Day 3 - Albert to Lille

Day 3 - Albert to Lille - Amiens - Blangy-Tronville - Villers Bretonneux - Harbonnieres - Peronne - Bellicourt - Cabaret Farm - Lille

After breakfast we drove into the centre of Albert, and walked around Rue Birmingham, looked at the outside of the Notre Dame church on the main town square, which was heavily shelled and during WW1 the golden statue atop of mother and child leaned over at a perilous angle like a diver - being nicknamed "Fanny Durack" by the Aussies. Parking on a side-street was fairly easy and because we had a full day planned we didn't look at any of their museums or go inside the church. We popped into an Aldi supermarket to buy some food for lunch, and other snacks.  It was a strange feeling also to be walking down those main streets where thousands of our troops marched into and out of battle through this wrecked little town.

Albert - mother & child statue above Notre Dame church

From Albert it was a short drive into the centre of Amiens, and we found a Pay and Display parking spot on the street, just around the corner from the magnificent cathedral. We took around 30 minutes to look around inside the church and enjoy some of the medieval buildings close by.

Amiens cathedral

Medieval building opposite cathedral in Amiens

Amiens cathedral - stained glass

Amiens cathedral - crying cherub

Amiens cathedral - plaque thanking AIF in WW1

From Amiens we headed back east, past the old British airfield at Glisy, aiming for the Chateau at Blangy-Tronville, to see where the officers of the 13th and 15th Brigade were quartered.  As a private, my grandfather in the 57th Battalion (15th Brigade) would have been quartered in or around the picturesque village nearby, in the lead-up to 25 April 1918.

Chateau at Blangy-Tronville

Soon after we paused on the outskirts of Villers-Bretonneuxj, near Bois Abbe, to read some of the description of the 57th Battalion's actions there on 25 April 1918, as told by W H Downing in his memoir "To the Last Ridge". We then drove to the Australian National Memorial, where I was hoping there might be a public toilet - alas - none! We spent around an hour at the memorial, planting some crosses and looking for my great-uncle's name memorialised on the wall in the 45th Battalion list, and then taking in the marvellous view from the top of the tower. Whilst there we again read battle descriptions and tried to imagine the scene on the day.

Australian National Memorial - Villers Bretonneux

57th Battalion swept up (towards
 left) to Villers-Bretonneux on 25 April 1918 

From top of tower at Australian National Memorial near Villers-Bretonneux - immense views across this bloodied landscape

Driving back into the little town of Villers-Bretonneux we found the school where the Franco-Australian Museum is located - which thankfully also has toilets! We would have liked to stay longer here as they have an excellent movie playing continuously, but we couldn't stay beyond about 45 minutes.  Most shops in VB close for several hours over lunch, so we were glad to have our food purchased earlier in Albert - french bread stick with excellent cheese and tomatoes, in the very pretty park in the centre of town, near their own war memorial.

Musee Franco-Australia
at Villers-Bretonneux school

Park in Villers-Bretonneux

We then tried to follow the route taken by the 57th Battalion on 8 August 1918 - "Germany's blackest day" - as the allies made incredible advances and pushed the Germans back.  The 57th set out from east of Villers-Bretonneux and pushed all the way to Harbonnieres on that first day.  We drove back roads past Marcelcave to Harbonnieres, and then on to Peronne to stop and get a proper look at the Somme River.

8 August 1918 - 57th Bttn fighting past Marcelcave

Harbonnieres - 8 August 1918 objective achieved

Somme at Peronne

Time was running out on our last day so after Harbonnieres we headed for Bellicourt, on the St Quentin canal via many idyllic villages along the way. At Bellicourt we parked near the southern mouth of the St Quentin canal tunnel, also located near the Hindenberg Line arrays of barbed wire - now only to be imagined.  The 57th Battalion fought through here, and then up to Cabaret Farm.

St Quentin Canal -
above tunnel entrance at Bellicourt

Hindenberg Line outside Bellicourt

Cabaret Farm area near Bellicourt

We left Bellicourt around 5.30pm and headed back to Lille, on faster motorways, and returned our car at Europe Station in Lille about 7pm.

At the end of our 3 days we felt we had only caught a glimpse of the horrors endured by all involved in the war, but we also relished the incredible natural beauty of the landscape and villages we had passed through.  As imperfect as our trip had been we realise we may not get another chance to go again and were glad to have tried to see and understand, and pay our respects.