I returned last night from overseas. Every year I take a group of my 14-15 year old students to Belgium and France in order to visit the battlefields and memorials of the Great War, 1914-18. The photos here show a trip made some years back; the students are now all over 18. Unlike the depicted visit, this years’ trip saw wonderful weather; so much so, that the headstones at Tyne Cot and the pillars of Thiepval were literally blinding as they reflected the merciless glare of the sunshine.
The tower of Thiepval, pictured above, was designed by Lutyens. The white pillars carry the names of around 72 000 men of the British and Commonwealth forces who have no known grave. Most of these soldiers went missing during the carnage of the Battle of the Somme. This epic Offensive took place between July and November 1916. The British Army suffered over 400 000 casualties, 57 000 being on the first day, July 1st. It is difficult to discern any particular advantage or benefit achieved in return for this heavy price. The trench lines hardly moved and stalemate continued.
Like the Cenotaph in London, almost all of the memorials and cemeteries which are meticulously maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in France and Belgium are made from Portland Stone. 500 000 headstones were quarried from the Isle of Portland in Dorset after the Great War, and a further 800 000 after the Second World War.
They shall grow not 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.
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