The footsteps of war

Entrance to Trois Arbres war
cemetery Steenwerck

 Well those of you who keep up with Facebook posts would realise that we made it to Villers Bretonneux for the dawn service which was just such an amazing privilege. A number of posts have been made to the blog today as we have re-connected with regular internet and the backlog has been cleared.

Herbert Henry Dale

We have finished our France ‘camping car’(you have to love the French way of describing things) expedition and made it safely back to Paris. The camping car and both of us have escaped unscathed surviving even the demonic GPS. Today has been a huge day commencing with the Villers Bretonneux dawn service which was such a time of wonder. The echoes of WW1 commenced yesterday as we successfully found Trois Arbres War Cemetery outside of Steenwerck in northern France and the grave of Herbert Henry Dale who died on 2 August 1917 aged just 21. The cemetery was just as you imagine, a beautiful setting immaculately tended and just such a peaceful spot. The French certainly know how to keep a promise to look after the fallen. We couldn’t help think that for a young bloke from Murgon in the South Burnett he would have almost felt like home in amongst the dairy farms and crops of Steenwerck. We’re unsure if Herbert Henry has ever had any other family visit but there we felt such a sense of privilege to bring a poignant greeting from ‘back home’. We had our lunch there just spending some time among the young and some no so young men who never made it back to their homes. The GPS must have recognised the importance of the task at hand to find the cemetery even with the somewhat vague directions because it was surprising simple. We figured it would be on this particular road D77, even stopped in Steenwerck to check with the local Office du Tourism (however they were closed for the lunch break) so took the punt and there it was.

War stone Steenwerck

Australian War Memorial
Villers-Bretonneux

We then made our way to Corbie to spend the afternoon cleaning the motorhome and packing up ready for the Dawn Service and the return of the camper. Up bright and early and over to the designated area for the bus pick up at 4:10am. As we were walking along we saw the 3:50am bus leave at 4:00am so figured it would be late. As the rain started and people for the 4:30am bus started to arrive we decided that we would walk the few kilometres to Villers. As we along with many others were walking along we passed the bus which was supposed to come back to pick up us up stuck in the snarl of buses still trying to deliver the first group of visitors. We met up with the Harveys eventually at the Dawn Service and stood through a very wet service. It seemed somewhat appropriate for it to be a wet and bleak morning for ANZAC Day – so many of the pictures you see and the stories you hear of the Somme tell of the mud. We even broke out the plastic ponchos we had brought with us to go over the top – when we opened them we found they were from World Youth Day in Sydney 2008 which never got used! Rugged up in thermals, Wallabies jersies and scarves adorned with Elizabeth’s knitted poppies (part of the knitted poppies project in Federation Square Melbourne) we stayed fairly warm and dry initially but as time went on that changed. By the time the last post came around we were chilled to the bone. Not sure if it was the cumulative effect of the cold wind or the emotion of the moment. While we walked back to Corbie in the rain knowing that we would get into a heated car and dry out it was hard not to imagine what it was like for diggers who lived like that for months in between having to fight or more especially those men and women who forever have the cold embrace of a land not their own. Lest we forget!

Setting off for Paris to return the camper the GPS was determined to take us via Villers-Bretonneux however we kept ignoring it so ended up heading to Amiens. Again appropriate as we would have travelled past the place where Uncle Agin received his Military Medal as the citation said ‘to the east of Amiens on the road to Villers-Bretonneux’.

Looking back to Villers-Bretonneux

We made it to Paris in time after eventually locating the Avis depot and made our way to the smallest apartment we have come across as yet – but literally 50m off the Champs Elysees. The opportunity to stroll around the street, have a meal and people watch. Sitting and eating we could not help but notice the guy from Tommy Hilfiger who was looking very sharp. He was standing at the entrance decked out in the trendy gear (trousers too short, no socks and deck shoes not to mention a very bizarre haircut) doing the moves and ready to greet everyone coming into the store and help out in any way possible (hold the motorcycle helmet or a stuffed Eyore or move the beggars along). I must say I was disappointed to find that there was not Youtube clip of ‘Tommy Hilfiger guy’. An early night in the midst of a thunderstorm in Paris.

Love to all

S&E