Hoggin' the Howitzer - Homeward Bound

Having enjoyed a fine dinner after our trip to the Menin Gate the night before, we faced very murky weather on the way to La Coupole, a V2 site near St Omer. It is a very impressive undergound facility with 7kms of railway line and fortunately never became fully operational, although many V2 rockets were dropped on London. Some good came out of Hitler's rocket programme - the American and Russion Space ventures were both founded on the German rocket engineering from the V1 (Doodlebug) and the V2 (also a precursor to the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, which hopefully will never be used).

After visiting it, we headed for the Tunnel terminal, a bit late because I had decided to watch a film that was longer than anticipated and held up our departure, so we missed our train, not in itself a problem normally as there is a 1 hour leeway and we were only minutes late, but there had been, or still was, a problem in the Tunnel due to a breakdown. It did us an opportunity for a bite and a coffee. Leaving later might also have had a bonus, because some heavy rain and high winds had moved across UK while we were stuck in France and, although it was still very windy on the motorway back home, with lots of spray to make it rather unpleasant, we probably missed the worst of it. It was quite cold too, but the traffic was relatively light, so it wasn't too problematic, but we were glad when it had finished.

So, it was a good educational tour with lots of laughs and good fun within the group. We also found our quarter mile long convoy of bikes cheered or tooted at by passing motorists and pedestrians, and we provided entertainment and photographic opportunity to others as we got ready for the off at our hotels in the morning!

Jean rather took to the whole experience. So much so that she is going to the 105th Harley-Davidson Anniversary rally at Minehead at the beginning of July! It therefore seemed appropriate to enrol her as an Associate Member of the Harley Owner Group - Soon, she AM HOG!

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Menin Gate

The Last Post has been sounded here every night since the end of WWI, other than during WWII and it is quite a moving experience. There is usually a crowd and many may be visiting ex and serving military people, families of those lost and others. The night we went, there was a large contingent of Indian people, young and old, whose leader gave prayers for those lost before they and others laid wreaths. There were visiting British Legion personnel, with band who also took part in the ceremony.

On the gate are inscribed the names of some 58,000 Missing, for whom the (mis)fortune of war has denied them a named grave. Seeing the many pictures of the shell damage and areas razed to the ground, you can understand how there are some many unidentifed graves and why so many names are listed as missing.

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Sanctuary Wood

Far from being a sanctuary, this was Hill 62, the site of fierce battles outside Ypres and a short distance from Hellfire Corner. Our hotel was adjacent to a large pond created from the hole of an underground mine - there were many underground explosions set off by both sides, and sometimes the two side encountered each other underground!

There is a museum with many stereoscopes to view many old and original glass slides, some rather gruesome. The trenches have been preserved and you can walk through them, in wellies if wet, to get a feel for living conditions, although they have clearly eroded in height and been reinforced with over 90 years of erosion. However, you leave with an impression of how awful it must have been in cold and wet weather month after month.

Unexploded ordnance is still found today by local farmers - apparently 30% or so never went off. They simply leave it by the roadside for collection!

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Langemarck

This was the only German cemetery we visited and it is very much more dark and sombre than those of the Commonwealth. Names to the missing are carved in wood inside the entrance area, but the mass grave, physically quite small, for some 32,000 dead is quite chilling. They had been exhumed from many graves around the area after the War. Overall, the land allowed for the German cemeteries is considerably smaller than that of the Allies, so there are sometimes four or five names on a headstone, which are black and laid flat.

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Tyne Cot

Tyne Cot (Tyne Cottage, the name given by the Northumberland Fusiliers) is the largest British Military cemetery overseas, although it also includes Allied graves. It is built on the site of German Pill Boxes and the Remembrance Cross is constructed over one of these, with a piece of it still showing. Two others can be seen among the graves. There are nearly 12,000 graves, of which 8,000 are of unknown dead. Sometimes the Regiment is known, but often it is not. There are also 35,000 names of the Missing carved on the curved and panelled walls at the rear. Seeing the tributes to those killed, in the form of Remembrance crosses and messages, placed by descendant relatives no doubt, is quite moving. Here too, a new Visitors Centre has been built and it too drives home the message of the many young people lost, with their names being read out, with age where known, over a public address system while you are walking around it.

What also left an impression on me was the gruesome and extensive work that was required after the War to recover the remains of so many and rebury them in these well-tended graveyards. It is a tribute to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that these cemeteries (about 1,000 of them) remain in such good condition today, and long may it continue.

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Ploegsteert

It was raining while I was packing the bike, but it eased over breakfast and had stopped by the time we left, to become a glorious and hot day.

Known as 'Plugstreet' by the Allies, this was our first stop in Flanders and it is well populated with cemeteries and memorials. We stopped briefly at the Lancashire Regiment's cemetery just outside Ploegstreet, before proceding to the Memorial to the Missing, which is opposite Hyde Park Corner, a Royal Berkshire Regiment cemetery. The Memorial has the names of over 11,000 who died in this sector.

A group photo was also taken here.

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Beaumont Hamel

Next stop was the Newfoundlander Memorial Park at Beaumont Hamel. There is a Caribou memorial, which gives a good panoramic view of the battle area and its remaining trenches. Canadian student guides do tours of duty to inform visitors and tell the story of the battles and the losses. One such battle saw 87% casualties after advance to the small clump of tress just visible towards the right of picture across No Man's Land. The Germans were well dug in, in a ravine just out of picture at the line of trees on the far side. This was often the case, where they had the high ground and better defended positions. One of the remaining trenches can be seen in the other photo, with the Caribou in the background.

In advance, the troops had markings on their backs so their own artillery could see them to keep the barrage in front. In retreat, however, these markings became a target for the German gunners.

Then we had a mishap. Intending to go from here to Vimy Ridge as a last stop, we had been relying on my Tomtom SatNav and this time it let me down! It firstly directed me on what seemed like a circuitous route and then onto the wrong direction on a motorway. Next, the smaller tanked bikes needed fuel, so we went even further in the wrong direction to find that (petrol stations are not that frequent in France), to finally run out of time. Coming back through the same motorway access, I was slightly consoled when looking at the directions again that I would have made the same mistake - it seemed to include a road that actually ran under the motorway toll area, but as if it were a turning off the road we were on. That's my excuse and there was concurrence from herself on the back, honest! Anyway, we missed Vimy Ridge and had to head for our Campanile near Bethune. It did give rise to the cry of "Can we go to Albert again" as we had visited it twice in one day - a tolerant and humorous lot are the HOGs!

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Thiepval

Sadly, the immediate Memorial area was closed for work of some kind, although a few renegades in our group ignored the signs and went up close anyway!

A new Visitor Centre has been opened since I was last here, which gave everyone a more complete appreciation. The light coloured panels at the bottom of each piece of the Memorial contain the names of the Missing, over 73,000 of them. Below is a combined British & French cemetery to commemorate the joint action in The Somme.

I don't particularly like the Memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, as it seems out of proportion.

Hoggin' the Howitzer - Delville Wood

Unfortunately, we had a 100 mile journey to make before we got into The Somme Battlefield area, which took up most of the morning. Our first stop was Delville Wood, the scene of a bloody battle in which over 3,000 South African troops went in to 'hold the woods at all costs' and only 143 emerged after 6 days of fighting. So, was indeed nearly 'at all costs'. There is a cemetery and a more recently constructed South African Memorial. We had already passed many other cemeteries in the vicinity, and were to pass many more as evidence of the scale of the battle(s) and the losses. My lasting impression, from a trip here some years ago with a local village group, was the enormous losses for miniscule territorial gain.

Hoggin' the Howitzer - WWII

After a trouble free journey, meeting up with the others - 19 or us on 14 Harleys - we left Portsmouth for an overnight crossing to Caen. It's quite short so not much time for rest and, after arrival a short journey along the coast, we were compelled to stop for a breakfast of croissant and coffee by the smell of freshly baked bread in a village square. Next, it was onward to Arromanches, the location of one of two Mulberry Harbours created by the Allies to supply their forces after the D-Day landings. Remnants can still be seen after over 60 years and there is a very good museum showing off the enormity of the undertaking. Notable to me was the Winston Churchill memo to his commanders, about 4 lines long, asking for their proposals and dates,with the caveat "Don't argue about it"!

Then it was onward to the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach, which has over 9,300 graves in it, and 1,600 names of the Missing. It was striking that you were unable to stand anywhere within the cemetery without seeing a line of crosses in several directions, such was the consistency of the construction and layout. Afterwards, a pleasant lunch was enjoyed nearby before our journey to a Campanile near Dieppe.

Hoggin' the Howitzer - the start

Up until the start of the day we left to visit WWI and II Battlefields as part of a group from my local HOG Chapter, Jean had only ridden 40 miles on the back my Harley. So, I thought I should get some more practice in the morning, before departing in the afternoon. By the time we returned, she had clocked another 900 miles! The trip went well, the weather in France & Belgium was better than forecast, but on the journey back from the Tunnel to home we had to endure high winds and a lot of spray. However, it made for a better rounded experience!