Battle of the Somme - family history

Whilst we were in France we took the opportunity to visit Villers-Bretonneux and surrounds, where the bloodiest battles of World War I took place. Over 3 million men were involved in the battle of the Somme in world war I, and the front line between Germany and the allies was located East of Amiens near Pozeires .

The area has particular significance for my wife's family as her Grandmother's Uncle, G.H.G. Rolls was lost in war near Mocquet Farm. We visited the site, there is still a working farm there. It's somehow unsettling to think we're growing food now on the site where over 1.2 million people were killed or maimed.

So many men were unaccounted for at this battle ground. I guess they were blown to pieces. There were so many lives lost as well that accounting for them all by name must have been difficult. It really is unfathomable to start to think about the realities of this battle. We had a solemn moment there remembering this young man, one of many who travelled to the other side of the world to fight for peace, and never returned.

There is an Australian memorial set up on the side of the road here now. At this site the Australian army suffered its biggest ever loss of men, with around 11,000 troops killed in this battle. Eventually this was there the Australian Army defeated the Germans and this became the impetus for the armistice.

We next visited the windmill site, which was a site of strategic importance as it was the highest ground during the battle. The Germans occupied this site until the Australians overturned them.

There's a memorial here as well now. There were allies from all over the world here - Britain, South Africa, Canada, Australia & New Zealand. But I couldn't help but think while I was here that the Germans lost a lot of lives here as well. I understand that the two sides were fighting for different ideologies, but the men from both sides at the front line were just good men.

The other thought that crossed my mind was imaging what it must have been like for all those men, seeing other batallions go out to the front line and coming back devastated, but knowing their time was coming next. It must have been utterly terrifying.

Our final stop was the Australian memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. This land has been donated by the French Government as a site of significant memorial for the Australian troops who lost their lives in the World Wars here. There were temporary grandstands being erected for ANZAC day. Apparently it has the second biggest offshore ceremony here after Gallipoli.

The memorial is both impressive and moving. You walk through many graves and named and unknown soldiers on the way to a long wall with the names of the some 11,000 soldiers lost at war here.

We found Glanville Rolls' name on the wall and again had a solemn moment for the young man who was part of our family.

Whilst we were there I read of the unknown soldier, who was removed from the site here and transported to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia's capital city. This was a way of remembering the troops who were never given the burial they deserved. Of course, it's entirely possible that the unknown soldier is my wife's relative, Glanville Rolls.

It was interesting to note that the memorial was damaged by the Nazi army during World War II. There were clear bullet holes remaining in the tower. It's unfortunate that the memorial was erected to remember the atrocities of war, and yet another way took place here less than 40 years later.

I think the best thing about visiting these sites and revisiting the family history is that we are reminded to not allow these things to happen in the future. War will never be carried out the way it was in the first world war, where men were thrown at men by the thousands, and battling for year on end hundreds of metres from each other in trenches. Just like blockchain technology, warfare technology means that computers and machines will be the centre of any battles in the future. It's unfortunate that after all those years there are still significant conflicts around the world, though none on the scale of the world wars.

Lest we forget.

Added to Steemit World Map at Mocquet Farm, last known location of G.H.G. Rolls. [//]:# (!steemitworldmap 50.051106 lat 2.710958 long Mocquet Farm - battle of the Somme d3scr)