and is a lasting tribute to the men of Ulster who gave their lives during the First Worl...
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Saturday 27th May AM.

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A welcome continental breakfast then on the road. Loads to see on the tour of the Somme . First stop the South African cemetery and memorial. The grey crosses looked very austere and the names were quite European. Al pointed out that the Afrikaans were of dutch origin so we decided that explained it. when we got to the main memorial it said Allemagne on the wall, we were actually in a German cemetery! We drove past the poppy fields and spotted a sign for the Dickens memorial. We made the detour and found a replica of the original cross, erected by his mother, in a small garden. On to the real South African memorial at Delville wood. Beautifully kept the museum and memorial has woods around it. A  c entral avenue leading from the road to the memorial and museum was planted with two rows of oak trees. The memorial building, designed by Sir Herbert Baker, was unveiled at a ceremony on 10 October 1926 and the Altar Stone to World War ii on 5 June 1952. 229,000 off...
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Friday 26th May.

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Breakfast just before 0700 then a quick dash down to Dover. We arrived in good time but got pulled for a security check. A quick wipe of the door handles and we were through and on to the ferry. A calm sea meant a quick crossing to Calais. Off the ferry and onto the A26 heading southeast. They are an hour ahead of us so we stopped to adjust the time and fit the headlight diffusers. The payage was quite empty and we quickly arrived in Vimy. We drove round the town, found a supermarket and bought lunch. We drove just out of town to Vimy ridge. It was a blistering 29 degrees so we sat at a picnic table and ate our ham, cheese, pate and baguette. When in France... Onto the museum and trenches. Then up to the stunning memorial designed by Canadian architect and sculptor the late Walter Seymour Allward. Construction started in 1925 and it was unveiled by King Edward VIII on July 26 1936 (he abdicated on 11 December). Al complete with camera. We headed down to the...
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