Day 24, Sunday 3rd October - Ieper

After sharing breakfast with two other Australian couples at the Bed and Breakfast, ‘Camalou’ in Belgium, we left together to visit Talbot House and Concert Hall in Poperinge. Talbot House was established by two army chaplains, Philip ‘Tubby’ Clayton and Neville Talbot. A club for soldiers to become human again, where they could read books, play the piano, watch a play, or pray in the Chapel. We watched a remake of what the plays were like with the soldiers playing the part of women in hilarious skits where slapstick predominated. The house was on 3 levels and now serves as a museum and bed and breakfast for those who wish to stay the night.

Talbot House

Philip ‘Tubby’ Clayton

Beautiful flower arrangements at the local florist (above & below).

Window display of the florist In Poperinge.

Poperinge is a gorgeous little village with so much character, I would have loved to have spent more time wandering the streets and inspecting the shops, but being Sunday most were closed.

A picnic lunch was served back at ‘Camalou’ and yes once again we dined on baguettes. Stuart was offered their own label beer which he readily accepted and asked for seconds!

Our train from Lille Flanders Field station was due to depart at 3pm and we just had time to visit Fromelle and Pheasant Wood. Fromelle was only a 20 minute drive (Christain speed) from Ieper. These famous towns become larger than life in our imagination, as we learn of their significance during WWI, but the actuality is that Fromelle is a tiny little village, pretty but nothing to distinguish it from any other country town - expect the revelation of a mass grave of Allied dead including many Australian soldiers. We drove to the sight of Pheasant Wood where we could see the plot of land that had concealed for so long its precious cargo. It was pheasant season and shooters were everywhere in the fields and woods, shooting for pheasant, rabbits and wild pigs. We could hear the cracking bursts of gunfire as we stood by the road and were advised not to go into the field. The germans had apparently brought the bodies to this site by rail and buried them with some respect. The Fromelles cemetery is like all the others we have visited: beautifully maintained, respectfully observed and a peaceful place for those who could not come home.

Crossroads to famous locations.

Yes, we made it to Fromelles.

Plaques abound in all the famous Battlegrounds imparting much information to the reader.

Many maps show the Allie front and the German front with 'No Mans Land' in between.

The Fromelles Cemetery and Memorial (above and below).

We next visited V.C. Corner at Fromelle, a burial site where there are no headstones. Under two large concrete crosses set flat on the ground, to the left and right near the cemetery entrance, are the remains of more than 400 Australians who were killed in action or died of their wounds. The cemetery is in the middle of the old no-mans-land between the Australian and German trenches of 19th July 1916.

V.C.E. Corner (above and below).

The V.C. Corner Memorial with the sword of sacrifice.

Our last stop was the Australian Memorial Park at Fromelles where the cast iron statue named, ‘Cobbers’ is featured. It depicts Sergeant Simon Fraser with a wounded man of the 60th Battalion on his shoulders, carrying him to safety. It is a fitting tribute to all those Australians who scoured no-mans-land in the aftermath of the Battle of Fromelles to bring the dead and wounded back to the Allie line. The Fromelle battle cost the 5th Division 5,553 dead and wounded in its first operation on the western front.

The cast iron statue of 'Cobbers'.  A duplicate of this cast stands at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance (above and below).

The hour long train trip on the very fast train, gave us time to think of all that we had seen and learnt over the preceding 4 days. Amazing courage, sacrifice and bravery.

Determined to get a taxi when we arrived at Paris, Gare de Nord – we were disappointed to find the queue for taxis was 100 metres long snaking around the pavement of the station. Feeling empowered with our new confidence of travelling on the underground we set off, down two flights of stairs to board our train to Pyramides.

Wanting to make sure everything would go smoothly for our connection to the Airport the next morning, I asked the Concierge to check with the company organised to collect us from the hotel. We were a little worried when they were unable to make a connection with them at all that night or the next morning. If was with enormous relief when the van turned up on time.

Charles de Gaulle Airport was chaos. They are introducing self book-in terminals. Frustratingly, not many of us could use them and I was thankful for the assistance of an attendant. Our plane, although 10 minutes late in departure, did not take off for a further 50 minutes as it was still loading the luggage – all passengers were on board and patiently waited for take-off. We realised that being one hour late in departure would probably mean that we would miss our connection to Melbourne at Hong Kong. On exiting the plane, a stewardess met the 7 passengers who were to connect to Melbourne and walked us quickly through the Terminal and security to allow us to walk straight onto our Qantas flight which had already started boarding. We were very thankful. The flight home was quick although we experienced quite a few hours of turbulence which I don’t think we can attribute to our female Captain Margaret Connor.

It felt great to be home, but on reflection we were amazed with how much we had seen and experience in France and Belgium – a fantastic trip!