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was set on buying part of a World War One (WW1) battleeld and stands as a memorial to the thousands who died that day; among them nearly 20,000 British soldiers. Although its one of the most visited sites on the Western Front, today Lochnagar is all ours.Were a Sussex family, spending a weekend as Remembrance Tourists in advance of the WW1 centenary. Not so long ago, another tourist standing in the same spot caught sight of the remains of a British soldier poking out of the grass; his water bottle, gun and army razor buried beside him - and our children are keen, but fail, to make a similarly grim discovery. On our way here weve driven through an eery agricultural landscape, dotted with gravestones; white blocks for the Commonwealth soldiers, crosses for the French. Some sit in the elds where they fell. Others have been moved to graveyards of a more industrial scale. Not far from this graveyard and Lochnagar are the four towering pillars of the Thiepval Memorial, on which the names of more than 72,000 missing soldiers are inscribed. This is the biggest British memorial in the world and among its mass of inscriptions our older son nds his own name. Later, in its visitor centre we read the stories behind some of the others. One is Jacob Templar, a father of three from Leicestershire killed in action just a few days after his brother. Another is William Ker, a recent graduate
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Sussex to the Somme is an easy weekend trip - and with the World War One centenary next year it is well worth a visit, reveals Katie Hughes. Pictures by Sam Hughes

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he loudest man-made sound of its time was recorded right where were standing. Its source sent debris ying thousands of feet into the air, wiped out several hundred feet of German trenches and extinguished life in seconds. Were perched at the edge of the Lochnagar Crater at La Boiselle, about an hour and a half s drive south of Calais, peering into the deep grass bowl whose creation signalled the start of the Battle of the Somme. Lochnagar is the largest of 17 craters blown by British mines early on the morning of July 1 1916, to (unsuccessfully) destroy the German front line. Now its owned by an American who

magazine - November 2013

travel

The Lochnagar Crater in La Boiselle; the largest of 17 craters blown by British mines on July 1, 1916. Inset, The trenches can still be seen today at the Newfoundland Memorial Park in Beaumont-Hamel

GETTING THERE Eurotunnel: Folkestone to Calais car and ve passengers 140 return (peak summer) eurotunnel.com WHERE TO STAY Butterworth Farm, B&B, Pozieres 80/night bed and breakfast for ve in a family room. www.butterworth-cottage.com

from Oxford who survived Gallipolli for slaughter at the Somme. Its at the Newfoundland Memorial Park in Beaumont-Hamel, not far from Thiepval, that we really sense the quiet grimness of this place. Just behind the German front line is where thousands of soldiers from Newfoundland met their deaths in a half-hour machine gun onslaught, as they went over the top on July 1. We stride along no mans land, past the Danger Tree the only one still standing after the ghting and through a network of well preserved trenches. The ground is pockmarked with shell holes and whole areas are closed off with warnings of unexploded shells. From the commemorative mound we get a good view of the intact trench system and look right on to the German line. Strangely, a newish looking house (the only one here) has been built with the same outlook. When we get home to the UK it will be Beaumont-Hamel that will have cemented a real understanding of the Great War on our minds the mud, the fear, the scale of youthful sacrice and the proximity of it all. Its in a reective mood we arrive at our nearby farmhouse B&B. Here we meet a fellow guest whose determination to remember the missing is as keen as anything weve seen during the day. Just recently they identied several more bodies, he tells us. Hes talking of the 7,000 Australians killed or declared missing in the tiny village of Pozieres; home to our B&B and attened in WW1.

With funding from the Australian government and advancements in DNA testing, the identication of unknown bodies has taken on a fresh impetus. Our fellow guest, an Australian himself, is here to preside over it. A century or so ago this house, had it been here, would have had a view of the front line action and possibly the spot where the 31-year-old British composer George Butterworth was killed. His body was never found, but the B&B now bears his name and the spent shrapnel piled up outside is testament to the horrors that he and thousands of others would have witnessed. We could have stayed in a number of places on the front, but weve chosen Butterworth Farm for its 5/5 Trip Advisor ratings, its legendary breakfasts of homemade cake and its reasonable price. Our hosts, Bernard and Marie, who live next door, are also Somme Battleelds Partners and reliable sources of WW1 history.Their cheerful demeanour is a reminder that its not all grim in the Somme. So too are the foot long sausage baguettes on the menu in nearby Auchonvillers and the plate size steaks that were served in Curlu. In 1916 we would have eaten these in the line of re, but today the bar serving them is full of jolly diners and has a billiards table and small swimming pool at the back. As we leave we get talking to a fellow customer, a young local farmer. He quizzes us about life in the UK and complains about the lack of action in the Somme.Its just all too quiet here, he concludes.

A shared grave for two British soldiers A cemetery, showing crosses for the French and blocks for the Commonwealth soldiers

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