An Island of Sanity in a Sea of Madness

Well folks, things are cold and grey in France, as I guess they should be when visiting the Western Front. Finished things up in Ypres with visits to McRea's Bunker, Yorkshire trench, etc. which I've already talked about. Then next day-with Steph temporarily in toe-we had a chance to visit TOC H, the retreat that Tubby Clayton set up for all soldiers regardless of rank. It used to be just a hostel that I would stay at on my trips but now has a very impressive museum. Very moving and a definate bright spot amidst the horrors of the front.

We then did some polking around in and around Fromelles, which is absolutely covered with German bunkers. Very cool and definately worth a trip. The most interesting-from a historical point of view-had to be the site of the bunker old AH was stationed at during the war. It is just stuck out in a field and pretty much forgotten about. One of the things that really struck me was that even now, almost a hundred years later, I was pulling lots of shrapnel out of the ground. Made me wonder how many times we were close enough to nail that SOB and missed! Finished the visit by pulling a Patton at the Rhine on the bunker. It was cold, but it made me feel a bit better. Finished up the day at Notre Dame de Lorette. The battle for the high ground there consumed 100,000 French and 88,000 Germans. There is a cemetery and very impressive museum there that goes into great detail of the fighting and the losses there and is definately a must see.

WOrked our way down to the Somme yesterday to start things there. Got to take in the museum in Albert, Lochnagar Crater and Newfoundland Memorial Park, which is one of my favorite places on the Somme. Didn't find a shell this time Don, so not to worry, but did find lots of other interesting bits and pieces. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that I was able to get to see Gibralter, outside Poziers, the German command bunker that was just unearthed. Pretty cool stuff.

I'd travelled a good deal in the Western Front years ago, but there have been BIG improvements since then. Many more markers and text panels at important sites and the museums have definately picked up in terms of quality. Finishing up the Somme today and then we start working down to Verdun so stay tuned,.
P.S. GO SOX!