Trenches at Beaumont Hamel – 2015
One hundred years after the First World War, the rural countryside along the valley of the Somme is beautiful again – fields of maize, gently rolling hills and charming villages.
It is difficult to imagine the scenes of devastation and carnage that the war brought to this part of the world, where over a million Allied and German soldiers were killed during the fighting.
However, the landscape still reveals many traces of the conflict, and the area is thronged with military cemeteries and memorials:
On a visit to Northern France and Belgium this summer, we went to many of the battlefields and memorials along the Somme and in the Ypres Salient, and decided to see if we could find the places where each of the local men were remembered.
Information and photographs can be accessed below – click on image to enlarge and scroll through galleries.
THE SOMME BATTLEFIELDS:
Ernest BUTCHER — Remembered at St. Amand British Cemetery
Frederick MOORE — Remembered at Varennes Military Cemetery
Russell PARKINS Remembered on Thiepval Memorial
George PERRY — Remembered in Aubin-St.-Vaast Churchyard
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- George Perry’s grave – Aubin-Saint-Vaast 1916
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- Transcript of Inscription
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- George Perry’s grave 2015
Harry THOROGOOD — Remembered on Thiepval Memorial
Walter WICKS — Remembered on the Arras Memorial
THE MARNE
Ernest BURLS — Remembered on La Ferté-Sous-Jouarre Memorial
The La Ferté-Sous-Jouarre Memorial is in the Seine-et-Marne area, 66 km. east of Paris.
Information from CWGC: http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/79100/LA%20FERTE-SOUS-JOUARRE%20MEMORIAL
This map shows the approximate locations of these memorials in France:
