2014- Day 18 (Lille)

.....and an even more memorable day!!!!

Had to do a bit of research last night after getting back from dinner - where we discovered the cafe with the best Foie Gras in Lille - absolutely the best flavour the senses can experience I think!

Maps available have been terrible and not showing where we wanted to get today i.e. Villers Bretoneaux and if possible, Fromelles where there are significant Australian memorials. So with the help of Google and a couple of asterisks on the hopeless road map, we set off in hope down the A1 towards Amiens.

Fortunately as we approached Amiens, road signs started to mention Villers Bretoneaux so we arrived there after about 1.5 hour trip - our side of the A1 moved along quite well but the Northern lanes (all 6 of them) were just a carpark. Into the centre of the village where Australian symbols are everywhere - the school is called the Victoria School, kangaroos and koalas everywhere and we had a coffee at the melbourne bar! Got directions from the cafe owner to the memorial which is a few k out of town. It is the official Australian war memorial for the first war and was opened in 1938, just in time to be damaged in the second - many shell marks still  left on the tower and other parts of the structures.

It sits on a hill (Hill 640 in the first war) which the Australians captured in the defence of Villers Br. Have a look at the photos on facebook - it is a magnificent structure, beautifully laid out and maintained. More impact for me than the Lone Pine memorial at Gallipoli. You are overwhelmed by the impact of the whole experience - so glad we made it here and it just makes you so thankful that we've had the fortune and priviledge of living a full life into at least our 60's - row after row of soldiers in their teens, 20's, some in 30's and even 40's who never made it home.

There is a lovely museum back in the village which has the most extraordinary collection of photographs of Australlian soldiers as well as the usual collection of artifacts such as uniforms, rifles, machine guns, etc. Even found a framed photo and information on the "Childers Canon" which is displayed outside the Childers Council Chambrs.

We decided to have a go at getting to Fromelles - again with fairly vague directions but    thought if we exited the motorway around Sedin we might strike it lucky - there were no roadsigns to Fromelle on the A1 as we headed south. Quite by accident we came across a tourist information office in Sedin where a very pleasant assistant gave us directions (and a half decent map) through a series of villages to get to Fromelles which we did. Again, beautiful memorials - another Australian cemetery this time without headstones as none could be identified. This was the infamous Somme (River) area where thousands of lives were lost in numerous fruitless attempts to cut off the German supply lines. A beautiful bronze of Sgt Simon Fraser who ventured into "no-man's land" repeatedly to rescue the injured and retieve personal items from the dead to return home. He was eventually killed.

With directions from the museum staff, we found our way to the A25 and back into Lille - the car was due at 4.00 and we parked it at 4.05 - pretty pleased with that!!

Great day - got to where we wanted (with our fair share of luck) and experienced the unique impact of seeing these sites and realising how lucky we are to have missed the horrors of wars such as this - what these young Australians went through is beyond our imagination but at least there are beautiful and inspiring memorials which are maintained in pristine condition.

Trivia: In 2007 five mass graves were discovered where the Germans had buried the victims of the battle - a new cemetery has been built in the heart of Fromelles where 250 have been re-buried following DNA testing and more is still being carried out..

Cap: looks like it will make it to the UK (where we head on the Eurostar in the morning!!)

   Cheers all - next blog from the UK!!