Today was a very special day for us, as we focused on another close personal connection with WWI. Mom's Dad (my Grandpa), and her Uncle, had also both joined the CEF and fought in France during the Great War. They enlisted in Calgary, a week apart in March 1916, and as such did not arrive in France to see action on the Somme. They did however both fight at Vimy Ridge, so Sara and I headed up north to pay our respects there. My Grandpa George Stephen, enlisted with the 137th Bttn, and his brother John enlisted with the 113th Bttn, but as often happened - they were reassigned to other Canadian Battalions upon arriving in France, bringing those Battalions up-to-strength. George Stephen fought with the 50th (Calgary) Bttn, and John fought with the 85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Bttn. They both survived the Canadian Victory at Vimy, and obviously Grandpa survived the remainder of the war, but John was killed in action about 6 weeks after Vimy, leaving his wife and three small children back in Calgary.
Sara and I were both aware of the historical national importance of the victory at Vimy Ridge before leaving home. It is commonly recognized as the event that solidified Canada as an independent nation, as for the first time all four Canadian Divisions finally fought together as one unit (and achieved great success). We had both seen pictures, and learned about the site in school, but were still unprepared for the magnitude of the Vimy Memorial. Those reading this blog know that if something can be said in two words - I usually use ten. I am rarely at a loss for words to describe something, but twice today I witnessed something that I cannot describe. The Vimy Memorial was the first. The three best words that come to mind are: huge, breathtaking, and beautiful rolled into one (Hardly a great description). It wasn't an overly busy day, but as we walked around the Memorial, our paths would intertwine with people of many nationalities and languages. As I had texted Amanda earlier, the best description I had for the Memorial was that as a Canadian - you stood a little taller in it's presence. When you get close to it - you begin to recognize the subtle and also the obvious symbolism (I don't have the time or space to list all of that here). I do have one great picture of the statue "Mother Canada" as she weeps looking east for her sons who are not coming home. I would definitely urge everyone to visit this site if you ever have the opportunity. Sara took the cool picture below with the maple leaf in the foreground.
After visiting the Vimy Memorial, we made our way to the Interpretative Center and preserved trenches and tunnels. Very, very cool. I had no idea or perspective - but the Canadian and German frontline trenches were literally only 40 yards apart (YIKES). An interesting side note was that the seasonal university student working in the interpretative center was from Red Deer (A Thurber kid). He grew up near us in the Anders subdivision. He was VERY excited to talk to us.
One final weird note about our Vimy experience - as we toured the tunnels, I asked the tour guide a question that I had often wondered. What damage, or care, did the Nazi's give these various Allied Memorials and Cemeteries after they swept through France in WWII. She said that unless they had symbolism that was deemed to be overtly "anti-German", they were left alone and even respected. She added that in Canada during WWII there was a lot of false propaganda suggesting that the Nazi's had desecrated or even destroyed the Vimy Memorial. Apparently Adolph Hitler liked the "Peaceful" message of the Vimy Memorial and had a propaganda photo taken of himself to show the world that the monument was still intact. Returning to the hotel tonight, I remained a little skeptical of this story, so I searched the internet for such a picture. Not only does it exist, but he appears to be standing very near where Sara had earlier been seated in the above picture. Very eerie. (I won't post that picture here)
After leaving the Vimy Memorial, Sara and I stopped at a little cafe and had lunch before going to the nearby Town of Souchez. It was here, at the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, that we were able to visit and pay our respects to Mom's Uncle John Stephen. I appreciate that I am a couple generations removed from anyone that knew him, however he is family and that is important. I am unaware if, in the almost 100 years since his death, he had been visited. Perhaps Grandpa had an opportunity to stop at the end of the war and say goodbye to his brother? I find that terribly sad. This past summer, I had visited Grandpa's grave in Calgary and collected a little loose grass from around his headstone. This small collection was respectfully left with John Stephen today along with three Canadian Poppies. Of the 7600 Canadian, British, New Zealand, South African and Indian soldiers buried in this cemetery - over half of them are listed as Unknown. I did learn that the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial in Ottawa was initially buried here before being exhumed and brought home.
Leaving Souchez, Sara and I headed back to the now comfortably familiar region around Albert. The highways here are an adventure. They are well maintained, but freaking fast. The speed limit on the big highways are 130km/hr - so as you can imagine the flow of traffic is doing 140km/hr to 150m/hr. I must be getting old. We were content pushing the envelope in the slow lane with the big trucks at 120km/hr. A bit of a waste considering the horsepower under the hood of the sporty little roadster that Jackie had booked for us. Like I mentioned earlier - Sara and I both know this car can go - so we've named him Andre. Admittedly a little too much car for me - but he's already been off-roading and gets backed into every parking stall.
Very near the Canadian Memorial at Courcelette that we visited yesterday is Delville Wood. It was the site of another battle in July 1916 during the larger Battle of the Somme. I don't know much about this particular battle, but do know that a South African Brigade was part of the larger British force and that the South Africans suffered massive losses in this battle. The actual Delville Wood was a small forest that was literally obliterated by shelling on both sides. Only mud, blood, and more mud remained. Every living tree was destroyed - except one. This was the second thing that we saw today that I cannot explain. This tree is still standing, near the impressive Memorial to the South Africans. The Delville Wood forest has regrown and is beautiful with hundreds (thousands?) of huge mature oak trees. This particular tree is a Hornbeam tree and for some reason it grabs your attention. It isn't the biggest tree or the fullest, but it is beautiful. Oddly, when we were there, and it must have been the clouds, but the sun shone directly on this one tree while the rest of the forest was dark. This tree has a small fence around it, but that actually draws from the sight and was not what drew our attention. Again, I can't explain it - but really quite neat!
Returning to Albert, we had a nice dinner downtown and again briefly visited the Albert Basilica. Tomorrow we will be leaving this part of France.
A few things that we learned today.
1. Sara trying to sleep while I update the Blog into the wee hours of the morning may lead to a full on domestic dispute. What a grump! She now has a shirt wrapped around her head like a blindfold so that the light doesn't bother her. Good grief!
2. When you meet a young man on the other side of the planet that appears terribly homesick and tells you that he is from Red Deer - reply that you are from Toronto.
3. While touring the tunnels at Vimy, the guide warned us that though it is extremely rare - bats have been seen over the years in the tunnel. That got Sara's attention. But not as much as the little brown bat on the roof above the exit door as we were leaving. The tour guide's excitement at finally seeing "wildlife" was lost on Sara. The best part was that the ceiling was maybe 6 feet tops. I'm sure that soldiers in 1916 could have learned how to keep their heads down just by watching her get out of the tunnel at double time! The thought crossed my mind to ruffle her hair as she shot by, but not wanting to get killed myself at Vimy - I behaved.
4. I was wrong. Sara's grand scheme to de-carbonate 4 litres of Perrier water appears to have worked. Thank heavens - that stuff was horrid.
5. Finally, much of the area around the Vimy Memorial is fenced off, with signs warning of the danger of unexploded ordinance. To keep the grass down, there is a flock of sheep moving about and getting fat. Sara was concerned about the sheep, and later at the tunnels we heard sporadic explosions. It was entertaining to say"Baaaaaaa" following each subsequent explosion. Again, what a grump. (We later learned that they were shotgun blasts as bird season had just opened).
Thank you. love mom
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