I joined a group of writers for a weekend tour in Nord and Pas de Calais in Northern
France to commemorate the start of the First World War
We toured historical sites from Friday April 25th to Sunday 27th, 2014. Visitors from around the world can share the commemoration of WW1 in France from 2014 to 2018.
Here is the feature I wrote for
50 Connect
We toured historical sites from Friday April 25th to Sunday 27th, 2014. Visitors from around the world can share the commemoration of WW1 in France from 2014 to 2018.
Here is the feature I wrote for
50 Connect
The misery and insanity of war can seem like an inaccessible, nebulous thunder cloud of black statistics until you focus on one specific reckless battle and the poignancy of the personal perspective of a sensitive young soldier from Shropshire.
Wilfred
Owen, just 25, felt safe and secure holed up with other officers of the Second
Manchesters Regiment in the smoky, rowdy cellar of a cottage in the tranquil
French village of Ors when he scrawled an eloquent letter to his fretful
mother, dated October 31, 1918.
Usually
maudlin, this cheerful letter was full of joy and comfort as the horror of war
was coming to end and the men were dreaming of home.
Owen
writes: “It is a great life. I am more oblivious than alas yourself, dearest
Mother, of the ghastly glimmering of the guns outside and the hollow crashing
of the shells. There is no danger down here, or if any, it will be well over
before you read these lines. I hope you are as warm as I am; as serene in your
room as I am here…you could not be visited by a band of friends half so fine as
surround me here.”
But four
days later the gifted young poet and forty other youthful English soldiers were
dead, tragically, needlessly, just a week before the Allies’ Victory on
Armistice on November 11.
Soldiers
must obey dumb decisions by commanding officers. When ordered to construct a
floating bridge and cross the Sambre-Oise Canal, the soldiers were hopelessly
exposed to the German units entrenched on the opposite bank at La Motte Farm,
who opened fire with machine guns. Amongst the fatal causalities was Wilfred Owen.
Here we
are, almost one hundred years later, a group of seven curious British
travellers, dangling mobile phones, cameras and gadgets, standing mesmerised
and teary, in that same cellar listening to the resonant voice of acclaimed
actor Kenneth Branagh reading Owen's last letter. His innocent words land like
bricks on the heart.
We are
transported back a century and emotions are raw. Our minds are racing with
images of terrifying battle scenes and courageous young men living their last
moments with gusto, before sacrificing their futures for unborn generations.
That’s us; the grateful living.
The jolly
little rural cottage was red brick with jaunty window shutters when Owen
sheltered in the smoky cellar but these days the memorial is stark white with a
dramatic curved ramp leading to a modern museum with illuminated clear walls
adorned with the hand written lines of Owen’s evocative war poetry. And there’s
that aching audio again turning eyes wet with tears.
Our
little tour group of whimsical writers led by Sara from PR agency, four bgb and Ellie from MYFERRYLINK
crossed the English Channel to Calais in style and comfort on Friday afternoon
and drove in two cars to the Hotel
d' Angleterre in Arras, a charming, resilient city lovingly rebuilt after
being severely bombed in both wars.
My
spacious, elegant suite with a giant, comfortable bed ensured I woke up fresh
and eager to walk in the footsteps of Wilfred Owen, one of the Remembrance Trails
of Northern France, created for the Centenary of the start of the First World War in 1914.
After our
emotional experience in the La
Maison Forestiere, the kindly Mayor of Ors,
Jacques Duminy, devoted to promoting the unique memorial, accompanies us on the seven-kilometre
hike through pretty woodlands to take in the languid canal where the tragic
battle was fought.
We stroll through the village where the soldiers,
including Scotsmen in kilts, Aussies in slouch hats and Indians in turbans,
fraternised with locals. We visit the simple graveyard where over a hundred
Allied soldiers are buried and the local cemetery where Owen’s modest headstone
is one of many.
The easy trails weave through idyllic woodlands of skinny
trees knee-deep in carpets of bluebells; their branches shimmering with
delicate new leaves in crisp air filled with birdsong. In this peaceful
sanctuary, we contemplate the aberration of war’s chaos and destruction. The
Wilfred Owen walk has transformed us all into poets!
With a stinging blister on my toe and rumbling tummy, I
hobble off to join our group for a hearty lunch of traditional dishes in the
rustic cafe, l’Estaminet de l’Hermitage in Ors.
And then we change gears into art connoisseurs to visit Louvre-Lens museum, a modern regional art gallery with an astonishing
collection of antiquities, a regional annex of Paris’ famous Louvre.
A fascinating day is capped off with a superb, delectable
dinner and much lively discussion and laughter at La Faisanderie, a Baroque-style restaurant
set in a brick-walled cellar in elegant Arras.
If immersion in the pathos of Wilfred Owen was a profound
experience, I am completely taken by surprise on Sunday morning. Nothing could
have prepared me for the emotional impact of what came next!
At the Wellington Quarry
we slap on audio headsets and safety
helmets and, led by our knowledgeable guide Francois, descend 20 meters to a
secret underground city.
In the winter of 1916, work gangs of 500 determined and
courageous New Zealand Tunnellers, using only picks powered by muscle, sweat
and hard labour, dug out 12 miles of tunnels over six months. These tunnels,
cut through chalky stone, are not tiny rabbit warrens but cavernous corridors
and rooms that housed 24,000 Allied soldiers from all over the world for eight
days before the most surprising attack of the First World War.
At Exit 10, the Tommies, multitudes of brave young men
suppressing their terror, emerged from this secret underground base to burst
into No Man’s Land a few meters from the German camps in the morning of April
9, 1917 to fight and win the famous Battle of Arras; a mass slaughter. Over two
gory months, 4000 men lost their lives every day. The hard-won victory stopped
the German troops advancing into France.
Visitors are enthralled to watch black and white films of
life underground and hear the
With our imaginations in over-drive visualising this
heroic super human mission, my fellow travellers and I are gob smacked and
intrigued by Francois’ vivid descriptions as we weave through the eerie,
illuminated labyrinth. The sombre mood is lightened by colourful displays of
provisions, graffiti and funny drawings and the nostalgic mixture of Kiwi and
English place names the tunnellers and soldiers gave the myriad chambers to
conjure the comforts of home.
Feeling emotionally and mentally drained, I’m not sure if
I can take much more of this historic heartache. But there’s more. We meet up
with two charming young women from the Tourism Office Notre
Dame de Lorette Church at
Artois.
The impressive
memorial commemorates the Battle of Lorette that lasted 12 months and claimed
100,000 victims. The imposing Lantern Tower, erected in 1921, is 150 feet high
and at night it’s beacon-light revolves five time every minute across the
surrounding countryside.
The Chapel is a
massive, stark building from the outside but inside the Romanesque and
Byzantine decor is awe-inspring; full of grace and beauty, with immense mosaic
images and vivid stained glass windows.
Surrounding the
two impressive buildings, the French National War
Cemetery contains the bones of over 40,000 soldiers, marked by dramatic
rows of white crosses.
Luckily a delicious lunch at the convivial, rustic Estaminet de Lorette provides respite from the daunting vision of
graveyards. My blueberry tart is heavenly!
By mid afternoon the weather is turning bleak with a cold
blanket of grey haze and drizzle providing the perfect atmosphere to visit Vimy
Ridge to experience life in the trenches during the bitter winter of 1917
where all four Canadian divisions, fighting together for the first time,
stormed the seven kilometre long Ridge, a strategic German stronghold.
The victory came at the enormous cost of over 10,000
casualties including 3,598 Canadians,
Our weekend tour packed in so much and opened my eyes and
heart to my grandfather’s courageous generation who sacrificed their lives for
freedom.
Wearily we pile in our cars and drive to Calais port for
the pleasant return trip across the Channel, chatting about our impressions and
insights and somehow feeling older and wiser.
I recommend the World War tours in Northern France to
humans of all ages in the hope that enough empathy and compassion for the brave
victims of war and the loss and grief suffered by millions of parents,
siblings, sweethearts, wives and children will lead to a passionate commitment
to a love of humanity and peaceful co-existence.
- Fact box –
MyFerryLink
MyFerryLink operates 16 daily crossings on the Dover-Calais
route. Fares for a car and up to four passengers start from just £36 each way
online for any duration travel and from £29 return for a day trip. To find the
best fares, visit www.myferrylink.com or call 0844 2482 100
Nord-Pas de Calais Tourist
Board
For more information on the Nord-Pas de Calais, visit www.northernfrance-tourism.com
Wilfred Owen / Maison Forestière in Ors
Entry to the house is free of
charge. Open Monday to Saturday (except Tuesdays) from 10am to 1pm, and 2-5pm.
Also open the first Sunday of every month from 2-5pm.
For more information on the Maison
Forestière in Ors, and to download the Wilfred Owen trail, visit www.tourisme-cambresis.fr/following-owen
Louvre Lens
Entry to the Galerie du Temps is
free. Other exhibitions may be payable.
A new temporary exhibition
dedicated to the ‘Disasters of War’ will take place from 28 May – 6 October
2014 and costs €3.
Wellington Quarry
La Carrière Wellington runs
regular guided visits daily for €6.80 per adult and €3.10 per child. To buy
tickets, visit http://explorearras.getaticket.com/
Vimy Ridge and Notre Dame de Lorette Necropolis
Entry to all sites are free of
charge, and Canadian volunteers will act as a guide to Vimy Ridge free of
charge. For information on these and other war sites in the Nord-Pas de Calais
area, visit www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com
Another good site is www.arras1418.com
War history enthusiasts and techie
people will be thrilled with the new Diaries 14-18 app (http://www.zevisit.com/application/war1418/diaries1418.html)
Hôtel d’Angleterre
We stayed at the Hôtel d’Angleterre. A double room starts
from €104 per night on a bed and breakfast basis. www.hotelangleterre.info
La Faisanderie
On the Saturday night, we ate at La Faisanderie in Arras.
Estaminet de Lorette
On Sunday lunchtime, we ate at the Estaminet de Lorette
