This page gives a little bit more info into the sites listed on the two day tour, if you have been linked via another page please use the page back arrows on your browser to return.
- In January 1914 the shelling of the Germans managed to topple the Virgin so that she hung in a position near horizontal, but she never fell. This gave rise to legends on what would happen should she fall - the british belived that should it fall the war would end, the Germans belived that who ever knocked her down would lose the war.
- During the German occupation the British shelled Albert and knocked it down, but alas the war did not end and fortunatly the British did not lose. The Virgin was never found and todays statue is a replica.
- Low season opens at 10am > 12pm then 2pm > 5pm, July and August open 11am > 6pm, cafe, shop and gardens all worth a walk around.
- Entrance fee.
- The crater is now owned by Englishman Robert Dunning. A simple memorial takes place every year - 0728 July 1st.
- Along the western front the British had blown 101 mines and the Germans 126.
- The sculture, atop the memorial, was designed by Alfred Turner and symbolizes the unity of English and African people.
- Shop, toilets and a museum open 0900 - 1600 low season - 1800 high.
- Closed Mondays.
Thiepval Anglo French Memorial - Web Site
- Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and 141 feet in hight, it carries the names of 73,000 men.
- The memorial takes the form of a massive stepped arrangement of inserecting arches tha increase in hight, culminating in one central arch 80 feet high.
- The names are inscribed in portland stone, upon 16 piers and is the largest British memorial in the world.
- Unvelied in 1932 by HRH Prince of Wales in the precence of the French President.
- A project is underway to build a visitor and education centre on the
site of the Battle of the Somme. It is hoped that the centre will
provide educational and rest facilities for the 200,000 plus visitors
to the area each year. The Commission is not involved in the project
but has offered its Debt of Honour Register, thereby providing a
tangible link for visitors to the centre with the Commission's work
in the region. You can find out more about the centre by visiting the
project web site.
- Financed through public subscrition and built in 1921.Ulstermen who died in the Great War
- A plaque placed in the grounds commemorates the 36th Division and the nine Victoria Cross winners..
Goto maps for detailed information on driving this tour.
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Follow the links for D.I.Y Battlefield Tours
Maps & Guides give’s you info to help along the way.
Battlefields - Maps & locations.
Great War Links - other sites dedicated to WW1 & 2
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