1/4/2023 0 Comments Forgotten fields of americaFor anyone brave enough to climb the Belfry and face the bleak winds, the entire countryside is on display, and on a clear day Paris is visible. Le Place des Héros is dominated by the gothic Hôtel de Ville. Since medieval times, the main square – Le Place des Héros – has been home to a market, and now every Saturday stalls of meats, poultry, cheeses, fruits de mer and all manner of fresh produce spill over the cobbled stones and into the surrounding streets. Much of the town was rebuilt in traditional style, and Arras is now World Heritage Listed by UNESCO. From the end of 1914 until early 1918, the Western Front (which stretched from Belgium to the Mediterranean) was never more than three kilometres away, and the town itself was occupied and nearly destroyed. A confusion of back roads loop and intersect through small villages, where horse-drawn carts are still in use.Īrras is a medieval town of cobbled streets and limestone tunnels. The heavy soil stuck to my shoes, and all too easily turns to mud. Shrapnel from the war still surfaces each season as the fields are farmed. Tilled land spreads in all directions, dotted by the occasional stone farmhouse, a church spire, a copse of trees. The landscape here is flat, and has been farmed – and fought over – for centuries. Uncle Harry rests in Dartmoor Cemetery, Becordel-Becourt, not far from Arras. Consequently, this area of France is dotted with cemeteries. In contrast to the American Army, which built large cemeteries for their war dead, the Commonwealth Forces tried to bury their soldiers near where they fell. He could never bring himself to return to France and visit his beloved brother’s grave. Deciding escape was the only way to survive the miasmas of war-time Liverpool, he worked his way to Australia, jumped shipped in Perth, and died at the age of ninety two. His brother – my grandfather – enlisted at the age of fourteen, had a kidney shot out in Ypres, contracted TB while convalescing, and was shipped home with six months to live. Second Lieutenant Henry Byron, 1st/5th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment, was twenty-two. On the 8th September 1916, my great-uncle died from wounds suffered during the Battle of the Somme.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |