As with the region close to Ypres, there are many cemeteries, time and again down very small, muddy roads. My 1st intended destination was the Hawthorn Crater. This is one of the mines that was detonated underneath the German front line at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The explosion was recorded on film and is routinely shown in documentaries about the Battle of the Somme. After driving around the area for a while, I came across the Newfoundland Park Memorial & Visitors Centre and pulled over to have a look.

It was a part of the British and Canadian Lines on 1st July 1916 when the Battle of the Somme commenced. Some of the trenches are very well preserved and from the Caribou Monument, you can get the perfect understanding of the terrain and the course of attack. It is also frighteningly obvious how far the troops were expected to advance over open space facing of cannon and machine guns.

At Newfoundland Park, I was given directions which helped me to find the Hawthorn Crater and so it transpired I’d driven right past it. It wasn’t long until I arrived back and found the access point via a fairly muddy field. To start with I was hesitant but decided it’s a part of the experience. I got to the side of the crater but it was very over grown so I didn’t venture too far and I was quickly on my way to my next port of call, Ulster Tower. This is a memorial to the Ulster Regiments who performed so well on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Nearby is the Thiepval Memorial which is the biggest British War Memorial on the planet. Each 1st July, a significant ceremony is held here in memory of the dead. The tower can be seen from quite some distance and addititionally there is a motivating visitors centre with information about the battles fought here.

Not far away is the South African Memorial at Delville Wood. The memorial was dedicated to all South African battles, not only those in The First World War. As with all the memorials, Delville Wood is sacred ground but I found this place in particular to be very peaceful and appropriate. I’m not really sure what made Delville Wood stand out for me but for me, there was just something a lttle bit special about this spot.

My final stop of the day was a short one at the site to the east of Amiens where the Red Baron was shot down. There isn’t actually much to see except for a little notice board by the side of the road. The site is situated by a local factory with a prominent chimney. The story of the Red Baron is one of the 1st I heard about concerning The Great War so whilst there wasn’t very much to see, it was something that I wanted to do. The Red Baron was a German air ace called Baron Manfred von Richthofen. From 1916 – 1918, he shot down a total of 80 Allied aircraft and was eventually shot down but ground fire from an Australian unit on 21 April 1918.

The undoing of the USSR in 1991 finished this conflict that began immediately following World War II ended in 1945. During this period there was virtually no genuine military engagement from both sides hence the usage of the word ‘cold’. However all through the Vietnam and Korean Wars, even though the Cold War existed, some shots were fired; albeit indirectly.

The minute Japan and Nazi armies were conquered in the second world war, and this left the 2 dominant powers, the USA and the USSR were left in opposition. Both had different kinds of economies along with the forms of government. The USSR operated a Communist government while the United States ran a capitalist one and as a result of conflict of interest, this descended into direct rivalry.

Let alone unite; both ideologies never saw face to face. The Cold War worsened even more as the Communist values being spread were responses to the Capitalists’ policies. With the fall of the Third Reich, the Soviet Union held a free reign within Europe with its Allies dealing with the many areas that bordered the Soviet Union to the West.

The Iron Curtain came in to existence when Europe was split. Soviet ideals and invasion together with actual growth further prompted anxiety and insecurity in the West. After the implementation of the Truman Doctrine, the West offered military aid and financial help to any countries that opposed Communism. During the early 60′s Europe was dramatically divided into 2 blocks. This made it a possible battlefield for looming World War III and nuclear warfare. Gradually the Cold War had spread out all over the earth with little countries being sucked in, making an even greater split on earth.

Beginning 25th April 1915 to 9th January 1916, during World War One, the Gallipoli campaign took place in the Turkish Peninsula of Gallipoli. So they can secure a route by sea to Russia and capture the Ottoman capital, the British joined forces with the French. The operation failed miserably with each side taking heavy deaths and injuries.

This campaign resulted in the first major battle ever undertaken by a combined force of Australians and New Zealand Army Corps better known as ANZAC. The two countries look at this campaign as the birth of national consciousness. The Anzac Commemorative Site is considered the most significant destination and tour sites.

On the morning of 25th April 1915, the 1st Australian Division troops arrived at Anzac Cove on the shoreline situated on the North Beach. It was here where Albert Jacka became the very first Australian to be granted the Victoria Cross. Jacka defended an assault on the part of trench he was holding from several Turkish solders. Having a graphic representation showing you the campaign account, this memorial site holds a commemorative focus. A thought provoking annual dawn service is held here every year on the anniversary. All too often in the cold pre-dawn, 1000′s of pilgrims assemble here to remember the legacy left behind by the fallen World War One heroes.

An additional significant location is the Chunuk Bair Cemetery found on the ridge running on the north eastern side of the Brighton Beach. Among the main objectives of the Chunuk Bair is the Sari Bair Battle of August 6th to 10th, 1915. The New Zealand Infantry Brigade were involved in this attack but the Turkish Army Corps ultimately overran them.

Commonwealth troops who died in battle were buried at the Chunuk Bair Cemetery by the Turks. A total of 632 Commonwealth soldiers are laid to rest here along with around 850 New Zealand soldiers who died on the peninsula. The man behind the Gallipoli campaign was none other than Winston Churchill. The overall Allied losses were over 200,000 and paradoxically, the most successful aspect of the campaign was the withdrawal.

History has implied that this particular battle was quite unnecessary as it cost countless soldiers their lives for little reason. British and Australian troops alike were ordered to storm the frontlines throughout World War I. This battle, which lasted only moments is said to have claimed the lives of no less than five thousand Australians and fifteen hundred British troopers.

It would take ninety four years before these troops were laid to rest in a cemetery, as they were initially buried in a mass grave but now lay to rest quietly at the Pheasant Wood Cemetery which is dedicated to their extraordinary sacrifices. Fromelles was a combined operation between the British and those who were in Australian military troops also called the Australian Imperial Force.

It is thought to have been a failure as the attack itself was unsuccessful in its attempts to create a diversion for the enemy. Amongst the causes historians imply it was a disaster was the fact that the troops were ordered to advance in the light of day, making them a target for the enemy as they were in plain view from the minute they went over the top.

Currently you will see in the Fromelles Australian Memorial Park a statue that honours the various courageous soldiers that were seen carrying out the wounded. One of those troopers Sergeant Simon Fraser from the 57 Battalion tells the story of how he began carrying one of the injured and heard a faint voice asking for aid who he did help pull to safety. Sergeant Fraser would later lose his life the following year as he fought in the Great War.

As early as the late 18th century, the white feather has been the sign of cowardice. Its origins come from the world of cockfighting as birds with any white tail feathers were viewed as poor fighters. The superior gamecocks were bred without having white tail feathers.

It became very common for ladies in particular to hand white feathers to men of fighting age they spotted in the street. A large number of men were so ashamed by being given a white feather in public, they would find a nearby recruiting office and join the military. Quite a few were destined only to stop an enemy round.

The act of presenting white feathers was so common that a number of the men who had been given them should never have received them. Some men who were home on leave and strolling the streets in civilian clothes were handed feathers. Various other undeserving recipients included men who were dismissed because of injury, were home recovering from injury or those that were clinically not fit to enlist.

The majority of the women who gave white feathers were part of a movement referred to as “Order of the White Feather” that had been started in 1914 to encourage women to give feathers to men who hadn’t signed up with the military. Nevertheless, there were people who thought that the ladies were occasionally somewhat to eager to give out feathers to men that shouldn’t have been given them.

However, one pacifist who refused to fight, was satisfied with the fact he was presented with so many feathers. Fenner Brockway was reported to have said that as a result of refusing to fight in The First World War, he had received ample white feathers to make a fan.

The tomb of the unknown soldier came to symbolize the loss endured by the families of soldiers who fell and whose bodies were never identified or brought back. The unknown French soldier lies in the Arc de Triomphe in Paris while the unknown British soldier lies entombed in Westminster Abbey amongst kings and statesmen.

The idea was first contemplated by a clergyman called Reverend David Railton. In 1916 in France, he had seen a cross with the words “An Unknown British Soldier” written on it. Four years later in 1920, Railton contacted the Dean of Westminster saying it would be appropriate to have a nationally recognised grave for an unidentified soldier.

Four British servicemen were exhumed from Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres and taken to a chapel at St Pol, near Arras. Every body was draped in a Union flag and one was picked out by Brigadier General L J Wyatt. Wyatt had no idea from where the bodies were removed from or their rank. The idea was that the unknown soldier could possibly have been anyone from a Private right up to a Colonel, a colonial labourer to the child of an Earl.

The soldiers coffin was transported to London and was delivered to Westminster Abbey in a horse drawn gun carriage. The cortege was accompanied by King George V and individuals from the Royal family. At Westminster Abbey, it was flanked by a guard of 100 winners of the Victoria Cross.

The casket was positioned and covered with soil taken from the battlefields of World War I. It was capped with a slab of black marble from Belgium and it is the only tombstone in Westminster Abbey which it is unacceptable to step on.

Ever since then, plenty of other nations have dedicated similar tombs including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

My next stop was near to the village of Passchendaele at the largest sized British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. Over 12,000 soldiers are buried here. From the cemetery, you can easily look out for several miles in all directions over fields and it seems tough to imagine the carnage which had been there 90 years ago. The visitors centre provides a historical past of the region as the names of a few of the fallen and missing are sent out calmly over audio speakers.

From Tynecot, I began to head back in direction of Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) on the way back. There is a little museum and some preserved trenches here. All through my trip, the weather was not kind and even if it was nothing like as lousy as conditions might have been throughout The Great War, the bottom of the trenches still looked quite awful. It cost a couple of Euros to get in and this was the first time I began to find out the impact of the notorious mud.

My next planned stop was the Hooge Crater. As previously in the day, I had a hard time trying to locate it although I saw a little independent museum called the Hooge Crater Museum which in fact had a compelling variety of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross.

My sightseeing for the day wasn’t complete as I still had to take a look at the renowned Cloth Hall which was almost ruined (since totally reconstructed) as well as the Last Post ceremony and that is carried out at 8pm each evening at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post incredibly haunting and moving to listen to. Soon after it was finished, 2 wreaths were laid by young British troops and was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon’s “For The Fallen”

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Hill 60 is located in the southern area of the Ypres Salient and it wasn’t a natural feature. The hill was made with soil dug away to make a nearby railway cutting. Quite a few significant actions happened at Hill 60 in both World War I and World War II. During one night in 1915, 4 Victoria Crosses were granted as a German attack was successfully fought off.

The dvd highlights the events at the start of the Battle of Messines in 1917. 19 mines with almost 500,000 kgs of explosives were fired before the start of the assault. The storyline revolves around the exploits of Woodward and his men showing precisely what the tunneller companies were required to experience, a part of war that receives minimal coverage.

Woodward is put in command of a company and leads by example for the duration of the build up for the assault around Ypres. The action begins in the small hours of the morning when Woodward sets off the mine his soldiers have spent the previous weeks putting in place and defending.

Right after the war, Woodward goes back to Australia to wed his young sweetheart who had begged him not to join the army.

‘Beneath Hill 60′ is the ideal film which conveys the story of one of the most scary tasks of the Western Front. The tunnellers on both sides had to work in awful conditions understanding the enemy may perhaps be simply metres away preparing to either blow up their tunnel or break in and begin firing.

He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. The medal, which has been displayed at the Green Howards Museum in Richmond, was sold by Spink on November 25 2010.

Donald Bell was born in Harrogate in 1890 and attended the local Grammar School and Westminster College in London. He was a passionate football player and played for Crystal Palace as an amateur whilst in London. Bell took up a teaching career in 1911 and returned to Yorkshire after gaining a post at Starbeck School but he continued as an amateur footballer, playing with Newcastle United.

He signed as a professional player with Bradford Park Avenue and made his debut for the club in 1913. He was a key member of the team which helped win promotion from the second-division for Bradford. Bell joined up following the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. He is considered to have been the first professional footballer to volunteer. Initially he served as a Private with the 9th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (The Green Howards) but he quickly gained promotion and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the regiment in 1915.

During the Battle of The Somme, Bell’s battalion was ordered to capture an enemy position that was known as Horseshoe Trench near La Boiselle.
He attacked a German machine gun position, running through open ground and then shooting the gunner and blowing up the position with Mills bombs. It was this action that led to him being recommended for a medal. Bell would never know that he’d been awarded the the Victoria Cross for his actions as five days later he was killed, following an attack on another German position at Contalmaison. His Victoria Cross was presented to his widow by King George V in a private ceremony in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace on the 13 December 1916.

In July 2000, a permanent memorial was unveiled at the spot where he fell which is still known locally as Bell’s Redoubt. The memorial is sponsored by the Professional Footballers’ Association in memory of ‘The First English Professional Footballer to enlist in 1914 and the only Professional Footballer to be awarded the Victoria Cross.’  His medal was auctioned at the Spink saleroom, in London, on November 25 2010 and fetched a price of £210,000.

Source: BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/york/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9227000/9227719.stm)

1000s of Allied soldiers landed at the five beaches of Normandy; Gold, Sword, Juno, Omaha and Utah. There were countless acts of bravery yet there was simply one single Victoria Cross awarded on D-Day. It had been given to CSM Stan Hollis who landed on Gold Beach.

Hollis was a veteran who had seen combat at Dunkirk, El Alamein and Sciliy. He had already been taken prisoner by the Afrika Korps but had managed to escape to rejoin the war.

Self-discipline wise, Hollis was never a model soldier however on D-Day, there was no questioning his abilities as a soldier. He had also been recommended for a Distinguished Conduct Medal while in action in Italy and it was as his part of the attack on the Mont Fleury Battery that Hollis earned his Victoria Cross fighting with the Green Howards regiment.

As his company, advanced away from the coast, he noticed 2 pillboxes had been side stepped. When Hollis went to examine, the Germans within commenced firing. Hollis assaulted the Germans and eliminated both pillboxes taking a number of prisoners at the same time. This permitted the key exit from the beach to remain open.

Later in the day close to the village of Crepon, Hollis assaulted the Germans with a Bren gun to free 2 British troops who had been cornered in a building. He successfully rescued both soldiers. The bravery shown by Hollis in Normandy on D-Day preserved many British lives and he was accorded the Victoria Cross. He was injured in September that year and the next month was presented with his medal by King George VI. Now, his Victoria Cross is on display at the Green Howards Museum in Yorkshire alongside quite a few other Victoria Cross awarded in combat to other soldiers of the same regiment.