August 21, 2009
The Camping Ground at Peronne: A day through the battlefields
We had grape juice and a chocolate biscuit for breakfast and were away by 7.30. It was much cooler today and the going not as hilly as previously so we made good progress arriving at Baupame about 10.30. We went through the area where the New Zealanders pushed the Germans back in 1918 into Baupame which they liberated. Had coffee in a grotty coffee and betting shop then set off and soon found the D10 to Fleurs and Longueval where the 1917 offensive started for the New Zealanders on 15th September of that year. Talked to an old bloke in Fleurs who seemed to know that the Kiwis had driven out the’bosch’. Then to Longueval and the NZ memorial just north of it. There are no graves there but it marks the spot that was the first objective. While we were there an Englishman arrived on his motorcycle. Bob told us his grandfather had driven one of 2 tanks which were used for the first time in that offensive. His grandfather survived after pretty servere wounds.
From there we set off to find the main cemetery where NZ graves are, this is the huge Caterpillar Valley Cemetery which has 2-3000 graves but only 214 Kiwis. 1000 New Zealanders died in Sept-October 1917 so I presume the rest never had a grave.
After the graves our problem was to get to Peronne which we finally achieved. We are getting some help from the GPS but it certainly isn’t perfect. We rode into the camping ground that was through the town at the Port de Plaissance on the canal. I think we had the smallest tent there and our next door neighbor had a huge RV that looked as if it was out of the movie ‘Meet the Fockers’. We sat in the evening watching the multitude of rabbits while we ate our meal made from the strange ingredients I had picked up at Lidl.
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Today's ride: 55 km (34 miles)
Total: 477 km (296 miles)
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