Ypres League Tour to Arras and
the Somme.
THE YPRES TIMES
77
THE unveiling ceremonies of the Arras and Thiépval memorials were officially
postponed as a token of esteem to the late President of the French Republic.
The original Ypres League Pilgrimage to Arras and Thiépval numbered
some eighty members and friends, and we sympathize very much with all those
who were in readiness to undertake the trip at Whitsuntide, and share the
disappointment caused by the extremely sad circumstances that led to the sudden
but essential postponement.
The Ypres League, however, had pleasure to offer the same travel facilities
at Whitsuntide for those of the party who were unable to make the trip at a later
date, and as a result a party of fourteen assembled at Victoria Station on the
morning of May 14th, and were personally conducted by Mr. O. Mears of Head
quarters. Accommodation for the week-end was reserved at the Hotel Moderne,
Arras, where arrangements for the comfort of the party were all that could be
desired. Although these people were denied the opportunity of being present at
the unveiling ceremonies, an event to which many of them had waited with solemn
anticipation for years, the situation was accepted philosophically, and some conso
lation was afforded them by the courtesy of Mr. P. Vyner, the resident Ypres
League representative at Arras, who was good enough to place twTo of his private
cars at the party's disposal for a two-day comprehensive tour of the battlefields
at a specially reduced rate per head, and allowed the memorials at Arras and
Thiépval to be viewed in comfort and at leisure. The morning of Sunday, May
15th, was confined to visiting the beautiful memorial at Arras, in which six members
of the party were especially interested, and they were given optical proof for the
very first time that the names of those so dear to them, who had given their
lives for a noble cause, and to whom the fortune of war had denied them a known
resting-place, had been remembered so fittingly by a grateful country. The
Imperial War Graves Commission had kindly arranged for a staff to be on duty
for the guidance of visitors, despite the postponement of the unveiling, and to this
staff the sincere thanks of all present were due for their unfailing courtesy, and
undoubted assistance they were delighted to give, whether on general information
or in finding the names on the various panels. The memorial at Arras is unquestion
ably a very fine work and everyone privileged to view it will certainly be very
impressed. After lunch the party proceeded on an extensive tour of the Somme
battlefields, visiting such places as Ayette, Bucquoy, Serre (a village occupied by the
enemy on July 1st, 1916, the date of the commencement of the Somme Battle,
and where the 31st Division in an attempt to capture it suffered terrible casualties),
Beaumont Hamel (our objective on July 1st, 1916, but which was not actually
taken until November, 1916), Newfoundland Park, now owned by Newfoundland,
who keep it as a memorial to their Regiment who fought with the 29th Division.
Plenty was to be seen here, old trenches intact with all kinds of war equipment,
rifles, grenades, tin helmets, the old rum jars, machine gun positions, etc. Log
Cabin, where various souvenirs, war maps, photographs, etc., may be seen, and
a visitors book which you may sign. From here the route was taken to Albert,
4$ miles distant, passing on the way such famous spots as Thiépval, where the
largest of the twenty-one British Memorials to the missing in France and
Belgium stands. The Ancre, where the Naval Division will not forget what they
went through during the fighting there; Mouquet Farm, La Boisselle (where the
two front lines passed through on July 1st, 1916) and where one is afforded a
