Julie and I went to the Somme Valley in France for the weekend after Remembrance Day (11/11/1999) to pay our respects to those who did not come home.  It was a very moving weekend, but also very memorable one.  We stayed in a little village called Perrone to the east of Amiens.  There is a very good museum in the village with info from the First World War.  We went to the Australian War Memorial in Villers Bretonneux and the village is amazing in the respect they give to the Aussies.  There is a little museum about the Aussies in WWI above the school, and when we were there we looked out onto the playground and there was a big sign in green and gold saying "Always Remember Australia".  We also went to Vimmy Ridge where the Canadians took the ridge from the Germans in a bloody campaign.  On an interesting note Cpl Adolf Hitler was at Vimmy Ridge during WWI.

Villers Brettonneux - 124K

This postcard is a shot of the Australian Memorial in Villers Brettonneux.  It is also the Memorial to the Missing in France.  Not all the soldiers buried here are Aussies, there are some British, Canadians and some "Unknown", in fact the Australian "Unknown Soldier" interned in the War Memorial in Canberra came from a cemetery just down the road from here.

The little picture on the top left is the "Victorian School" built with the money donated by the school kids of Victoria.  The plaque outside is shown below.  The top right picture is the town square and the bottom right picture is of the Australian Museum above the school.  The Australian flag hanging in the museum is the one used by the Queen Mother (as she is now) to open the memorial in the 1920's.

Australian War Memorial - 65K

This picture is looking back from the Memorial towards the road.  It was a very cold, foggy morning and it is amazing to think what it must have been like trying to fight in those conditions.  There are very few trees that are more than 80 years old in this part of France due to them being cut down for firewood or for trench reinforcements or blown up by artillery!

Merrett War Grave - 106K

We were walking back to the car and just stopped and looked around at the complete waste of life caused by the war and I just looked down at the headstone in front of me and I nearly did a backflip - The headstone was a Merrett!  When we arrived back in the UK, I hopped on the web and went to see who this soldier was - It turns out he was a Londoner.  If you are interested in finding out about lost relatives here is the address for the Commonwealth War Graves Commision http://www.cwgc.org/cwgchome.htm.

Villers Brettonneux School - 171K

This is the plaque from the "Victorian School".  Villers Bretonneux is the best place in France to say "Je suis Australien" - I am Australian.

Vimmy Ridge Memorial - 138K

The Vimmy Ridge Memorial stands on the edge of Vimmy Ridge and overlooks the valley below.  It is a very picturesque area.  The French have given the Canadians the area on which the memorial stands as a good-will gift.  3000 men were injured and 1000 died each day taking the ridge.  If you ever get to this part of France, this is a "must see" place, just standing there remembering and thinking what it must have been like...  There is only about 10 metres between the opposing front line trenches.  There is a very informative tour of the trench system and support tunnels as well.

Vimmy Ridge Trees - 184K

The Canadians have planted a tree for every Canadian soldier missing in action in France.  Personally, I think this is a very beautiful way to remember the missing and it also brings home the vast number of young men who never returned.

Perrone Trees - 76K

The WWI museum in Perrone is beside a lovely river and these are the trees on the far side of the river.