When I returned to Ireland after completing the cycling of the Western Front Way I gave two talks on the experience. At one of the talks I was asked if seeing the constant stream of military cemeteries became too much or how did I manage to cope with it? I have to say the endless rows of headstones of mostly young men was overwhelming at times. At a distance of over 100 years nothing can be done to help avoid their fate. I prayed at every cemetery I visited and spent time in reflection about the absolute requirement of people to dedicate themselves to creating opportunities to build peace and strong bonds of friendship.
Cycling through the Somme battlefield area brings you very close to the landscape and to the staggering losses suffered in the First World War. The cycling naturally gives you an uplift in your mood most of the time but facing this particular area was perhaps the most difficult part of my journey. There were so many peoples who had memorials – India, New Zealand, Australia, Britain, France, South Africa, Ireland, The Channel Islands, Germany and so many of them were lost in the most awful of circumstances.
My route took me from Voyennes to Béthencourt-sur-Somme north to Péronne. There I departed from the traditional Western Front Way route to take in a more personalised route to see places and memorials with family, friends and historical connections. From Péronne I cycled across to Guillemont, Ginchy and Delville Wood at Longueval. I went on to La Boiselle, Pozières and Mouquet Farm where I did some archaeological field walking and found some unexploded artillery shells. I safely deposited them at the road side for collection. I cycled on uphill to the astonishing Thiepval Memorial which has inscribed the names of over 72,000 allied soldiers who died on the Somme and have no known grave. It is not possible to see everything while touring the Western Front Way. There are many who have spent a lifetime exploring this area and I could say they still might not have seen everything. Choosing what I wanted to see established a personal connection to the expanse of the battlefield. It established a clear impression in my mind of the land and lives lost and those who remain. Those who died have become part of the land and it will always be so. Perhaps that is why families travelled to see the battlefields and the graves. In many cases there was no headstone ever to be erected. So the battlefields themselves became hallowed ground.
The care and attention given to the memorials and the cemeteries makes clear the respect shown to those who died. The emphasis was to show to their families and countries they did not die in vain. Over one hundred years later the pain of the four years of the First World War has ebbed yet the sheer scale of the loss of life and destruction of land and village is a really sobering reminder for all to make an effort to ensure peace and diplomacy remain central in international relations.
Peace be with you all.
Music © : Track 1 – Dead End by Vicki Fox; Track 2 – I’ll Never Let Go by Hampus Naeselius; Track 3 – Go In Peace by Stephan Ekström . All tracks on https://www.epidemicsound.com