WW1 Battlefields Visit

Oh, What a Lovely Tour!

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Battlefields Trip March 2010

It's impossible to deal with the numbers. 73000, 33000, 60000, 3000. By the time one gets to the "smaller" cemeteries a certain sense of perspective is dimmed by the sheer scale of it. Some quantify the scene with allusions to football or rugby stadiums full to capacity, others with percentages or other relative measurements. To this day I still have found no better, poignant or fitting representation of loss on the Western Front (1914-1918) than the Thiepval memorial on The Somme. When asked "Sir, are those the names of all the men who died in World War One?" it's a heavy duty to explain that, no, these are just the names of those that were never found from one battle which waged on this land for some four months: some 73000, names. One such was that of Lieutenant A.B Gowan (OG) of the Royal Engineers who went missing in action in 1916 during the Somme Offensive and who is commemorated on this memorial. We honoured him with a moving lament on the pipes from Cameron Montgomery and a prayer from Dr Mundill as well as the laying of wreaths.

So began a three day tour of the battlefields of Northern France and Belgium. It was a chilly affair with a stiff North wind and sub-zero temperatures but our sojourns from Arras (then rubble now quite swanky) were packed with emotion, information and the confrontation of what it might have been like for the millions of young men who took up the call to arms. Our day consisted of a guided tour of the Somme sector at Thiepval wood where excavated trenches and artefacts give some indication of trench life, to the tragic story of the Newfoundlanders on their appalling day of the 1^st July, 1916: within fifteen to twenty minutes the 780 men and officers were badly cut down and only a pitiful 68 answered the roll call at the end of the day. We walked in half an hour leisurely around what was once a raging battleground which saw around 20,000 allied deaths in one day and captured one of the many enduring images of the First World War. Although many revisionist historians might contest the facts and statistics (did you know that even in the horrors of fighting on the Western Front Generals actually made weekly tours of the front line trenches? A lesson for all), it was impossible not to view the place with a muted horror. In about two minutes we managed to get to a point on the battlefield which the Allies only reached in four months where a monument to the Highland Division stood glowering out over the now serene countryside. Our day ended with a tour of Vimy Ridge and the underground chambers below. Where the Canadian Division, fighting together under its own command for the first time assaulted, captured and held the ridge having learned from the terrible "butcher's bill" of a few months earlier at places like Thiepval.

Day two saw a bleaker day for weather, cold and now grey, to tour the Menin Gate, Ypres and the battlefields of Passchendaele, Menin Road, Messines Ridge and to tour some preserved trench systems. The impact was of wonder, awe and compassion and I think it was devoured by staff and students alike. It is a great credit to our students that despite the weather and the heavy emotional impact of the day, they listened patiently and asked interesting questions – the students were something of which Glenalmond could be very proud, an honour bestowed upon us by our excellent guide, Steve Douglas of Salient Tours.

The third and final day saw us time-travel backwards a hundred years to the battle of Waterloo, a reminder of the past instability of Europe and the current peace we enjoy. I would like to thank Dr Mundill our group leader for a splendid and heroic job in the field, he led the troops with good humour and is a credit to his department, a recommendation for the highest honour has been made by his CO. Mr Gardner has been hereby decorated by the French with the Légion d'Honneur for his special interpretative skills and his sterling work under fire at lights out. Mr Erdal was the consummate officer, calm under pressure and often seen leading the way; an MC would be the very least he could be offered. Finally, Mrs Erdal has had a mention in despatches for her selfless disregard for her own safety when she stepped into the breach at the last minute.

Joking aside, this was a great trip, long may it continue.

M Watson.