Monuments

On The War Memorial Trail….We Visit Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery To Honour James Ambrose Cairns

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September 25, 2017.  Arras, France was our home base for our trips in and around the Vimy area.  Our hotel was across from the train station.  In front of the station was a plaza with restaurants surrounding it.  Of course, we took a stroll to see what was there.

CIMG8262 Sep 4 2017 Pieter on the street in Arras

Pieter in Arras. On the left is the plaza. We took a stroll to see which of the many cafes took our fancy. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

If we still had the idea that war memorials were only in cemeteries and in the countryside, we had a reality check as soon as we ventured outside the hotel.  In the plaza, across from the train station, is a large memorial to the people of Arras who lost their lives in the war.

CIMG8263 Sep 4 2017 Pieter at monument opposite the train station in Arras

Pieter by the memorial to the fallen citizens in Arras. On the left is the plaza. We took a stroll to see which of the many cafes took our fancy. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8264 Sep 4 2017 monument opposite the train station in Arras

The memorial in the plaza in Arras to the fallen citizens also honours the soldiers of France. The inscription says: The French Soldier. Yesterday a soldier of God, today a soldier of humanity, will always be a soldier of law. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

The memorials and cemeteries made us more determined than ever to honour the memories of as many of the soldiers on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion in Prince Edward Island that we could while we were in Europe.  After we left the Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery, we made our way to Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery where James Ambrose CAIRNS is buried.

It was our first clue that visiting cemeteries can be a challenge. Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery in Bailleulval, 13 km southwest of Arras, is just on the side of very busy highway, the N25.  If you think of a highway shoulder and widen the space slightly, you have an idea how we were parked. There are no actual parking spots, just the gate to the cemetery off the side of the highway.  Around the cemetery is a farmer’s field.

CIMG8491 Sep 6 2017 Bac Du Sud British cemetery where James A Cairns is buried

Pieter at Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery, where James Ambrose Cairns is buried. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8492 Sep 6 2017 Bac Du Sud British cemetery where James A Cairns is buried

Pieter places flags at the grave of James Ambrose Cairns in Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

The cemetery has 688 WWI Commonwealth graves, of which 4 are unidentified, and 55 German graves.  According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the cemetery began in March 1918 by the 7th, 20th, and 43rd Casualty Clearing Stations, but when Germans advanced at the end of March 1918, their place was taken by field ambulances of the units fighting on the Arras front, notably the 31st Division and the Canadian Corps.  In August and September 1918, once the Germans had been pushed back, the 45th and 46th Casualty Clearing Stations were posted here.

James Ambrose CAIRNS, son of Terrence Cairns and Elisabeth Hughes, was born March 16, 1895 in Emerald, PEI.  He was killed in action near Neuville – Vitasse (raid on ‘The Maze’) on June 13, 1918.  Neuville-Vitasse, 16.6 km from Bailleulval, was a village under the control of the Germans.  To protect their position, the Germans had a series of trenches, referred to as ‘The Maze’, on the outskirts of the village.  It was during a raid on these trenches that Cairns lost his life.

Although we have not been able to find a photo of James Ambrose Cairns, we were lucky to have an account of what happened from the Canada War Graves Register Circumstances of death:  Cairns “was one of a carrying party in the frontline trench, when an enemy shell burst nearby, fragments of the shell striking him in the head and body, inflicting fatal wounds. He was immediately taken to a Dressing station and later to the Canadian 4th Field ambulance where he died of his wounds the next morning.”

An obituary in the Summerside Journal of September 11, 1918 gave a bit more information on what happened, as well as a few highlights of Cairns’ life and career in banking: “On the evening of June 12th, Pte. James A. Cairns was borne from the field of battle in France to a dressing station severely wounded. He was doing duty in a front line trench, being at the time one of a party, who were carrying out a dead comrade, when an enemy shell burst nearby inflicting fatal wounds, fragments of the shell striking him in the head and body. He was immediately taken out to a dressing station and died the next morning at No 4 Canadian Field Ambulance.

Pte. Cairns was 23 years of age at the time of his death. He enlisted when he was 21 years of age in Liverpool where he was one of the staff of the Royal Bank of Canada. He went to Lieutenant’s training school where he obtained his diploma but did not get a commission. He crossed to England in October 1916, and was held in reserve for some time, but growing eager to get to France he went as a private and was in action three months before his death. He worked in the Royal Bank of Canada in Summerside for three years, also in Tyne Valley, before being transferred to Liverpool, N.S.”

CIMG8494 Sep 6 2017 Pieter by the grave of James A Cairns in Bac Du Sud British cemetery

Pieter by the grave of James Ambrose Cairns in Bac-Du-Sud British Cemetery after placing the flags of Canada, PEI, and Canada 150. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

In the next blog entry we visit Bellacourt Military Cemetery before continuing our search for the Manitoba and Grandcourt cemeteries. Do you have information or photos for James Ambrose Cairns?  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at memorialtrail@gmail.com or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

….Want to follow our research?….

If you are reading this posting, but aren’t following our research, you are welcome to do so.  Our blog address: https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/

Front cover OnTheWarMememorialTrailinEurope4 countries, 6 weeks, 7,000 km – an unforgettable war memorial journey in Europe…. Daria’s book ‘No Soldier Buried Overseas Should Ever Be Forgotten‘ is available in print and e-book formats.  Net proceeds of book sales help support research costs and the cost of maintaining this blog. For more information see https://nosoldierforgotten.com/ 

You are also invited to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter Valkenburg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ591TyjSheOR-Cb_Gs_5Kw. 

Never miss a posting!  Subscribe below to have each new story from the war memorial trail delivered to your inbox.

On The War Memorial Trail…..Paying Our Respects To Private Joseph Arthur Desroches

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September 23, 2017.  We’re not inexperienced travellers, but even we can sometimes get into situations we simply can’t understand.  Quite often it happens with food and France gave us a real doozie.  Our hotel in Arras offered ‘le petit dejeuner’ (breakfast), served buffet style, so you picked what you wanted.

In the hotel you had a choice of hard-boiled or ‘fresh’ eggs.  I had no idea what ‘fresh eggs’ were so passed by them and chose a hard-boiled egg.  Pieter didn’t notice the hard-boiled eggs, just the ‘fresh’ eggs, and so he chose one, thinking how nice it was of the hotel to guarantee an egg that wasn’t old.

CIMG8466 Sep 6 2017 fresh eggs at Holiday Inn in Arras

‘Fresh’ eggs on offer at the hotel breakfast in Arras. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

I wish I’d taken a photo of his face when he cracked open his egg and saw……a raw egg.  It was fresh all right, straight from the chicken!

IMG_20170905_075317693 Sep 5 2017 Pieter tries to eat a raw egg

The ‘fresh’ egg was really a raw egg. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

It took us two days to realize that the silver box beside the eggs, which we thought was some kind of fancy toaster, contained boiling water so you could cook your egg to your own specification.  Who would have guessed?

Over breakfast, Pieter determined that while he was going back to Caix to find the Manitoba Cemetery, if he had to search for it street by street, we first were getting gas and going to a few cemeteries that might be easier to find.  We got gas in the town of Vimy.  For those interested in the price of gas, it was 1.399 euros per litre (about $2.06 Canadian).

From Vimy we went to Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery, where Joseph Arthur DESROCHES is buried.

CIMG8474 Sep 6 2017 Pieter at base of cross of remembrance at Ligny St Flochel British cemetery where Desroches is buried

Pieter at the base of the Cross of Remembrance in Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Joseph Arthur DESROCHES was born August 8, 1891 in Miscouche, the son of Zephirim Desroches and Priscilla Gaudet.  Unlike most of the soldiers on the Borden- Carleton Cenotaph, Desroches was married, to Mary Ann Wedge of Fernwood, and had four children: Elizabeth Eileen, Joseph Alfred, Lucy Priscilla, and Charles Arthur.  A farmer before the war who worked for Howard MacFarlane of Bedeque, he was wounded by a shot to his head at Cagnicourt on September 2, 1918, and died on September 4 at Number 7 Casualty Clearing Station, located in Ligny Saint-Flochel, 7.6 km of Cagnicourt.

We learned that a Casualty Clearing Station was located further back from the front line than Aid Posts and Field Ambulances, and manned by the Royal Army Medical Corps, with attached Royal Engineers and men of the Army Service Corps. Its job was to treat the wounded enough to allow him to return to duty or to keep him stable long enough to be evacuated to a Base Hospital.

According to the war diary of the Headquarters of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, in preparation for an attack on the Drocourt-Queant Line, several battalions assembled their positions in the early hours of September 2.  The 13th Battalion was on the left, and the 14th Battalion, which Desroches was part of, was immediately behind.  The 16th Battalion was on the right, with the 15th Battalion immediately behind.

The war diary went on to explain what happened on September 2:  “…The 13th and 16th Battalions were to capture the 1st objective, including the Drocourt-Queant and support lines.  The 14th and 15th Battalions were then to leap-frog and capture Cagnicourt, Bois de Bouche, and Bois de Loison and advance up the Buissy Switch where the 13th Battalion were to go through and mop up the switch on the Brigade Frontage. 

Promptly at 5:00 am our barrage opened and the 13th and 16th Battalions advanced.  The German barrage came down very quickly within a minute of ours but was light and caused few casualties. 

The first phase of the attack went according to schedule and the 1st objective was reached on time. The 14th and 15th Battalions went through but after passing Cagnicourt were held up badly by machine gun fire from the flanks which were exposed, as our flanking brigades could not get up…”

As with all of the graves of Islanders, Pieter put down the flags of Canada, Prince Edward Island, and Canada 150.  We were grateful to PEI Senator Mike Duffy, PEI MLA Jamie Fox, and MP Wayne Easter for providing us with flags and pins for this venture on the war memorial trail.

CIMG8482Sep 6 2017 grave of Arthur Desroches in Ligny St Flochel British cemetery

Grave of Joseph Arthur Desroches in Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery. Note that the spelling of his surname is without an ‘s’. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

CIMG8483 Sep 6 2017 Ligny St Flochel British cemetery where Desroches is buried farmers field in background

Ligny Saint-Flochel British Cemetery with the Cross of Remembrance and a farmer’s field in the background. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

The cemetery has 629 burials, of which 347 are Canadian and 46 German.  The German graves are similar to the Commonwealth graves, which was surprising as most German graves have only an iron cross on them. The German graves are set apart from the Commonwealth graves by an indentation in the ground, making an artificial step, like in a sunken living room.

Unfortunately, as with so many of the WW1 soldiers, we have not been able to find a photo or additional information on Joseph Arthur Desroches.

In the next blog entry we visit Bac-Du-Sud and Bellacourt cemeteries before continuing our search for the Manitoba and Grandcourt cemeteries. Do you have information or photos for Arthur Desroches?  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at memorialtrail@gmail.com or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

….Want to follow our research?….

If you are reading this posting, but aren’t following our research, you are welcome to do so.  Our blog address: https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/

Front cover OnTheWarMememorialTrailinEurope4 countries, 6 weeks, 7,000 km – an unforgettable war memorial journey in Europe…. Daria’s book ‘No Soldier Buried Overseas Should Ever Be Forgotten‘ is available in print and e-book formats.  Net proceeds of book sales help support research costs and the cost of maintaining this blog. For more information see https://nosoldierforgotten.com/ 

You are also invited to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter Valkenburg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ591TyjSheOR-Cb_Gs_5Kw. 

Never miss a posting!  Subscribe below to have each new story from the war memorial trail delivered to your inbox.

On The War Memorial Trail…..Honouring The Memories of Kenneth John Bell And Charles Lowther

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September 21, 2017.  After we left the Monument to the 1st Canadian Division, we began the hard work of trying to find the cemeteries where individual soldiers from the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion were buried.

Although Pieter had printed out detailed instructions from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on the exact location of each cemetery and the burial locations, we soon found out that actually finding the cemeteries was easier said than done.

Pieter determined that the first cemetery we should go to was Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension where Private Charles Lowther is buried.  On the way to Moeuvres on a nerve racking ride, sharing the road with drivers who think they’re kamikaze pilots, we passed through the village of Vis-en-Artois and I demanded we stop for coffee and a badly needed toilet break.

Pieter gallantly tried to stop to accommodate me, to the annoyance of a Belgian truck driver who kept blowing his horn – the only one to do so on the trip.  But, luckily we found a parking spot and made it safely across the road to the café.

After using the facilities, I was able to order us coffee in my best schoolgirl French.  Everyone immediately picked us out as foreigners, and the owner asked if we were here to visit the British cemetery.  Why else would Les Anglaises be in town? And were we interested in the postcards?

….A postcard led to another cemetery we wanted to visit….

“Bien sur”, I said.  I had no idea which cemetery he was asking about, but shopping is always fun.  Pieter was a bit annoyed until he realized that he wanted to go to this cemetery as that was where Corporal Kenneth John Bell, another name on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, was buried.  It turned out the British cemetery was just down the road from the café in Harcourt.  Now Pieter thought it was very smart of us to have stopped in the right café!

After our break, and postcards in hand, we made our way to the Vis en Artois British Cemetery. According to the information given by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the villages of Vis en Artois and Haucourt were taken by the Canadian Corps on August 27, 1918.  The cemetery began right after that date and was used by fighting units and ambulances until mid-October 1918.

CIMG8325 Sep 5 2017 Vis en Artois British Cemetery Cross of Remembrance

Cross of Remembrance at Vis en Artois British Cemetery, with the Memorial behind the graves. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8337 Sep 5 2017 Vis en Artois British Cemetery

Memorial at Vis en Artois British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Originally, the cemetery had 430 graves, of which 297 were Canadian.  After WWI the cemetery grew by adding graves from battlefields and smaller cemeteries in the area, until today it has 2,369 burials from WWI, 1,458 of them unidentified.

….Kenneth Bell shares a grave with another WWI soldier!….

We found the grave of Kenneth Bell, but to our surprise he was not in a single grave.  He was buried with Private P. B. CLARK, who had died four days earlier than Bell.

CIMG8328 Sep 5 2017 grave of Cpl Kenneth Bel in Vis en Artois British Cemetery

Grave of Cpl Kenneth Bell, shared with Private P.B. Clark, at Vis en Artois British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

Kenneth John BELL was born March 28, 1896 in Cape Traverse, the son of William Bell and Lucy Rogerson, and nephew of PEI Premier John Howatt Bell.  On September 16, 1918 he was hit by enemy shell fire, and was attended to by the medical officer of the brigade, but he died on the way to the dressing station. The location of the unit at the time of the casualty was Rumaucourt, 10.2 km from Harcourt.

It’s a shame as Bell, per his obituary, “had fought in the battles of the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Lens, Ypres, Passchendaele and many later battles and came out without a scratch”, only to die two months before the war’s end.  Unfortunately, we have not been able to find a photo or additional information on Corporal Bell.

CIMG8335 Sep 5 2017 Pieter by grave of Cpl Kenneth Bell in Vis en Artois British Cemetery

Pieter by the grave of Cpl Kenneth Bell, shared with Private P.B. Clark, at Vis en Artois British Cemetery. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

….Charles Lowther is buried 14 km from Kenneth Bell….

From Harcourt, we travelled 14 km (8.7 miles) further to Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension where Private Charles Lowther is buried.

CIMG8342 Sep 5 2017 Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension where Lowther is buried

Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension plaque. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We soon learned that when we saw the word “Extension” by the name of a cemetery, it meant that the war graves were in a separate area, usually at the back, of a public cemetery.  In Moeuvres, the Extension has 565 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of WWI, with 263 unidentified graves.

CIMG8360 Sep 5 2017 Pieter at entrance to Moeuvres Communal Extension Cemetery

Pieter at the entrance to Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8343 Sep 5 2017 Pieter placing flags at Lowther grave at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension

Pieter placing flags at the grave of Charles Lowther at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension. You can see the cemetery extension is next to a farmer’s field. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

cimg8347-sep-5-2017-lowther-grave-at-moeuvres-communal-cemetery-extension.jpg

Grave of Charles Lowther at Moeuvres Communal Cemetery Extension. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

Charles LOWTHER was born in North Carleton on September 27, 1896, the son of Henry and Bessie Lowther.  He died September 25, 1918 after being wounded by enemy shrapnel in a trench at Inchy-en-Artois, 2.1 km from Moeuvres.  He was evacuated by a unit of the 52nd division, who later reported him dead.

According to the war diary of the 25th Battalion, which Lowther was part of, for the 25th of September in Inchy-en-Artois:  “…At about 6:00 am the enemy put down a heavy barrage on our lines and started to attack in force. Our S.O.S. was sent up and the field guns opened up immediately. We prevented the enemy from entering our trenches and in many places our men started over the top to meet the enemy, who was completely repulsed after some heavy fighting. The enemy continued to bombard our trenches the whole day, lifting fire towards the evening. At 11:00 pm the battalion was relieved by the 44th Canadian battalion. Casualties 6 O.R killed and 16 O.R. wounded…”

O.R. refers to “Other Ranks”, ie not officers.  We looked to see if there were any other graves of men from the 25th Battalion but saw only one, that of an O. DAIGLE, who also died on September 25, 1918.

Unfortunately, as with Kenneth Bell, we have not been able to find a photo or additional information on Charles Lowther.

By this time it was 3:30 pm.  With the success we’d had so far today, Pieter wanted to find two more cemeteries, the Manitoba Cemetery in Caix and Grandcourt Cemetery in Grandcourt.  We should have quit while we were ahead, as by 7 pm we hadn’t found either cemetery and were getting very testy with each other. It was time to admit defeat for the day and go back to Arras for a well-deserved dinner and rest.

In the next blog entry we continue our search for the Manitoba and Grandcourt cemeteries. We need help to put a face to the name on these two graves.  Do you have information or photos for Kenneth Bell or Charles Lowther?  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at memorialtrail@gmail.com or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

….Want to follow our research?….

If you are reading this posting, but aren’t following our research, you are welcome to do so.  Our blog address: https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/

Front cover OnTheWarMememorialTrailinEurope4 countries, 6 weeks, 7,000 km – an unforgettable war memorial journey in Europe…. Daria’s book ‘No Soldier Buried Overseas Should Ever Be Forgotten‘ is available in print and e-book formats.  Net proceeds of book sales help support research costs and the cost of maintaining this blog. For more information see https://nosoldierforgotten.com/ 

You are also invited to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter Valkenburg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ591TyjSheOR-Cb_Gs_5Kw. 

Never miss a posting!  Subscribe below to have each new story from the war memorial trail delivered to your inbox.

On The War Memorial Trail….Monuments In and Around Thélus

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September 20, 2017.  When we first entered the town of Thélus on our way to Vimy Ridge, we passed by the Canadian Artillery Memorial, built to remember the sacrifice of Canadians from Artillery battalions who died in the battle for Vimy Ridge and the surrounding area.

When we were at the Vimy Ridge Visitors Centre, we saw a large photograph of this monument, taken when it was actually dedicated during the war.  The monument was built on top of a dugout.  The steps leading up to the monument marks the original entrance to the dugout.  The monument was unveiled by General Currie on April 9, 1918, a year after the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

IMG_20170905_112407215 Sep 5 2017 Photo of Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus at Vimy Visitors Centre

Photo of the Canadian Artillery Memorial as it was unveiled in Thélus on April 9, 1918. (Photo taken by Pieter Valkenburg of a panel at Vimy Ridge Visitors Centre)

After learning about the monument at the Visitors Centre, we made a stop to see the real one.

CIMG8308 Sep 5 2017 Pieter at Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus

Pieter at the Canadian Artillery Memorial in Thélus. The shell shaped columns surrounding the monument have actual fuses from shells attached to their tops! (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

IMG_20170905_121853669 Sep 5 2017 Inscription on Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus

The inscription reads “Erected in memory of officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the Canadian Corps Artillery who fell during the Vimy operations April 1917.” This is followed by the units: Canadian Field Artillery, Canadian Garrison Artillery, Royal Field Artillery, Royal Garrison Artillery and the South African Heavy Artillery. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

CIMG8303 Sep 5 2017 Rue des Artilleurs Canadiens in Thelus

The road leading out of Thélus towards Bailleul Sir Berhoult is called Rue des Artilleurs Canadiens (Street of the Canadian Artillery). (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

CIMG8304 Sep 5 2017 Sign directions across from Cdn Artillery Memorial in Thelus

Across from the Canadian Artillery Monument is a sign leading to Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We then followed the road between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult.  Only 4 km separate these two towns, but it was the scene of much fighting on April 9, 1917 during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Not far down the road was a monument to the people of Thélus who perished during two world wars, a vivid reminder that not only soldiers are war casualties.

cimg8310-sep-5-2017-monument-to-thelus-war-dead-in-two-world-wars.jpg

Thélus memorial to its war dead in two world wars. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

Halfway between the two towns, in a farmer’s field, is a memorial to the First Canadian Division, on the spot where they were opposite the First Bavarian Reserve Division.  By April 9, 1917 there wasn’t much left of the villages!

CIMG8314 Sep 5 2017 Pieter by sign directing you to Memorial to 1st Cdn Division

Pieter by the sign leading across a farmer’s field to the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

We stopped at this monument to honour John ‘Lymon’ WOOD and Patrick Raymond ARSENAULT, both of whom were in the 1st Canadian Division during the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and whose names are inscribed on the Vimy Memorial.

After an article about these two men was published in the County Line Courier in April 2017, we heard from a Ernesto Brucker of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who noted that his father, Georg BRUCKER, had been part of the First Bavarian Reserve Division and had been captured as a prisoner of war on April 9, 1917, likely at or very near this exact spot.

CIMG8318 Sep 5 2017 Memorial to 1st Cdn Division halfway betwen Thelus & Bailleul

Pieter at the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

IMG_20170905_123258340 Sep 5 2017 inscription on memorial to 1st Cdn Division

Inscription on the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Pieter Valkenburg)

CIMG8316 Sep 5 2017 lone poppy along path leading to memorial to 1st Cdn Division outside Thelus

A lone poppy was growing on the path towards the 1st Canadian Division Monument, about halfway between Thélus and Bailleul Sir Berthoult. (Photo credit: Daria Valkenburg)

In the next blog entry we continue to visit the cemeteries in France where soldiers on the Borden-Carleton Cenotaph are buried.  Comments or stories?  You can share them by emailing us at memorialtrail@gmail.com or by commenting on this blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

….Want to follow our research?….

If you are reading this posting, but aren’t following our research, you are welcome to do so.  Our blog address: https://onthewarmemorialtrail.com/

4 countries, 6 weeks, 7,000 km – an unforgettable war memorial journey in Europe…. Daria’s book ‘No Soldier Buried Overseas Should Ever Be Forgotten‘ is available in print and e-book formats.  Net proceeds of book sales help support research costs and the cost of maintaining this blog. For more information see https://nosoldierforgotten.com/ 

You are also invited to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter Valkenburg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ591TyjSheOR-Cb_Gs_5Kw. 

Never miss a posting!  Subscribe below to have each new story from the war memorial trail delivered to your inbox.