It is near the village of Thiepval, Picardy. The memorial is 150 feet (46 m) high. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial was built between 1928 and 1932 and is the biggest British battle memorial in the world. It was inaugurated by the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII, who became the Duke of Windsor after his abdication.) on 1st August 1932. The Memorial also serves as an Anglo-French battle
memorial to commemorate the joint nature of the 1916 offensive. In further recognition of this, a cemetery containing 300 British Commonwealth and 300 French graves lies at the foot of the memorial. Many of the soldiers buried here are unknown. The British Commonwealth graves are rectangular and made of white stone, while the French graves have grey stone crosses. On the British headstones is the inscription "A Soldier of the Great War/ Known unto God". The French crosses bear the single word "Inconnu" ('unknown'). The grounds around the memorial are very beautifully laid out and maintained - in marked contrast to the horrific scenes in which all those men died. We located two names of special interest, firstly George Butterworth, who is best known as the composer of the very beautiful orchestral piece "The Banks of Green Willow" which commences with a haunting rendition by a solo clarinet. If you are unfamiliar with it, you can listen to it by clicking here.
The second name that interested us was that of a young Ulster rifleman, William Frederick "Billy" McFadzean VC who was born in Lurgan (the home town of my wife), County Armagh in what is now Northern Ireland. He was only twenty when, as a soldier in the Royal Irish Rifles, he was killed on 1st July 1916, near Thiepval Wood. Apparently a
box of grenades slipped into a crowded trench. Two of the safety pins in the grenades were dislodged. McFadzean, realising the danger to his friends and colleagues, threw himself on top of the grenades, which exploded, killing him but only injuring one other man. As a result, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. The on site Visitor Centre is very interesting and well laid out with wall posters and video presentations. The gift shop is bulging with all manner of books about the First World War.
Pte. McFadzean VC
After a very welcome cup of tea, coffee and buns provided by Susan, we moved on to what was for us the highlight of the day, a visit to the Ulster Tower fairly near by. This is a memorial to the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division. The memorial was officially opened on November 19, 1921 and is a very close copy of Helen's Tower which stands in the grounds of the Clandeboye Estate, near Bangor, County Down in Northern Ireland.
The Ulster Tower on the Somme, shown on the left, pictured with Helen's Tower, Northern Ireland.On the 1st of July 1916, men of the 36th Division made significant advances on the German front line but the enemy mounted counterattacks, and as the Ulstermen's stocks of bombs and ammunition dwindled, many fell back with small parties remaining in the German front lines. The casualties suffered by the 36th totalled over 5,000.
The tower contains a memorial room full of fascinating artefacts relating to the 36th Division's struggle against the Germans. There is an adjoining cafe, staffed by members of the Somme Association, which is based in Belfast. Teddy and Phoebe Colligan have been the custodians for ten years but are due to retire and move back to Northern Ireland in a few days. It was a delight to meet these lovely people who were so welcoming to us all. We would wish them a long and happy retirement.
In this photograph, Claire and I are pictured with them - we are the pair in the middle!Teddy spent well over an hour telling us about the battle and took us into Thiepval Wood to show us some of the old trenches and tell us many fascinating anecdotes about the happenings there nearly a hundred years ago. Many examples of munitions and other equipment are on display in the cafe and there is even a video display room - well worth a visit. Teddy pointed out that the land on which the tower and cafe stands is a gift from the French people so is in effect "a little piece of Ulster". Visiting French dignitaries will not enter without an invitation as it is regarded as not a part of France - but they don't have to produce passports!
After lunch in the cafe, it was time to say our goodbyes to Teddy and Phoebe and to move on to a battlefield near the town of Serre. This was the site of the Northern "Pals" battalions' attack on 1st July 1916. (The Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted units of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and work colleagues ("pals"), rather than being arbitrarily allocated to regular Army regiments.) Here there is a line of cemeteries which we were told stand on No Man's Land, half way between the German and British front lines. Some of the ground was recently ploughed so some of us wandered up and down the furrows looking for shrapnel, bullets etc but didn't find any. At a time, however, many unexploded shells were turned up by farmers and in fact as we were leaving we stopped to look at a shell that had been recently found
and was awaiting collection by a French bomb disposal squad. Amusingly, Steve told us that recently a member of one of his tour parties, on seeing such a shell, started kicking it and had to be told to stop!
Our last visit of the day was to the Newfoundland Park Memorial which commemorates the Newfoundland Regiment, part of the 88th Infantry Brigade within the 29th Division. It attacked the Germans here on the 1st of July 1916, and suffered appalling losses - 90% of the men ending up as casualties. After the War, Newfoundland purchased this land and the Canadian government maintains it in tribute to those brave men.
The statue of a caribou was erected on a hill as it was the symbol of the Newfoundland Regiment.
There is much to see within the park, including memorials and cemeteries as well as well preserved trench lines. The pathways are edged by electric fences, either to keep visitors off the shell-holed grassland, or to keep sheep on it! Soldiers of the Scottish 51st Division also saw action here and towards the rear of the Park is the statue of a kilted Highland soldier on top of a tall pyramid,
looking east towards the village of Beaumont Haamel which men of the 51st Division took on 13th November 1916. Directly opposite is another memorial to the 51st Division, a tall and simple wooden cross.
And so our day's outing came to an end - we had seen so much - and there is so much more to see in this area - we really must come back some day!
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