Easo's battle field tour, with pics.

[easo]

G'dat all, have returned from the green fields of france and beligum. Touring some of the 1st and 2nd world war battle fields. Firstly this was a real eye opener and the scale of the ground effected. The land its self is nothing to behold the features are not very high, so what high ground there was, was very sought after by both sides. In some cases the same peice of ground was fought over in both wars!! We visited one pill box that was built by the germans in the 1st then used again and added to by the allies in the 2nd.

Most of the our activity was around Ypres, pronounced "eeps", spelt localy Iepers.

The first pics are from the tunneling operations on hill 60. Dug by Aussie tunnelers. The hill its self is man mad when all the spoil from making the rail near by was piled in this location some years before.
This memoral was built once the war ended but was almost destroyed when the hill was fought over in WW2, note the two bulet holes.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/582.jpg

This was what they were digging to create. The tunnel was dug into the hill a masive chamber was then built then cramed with explosives. This one had 75,000 tonnes in it. It was the biggest. When it went it took over 700 Germans. All up 21 mines were constructed, 19 were detonated. 1 blew its self up in the 50s and the other ??????????
This hole is 90ft deep and 170ft wide.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/10/1662.jpg

Some of the trench lines.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/583.jpg

What has been dug out of a blokes backyard.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/584.jpg

The neibours colection.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/585.jpg

More to follow.

[easo]

This was a good part of the day, this bloke was scaring the buggery out of the school girls firing off blanks.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/577.jpg

Sadly the bloke who ownes this place is making a mint off the visitors. None of the profits look like they are making back into preserving the colection.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/578.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/579.jpg

This was the first aid post, the closest to the line only a few hunderd yards.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/580.jpg

This is one of 2 german cemeterys. There are over 42,000 men in here. Each stone has the remains of 4 -16 men under them. In the middle of the yard is a mass grave half the size of a tenis court thats has 25,000 men in it. And two brits. The concret box is one of three pill boxes. That were part of hundreds that made the line.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/581.jpg

More to follow,

[Richard O]

Great Pic's mate..!!!

Hope you having a great time and doing the best a colonial boy can do!


:)

[easo]

Right moving on to Tyne Cemertry. This is the biggest one with the war graves comishion WGC. The WGC has over 21,000 sites the world over. The first pic looks back over the head stones over what was the battle field of Paschendale. This was the 'hill' they were taking. The areal photos of the time show the area looking like the surface of the moon. There are 12,000 graves.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/572.jpg

This head stone is of Capt Jeffries VC. Behind the stone is the pillbox he captured! He survived then went on to take a second and was killed.https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/573.jpg

On to The Meien Gate. Quite a calm/ relaxed attmosphere. They hold a service here every single day. The bulges play last post at 1800 and reef layer are invited forward. The New Zealander are not mentioned here, but are at Tyne.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/574.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/575.jpg

Well my last pic was the only one I found in bloom as the season is just starting.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/06/576.jpg

Cheers All,

Easo

[Hymie]

You arn't going near Harbonnieres are you?

[Bigbjorn]

My wife's great uncle is buried at Tyne Cot. He was 41 Bn. gassed at Passchaendale, 8/10/17. His brother, wife's grandfather, was there also, A sapper, 4th. Field Coy. RAE. He was badly affected by gas and did not make old bones, died at 60. Apparently had a lot of psych. problems after the war for the rest of his life like many returned men.

My grandfather was a tunneller when first posted to France, 4th. Dvn. Headquarters Tunnelling Coy, and then to the infantry, 52 BN. and transferred to 49 Bn. on 11/5/18 when the greatly depleted 4th. Dvn. had a number of battalions combined to restore numbers. He was wounded 7/6/17 and 28/9/17. His, eldest son, my Uncle Karl was an Anzac, at Gallipoli with the 1st. Dvn. Ammunition Supply Column, and after 18 months in military hospitals was returned to action in France in 4th. Dvn. Ammunition Supply Column.

[F4Phantom]

thanks mate, awesome photos.

[Jamo]

Great Pics, easo. Thanks for posting them.

I've just finished a biography on Monash. He believed that the individual acts of bravery made the difference in bogged down combat; almost to the point of relying upon such spontaneous acts as part of later battle plans to take the Hindenburg Line. It was his opinion that the germans were too ordered (he was german born himself) and were intially stunned by individual acts.

He also said the English were determined and brave, but very poorly led; and that the americans were badly trained.

[JohnE]

good stuff mate,


john

[Redback]

Great stuff mate, brought back memories of my trip back in 86 when i toured there on my motorcycle (BMW K100), unfortunately my camera wasn't working on normal shutter speed so all the photos i took didn't turn out, i didn't find this out until i got home and went to get them processed:(

Of the 4mths i was in Europe only 25% of my photos turned out:mad:

Thanks, Baz.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Thanks Easo for the pics - its important that people keep up these pilgrimages.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.

We will remember them!

Brian - I think that many soldiers and sappers didn't make old bones. My grandfather 9th Field Engineers, was frequently sent out into no mans land at night to dig jumping off saps etc, and while he rarely spoke of the war his lungs were never any good after his return. My father had to give him adrenaline injections when he couldn't breath and eventually my grandfather succumbed to respiratory failure at 44 years, the rest of the family have all lived until their 90's.

Diana

[Bigbjorn]

Thanks Easo for the pics - its important that people keep up these pilgrimages.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.

We will remember them!

Brian - I think that many soldiers and sappers didn't make old bones. My grandfather 9th Field Engineers, was frequently sent out into no mans land at night to dig jumping off saps etc, and while he rarely spoke of the war his lungs were never any good after his return. My father had to give him adrenaline injections when he couldn't breath and eventually my grandfather succumbed to respiratory failure at 44 years, the rest of the family have all lived until their 90's.

Diana
Yes, indeed. My grandfather told me that his Digger mates died off like flies in the 1920's and 1930's from the effects of gas, exposure (they lived mostly in the open through two North Europe winters), wounds, disease, diet. The 49Bn. had its last official reunion in 1950 when most of the survivors would have only been aged from 55 to 70. There were too few remaining, and most of those in poor health, so the remnant decided not to have another reunion. The long term effects of the military gases apparently were responsible for a multitude of deaths and much long term illness amongst the diggers even if not noticed at the time of exposure.

My grandfather fortunately enjoyed mostly good health until his seventies and eventually succumbed to a combination of heart disease and age at 86. Uncle Karl suffered poor health from his war time experiences and received a Vets. pension from the early 1920's. He died in his sixties from "weakness of the heart as a result of military service" per his death certificate.

[Davo]

That's very interesting. Our family story is that my English great grand-dad was gassed but had experimental surgery that put stainless steel into his esophagus. Anyway, he lived until the '50s, which wasn't too bad compared to some of these stories.

Thanks heaps for the photos - I'd love to get over there for a look - and let's just pray that it never happens again.

[olmate]

Great photos Easo ;) Thanks mate - they are very special. :D