WWI - Visit 5
Our middle day of the trip was coming to an end, and on our way back we drove past Henencourt Chateau, where British officers were billeted. The men were in the village, but from the coach it was impossible to get a photo!
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On our way back to our hotel we made a final stop at Thiepval Memorial ... the memorial to the missing of the Somme. Granddad was there, but sadly we weren't there long enough for me to find his regimental memorial, as he would have known some of those names, I am sure.
There are Commonwealth, & French soldiers here .... mostly unknown men.
Part of the Battlefield
And so we are on the last day of the trip, and our first stop was Bailleul Cemetery, which is near where one of the RFC airfields were. One grave we went specifically to see was that of Thomas Mottershead received the only V.C. ever awarded to a non-commissioned RFC officer during the First World War
As there was also a hospital there, many of the graves are doubles and as you can see it was started as part of the local Churchyard.
Indian Army
Thomas Mottershead
Granddad was evacuated on the 14th, this man from the same regiment died a week later
Our final stop of the morning was at Godewaersvelde Cemetery.... or, as the soldiers called the town "God Wears Velvet".
We went there to see one of the nursing sisters who was killed in a bombing of the hospital areas. And, ironically, we ended up having to call the Belgian health services, as the lady collapsed again. They were very speedy.
E M Kent - nursing sister
On our way back to our hotel we made a final stop at Thiepval Memorial ... the memorial to the missing of the Somme. Granddad was there, but sadly we weren't there long enough for me to find his regimental memorial, as he would have known some of those names, I am sure.
There are Commonwealth, & French soldiers here .... mostly unknown men.
Part of the Battlefield
And so we are on the last day of the trip, and our first stop was Bailleul Cemetery, which is near where one of the RFC airfields were. One grave we went specifically to see was that of Thomas Mottershead received the only V.C. ever awarded to a non-commissioned RFC officer during the First World War
As there was also a hospital there, many of the graves are doubles and as you can see it was started as part of the local Churchyard.
Indian Army
Thomas Mottershead
Granddad was evacuated on the 14th, this man from the same regiment died a week later
Our final stop of the morning was at Godewaersvelde Cemetery.... or, as the soldiers called the town "God Wears Velvet".
We went there to see one of the nursing sisters who was killed in a bombing of the hospital areas. And, ironically, we ended up having to call the Belgian health services, as the lady collapsed again. They were very speedy.
E M Kent - nursing sister