By Kate Stedman – tour manager for the WW1 Battlefields of the Somme and Belgium tour

Last week I went to Bendigo to see the exhibition entitled Camera on The Somme. Several months ago during a clean up in an old Victorian country shed, a biscuit tin containing negatives of photos taken on the Western Front over 90 years ago was found. Two brothers from Bendigo had purchased their Kodak cameras in 1916 after enlistment and had taken a variety of snaps, which after the war they then put in this tin and miraculously they survived in remarkable condition. The result is a travelling exhibition on at the Bendigo Art Gallery at present. Well worth visiting.

One of the photos that moved me the most was an intensely clear shot of troops from their 38th battalion home from the war and embarking at Station Pier in Port Melbourne in August 1919.

It is a clear portrait of these young men mid-stride carrying their coats and swags and looking completely at ease and yet one can imagine that within each man there must have been a silent apprehension. They were returning home after so many years, elated at the poignancy of their reunions and yet fearing the sad, lonely misery of missing their mates; that extraordinary camaraderie they had shared for four long years that was now about to end forever. The greatest adventure and the greatest trauma of their lives was concluding. How foreign, how displaced, how overwhelmed they would have felt. They were owed so much and had given so much for King and country, yet they were unaware of what life would throw at them later through such horrors as the Depression.
 

There were so many of them, over 300,000 Australian men enlisted and 60,000 of them died from a population of 4.5 million. Some of these same men who died there are still being found today over 90 years on and being given the respect and reverence they so deserved and little received back then.

When Private John Hunter from Queensland died of wounds at a casualty Clearing Station near Passchendaele in Belgium in November 1917 he was lovingly wrapped in a canvas blanket by his grieving younger brother before being left to be buried in a mass grave. The burial never took place and he and four other Australian soldiers lay lost in clay till they were discovered in 2007, during an excavation for a shopping centre. They were re-interred at Buttes NB Cemetery with full military honours. On our tour “Battlefields of the Somme & Belgium”, we take you to their graves and introduce you to the man in charge of their exhumation and return to rest.

Earlier the previous year in the July 1916 Battle of Fromelles 170 Australian soldiers went missing and were never properly buried, but bulldozed by German soldiers into a mass unmarked pit in Northern France. There they remained until they were found by a persistent school teacher from Richmond , Victoria who had refused to give up looking for them. Next year in July, they will finally be buried with full military honours in a new cemetery at Pheasant Wood – 93 years to the very day on which they fell.

In the words of French battlefield historian Yves Fohlen: “….they didn't die for nothing. They died for my country and they gave us freedom, so it is very emotional — I do apologise for that. It is very emotional because their spirit is here. Why these men came 12,000 miles across the ocean to fight for my country……. it is a mystery, but it is so wonderful. It is the most beautiful Australian mystery.”

  I consider myself very privileged to be able to offer and participate in the Battlefield tours which I see as a pilgrimage and as a homage to these men who are stretched out over the fields of France and Belgium, and a homage to the soldiers in the Station Pier photo who made it home but for whom life would never be the same. We see where they roistered and overspent in cafés and estaminets behind the front, we see the dressing stations they bled in, we see the ground they walked and fought on and we see the graves they lie in. It is a moving tribute that leaves us humble and proud to be associated with them.

Our tours are a wonderful mix of visits to particular cemeteries where we hear and live the history behind the various graves, tales of human feats, walks through craters, exceptional museum visits, exploring trenches and tunnels and the medieval beauty of Northern French market town, ceremonies such as the Menin Gate ceremony, Anzac Day dawn service, the re-interment of 170 Anzacs, the Anzac March to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, laughing with locals in cafés, seeing basements with soldiers’ graffiti, meeting locals and experts, and of course exploring the beauty of the Somme and Belgium. It is an unforgettable pilgrimage.

Next year Toujours France is conducting three WW1 Battlefields in France and Belgium tours to cater for the growing annual demand and to coincide with two events next year.

The first tour is in April to take in the ANZAC DAY dawn service now being held annually at the vast Villers Bretonneux Australian Memorial. 19th – 26th April, 2010

The second tour in July will be to coincide with and participate in the momentous re-interment ceremony at the newly built Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery in Northern France on July 19th for the 170 Australians whose remains were found and some identified through DNA over the last 18 months. It is expected that there will be a high-level representation from Australia, France and the United Kingdom, the event will be broadcast on television, and the final unidentified soldier will be re-interred for the ceremony. July 14th – 21st, 2010

The third tour will be scheduled for late August 2010 and will follow the same itinerary, without any special events. August 28th – September 4th.

The price for these tours will be released next week with our other tour prices.

On an international flight recently, I watched the film "Frost Nixon" which by the way was excellent - and it really highlighted how tactless Richard Nixon was. It reminded me of a story I once heard about him:

In 1974, Richard Nixon, not noted for his social graces, visited Paris to attend the funeral of French president Georges Pompidou. "This," Nixon remarked during the ceremony, "is a great day for France!"
 

BOOKS

I have recently read: 

"Vanished Smile - The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa" by R. A .Scotti

"Cheese Slices" by Will Studd

"Vive la Revolution" by Mark Steel

 All fabulous - I had no idea that Picasso was implicated in the disappearance of the painting (back in 1911 - so you won't recall the incident necessarilly!!). It's a fascinating story and also goes into a lot of interesting detail about Da Vinci and his patronage by Francois 1er of France.

And of course - we love Will Studd and the fact that he has brought us unpasteuriesed cheeses (I do, anyway!!) and his book is a delight!!

"Vive la Revolution" is like reading a stand-up comedy routine about the French Revolution - absolutely hilarious - but also helps make the whole period quite clear!!

Warning: I did not buy all these books in Australia but I am sure you could find them on Amazon or a similar internet seller. I order books from overseas all the time and they are very reliable, and I often find titles on France that I can't buy here!!

Don't forget to send me an email if you wish to receive a brochure or ask for further information about 2010 tours!!
 

Until next week,

SUE HEINE

TOUR DIRECTOR