France

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Word-of-Day-Challenge-Verdant

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Canola crops… 

all sport a verdant green undergrowth.


One of the shrubs in our garden.

On a more sombre note, on the far side of this field,

just before Pheasant Woods

was the site of mass grave in which

nearly 200 Australian soldiers were buried

after the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. 

It was indeed difficult to believe that

these Bullecourt fields were the sight of…

some bloody battles during World War I. 

If my memory serves me well it is this field

where Australian/allied soldiers were ordered to advance

from the right, the lower ground,

to the German Army on the left, the higher ground. 

They were ordered to walk ‘bolt up right’

into the might of the German military,

and not take any precautions for their own safety. 

It was not until many waves of soldiers had been killed

that the British Officers said it would be okay for

soldiers to advance and try to protect their own lives as well. 

It still brings tears to my eyes when I look at these scenes

and think about what happened there so long ago.

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Word of the Day Challenge: Verdant

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One Word Photo Challenge-Selfie

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Although not a true selfie…

it is the best I can do.

I’m  not a selfie person and prefer

to be behind the camera.

Details about where this was taken can be found

here at yesterday’s Word of the Day Challenge.

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One Word Photo Challenge: Selfie

owpc1

by

Word-of-Day-Challenge-Hero

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In June 2017, I visited France for a short tour of

the Western Front Battlefields

where my Grandfather served

during The Great War.

One of the Battles which has made headlines

in Australia over recent years is

the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. 

After that battle 250 Australian soldiers were buried

in mass graves just this side

of the Pheasant Wood treeline.  

 

 

In 2009 these graves were discovered and

remains exhumed and re-buried in

the new Fromelles Military Cemetery.

 

However, it was not until 2016 that one of

the soldiers was identified as

being MGW’s (Maternal) Grandmother’s relatives.

According to this 2016 article there are

still 100 australian soldiers who remain

unidentified at Fromelles.


Although not related to this soldier it was an

honour and a privilege to be able to visit his grave

and bring back some images for his family. 

Every man, woman and child involved in

those years of two Wars is a hero in my opinion.

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Word of the Day Challenge: Hero

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FOWChallenge-Stability

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During one of this weekend’s news/current affairs

shows, I heard that Notre Dame de Paris

Had lost much of its stability,

particularly to the right of this photo.

 Apparently the walls are only being held in place…


By these ageing ‘stays’ for lack of a better word.


Gargoyles were said to be falling and stone fences

around the roof have wooden replacements.

It was said that hundreds of millions of dollars

were needed to give the Cathedral a

thorough make over to take

the instability out of the building.

~~~~~

Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Stability

by

SUNDAY-STILLS-PC-Work-2

 

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Seeing as there is no official challenge this week,

I thought I would add to last week’s offering.

Last week I posted this photo and commentary….

Amid that crowd is a Beefeater at work

guiding tourists around the Tower of London.

and did not realise…

 

I had a better/close up photo of the man at work.

This from my 2017 trip to Arras, France.

Phil, an Aussie, operates Sacred Ground Tours

out of Arras across World War I Battlefields.  

Serre Road Cemetery No. 2 was

the first cemetery we visited. 

Phil is showing us how easy it is to find

a grave of a relative who perished in France.   

Easy if you know which cemetery to visit. 

If your relative is one of the tens of thousands

with no known grave, or an unknown soldier’s grave….

then that is a different story.

~~~~~

SUNDAY STILLS PHOTOS: Work