Category Archives: First World War

The Somme – 100

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A century ago to-day the most bloody battle that Europe has ever seen began.

An artillery barrage lasting for seven days pounded dug-in German positions, before the signal for soldiers to advance across the shattered landscape of North East France was given.

At 07:30hrs the crash of artillery fire paused and the shrill sound of tin whistles ordered men forward.

Within seconds the mournful whistles were replaced by the stutter of machine guns.

24 hours later 19,240 British and Empire soldiers were dead.
The French Army had lost 1,590; 12,00 German soldiers also died.

The battle raged for a further 140 days and by the time it dwindled to a muddy stalemate over 300,000 men from both Britain, Germany and France had perished and a further 700,000 wounded.

Two words resonate through history and represent the horror, waste and futility of War:

The Somme.

Today Europe is united in remembrance.
May the lessons of the past guide our actions in the present and the future.

Lest we forget.

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“What passing bells for these who die as cattle?” Wilfred Owen 1893-1918

The Next Little Trip

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Regular blogonaughts of these pages will hopefully remember the pilgrimage trip that we made last April to the Somme Battlefield in Northern France, in order to trace the footsteps of my two Grandfathers.

As I explained at the time, it was my attempt at making sense of some of what they were both involved in nearly 100 years ago and the sequence of posts hopefully gave you all an insight into what I found.

Now here we are, just over a year later and a number of things have fallen into place for me about those dark, far off, days. Further research has uncovered couple of snippets;

Grandfather William was awarded a “Wound Stripe,” after stopping a piece of shrapnel with his head whilst in action near Nieuport in 1917! The stripe was a metal badge worn vertically on the left uniform sleeve and signified that the wearer had been wounded in combat. The British Army started awarding them in 1916 but stopped after the end of WW1. Some were also issued after D-day in 1944, but were discontinued after 1946. The fact that William was awarded the stripe is a detail that no-one in the family appears to have been aware of, up until now! I have managed to obtain a genuine, but unissued, WW1 wound stripe that I am going to mount along side his medals and insignia; one day it can pass to one of his Great granddaughters, my nieces, if they ever show any interest. If not then the collection can be sold in aid of veterans charities.

WW1 Wound Stripe, out of focus pen for scale.

WW1 Wound Stripe,
out of focus pen for scale.

Searches in the Public Records for Grandfather Charles have also been interesting. I found out that he and his unit of the Royal Field Artillery is recorded as “Entering Theatre, France,” on the 12th May 1915.

Now that got me thinking. . . That’s exactly 100 years ago next Tuesday!

I haven’t been able to find out where Charles first “Entered Theatre,” but you can bet it was probably at one of the French Channel Ports. I can just imagine the scene as men, equipment and horses were all being unloaded from a ship. The more I have thought about it, the more I feel that I just have to be in France next Tuesday; nowhere specific, just in France 100 years on.

I shared my feelings with my oldest friend, known in these pages as “Vifferman,” he gets it and is going to ride with me again. It’ll be cool.

We are going to pop over on the night ferry to Roscoff, have a little ride around, then go pay our respects to some guys from another conflict that never made it home, then we’ll come back. I’ll tell you all about that in another post, be great if you ride with us.

Until then, gotta dash and polish Harley for a special day out!

Catch you all soon.

Dookes

PS Serious stuff this, so no Rock n’Roll.

Gremlins!

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No, not the little fictional characters in the Hollywood films of the same name. These little fellows are real and play havoc with all kinds of electrical and mechanical equipment.

It is believed that these little creatures first came to notice during the First World War, perhaps the activities of the war released them from an underground lair? Certainly they were documented by the Royal Air Force in the 1920’s, when their delectation for mischief with aeroplanes and engines was first recorded.

During World War II aircrew of the RAF blamed Gremlins for inexplicable occurrences during their flights and missions. Members of the United States Army Air Force also began to experience the exasperating effects of these Imp like little devils. There was even a view that Gremlins had enemy sympathies, but investigations subsequently revealed that enemy aircraft had similar and equally inexplicable mechanical problems; they were just as prevalent in the Luftwaffe and Imperial Japanese Airforce!

It appeared that Gremlins were equal opportunity beings that took no side in the battle, rather they acted in self-interest wreaking their mischief on whoever came into their range.

Since the end of the Second World War the opportunity for Gremlin mischief has literally exploded. The world is now a much more mechanical and electrical place, giving even the most inept trainee Gremlin the chance to practice their dark skills. Since the demise of powerful piston engine aircraft, there is however, one machine that Gremlins love above all others. . . Motorcycles!

Gremlins are now known to be evil road spirits. They jump onto passing motorcycles because they love to ride, feel the wind in their ears and the vibrations of the engine, they are often the cause of many problems endured by bikers. There is however, hope. Many years ago an old biker discovered that Gremlins hate the sound of a small ringing bell. There are many versions of the story of how this happened, but it appears that the evil road spirits can’t bear the ringing and that they get trapped in the hollow body of the bell. Then their hypersensitive hearing and the constant ringing in a confined space drives them insane and they lose their grip and eventually fall off.

Over time it has become apparent that these bells have even more power if they have been received as a gift; sure they work fine if you buy one yourself, but for maximum protection you really need to receive one from a friend or loved one as a gift. That way the magic is doubled, because out there somewhere, you have a friend looking out for you.

So next time you walk past a motorcycle, take a look and see if you can spot a small bell, either on the handlebars or maybe on the swing arm. Whenever you see a biker with a bell you will know that they have been blessed with the most important thing in life, love and friendship. The spirit of camaraderie and brotherhood between bikers is what the ride bell encompasses.

So you can imagine I was pretty happy the other day when Mrs Dookes presented me with this little beauty to hang on Harley. P1030523

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If you steal a bell from a biker, you steal all the gremlins and the evil that comes with them. So don’t do it, the consequences could be dire!

Gotta dash and fix that bell on my bike!

“You got me ringing hells bells.”

Catch you soon.

Dookes

98 Years Ago Today

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The Battle of The Somme began, 1st July 1916.

It continued until the 18th November 1916, before petering out into a bloody, muddy stalemate.

In those few short months, over one million men, from both sides in the conflict, were killed, wounded or missing presumed dead.

Lest we forget.image

Reflections

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On Tuesday morning we left our overnight accommodation in Avranches and rode along the Normandy coast to Mont Saint-Michel. This is the famous island commune that lies approximately half a mile off the mainland and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. When I last visited, twelve years ago, it was possible to drive along the causeway virtually to the island. These days, in a bid to control the three million visitors a year, there is a park and ride bus service from a massive and superb car park. It was a shame that we couldn’t get any closer, so this photo will have to do!DSCF3286We then had a super sprint back to Roscoff, with a visit to the hypermarket and then the beach at Carentec for a photo stop, before boarding the ship for home.

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Our ferry crossing back started with a bit of a heavy swell, but soon the sea eased and with the setting sun, it was a very pleasant trip across the water.DSCF3306It’s now Wednesday evening at Dookes H.Q.. I just washed the Normandy mud off Harley and have had a chance to take stock of our frantic few days in France.

As ever the motor-cycling has been total joy, yes even when we got caught in the thunderstorm – things like that show how good your equipment is as well! The French autoroutes may be a bit tedious, but they pass through wonderful countryside, whilst the lovely ‘D’ roads are just that, as a dear friend of mine says, “lovely!”

For the remainder of our visit it was a real mix of emotions. The cemeteries are strange places, each seems to have it’s own specific atmosphere as indeed do the battle sites. We visited many of the Commonwealth War Graves, a couple of French ones and also the German cemetery at Fricourt. The latter is a most disturbing place, very austere and quite depressing, with rows of graves marked by stark metal crosses and only the chilling squawk of crows in the trees for company, there are no tended flowers or shrubs. I’m not being anti-German or jingoistic, it really did feel different. Here we saw four mass graves containing the remains of nearly 12,000 men, over half of whom are unknown. I noticed that one cross had a message from a German chap who had been looking for and found his Grandfather, just like me really, except that mine did not remain in the soil of the Somme like his. I did say no more cemetery photographs, but this is part of Fricourt, just so you can see what I mean. DSCF3192In the cemeteries of each nation we saw graves from many different faiths; Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Secular…the list is long. The French people are fantastic in their attitude towards remembering the Great War. There is a real sense of protecting the legacy and ensuring that the young are taught about the sacrifice and significance of what had happened in their country. On Sunday morning we saw a number of groups of school children being guided around near Pozières. I spoke to one of the guides, a local school teacher, who told me that all of the children in the local area are taught about the events of nearly 100 years ago as a matter of great importance. She asked if I had any link with the Battle of the Somme and when I told her about my Grandfathers, she thanked me for what they had done. I was humbled.

The former battle grounds are interesting, often for what still remains on view, aside from the incredible historic story. Beaumont-Hamel, a scene of tremendous sacrifice by Canadian troops from Newfoundland, has been bought by the Government of Canada to permanently secure the memory of what happened on that spot. The trenches can still clearly be seen, although now covered in grass, one or two are open to allow visitors to see where the Canadian troops once fought and died. It was a moving thing to quietly walk in there on such a pleasant spring evening. DSCF3248In nearby Delville Wood, where South Africans had fought from shattered tree to shattered tree, the shell holes are now covered in wood anemone and bluebells. It is a very tranquil place that I found imbibes a sense of well-being and contentment, most comforting. DSCF3225

France is currently gearing up to four years of commemorations linked to the centenary of the events of the 1914-1918 war. True, the cynics can say that there is a degree of cashing in on the whole Great War nostalgia thing. What I have seen, however, is a determination to mark the dates with dignity and reconciliation, whilst welcoming visitors from all over the world.

I believe that history still has much to teach us; both about the past and if we look hard enough, about ourselves now and in the future. Maybe sometimes we just need to look a little harder.

I’m just grateful that I ride such a wonderful machine whilst I keep looking!

I’ve got a silver machine!

Catch you all soon.

Dookes

 

In My Grandfathers Shadows

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It’s a cold wet night in Normandy. Today has been about one thing, riding motorbikes and doing it quickly. Time to let off steam after the intense emotions of the last couple of days, but also time to reflect on what has gone before.

I said at the beginning of this little odyssey that this was a personal pilgrimage to stand where my two Grandfathers had been nearly 100 years ago. In the roundness of the statement, I feel that I have achieved my goal, but at the same time I seem to have uncovered much more that I will need time to ponder and study. The existence of the book detailing the history of Siege Battery 94 and accompanying map were a godsend and we were able to pretty much pin point the exact position of the guns at each location.
This is “the sunken lane between Ovillers and the Bapaume Road”.

20140407-211817.jpg I know that it’s just the corner of a field in North East France, but it’s where men fought and died alongside my Grandfather William and so to me, it’s sacred ground. In the next photo, near Thiepval, the guns stood by the small farm in the middle of the picture, same emotion here as well.>

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We moved East from Albert to Mametz, where Grandfather Charles and his fellow field gunners supported the 38th Welsh Division as they made their assault on Mametz Wood losing 4000 men in five days. Today the wood is peaceful and alive with the new life of spring. Shell craters still lie in the undergrowth, a tangible reminder of the wood’s bloody history. On the ridge facing the wood, from where the Welsh soldiers started their attack, stands probably the most striking memorial on the whole Somme battlefield.

20140407-214319.jpg Y Ddraig Goch, The Red Dragon, stands defiant facing Mametz Wood, it’s claw tearing at barbed wire atop a three metre plinth. Awe inspiring and strikingly simple. It made me very proud, yet at the same time very sad.

Thank you all for riding along with me on this, very different, trip. I have needed to do this pilgrimage for a long time. No more cemetery, or memorial photos for now, but maybe I’ll share some further thoughts in the future. Please do two things for me, eh?

Remember them, the ordinary soldiers, who became extraordinary men and who died by their millions. Remember them, not just once a year but all year, because the poem is true; “For our tomorrows, they gave their today.”

Thank you, Dookes.

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Sailing For France

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It always amazes me how quickly the start date for one of my trips comes around, but here we are getting ready to sail for France. The weather has been miserable all morning, but seems to be trying to brighten up now.

My thoughts have been continually turning back nearly 100 years to the men, who with my Grandfathers, would have been also getting ready to cross the English Channel by ship. In their case though, there was certainly no guarantee of a return trip and definitely no comforts on the voyage. I wonder what they were thinking? No doubt on the surface all was bravado and fun, but inside it must have been a different story. Who was it who said that courage is to be afraid, yet still go on?

I found this photograph of a troop ship leaving Folkestone, where so many embarked. Who knows, maybe William or Charles could be in this photograph. IMG_0309What of those men in the picture, what happened to them and how many came home? The answer is lost in the mists of time, but it certainly is a sobering thought.

I know that our Brittany Ferry ship tonight, my old friend the ‘Pont Aven’, will be considerably more palatial than this dear old two stacker…but with nothing of the style! Then again, I won’t have to spend the crossing on deck in case of submarine attack…

‘And I heard a voice crying, This is the path to Glory.’  (Wilfred Owen 1893-1918)

Catch you all in France tomorrow.

Dookes

 

Some More History

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Thank you for all the feedback from my last post on the subject of the next road trip. A couple of questions keep cropping up about how I have found out so much about my two Grandfathers’ Army service, so I thought that I had better explain.

First up is Grandfather William; here I had a bit of a head start and it is he that I have found out most about. Obviously first hand family history is always a good starting point and I was very fortunate that my late Grandmother told me so much about him. In William’s case though, I also came into possession of a very interesting book that was written just after WW1 detailing all the actions and movements of his combat unit during the Great War period. The book was written by one of the Officers of the 94th Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery and was distributed to all the unit’s survivors after the conflict.

IMG_0289 It draws upon the war diaries of the unit and gives details of locations, action, targets and sadly the casualties, that the 94th Battery experienced. Alongside the book is a map that accurately shows exactly where the unit was during the whole of its time in France, the details of this map can be accurately plotted on modern maps and looking at Google Earth, amazingly some of the gun locations can still be seen! Guns such this 9.2 inch howitzer, seen here in action on the Somme; note that it took four men to lift the shell, no ear defenders in sight either!IMG_0299The next bit of good fortune was to be able to obtain William’s Army Service record from the National Records Office. This was a real stroke of luck as unfortunately nearly three-quarters of the historic artillery records were destroyed by Nazi bombing during World war Two. William’s survived, just, because they show signs of burning around the edges! Putting the information from these two sources together I was able to build a pretty good picture of William’s service history, from signing up in 1915 to discharge in 1919. The detail was sufficient that I have been able to virtually say where he was on any specific day and what he may have been involved in. He joined the Army on the 11th December 1915, was posted for training on 8th April 1916 and by July 1916 he was involved in the Battle of The Somme, which all seems amazingly rushed! During the summer of 1917 he was wounded during an artillery duel near Nieuport, but soon returned to frontline service until evacuated back to England in April 1918. He was posted back to mainland Europe and served in the Army of Occupation during 1919. Sadly, in the case of Grandfather Charles we know a lot less. It has been a tad more difficult to find out much beyond the sparse accounts we have from what he told family members. Like many veterans of war he didn’t talk an awful lot about his experiences.  Unfortunately his service and unit records were amongst those destroyed by Goering’s bomber boys in WW2. From his medals and medal record card we know that he served with 188 Battery, Royal Field Artillery. Here we see men of the RFA trying to manoeuvre one of their 13 pounder guns in the bottomless mud of France.IMG_0301There are some pretty useful general records of where 188 Battery saw action, but nothing like as much detail as the RGA book. I know that after the Battle of The Somme his unit was later involved in that other WW1 slaughter at Passchendaele, the Battle of Ypres, in 1917. Was one view into hell not enough? IMG_0290So that’s it for now, I do hope that you find this small snapshot of family history interesting. Like I said previously, just two ordinary soldiers who survived the worse conflict in history. Heroes? Well certainly not in their own eyes, but to me they stand with their comrades among the greatest heroes in history. Their fight with the enemy was not personal, indeed they shared a common lot and sadly many would share a common fate. Yet they did what was asked of them, they lived, fought and died for each other and just some, the lucky ones, came home again.     Heroes? Undoubtedly!

“I’d heard fool-heroes brag of where they’d been,

With stories of the glories that they’d seen.

But you, good simple soldier, seasoned well

In woods and posts and crater-lines of hell,

And still you whisper of the war, and find

Sour jokes for all those horrors left behind.”     Siegfried Sassoon

 

Catch you all soon.  Dookes

 

PS If anyone is interested, the book I referred to is:

“Siege Battery 94 During the World War 1914-1918” by Major Charles Berkley Lowe. It has now been published now in paperback by The Naval and Military Press in association with the Royal Artillery Museum ; ISBN 1-845740-88-2

 

 

The Next Trip: A Pilgrimage

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Some weeks ago I promised that I would soon be giving you all details of the road trip. I have to apologise for the delay in getting this posted, but let me now tell you what I have planned. First though, a short history lesson.

This year sees the centenary of the start of the First World War and it seemed a good time to make good on a promise that I made to myself many years ago, to visit the scene of one of the most terrible battles in the infamous history of human conflict; The Somme. This was a battle fought by the armies of the British and French Empires against Germany, it took place between July and November 1916 in the basin of the River Somme in North Eastern France. The battle was the bloodiest in World War One and indeed human history, with more than One Million men wounded or killed. The battle is historically notable for the debut of tanks and the use of air power. On the first day of the battle, 1st July 1916, the British Fourth Army lost 57,470 men alone. Even more sobering is that 72,191 British empire troops who died in the battle have no known grave.

The static trench warfare conditions endured by the soldiers of both sides during the conflict were truly horrific; they lived and died knee-deep in mud and fetid water, the smell of rotting bodies in the air, rats and lice everywhere. The constant threat from artillery shells, poison gas, snipers and of course the ubiquitous machine gun was a way of life on the front line. The rapid development of technology and efficiency in the industrial revolution was turned towards new and terrible weaponry, this truly was an industrial war.

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So what has this got to do with motorbike road trips? Well, not much really, except that my two Grandfathers were there and I have promised myself that one day I too would go to The Somme and walk amongst the spirits of their comrades that they left behind, call it my pilgrimage.

Let me tell you a little about those two young men who went off to war nearly a hundred years ago.

William was quite a tall chap fairly heavily built and an engineer, ideally suited to working with the new mechanised track laying tractors that hauled the massive 9.2 inch howitzers of the Royal Garrison Artillery. IMG_0271Charles was also pretty tall, but more slightly built, an accomplished horseman who found himself posted to the Royal Field Artillery pulling 13 pounder guns into action on horseback and who, on one occasion, would have his horse shot dead underneath him as they rode into battle.IMG_0282The amazing thing is that history has shown that they were only about a mile away from each other on the Somme Front line during that terrible battle. Just two ordinary soldiers, yet, like so many others, extraordinary men caught in one of history’s saddest episodes.

The fact that I am here writing this is proof that they both survived. William was later wounded in the head with shrapnel, splinters of which remained embedded in his body as a permanent reminder; whilst Charles was caught in a poison gas attack that left him suffering from poor health for the rest of his life.

On the way to The Somme, I have to call in at Banneville War Cemetery near Caen. It is here that Mrs Dookes Grandfather is buried. Another William who also served with the artillery, he was killed shortly after D-Day in 1944 whilst fighting to liberate France from Nazi occupation, he was just 26 years old. I feel it is only right that I call and pay my respects.

So that’s the outline of the trip. Just for a change Harley and I are having an escort, my oldest mate, “Vifferman” and his ‘Onda VFR. We are catching the ferry to Brittany on Thursday 3rd April and would love you along for the ride. We’ll travel through Normandy on our way to the town of Albert and the Somme. Promise that it won’t all be heavy war stuff, cos those guys fought and died to enable us to enjoy freedom and that’s just what we are gonna do! Catch ya soon.

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, it’ll soon be here.

Dookes