During the war, British troops dug an underground mine beneath the German trenches and filled the mine with explosives. Just outside Albert, you’ll find the Lochnagar Crater, which is the biggest crater of the Western Front. The Somme 1916 Museum within the town of Albert recreates trench warfare in an old air raid tunnel, with experiential exhibits and several life-size dioramas of life in the trenches. In nearby Albert, you’ll find more museums and memorials commemorating the Battle of the Somme. Its location is the exact position of the German front lines at the start of the Battle of the Somme. Nearby, also in Thiepval, you’ll find the Ulster Memorial Tower, which is a replica of Helen’s Tower in Northern Ireland and a memorial to the men of Ulster who died on the Western Front. The massive arch memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, is considered one of the greatest British monuments of the 20th century, with its cascading levels of brick piers and large archway. The Commonwealth Memorial in Thiepval is a good place to start as it’s dedicated to around 72,000 British Commonwealth soldiers who died with no grave during the war. The battlefields of the Somme are some of the easiest to visit on a trip to France due to their location and relative level of preservation. Ulster Memorial Tower near Thiepval, France Instead, it turned into one of the most devastating battles in world history, with around one million casualties on both sides. This British offensive on the Western Front in Northeastern France took place in late 1916 and was meant to break the German lines and speed up the end of the war. The Battle of the SommeĮven today, the Battle of the Somme lives in infamy. From the farmer’s fields of the Western Front to the beaches of Turkey, the remnants of the battlefields of World War One offer a chance to get in touch with an epochal event of the previous century and reflect on the lessons of the past hundred years. Unfortunately, wars didn’t end with World War One, but the world has immensely changed since that November day in 1918.Įxactly 100 years have passed since the end of World War One and there’s been no better time to reflect on the loss, sacrifice, and world-changing events of the war while journeying through Europe. The “War to End All Wars” left the modern world in ruin, broke up some of the mightiest empires that had ruled the world, and was meant to be the final conflict between the great powers of Europe, proving how disastrous warfare in the age of technological innovation was to both winner and loser. On November 11, 1918, the devastation of World War One finally ended.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |