Military History Tours          On Tour - Our Other ANZAC Day 28 April 2012

After farewelling some of the group who returned to Paris and with a different driver and coach we left the Somme and drove north to Vimy Ridge. The Canadian Memorial on the peak of the ridge is very evocative as the statues show the Canadian mothers mourning their lost sons.

From Vimy Ridge we descended into the low lands of Flanders. We visited the CWGC Fromelles Pheasant Wood Cemetery. The new cemetery is well spaced out. It is so emotional that the ōlost boysö of Fromelles have been found and laid to rest in individual graves. Many have been identified.

After lunch we visited the Cobber Memorial for a brief on the battle.

The bus stopped so we could observe VC Corner Cemetery that has no head stones.

Our next stop was the southern part of Messines Ridge where Ron briefed us on the part played by the Australian 3rd Division in first phase of the Battle of Messines and the 4^th Division in the second phase. At the northern end of the ridge line the 1^st Australian Tunnelling Company was responsible for the mines under Hill 60 and the Caterpiller.

Down near the gloomy Ploegsteert (Plug Street) Wood, we visited the Berks Cemetery Extension. Two engravings on the memorial raised the question why there is no Battle Honour for æFromellesÆ? This memorial has both 'Fromelles 1915' and 'Fromelles 1916' engraved upon it.

  

This ends reports on the Our Other ANZAC Day tour 2012.