Battlefield tour Somme (1 Viewer)

[MisterB]

Mister B, may I ask your grandfather's name? Would be nice to look up and pay respects. Also, good idea about the German memorial. Seeing it from the other side.
I'm sure at the end of the day the majority of the German soldiers were, like our lads, just trying to keep themselves alive long enough to get home to their families. Following orders, and looking out for their mates.

12278 Private Harry BRUCKSHAW 1st Bn. Cheshire Regiment 24 Years old Killed In Action on Thursday 29th April 1915

Find out more about the Soldiers who came from Cheshire and gave their lives in the Great War & World war 2.

www.cheshireroll.co.uk

it was my Great Grandfather ... but thanks for taking the time, not just for my great grandfather, but also for everyone who lost their lives on both sides, not forgetting of course those who were killed that werent engaged in sort of military capacity.

one thing that opened my eyes and became quite emotional to me, was the amount of soldiers from around the British Empire (as was) that lost their lives, lots of plaques on the gate listing their names and the thought that none of their families are unlikely ever to have had the chance to see their everlasting memory touched a bit of a raw nerve for me.

this thread https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/foru...emony-late-thought.185258/page-2#post-3054643

its the actual Zillebeke lake, it might be worth considering if youre 'self sufficient' as there are no facilities - we stayed in our motorhome and the MiL and my wifes brother and his wife stayed in the hotel, i think it was an airbnb ....? The locals understand the reasons why motorhomes are often parked there and they were very friendly towards us and even when arriving early to fish, run, cycle etc they kept the noise down to the absolute minimum.

as for the german, austrian, hungarian, turkish etc soldiers, i would imagine they all thought the same, were all encouraged to do their bit and suffered the same as those on the Allies side.

As for it being the war to end all wars ....

 

[BusyBuilder]

A place you may ant to take him to or even stay is Talbot House Popperinge.

Every Man's Club

Discover a museum where the past lives on combined with a guesthouse in an authentic British soldiers' club, right in the historical heart of Flanders…

www.talbothouse.be

also this

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-s...he-first-world-war-at-poperinge-30660054.html

You can stay in same rooms the soldiers stayed in, it's a lovely little village.

 

[The Coops]

Thanks grumps147.
That's good to know you didn't have problems regarding the size of your motorhome. Mine is just over 8m so it'd good to know that these sites won't pose a problem. It's a Christmas present I am putting together for him, and as he's been before, I think I'll let him dictate the pace and see what he wants to go for.

I did see on someone's youbtube video, that they recommend getting there an hour before the ceremony at Ypres.

Give it 90 mins it gets very busy with school parties have a look around the town and see how many youngsters are knocking about and if you need wheelchair access its a struggle to get to the front of the road, best bet is to grab a spot at one of the corner pillars on the arches next to your shoulder but watch out for pushers in!