Reyment Photographics: Have you visited The Somme?

Have you ever been to the Somme?

I had always known that many Australians fought at the Somme in France in World War 1 where over 1,300,000 soldiers lost their lives. As a patriotic Australian, I imagined visiting the Somme would be very special, right up there on the list of things you must do when near northern France. What I was not prepared for was how moving an experience it would be to visit places like Pozières, and Villers-Bretonneaux with my family.

We travelled just under three hours by car from Brussels to get to the Somme one December morning. It was chilly but the skies were clear, at least for the morning. Our first stop was at Pozières.

We found the Australian 1st Division Memorial at Pozières which stands over the main German line at Pozières. There is a platform you can climb to see the ridge which the Australians captuted at a cost of 23,000 casualties. Quiet moments of reflection were not enough to keep my tears at bay, my thoughts of the hell on earth it must have been in July 1916 were totally opposed to the tranquil setting I found with silence unbroken save for the birds chirping.