They wanted to go to the main Australian memorial. First stop along the way was Poziers cemetary. A lot of Australian graves there, including one containing 3 unknown Australian bodies. Passed a smaller Australian memorial. Next stop, logistically was Thiepval. They gave up the journey there. The graves, ages and names of all the dead, the carnage, destruction and devastation of the Somme, got to them. That was the end of their journey. They never made it to Australian memorial they wanted to visit. It was so overwhelming for them.
It is always heartbreaking when you think that those numbers you always heard about were all individual people, young lives, lost for sheer madness.
I took a coach ride From France into Belgium and the bus stopped at a British cemetary for WW2 soldiers, I got off the bus and walked passed the graves .. it overwhelmed me, so young ... I'll never forget it. ... Joy.
A friend of mine has just taken a coach full of Paras over to Nijmegen, Arnhem and Ginkel Ede. 75th Anniversary - Operation Market Garden. His words.(Yesterday) "There are about a thousand kids here. All presenting flowers in honour of the combined allied forces that fought for their freedom. Very humbling."
I was looking at some pictures of my grandfather, who was 72 when I was born. He was in his WWI uniform and ... dang he looked like a baby. They were all babies.
Recently watched a 2005 documentary titled " The Somme" directed by Carl Hindmarch, absolutely brutal battle. " Never have so many soldiers been killed in one day's fighting: 25,000 dead, most in the first hour." Really nasty first day there but they kept on fighting till November. The body count on both sides was, One million casualties, dead, wounded or missing from July - Nov. 1916.
https://www.stripes.com/98-year-old-wwii-veteran-parachutes-over-the-netherlands-1.599572 we lived near the US memorial in Anzio - Nettuno; shocking every time. also the small British ones with the fallen of all the Empire made me think about the sadness of young people that came from the other side of the globe. when passing through Bavaria I was visiting a memorial for the Royal Air Force crew that gave their lives at age 17 to 22 in the last weeks of the war.
I was recently in the former GDR and visited the REAL location of the Elbe Day. a very peaceful graveyard in Lorenzkirch.
My friend who sent me the pics from Nijmegen was in Poland 3 days ago with a coach load of tourists. Several of the people including my friend dropped to their knees after visiting here. He said it was an experience he will never forget.
My uncle's family's ashes would be in that ground. His sisters, mother, father, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins. My cousins have no relatives on their dad's side. My parents went to Oradour sur Glane.
My friend went to Buchenwald too. He paid his respects but does not want to go in again. He'll continue to take people but he's not going in. Not a word was spoken by the passengers after leaving and going to the hotel.
Lest we forget: and also, that massacres like that weren't confined to WW2,but are still happening today.
It seems to be getting more widespread, though not on such a massive scale. Yet. The bad guys have access to much more technology, they can travel over greater distances. Military style arms can be bought on any black market, or even regular markets sometimes.
They're cracking down on some of the nastier bits here, thankfully. My granddad's family died in one of those camps. No one's ever been sure which. He and the two siblings who emigrated circa 1910 escaped. Only one other brother did. I don't think I could go into those camps either.
My late sister visited Dachau in the 90's, it shook her to the core. I'm sure she was not right after that.
