Our last visit to the Western Front was to Bellenglise. The nearby towns of St Quention and Bullecourt are well-known but the 4th Australian Division memorial is at Bellenglise because that was the point reached by the division before it withdrew for rest just before peace was declared.
We couldn't find the memorial and finally asked a local who hopped into his little van and led us down a rough track to the site. We would never have driven down the track! And there was only one small sign tucked away on a side street. It's not even marked on Google maps.
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| 4th Australian Division memorial, Bellenglise |
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| 4th Australian Division memorial, Bellenglise |
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| 4th Australian Division memorial, Bellenglise |
We were particularly interested in the Bellenglise battle site because Phil's grandfather, Roy Phelan, was badly injured there late in 1918 (he was hit on his head with shrapnel but recovered fully despite losing a large piece of his skull). I've read his unit's diary and as far as I can work out Roy was near the present village of Pontruet at the time.
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| Swede harvest in fields at Pontruet near Bellenglise. |
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I love to read your comments. Thankyou for your interest.
Lorraine