Flanders to France.

After our stop to see the Oppy Wood memorial we went on to another major battle site, the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The static trench warfare had been going on for several years by the time the Battle of Vimy Ridge started. Other assaults had occurred and had actually been taken by some Moroccan Troops of the French Army but they had to retreat as they were on their own. In April 1917 the Canadian troops were assigned the task. This was the first time all four divisions were to fight together. They had also prepared well digging tunnels from the back lines to get the troops to the front secretly. There had been training and communications were improved.

Due to the success of the operation and the sacrifices made by the Canadians the area has been given by France to Canada as a memorial site. Above is the modern lines of the actual front line advanced post of the Allied Lines. They were actually about 25 metres from the German Advanced post!

The whole area has been softened by the passage of time but the scrub has been kept down but pine trees allowed to grow. The ground has been left all disturbed by bomb craters, massive mines etc but with grass. It is quite amazing to think that there would be nothing green in the landscape at the time. Of 100,000 Canadians that took part 10,600 casualties, including 3,600 dead. Through the whole war Canada with a population of 8 million sent 650,000 men and women and suffered 66,000 dead and 170,000 wounded.

The Canadian National Vimy Monument is very bright in the sunlight of the day The design was by a Canadian who won a design competition and has about 11,000 t of concrete and 6,000t of limestone from the Adriatic. The figures are symbolic such as the figure of a woman as Canada, Faith, Honour etc. Carved on the walls are the names of 11,285 who died and have no known grave.

This is the figure of a female in mourning that overlooks the Douai Plain that shows what a strategic ridge it was. The spoil heaps are dotted all over this former mining area.

Also at the Vimy Ridge site are several cemeteries. This one is Canadian Cemetery No.2. There are almost 3,000 soldiers here, 370 Canadians. You can see the long line of stones are placed butting up to each other, where as the ones in the foreground are apart. The stones together indicate that the bodies were found together, killed at the same time, and sometimes could not be separated. There is much symbolism in the layout of the stones and the inscriptions etc. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission look after around 1.7 million British and Commonwealth soldiers graves at 23,000 sites in 154 countries. I have seen their sites in several countries and I can say that they are all tended with love and attention as these here in Flanders.

Our last night was spent in Arras, not far from the Town Hall on the Place Des Heroes. The town hall was completed in 1554. At the top is the crown of Emperor Charles V and the golden lion of Arras. The Belfry was destroyed by German artillery in 1914 and was recreated 'as was' between 1924 and 1932.

The houses around the Place Des Heros were constructed in 17th and 18th Century and are due to strict planning regulations that left us with these Flemish gables and Baroque facades. The Places was renamed for the Heroes, from being the Little Market, after the French Resistance fighters who were shot.

We walked to the Citadel that was built by Vauban between 1668 and 1672. It has been used as a garrison right up until the early 2000's. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site

After a walk round more of the sites we stopped for a drink in the Grand Place. There was a massive square here since the 12th Century. The brick built house in the photo is called 'The Three Leopards' and was built in 1467. You can see it has the 'sparrow steps' gables, and pointed arches of the Gothic period. All the others round the square were constructed in 17th century in the Baroque with Flemish Gables and round barrel arches. The square was left decimated after WWI but was rebuilt as it had been prior to the damage.

The Grand Place is much larger than the Place Des Heros but both are used for massive markets on Wednesday and Saturday. The Grand Place is used for a car park otherwise.

The Place des Heroes has the restaurants, shops and bars, and is where the night life is. This was the night of Liverpool's defeat in the Euro Cup Final.

The next day was Mother's Day in France, and our last day. We just managed to get on a tour of the Wellington Tunnels that started out as mines for the limestone used to build the houses. They opened a well and and then built a bell pit below taken all the stone out through the 'well'. In WWI they thought they could be utilised to house troops etc ready for a massive offensive in November 1917. Several tunneling company's enlarged and connected the old underground quarries. Welsh, Geordie and New Zealand miners were engaged in the work. This complex was named after the towns and cities of the Kiwi troops. 24000 troops were house here for up to eight days running up the start of the Battle.

We caught the TVR from Arras to Lille, and then the Eurostar to St. Pancras and the West Coast Mainline to Liverpool and the Merseyrail to Old Roan and then walked to meet up with Helen and Amy at Bridge 9 ready for the decent into Liverpool the next morning. The journey took 10 hours and all was on time!