Off to France this weekend

[steve hawkins]

Fianlly, I am off to visit the Somme this weekend.  Picked the right weather - thunderstorms and rain  And we are camping.  Taking the R100 rather than the 65 cafe racer, as it is currently more set up for touring.

We will be staying near a little town called Albert in Picardie and will be visiting various WW1 battlefields in the Area.  Itinery includes:

1. Albert itself (museum).

2. Delville Wood, South African memorial and museum and where my Great Grandfather was killed in Sept 1916, whilst still trying to drive Jerry from the wood.  It took 3 months.  Commonwealth cemetry with 5200 dead, 2/3 of which are unknown.  Must be a german one nearby with a similar number, unless they made other arrangements

3.  Lochnagar Crater, La Boiselle.  Massive underground mine crater.

4.  High Wood - as in "The hell that is High Wood" Another wood with a fearsome reputation.

5.  Thiepfal Memorial - my GGF does not have a marked grave, but his name is on this memorial.  Museum here also.

6.  Pozieres.  Where the first tanks set of from...

This is just a weekend jaunt, and the weather is not looking great.  But if your going to look at the trenches, then you might as well do it in the rain.

I show some pictures when I get back.

[Bengt_Phorqs]

Steve, be sure to post some photos.  I believe the last surviving American WWI veteran died within the past month or two so that is the end of an era.  But heck, most of the kids in these parts nowadays don't even remember Viet Nam or where it is.  Sure loomed large in my generations life.  Safe journey.

[steve hawkins]

Well, we are back.  

The thundery weather cleared quickly and we were back to a sultry heat.  Better than rain though.

We managed all the visits but I have not got many pictures yet.  My brother set himself up as chief photographer so I let him get on with it.

Here are a few though:

1.  Waiting to get on the Channel tunnel.
2.  In one of the channel tunnel trains.
3.  Basilica in Albert - centre of the town.  Rebuilt after the war.  The museum is underneath te square/basilica

[steve hawkins]

And some more:

Delville Wood Cemetry.  You do not get a feeling of scale until you walk into the middle of one of these cemetries and look out and around.  

The vast majority of these men (enlisted men) were half my age, found one grave of a 17 year old.  Most had gone to war as a way out of the poverty they found themselves in, 3 meals a day, a uniform and a chance to travel.  Sounds great....

...until you are told to hold a wood at all costs, and you cannot even 'dig in' properly because of the tree roots in the ground.

My great grandfather might be in this cemetry, as 2/3s of the graves are unamed.  But he is just as likely to be in the wood still which is an actual war grave in its own right and has still not actually been cleared.  Men were by necessity, buried where they fell, often to be uncovered again during the next barrage.

Pictures: Delville wood cemetry 1 looking towards the South African Memorial, 2 looking away.  All commonwealth nationalities, South Africans, British, Australians, New Zealanders, including Moaries, etc.  All different jobs and ranks.

3.  In the wood, that was replanted after the war.  But you can still see the trench line such as they are.  In effect they are just interlinked shell holes.

I will post some more when my brother downloads them from his camera.

[msbuck]

Great pictures, steve.  Sad stories, too.  

So which of the handsome chaps are you in the first picture?  I want a face put to this name...

Looking forward to more outstanding pics.

[steve hawkins]

Actaully the one in the blackis my twin brother with his R100 GS.

He looks like me!

However, let me look:

[Lucky_Lou]

Great stuff steve.....just out of intrest how much do they charge for the bike on the chunnel
Ta Lou

[msbuck]

Yep, you look just alike!!  Thanks.  Still waiting for your brother's pics.  

[steve hawkins]

The chunnel cost £60 -£70 return.

Double the price of the ferry.

If you have the time then the ferry might be better, but we had a 2 hour ride the other side and a campsite to get to before 10pm, coupled with moving an hour forward.  Timing was not right for us.

Hey ho.

[suecanada]

Very moving. I can't imagine the hell! And just kids.

I do like the GS. Reminds me of Stewart's military Can Am he was trying to sell at the vintage rally.

[TXRider60]

Steve

Enjoyed the French Tour narrative... I spent a couple of years in France as a kid, but haven't been there since.

Now that you're safely home, would you mind either posting (or directing me to, if it's already posted) or even e-mailing a little info on the specifics of the yellow color scheme for what I believe is your R100... Color name, paint code, etc... And any other relevant details of a beautiful job?  If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I have an R65 that would like to flatter your bike.

Thanks!

Burt
TXRider60@sbcglobal.net
Plano, TX

[steve hawkins]

Cheers Burt for the kind words.

I painted it with a brush with 'Rustoleum'.  It cost me twenty quid for the paint (self undercoating/priming) and a fiver for the brush (high quality!  Yellow orange combicolour.

Tere was a whole thread on this before Christmas.  would be worth a search