ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

I recently returned from my latest Leger Battlefield Tour... All Quiet On The Western Front. Once again I had the company of my good friend and fellow history enthusiast John Chisholm.

In this article I look back at the tour and the various sites we visited along with a brief overview of what happened during those dark days. I have also included just a few of the many photographs I took during the tour.

An early start saw us heading to Folkestone where we boarded our tour coach before taking the short journey to Dover and the ferry crossing to Dunkirk. 

We were booked in for four nights at the Hotel & Aparthotel Alize in Mouscron, a lovely hotel with great facilities, staff and only a couple of minutes walk from the town square, restaurants and bars. It was also central for our planned visits over the following few days.

On our way to the hotel we made an unplanned stop at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery about a mile from the Belgian city and municipality of Poperinge in the province of West Flanders.

The cemetery contains 9,901 Commonwealth burials from the First World War with 24 unidentified. There are a further 883 war graves, mostly French and German. 

During our brief visit we visited the grave of Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler who had joined the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service and in May 1917 went across to France. At first she was stationed at a hospital in Abbeville before transferring to No. 44 Casualty Clearing Station which, in July 1917, was based in Brandhoek, Belgium, close to the frontlines.

On 21 August 1917 the hospital was shelled throughout the day and Spindler was knocked unconscious by an exploding shell. Despite efforts to save her she died less than 30 minutes later in the arms of another nurse.

Having checked in to the hotel John and I took the opportunity to take a walk around the local area and ended the evening with a refreshing pint at one of the many bars.

Our first full day concentrated on The Battle of the Somme. An 8 o'clock start saw us heading to Peronne and the first of our museum visits, the Grande Guerre Museum (Museum Of The Great War). Situated in a Medieval Castle it is full of great exhibits. Displayed in cut-outs on the floor are an amazing collection of uniforms, firearms and various pieces of militaria.

In one area of the museum can be found many items and relics found on the various battlefields and includes some fascinationg pieces of militaria.

Another unplanned stop was the Devonshire Cemetery where we learnt about the 8th and 9th Battalions of the Devonshire Regiment who attacked the German lines on 1st July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.

They suffered heavy casualties as they left their forward trench and later the same day those who had survived buried their comrades in the same trench. Of the 163 graves, ten are unidentified and two are not from the Devonshire Regiment.

When you look along the two rows of graves it is easy to see where the original trench had been located.

We learnt about one grave in particular, that of Lieutenant W. N. Hodgson. He was a poet and one of his poems, Before Action was published in The New Witness on 29 June 1916 two days before he went into action with the 9th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. He was only 23 when he was killed during the attack on 1 July 1916.

Before Action is a poignant and powerful reflection on the emotions of soldiers in wartime. It's mixture of reverence, nostalgia and finally resignation covers the universal themes of life, death and sacrifice. The final few words are somber but also an acceptance of the inevitable... "Help me to die, O Lord."

Three days after the attack a wooden cross was placed bearing the words, 'The Devonshires Held This Trench, The Devonshires Still Do.' Sometime later the cross disappeared, possibly stolen, and in the 1980s officers of the regiment who were visiting the site made plans to replace the cross and a new stone was placed at the entrance to the cemetery bearing the same words.

Lochnagar Crater, close to the village of La Boiselle, was our next stop. The crater, which  is 21 metres deep and 100 metres wide, was created when a large mine was detonated under the German lines at 7.28am on 1st July 1916. One of 19 mines placed, it is the largest man-made crater on the Western Front.

The mine was placed by the 179th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers to assist the infantry advance at the start of the Battle of the Somme. The British named the mine after 'Lochnagar Street', a British trench from where tunnelling had begun. They dug almost 90 foot down then excavated a distance of 1,030 feet towards the enemy lines. They placed 27 tons of ammonal explosive in two seperate chambers 60 feet apart with the intention of destroying the formidable German Schwaben Hohe (Swabian Heights). Debris from the explosion flew nearly 4,000 feet into the air 

Sufficient explosive was used so not only would it break the surface and form a crater, but enough to result in the spoil falling in the surrounding fields and causing a lip around the crater approximately 15 foot high which would protect the British troops who were advancing. The crater was captured and held by the British but the attack on either flank was defeated by the Germans except for the extreme right flank between La Boiselle and the crater.

Leaving Lochnagar Crater we took the short drive to our next location, The Ulster Tower. Located in Thiepval it stands on what was the German front line during the Battle of the Somme and the site of the Schwaben Redoubt.

The redoubt was a fortified position that overlooked the River Ancre with commanding views. It consisted of many machine-gun emplacements, trenches and dug-outs.

The tower commemorates the 36th (Ulster) Division, who made a historic charge on 1st July, and all those from Ulster, who served in the First World War.  

Standing 70 feet tall it was the first official memorial to be erected on the Western Front and was dedicated on 19th November 1921. It is a replica af the Ulster landmark, Helen's Tower, which is located in the grounds of Clandeboye Estate in County Down, Northern Ireland.

There was a small museum and cafe both of which we took time to visit during our time there.

Before we left our guides pointed out some remains in a field close to the tower, a German observation post in an area known as the Pope's Nose Salient. Unable to take a closer look I did try to capture an image which unfortunately is not that great but I have  included it here.

Our next stop was Newfoundland Park, near Beaumont Hamel, one of the few areas which has remained largely undisturbed since the First World War.

The Park gained its name due to the significance to Newfoundland, as it was the Newfoundland Regiment, part of the 29th Division, that attacked here on 1st July 1916. Purchased by Newfoundland in 1921 and maintained ever since as a memorial, it was designated a Canadian National Historic Site in 1997. Young Canadian volunteers spend time greeting visitors and providing information.

As you enter the park one of the first things you see is a memorial to the 29th Division but it is a little further on that the most impressive structure comes into view, The Memorial to the Missing. The statue of the Caribou atop some stones was chosen as it is  the symbol of the Newfoundland Regiment. On the base are three bronze panels listing the missing.

Directly in front are the original 1st July frontline trenches from where the British and Newfoundland soldiers attacked. We took the opportunity to walk along these original trenches which are zig-zagged, as are most of the trenches on the Western Front, so that if a shell fell in the trench the blast would be contained. It also meant any enemy getting into the trenches could not fire in a straight line.

Following a marked path there are many sites to see including the remains of trenches, both British and Canadian, along with shell holes and dugouts. While some of the trenches are from July 1916 many date from November. It was interesting to spot the corkscrew ended metal poles which were used to support the barbed wire on no-man's-land.

Mid-way across no-man's-land is the Danger Tree, a preserved tree that is thought to be original and possibly marks the limit of the Newfoundlands advance on the firs day of the Battle of the Somme.

As we walked further on there were more trenches, this time German, and the path then passes Y Ravine Cemetery. The park contains two more cemeteries, Hunter's and Hawthorn Ridge No. 2, and two more memorials to the 51st Division.

The first is a simple wooden cross, which originally stood at High Wood and bears the inscription, 'This cross is erected in memory of the Officers, NCOs and men of the 51st Highland Division who fell at High Wood in July 1916.'

The other memorial, near the rear of the park, features blocks of Rubislaw granite, from Aberdeen, assembled into a pyramid. At the top stands a statue of a kilted Highland soldier looking east towards Beaumont Hamel which the men captured in November 1916. Three panels have inscriptions in Gaelic, English and French and can be translated as 'Friends are good on the day of battle.'

I could have spent hours at Newfoundland Park as there is so much to see. However it was time to move on.

Standing approximately 46 meters high, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is an impressive structure and dominates the local area. It was the next stop on our tour.

The Memorial bears the names, on stone panels, of more than 72,000 men who died in the Somme Sector before March 1918 and have no known grave. Almost 90% of those named died between July and November 1916.

Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and constructed from Portland stone it comprises a series of arches of varying size interlocked at right angles. The main arch is topped with a tower. In the central space is the Stone of Remembrance and there are sixteen stone wreaths with the names of the battles that made up the Battle of the Somme and subsequent actions in which the men commemorated on the memorial fell.

At the foot of the memorial there is the Anglo-French Memorial, containing 300 British Commonwealth headstones and 300 French crosses. Many are unknown and were re-buried after discovering the bodies in 1931 and 1932, mostly from the Somme Battlefield but also from Loos and Le Quesnel.

On the Cross of Sacrifice the joint British and French contributions are remembered with the inscription, 'That the world may remember the common sacrifice of two and a half million dead, here have been laid side by side Soldiers of France and of the British Empire in eternal comradeship.'

Before leaving the Memorial I took time to walk through the nearby woods where there were remains of some German trenches, although they were heavily overgrown and barely visible.

Our final stop of the day was another unplanned visit, this time to the area of some of the most iconic images of the First World War... Hawthorn Ridge and The Sunken Lane. This is one of my favourite sites on the Western Front and I had been there ten years earlier during my first battlefield tour.

Hawthorn Ridge was a German redoubt close to the village of Beaumont Hamel and one of the planned objectives on 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Prior to the start of the battle the 252nd Tunnelling Company dug a tunnel 300 metres towards the Ridge and packed it with 40,000 pounds of ammonal.

The British plan, after days of constant shelling, was to blow a number of mines before going over the top. They were due to be detonated at 7.30am as whistles blew and  troops were advancing out of the trenches. Unfortunately, the mine under Hawthorn Ridge was detonated ten minutes early giving the Germans advance warning of an attack.

Geoffrey Malins was one of two cameramen sent to France to capture footage for newsreels. On 1st July he was in an area called Jacob's Ladder where he set up his camera and captured the incredible footage of the mine being detonated. The footage has become one of the most iconic images of the war.

Malins had earlier in the day filmed troops from the Lancashire Fusiliers who were in the area known as The Sunken Lane and waiting to go over the top. They had moved into the area at 0300 hours on 1st July and his film captures the men, some sitting and some leaning against the banks. A few are looking at the camera but many don't. The look on their faces capture men waiting to go forward knowing they may not make it.

At 07.30 they rose up out of the Sunken Lane and were cut down before making it only a few metres. They were vunerable from the high ground they were attacking, because of the early detonation of the mine, and were being fired upon by the Germans who had advance warning of the attack. Their positions enabled them to fire from the left, right and front. The soldiers didn't stand a chance and by lunchtime the Sunken Lane was filled with the wounded and the dying. They lost 163 men killed and a further 323 wounded or missing.

Malins produced the film 'The Battle of the Somme' which was shown in British cinemas in August 1916 and seen by more than twenty million people in its first six weeks. It remains one of the most historicallty important films of the war.

It was a long day that examined The Battle of The Somme and we learnt so much from the guides during the journey between each place we visited.

Day three of our tour would find us in Northern France where we learnt about the 'Forgotten Front' between Flanders and the Somme. The day started with a visit to St. Mary's A.D.S. Cemetery near Haisnes

The St. Mary's Advanced Dressing Station, where wounded soldiers would receive emergency treatment, was established during the Battle of Loos. The cemetery, which took its name from the Dressing Station, is at the same location and created after the Armistice. The cemetery has 1,815 graves with over two-thirds unidentified. 

Buried in the cemetery is Second Lieutenant John Kipling, son of novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling. He had joined the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards two days before his seventeeth birthday. Sent to France in August 1915 he was posted missing in action in September during the Battle of Loos.

There was some doubt about the grave being that of John Kipling and it was  first marked as an 'Unknown Soldier'. However, mistakes discovered in paperwork and research undertaken by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission proved that it was his grave and in 1992 the inscription was changed.

At our next stop, Dud Corner Cemetery, we learned about the Battle of Loos which took place between September and October 1915. The first major British offensive, involving six divisions (60,000 men), often referred to as 'The Big Push' and the first time the British used poison gas.

The idea was to support the French who were trying to break through the German lines at Artois. The ground chosen to make their attack was not ideal and although ammunition and heavy artillery were available in large numbers and they had the use of gas it was not the success they had hoped for. Despite success on the first day with advances towards Loos and Hulloch the battle soon turned into attritional warfare for very few gains. This was, in part, due to the reserves being held a long way back from the frontlines to have any effect.

Most of the burials at Dud Corner Cemetery, which is on the site of the German  Lens Road Redoubt, were those killed during the Battle of Loos. There are 1,812 British and Canadian graves of which only 686 are identified with the remaining 1,126 unknown and only identified as British or Commonwealth soldiers.

The two side walls and rear walls are known as the Loos Memorial and contain the names of over 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave and who fell in the area from the River Lys to the southern boundary of the First Army east and west of Grenay.

On either side tablets are fixed on which the names are carved, while at the back are circular courts in which more tablets are located. In the centre stands the Cross of Sacrifice.

The left hand tower at the front of the cemetery has a viewing platform from which you can look across the battlefield.

On our way to our next planned stop we learnt even more about the Battle of Loos and Vimy Ridge and took a detour to pass by the largest French cemetery in the world, Notre Dame de Lorette, just north of Arras. Also known as Ablain St.-Nazaire French Military Cemetery, it contains the graves of more than 40,000 soldiers. Standing in the middle of the cemetery is the Chapel of Notre Dame de Lorette.

The ridge it stands on, along with Vimy Ridge, dominate the flat Douai Plain and the town of Arras. This ground was strategically important during the war and the focal point of major battles... The Battle of Arras (October 1914), First Battle of Artois (December 1914), Second Battle of Artois (May 1915) and Third Battle of Artois (September 1915).

Our next stop was the Lens Memorial 14-18, a museum dedicated to the events that took place in Artois and Flanders. Only opening in 2015 the museum is divided into six areas with a selection of artefacts although the most interesting areas are those containing the numerous photos. Many of these show the horrors of trench warfare and the use of chemical weapons. One image in particular shows soldiers blinded by poison gas, walking in single-file, bandages on their eyes and holding the shoulders of the men in front. 

We then stopped for lunch in Arras which is a lovely city with some wonderful architecture, cobbled streets and a wide choice of places to eat and drink.

The city was strategic in the face of the German invasion and was heavily shelled during the war, suffered extensive damage and many of the cities famous buildings were destroyed.

In 1919 work started on the reconstruction of this martyred city and many of the buildings, including The Belfry, were rebuilt.

Following lunch we headed just south of Arras to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Visitor Centre. This was an opportunity to go behind the scenes at the work they undertake throughout the world.

As you walk around the centre you can watch skilled stonemasons, carpenters and blacksmiths at work and learn about the methods used to maintain the cemeteries. There are also sections on sign-making and the work that they do in the research, recovery and reburial of soldiers found on the former battlefields. Their work is crucial in preserving their memory.

Late-afternoon and the tour took us to The Arras Memorial which commemorates more than 35,000 soldiers from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who have no known grave and who died between 1916 and 1918 in the Arras sector.

Also located within the grounds is the Arras Flying Services Memorial. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, who also designed the cemetery and Arras Memorial, the four sides of the obelisk contain the names of 990 airmen from the Royal Naval Air Service, The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force who were killed on the Western Front and have no known grave.

At the top of the memorial is a globe which has a significance as explained by Lord Trenchard, who unveiled the memorial in July 1932. In his speech he said, "The globe placed on the obelisk has a significance bridging the years that have passed since November 1918. It stands exactly, with its North and South points, as our globe hung in space on the morning of Armistice Day 1918."

Our final stop of the day was Vimy Ridge and the Canadian National Monument and, despite the heavy rain, it was somewhere I didn't want to miss.

Vimy Ridge formed a salient separating the Lens plain to the north from the Arras plain to the south. At its highest point it stood at an altitude of 145 metres and because of the height it was a strategic position.

The ridge was occupied by the German army from October 1914 who built a strong defensive sytem of trenches.

For several months during early 1915 the French army had tried to recapture the ridge without any success although they did capture the hill of Notre Dame-de-Lorette. They made a second, unsuccessful attempt in late 1915. The ridge was finally captured during April and May 1917 by the Canadians during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

The Canadian National Monument is located on Hill 145 and stands 110 metres above the adjacent Douai Plain. Along with the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, it is one of the most impressive memorials on the Western Front and can be seen for miles around.

In December 1920 a design competition was held and there were 160 submissions which were narrowed down to just seventeen. It was Walter Allward's design that was chosen and work commenced on the memorial in 1924 when structural engineer Dr Oscar Faber was asked to prepare plans.

It took eleven years to construct using 11,000 tonnes of concrete and 6,000 tonnes of stone. The twenty sculptured figures were carved on site and made out of limestone from half-size plaster models made by Allward in his London studio.

The monument was opened on 26th July 1936 by King Edward VIII and French President Albert Lebrun. Over 50,000 people attended the ceremony.

The site also includes the Canadian Cemetery No. 2, Givenchy Road Canadian Cemetery, a visitor centre and tunnels and restored trenches. The weather and time meant there wasn't time to visit these but I am sure I will get back there one day.

Another busy, interesting and emotional day and time to relax in the evening with dinner and a refreshing drink.

Day four concentrated on Ypres and Passchenale and began with us learning how Germany commemorated their dead with a visit to the Langemarck German Cemetery. Located near the village of Langemarck, which was the scene of the first gas attacks by the German army, it is one of only a small number of German cemeteries in the Flanders region.

There are more than 44,000 soldiers in total buried there including 3,000 school students who were killed during the First Battle of Ypres.

Near the entrance is a mass grave known as the Comrade's Grave which contains almost 25,000 servicemen. This mass-grave is guarded by a statue of four mourning figures, added in 1956 and designed by Professor Emil Krieger.

There are several groups of three basalt-lava crosses placed as an architectural feature while those buried are marked by stone tablets. These are not for individual soldiers but mark the place where several, often 10 or 12, are buried, and each tablet is inscribed with  the names, rank and date of death.

Following a short journey we stopped at Vancouver Corner where we remembered the Canadians who defended Ypres in 1915. The St. Julien Memorial, also known as The Brooding Soldier, commemorates the Canadian's First Division and their participation in the Second Battle of Ypres. This battle saw the first use of poison gas attacks on the Western Front.

The memorial, which stands 11 metres tall, was designed by War veteran and architect Lieutenant Frederick Chapman Clemesha and selected following a design competition. On top of the memorial is a sculpture of a Canadian soldier with his hands resting on the butt of his down-turned rifle in 'arms reversed' position, a gesture of mourning and respect for the fallen performed at remembrance services. A plaque on the side reads... 'This column marks the battlefield where 18,000 Canadians on the British left withstood the first German gas attacks on the 22nd-24th of April 1915. 2,000 fell and lie buried nearby.'

Our next stop was Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest British military cemetery in the world, with 11,956 graves, most of which are unknown and marked as 'A Soldier Of The Great War.'. A further 35,000 names appear on the memorial, many of which were killed at the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917.

The cemetery has three Victoria Cross recipients buried... Captain C. S. Jeffries, Sergeant L. McGee and Private J. P. Robertson with a further three listed on the memorial... Lt-Colonel P. E. Bent, Corporal W. Clamp and Lt-Corporal E. Seaman.

The area surrounding the cemetery saw some of the fiercest fighting on the Western Front. The Ypres Salient was an important position but also vulnerable. The weather had made the area a waterlogged and muddy place with trenches and shell craters making it a nightmare for the soldiers. The Battle of Passchendaele, or Third Battle of Ypres as it is also known, was a brutal battle and Tyne Cot is the final resting place of those who lost their lives between July and November 1917.

Tyne Cot first became a cemetery in October 1917 after the ridge on which it is now located was captured by the British.

In 1922 King George V visited and at his suggestion a Cross of Sacrifice was built at the east end of the cemetery. It is on the site of one of three German pillboxes which had once dominated the ridge. They were kept in place as the cemetery was the resting place of many of the soldiers who had fought and died in their efforts to capture them.

I have visited many war grave cemeteries over the years and always been impressed and moved by the way they are constructed, laid out and looked after. Tyne Cot is no different and stands as a place of remembrance and a reminder of the human cost of war.

Following the emotional time at Tyne Cot we headed to Hooge where we had lunch before exploring the museum, site of the Hooge Crater and the cemetery.

The front line of the Ypres Salient was here in 1914 and over the following three years there was fierce fighting which saw the village destroyed. A mine was laid by the 175th Tunnelling Company, led by Lieutenant Geoffrey Cassels, completed in just over five weeks and in July 1915 it was detonated.

The museum contains a fascinating collection, including uniforms, shell cases, an impressive selection of rifles and bayonets, various pieces of militaria, photographs and much more. There are also a number of life-size reconstructions of battle scenes which help tell the story of World War One.

Following our visit to the museum we took the short walk to the site of the Hooge Crater. Now filled with water you can walk around and there is much to see. Last time I was here I did take time to view the pillboxes, trenches, shell cases and other wartime relics. Unfortunately there wasn't time during this trip to take another look.

Before leaving we crossed the road and paid a visit to the Hooge Crater Cemetery. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Noel Ackroyd Rew, it was begun in October 1917 by the 7th Division Officer and originally contained just 76 graves. However, following the Armistice graves were moved from battlefields including Zillebeke and Gheluvelt along with some of the smaller cemeteries in the area.

The cemetery now has nearly 6,000 graves, 2,348 identified soldiers from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada and 3,568 unidentified casualties. Many of the graves contain more than one burial and during our walk around we noticed several headstones marked 'Six' and 'Eight Soldiers Of The Great War.' 

John and I stopped at the grave of Private P. Bugden V.C. of the Australian Infantry who was killed on 28th September 1917 aged 20. We placed a cross on the grave before we left.

A short five-minute drive took us to Sanctuary Wood Trench Museum. During the First Battle of Ypres the British Army had used the cover of a large wood near Hooge to care for casualties. The wood was west of and behind the British lines and given its name on trench maps as Sanctuary Wood as it provided a safe place (sanctuary) to the wounded.

After the war a farmer reclaimed the land and although some debris was cleared he left the British trench system exactly as he found them. It is one of the few places on the Ypres Salient where original trench layouts can be seen. Other than some scaffold poles used to support the sides of the trenches they are exactly as they would have been in 1914 and it is fascinating, and emotional, to walk along them. There is also a large pile of shell cases to be seen.

One thought comes to mind as you walk along the trenches, which in places are damp and muddy, is how life must have been unbearable with the conditions and, of course, the ever-present danger from the German trenches close by.

The museum, which is housed in two rooms, is another fascinating collection of relics from the war including rifles and personal effects. The most interesting part of the museum were the many photographs on the wall and the stereoscope viewers on which you could view 3-D images from the war, many were quite upsetting and hard to view.

We then travelled down the Messines Ridge towards Ploegsteert, a small village and wood about eight miles from Ypres that, to those who served there during the war, became known as Plugstreet.

Although no major battles took place in Ploegsteert it was an area that remained in British hands for most of the war only being occupied by the Germans for a short time in 1918.

Our visit was to the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing in an area which became known as Hyde Park Corner during the war. The Memorial stands within the grounds of the Berkshire Cemetery Extension which was started in June 1916 and in use until September 1917.

The memorial is a circular structure supported by pillars and feauring two lions on each side, one aggresive and the other serene. There are the names of more than 11,000 British and Empire servicemen with no known grave commemorated on the walls, listed by regiment and then alphabetically. Most of the men fought at battles including Armentieres (1914), Loos (1915) and Hazebrouck (1918).

Buried in the Berkshire Cemetery Extension are two brothers and we visited their graves.

Leonard Crossley and William Crossley were born in Wheldrake, Yorkshire, enlisted together in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and landed in France in May 1916. They were both killed on 30 June 1916 and are buried next to each other.

Across the road is Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery, a small plot that contains just 90 graves. Our guide picked out a few graves and the saddest was that of Albert French of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps who joined up aged only fourteen and was killed in July 1916 aged just sixteen.

It is also the final resting place of Samuel McBride of the Royal Irish Rifles who was already serving a two-year sentence of hard labour for going absent. Released after a year he was executed for desertion at Hope Farm on 7th December 1916. Many of the graves of those 'shot at dawn' mention the fact but McBride's makes no mention of it.

Our final stop on the tour was to attend the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres. This was the third time I had attended this event which has been held every evening at 8pm since 2 July 1928 with the exception of the period 1940 to 1944.

It is a ceremony that never fails to move me and it was a fitting end to our tour of the Western Front.

It was back to the hotel for a refreshing pint before calling it a night after another really busy and emotional day.

An early start saw us heading back to Dunkirk for the return ferry and then our local coach back home. It was also a chance to reflect on the past few days and everything we had seen and heard.

Special thanks to our excellent tour guides, Ian and Lee, and our drivers Ian and Phil. Thanks also to John Chisholm for his company during the tour.

Another enjoyable and interesting tour with geat company. There are still so many other Leger Battlefield Tours I'd like to book and feel sure that it won't be long before I can look forward to another trip.

Although I had visited many of these places on previous tours in 2016... Lochnagar Crater, The Sunken Lane, Devonsire Cemetery, Hooge Crater and Thiepval Memorial it was great to have the chance to go back again.

This article is not intended to be an in-depth study of the various battles that took place in World War One but a look back at the tour and some brief background to the places visited. There are many resources, books, magazines, internet sites and much more, for those who want to delve further into this period of history.

WHITE MANSIONS

White Mansions - A Tale From The American Civil War 1861-1865 was a concept album released in 1978. In this article I will look back at the making and release of the album.

I must point out that this article in no way condones slavery or the wrong-minded and horrific realities of the Civil War or the pre-war South. It is just an album I found interesting, well put together and an enjoyable listen, musically, and one that tackles the story head on with its stories of the various Southern archetypes of the time.

White Mansions, a musical portrait of the American Civil War, was the idea of Paul Kennerley, who was not from the southern states or anywhere in America but born in Cheshire, England in 1948 and the son of a company director based in Liverpool. Following school he became an apprentice at the design studios of a Liverpool advertising agency. He spent part of 1969 in New York at an agency before returning to London where he was employed as a layout artist.

A career change was soon on the horizon. He had a passion for music and in the early seventies managed a London 'Pub Rock' band. Leaving the world of advertising in 1974 to pursue a career as a songwriter he soon discovered country music and in particular Waylon Jennings and his recording, Let's All Help The Cowboys Sing The Blues, which appeared on Jennings 1975 album Dreaming My Dreams. In an interview he recalled, "It really excited me and led me to discover many other artists and an entire genre I had never listened to before."

He only wanted to write country songs but his lack of experience of rural American life and culture seemed inauthentic. This, and his interest in the Civil War, led to his decision to write songs that were set in an historical setting and would become White Mansions, his first major project. 

His songs have been recorded by a wide range of artists including Johnny Cash, Brenda Lee, The Everley Brothers, Dave Edmunds, Kenny Rogers, Martina McBride, Marty Stuart and Emmylou Harris, who he married in 1985 and divorced in 1991. He co-wrote most of the songs on Harris' 1986 concept album Ballad Of Sally Rose which was loosely based on her relationship with Gram Parsons.

He has also had songs featured in movies... I Don't Want To Love You (But I Do) (Thelma and Louise), Crazy Old Soldier (The Lost Boys) and Born To Run (Wild Rose).

White Mansions was produced by Glyn Johns, the English record producer who has worked with many of the famous rock artists and groups including The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and The Eagles.

In his autobiography he talked about the project, "I have always loved the chemistry part of my job, mixing up musicians who have not played together before, particularly Americans and British."

Kennerley had approached Johns who he felt would be the ideal producer to help with the project. He sent him the lyrics and demos with a covering letter. Johns took the idea to Jerry Moss at A&M Records who didn't delay in signing Kennerley to a record and publishing deal.

With the story of Southern Pride from the point of view of four white Southerners during the American Civil War meant selling the idea wouldn't be easy. However, it was offset with the story being told from an outsiders perspective.

Chosen to play the various roles in the story were Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, John Dillon and Steve Cash, the latter two were members of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and Rodena Preston's 'Voices of Deliverance.' 

Musicians appearing on the album included, John Dillon (acoustic guitars, piano, electric piano, dulcimer and fiddle), Bernie Leadon (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, mandolin dobro and pedal steel guitar), Waylon Jennings (electric & acoustic guitars), Dave Markee (bass guitar and string double bass), Henry Spinetti (drums), Steve Cash (harmonica) and Tim Hinkley (piano & organ). Strings were arranged by Brian Rogers.

Eric Clapton also appears on several tracks on the album playing electric slide guitar and dobro. 

Backing vocalists throughout the album were Bernie Leadon, John Dillon, Steve Cash and Paul Kennerley.

Although details about the recordings are not known, information about the songs featuring Waylon Jennings is available in the excellent Waylon Discography compiled by John L. Smith.

Sessions held at Olympic Studios in London during January 1978 resulted in the five songs featuring Waylon Jennings with one also featuring Jessi Colter. The songs recorded were, Dixie, Hold On, The Union Mare And The Confederate Grey (with Jessie Colter), The Southland's Bleeding, They Laid Waste To Our Land and Dixie, Now You're Done.

While no exact details are known it is more than likely that the remaining tracks on the album were recorded around the same time at both Olympic Studios and at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood.

In the liner notes, Kennerley wrote, "White Mansions is a portrayal of life in the Confederate States of America 1861-1865. The high hopes and deep sorrows of the Southern people are reflected in the experiences of the four characters whose combined words tell the tale of the American Civil War."

The main characters in the story are...

Matthew J. Fuller (John Dillon) is the twenty-three year old son of a wealthy Georgian cotton plantation owner and typical of the young aristocracy of the South. Brought up on a plantation that was worked by four hundred slaves he attended college, military academy and was dedicated to preserving the lifestyle of 'Old Dixie'. When war breaks out he enlists in the Confederate Army as a Captain.

Polly Ann Stafford (Jessi Colter) plays the love interest in the story as Matthew's sweetheart. The daughter of a nearby landowner she lives an opulent life and after the outbreak of war she does her bit to help the war effort by working in a disease-ridden hospital attending to the dying and wounded soldiers.

Caleb Stone (Steve Cash) portrays and epitomises 'white trash', a class of poor Southerners who lack any professional skills, land or property. Finding work wherever and whenever he can, often overseeing and keeping order among the negro field hands.

He resents the power and status of those who own the plantations but, despite this, has a loyalty to the South. One of his reasons for joining the fight is to preserve his superiority over the blacks.

The Drifter (Waylon Jennings) acts as the narrator of the story. He is descended from good Southern stock and unable to fight following injuries received fighting for Texas during the Mexican War. Roaming from town to town he is not involved in any fighting during the Civil War. He views both sides clearly speaking with a gentle strength and wisdom. 

The Slaves (Rodena Preston's 'Voices of Deliverance') represent the freed slaves of the South. The war was fought because of them and despite representing over a third of the population of the south their voices were seldom heard.

All the songs were written by Paul Kennerley with the exception of White Trash which was co-written with Bernie Leadon.

Part One opens with A Story To Tell, performed by Polly Ann Stafford, and sets the scene for the rest of the story and album. She has a premonition in which she sees the collapse and destuction of the 'Old South' reflected in the face of a white-haired plantation owner.

In Dixie, Hold On The Drifter warns of the pressures on the South by the 'civilised' North. Although at first advising caution and debate, due to the concerns that the United States will be split in two and destroy the strength of America, his good sense finally withers under the strain of his Southern spirit. The song ends with him offering up fighting talk.

Join Around The Flag finds Matthew, like many young men, caught up in the excitement that flowed through the South following the surrender of Fort Sumter, the last Union post in the newly formed Confederacy.

With his enthusiasm for the South and President Jefferson Davis he urges everybody to join the adventure and support the secession of the Southern states from the Union.

Caleb Stone makes his first appearance on the album with White Trash. Living a life little better than the slaves, he was tolerated and frowned upon by the upper and middle class. This was until they needed him to fight. He joins the 4th Texas Volunteers, under the command of Colonel J. Hood, and will find action during various battles including Gaine's Mill, Gettysburg and Chickamauga.

The Last Dance & The Kentucky Racehorse tells of the farewell ball at the luxurious home of Matthew's father where he says his goodbyes to Polly before riding off to join General Beauregard's army in Virginia.

With the war raging Caleb relates the early successes of the Confederacy during the opening year in Southern Boys and the overconfident feelings that success would soon be theirs.

Up till now the approach to war had been amateurish on both sides but was now giving way to bitter relentless fighting at places like Antietam and Fredericksburg. In The Union Mare & The Confederate Grey The Drifter begins to grasp the terrible horror of what was happening and regrets their initial desire to fight their arguments with weapons rather than with words. Polly joins him on a song that tries to put the point across that how much happier they would all be if they acted the way of the Union Mare and the Confederate Grey. The song closes Part One.

Opening Part Two is No One Would Believe A Summer Could Be So Cold, in which Matthew, disillusioned and fearing there will be no Confederate victory, writes to Polly about the woes of war. Robert E. Lee's loss at Gettysburg was catastrophic with Lee losing over 28,000 men while support from Britain and France was dashed. There was no doubt the tide was turning.

The Southland's Bleeding finds The Drifter realising that, despite some victories, the South is crumbling. The pride of the South, J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, had been smashed, the Shenandoah Valley had been devastated by Sheridan and it wouldn't be long before Atlanta fell. It was time to quit and give up the fight but it would rage on for another year... as The Drifter sang, "It's Just Southern Pride, It's Just Southern Blindness."

By March 1865 it was all but over. Lee's army were badly armed, lacked provisions and shattered. The Confederates had abandoned Richmond and the Union Army had driven through Georgia and South Carolina, bringing Dixie to its knees. Before a surrender at Appamattox Court House on 9 April Matthew hopelessly orders up the twelve-pounders in a vain attempt to hold on. In Bring Up The Twelve Pounders we find him ordering for the guns but the only reply is from the ghosts of the Confederate dead. The war was over but the cost had yet to be counted.

They Laid Waste To Our Land finds Matthew, Caleb and The Drifter return home and find the devastation that was bought to the area by Sherman's 'March To The Sea.' A few days after the surrender Abraham Lincoln was assasinated by Southern fanatic John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln was a loss to the defeated Confederates as he had planned the reconstruction of the Union with 'malice towards none' and 'charity for all'. Instead the Federal government treated the surrendered 'rebels' harshly and with bitterness.

Praise The Lord is the only song performed by The Slaves. Although freed on 1 January 1863 by a proclamation made by Abraham Lincoln it was ignored by the Confederacy. It wasnt until the war ended that they were finally free, although many were disillusioned and several stayed loyal to their former masters while over three million headed North. However, many were no better off and in some cases their conditions were worse as they were no longer fed and cared for by their masters. But bondage is the worst state for a human being and although the road to freedom was rocky it was a worthwhile journey.

At the end of the war, and sickened by what he had seen and his own callous attitude to life, Caleb turns to the scriptures. The King Has Called Me Home finds Caleb with a new interest in the teachings of the Lord. He goes from town to town preaching 'fire and brimstone' sermons. His drinking habits though remained.

The penultimate track is Bad Man in which Matthew returns home, only to find his former plantation home has been raised to the ground, members of his family had fled to avoid persecution and, worst of all, his sweetheart Polly had died from an epidemic disease that had killed many thousands. Dixie was in turmoil, greed and corruption were rife and it was hard for Matthew who had lived a privileged life. The laws were often unfair and driven by hate Matthew lived outside of them.

The Drifter brings the album to a close with Dixie, Now You're Done. A simple message... the story is over.

White Mansions (A&M SP-6004) was released in a gatefold sleeve with the album housed in an inner sleeve featuring a needlepoint flag with all the participants, made by Gwen Morris, on one side and comprehensive credits on the other side. The album cover had an old image of a 13-year old Confederate drummer boy centred on the front, characters and songs listed on the reverse while the middle spread was another period image from the 1860s.

There was also an accompanying 24-page booklet, written by Paul Kennerley and visually conceived by Ethan Russell, which told the story of White Mansions with lyrics to all the songs. There was also an opening section which gave an historical background to the American Civil War.

There was a mix of black & white images, some original period photos from the Library of Congress while several others were re-enactments taken by Ethan Russell who, along with Michael Ross, was credited for the art direction.

Among the re-enactments were some featuring the Southern Skirmish Association (London) and were taken at Dodington House, Park and Carriage Museum, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol.

While going through the booklet it is sometimes difficult to tell which images are original and which are re-enactments, so good is the attention to detail by the Southern Skirmish Association.

Very few reviews can be found from the time although one, from the UK music paper Melody Maker was not that impressed. In their review they said, "A dilemma - on the one hand we have some exceptionally good music; on the other, a project of doubtful worth." Reading this it makes you think the reviewer missed the point of the album. However, the reviewer did concede that, "... the songs are outstanding," and that the album was in line with the 'outlaw' style rather than middle of the road country.

Meanwhile, The Guardian described White Mansions as the first and perhaps best outlaw country rock Civil War concept album ever recorded!

The album is a gem in country music but chartwise the album didn't create much interest only reaching #181 on the Billboard Album Chart. However, it fared much better on the Billboard Country Album Chart peaking at #38.

Some of the albums lack of chart success can be put down to the problems associated with promotion. A&M were limited in the amount of publicity they could create especially with all the artists being signed to different labels.

Despite limited radio play and the lack of success on the charts the album did gain a cult appreciation in the years following its release. It is definitely an underrated album and deserves to reach a much wider audience.

Waylon Jennings, in his autobiography, wrote, "White Mansions is a lovely record, and it touched me in a deeply personal way, as a man whose house is built on a Civil War battlefield and a Southerner. Though it probably went over the heads of its intended audience, making the album was one of my most enjoyable experiences."

A couple of years later Kennerley turned to another slice of American history with the concept album The Legend Of Jesse James. For this album he bought together another great line-up of country music artists including Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell and Albert Lee.

In 1999 both albums were issued on CD in a two-for-one package given the title Confederate Tales.

Earlier I mentioned that Kennerley had sent demos to Glyn Johns and it is a shame that nobody has seen it worthwhile to re-issue the album as an expanded/deluxe edition with the original album, demos, alternate/unreleased songs with the booklet reproduced and expanded on. With 2028 being the 50th anniversary of the albums release it would be a good time to re-visit this excellent album.

In a future blog article I hope to look back at The Legend Of Jesse James album.