This was the first day of our WW1 Western Front Battlefields tour.....and our first war cemetery at the Thiepval Memorial for the missing, not far from Pozieres. For me, this was rather moving, and made it all seem very real, knowing that these men lost their lives fighting here :(
The cemetery is situated right across the front line of 1st July 2016, and the memorial, which stands behind where I've taken the photo from, lists the names of more than 72,000 British soldiers listed as missing - those whose bodies were never found, or if found, could not be identified. There were many headstones in the cemetery that did not have names....simply stating, "A soldier from the Great War". We will remember them.
The gardens in all these cemeteries are meticulously kept, and looking at the beautiful scene depicted there, one would not imagine the horrors that these men would have faced.
A wonderful capture, it's a very moving place. We were there last year and were able to find my husband's great uncle's name on the memorial. Simply the huge numbers engraved on that memorial alone brings home the size of the sacrifices but when you realise that this is only one of so many WW1 cemeteries in the area it is quite shattering.
It's quite horrific when you see so many graves side by side, isn't it. Such sacrifice and sadness. But you're right, there's a certain peacefulness about the graveyards.
I am annoyed that I didn't think to tell you to check out 'Le Tommy' cafe in Pozieres ... maybe you did, who knows?!. Run by a mad bagpipe playing Frenchman who has mock trenches at the back of the cafe. It's a very interesting place.
Yes, this is only but 1 of approximately 1000 war cemeteries...and although we visited many cemeteries, we did not tire of seeing them...each were meticulously & beautifully kept, and each gave you goosebumps and had a sense of peace as you spent time in them.
A very fitting & poignant reminder of all those gave their lives so we might have a better life. Thank you very much for sharing your images & reflections.
Very poignant shot of the cemetery. The lines magnify the amount of grave stones and really hits us how many people sacrificed themselves. very emotional. Fav for me.
May 13th, 2016
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I am annoyed that I didn't think to tell you to check out 'Le Tommy' cafe in Pozieres ... maybe you did, who knows?!. Run by a mad bagpipe playing Frenchman who has mock trenches at the back of the cafe. It's a very interesting place.
Yes, this is only but 1 of approximately 1000 war cemeteries...and although we visited many cemeteries, we did not tire of seeing them...each were meticulously & beautifully kept, and each gave you goosebumps and had a sense of peace as you spent time in them.