The last
time I set foot on the western front battlefields of World War I (WWI), I was a
shy sixteen-year-old girl. Young and partially clueless to the hell that we know
as The Great War, I was left feeling raw and felt a significant sadness at what
remains throughout the countryside of France and Belgium in today's particularly
altered society. It took just three short weeks in April 2012 to grow from that
shy girl into a person who understood the meaning of war and how the brave men
and women who were part of WWI still teach our society so much today. Since
returning home, I always yearned to one-day return to the solemn sites that are
Western Front cemeteries and finally in 2019, I was able to do just that.
I have
spent many occasions throughout the past six months, along with the years
before that, reflecting on the 2012 Connecting Spirits tour, which happened to
be in association with the McLaren Vale RSL in South Australia. Each moment, my
thoughts focused on three particular events and they are always the first I
have when thinking about the past tour and also my younger self. Throughout the
three weeks in 2012, I saw thousands of WWI graves and memorials, along with
monuments relating to war. I commemorated five Australian soldiers and one
British airman, each of whom I felt a connection to, as I learnt about their
lives and as though I knew them closely. However, the most memorable places we will be visiting include Tyne Cot Commonwealth Cemetery, Langemark German Cemetery
and taking part in the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony.
Many people
will have never heard of any of these places, but what they will have heard of is
World War One and potentially how it was known as the war to end all wars. Sadly,
this was not to be the final war, our precious world would see. Each of these
three places have one obvious commonality, being that they are kept in
remembrance to those who sacrificed their lives during World War One. The
connection I feel with each varies slightly place to place, however I remember feeling
eerie when I received a haunting chill through my body when initially walking
through the Menin Gate Memorial and the two cemeteries. An eerie feeling I do
not remember having elsewhere. Now 23 years of age, I believe the feeling was
somewhat due to being young and naïve and through experiencing the emotional
pressure that touring the battlefields brings.
That is by
no means to say I do not believe this is completely due to my young age in
2012, because even today as I have re-walked a similar path through the western
front, I endure similar feelings. I have always wanted to attend a second tour;
even from being the shy sixteen year old I tended to be and am grateful the
opportunity of Connecting Spirits is still present. I believe I grew immensely
after attending the 2012 tour and have witnessed this firsthand this time
round, as I believe our only teenager on the 2019 tour opened up tremendously,
from the first to final week. Every person who walks the roads of WWI in a
commemorative manner somewhat understands the meaning of war, however until you
physically stand in the position of a specific solider, nurse or battle, the
impact of the war does not properly touch you.
As we
travelled through the Somme during the first week of the tour, my thoughts
still laid with the sense of how I was visiting many of the same places from the
2012 tour, yet how each place felt so different. I expected to comprehend these
changes before we left for Europe but I do not believe I anticipated how I
would spend time thinking about my own personal path in life. While Connecting
Spirits is a tour to commemorate soldiers from WWI, the tour engages the group
to become friends and share our own stories with one another. With such a close
group, I was able to express my feelings and thoughts with the wider group,
rather than bottling these up to myself. Now having been to many places on the
western front for a second time, I was able to gain a greater sense of pride,
in that the memory of those who fought in WWI are kept alive by so many
individuals, from all walks of life.
The second
week of the tour sent us to Belgium, travelling through a region where so much
bloodshed took place, yet one, which is now filled with brightly coloured
flowers and evergreen fields. During our week in Belgium, we visited the three places
that hovered greatly in my memory from the 2012 tour, Tyne Cot Commonwealth
Cemetery, Langemark German Cemetery and the Menin Gate Memorial. In the back of
my mind, I wondered how I would feel visiting these places, now aged 23 years
and with slightly more life experience, than the previous school student in me
had. I remember walking through the Menin Gate on our first night, with the
group and was left in awe of the amount of names listed on such a significant
monument. The eerie feeling I once had, was now replaced with respect for those
who after 105 years, still have no known grave.
Understanding
the history of the war suddenly seemed instrumental to the thoughts I had as a
16 year old and now at 23, because while I did not fully realise back then, I
was and am now the same age as many of those soldiers. This thought alone can
be taken further, when thinking of the lives they left behind, in South
Australia and elsewhere, to go and fight for their country, lives that while in
a different era, would not have been too different to the one someone my age
lives today. During both tours, I was asked by Julie to be one of the people to
lay the wreath during the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate. Again, this put
me in a situation where I was able to reflect on my past experience, while
creating a new memory of the current tour. Upon arriving at the Menin Gate my
body was filled with nerves due to the pressure of having to walk in front of a
large crowd, with the fear that I may drop the wreath I was asked to lay, or
walk too fast, like I know I did in 2012. With some time to wait, Felicia (the
16 year old student) and I were able to chat about everything and anything, leaving us
laughing at our funny stories about family, friends and everything in between.
However, once it came to the ceremony, laying the wreath became our focus and
we walked proudly in time, before taking a moment to reflect on the reason we
were there – to remember the courage and sacrifice of those who fell in and
around Ieper, Belgium.
Earlier in
the week, we had visited both Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Cemetery and Langemark
German Cemetery, where again I was not sure how I would feel walking through
both. Langemark German Cemetery is one of four German cemeteries in the western
front region and as a 16 year old, I was not sure what to expect when visiting
the German cemetery. To the commonwealth states, Germany was the enemy during
WWI and I suppose this is how we are taught when learning about the war from a
young age. When walking into the cemetery in 2012, four statues along the back
of the cemetery caught my eye, causing the eerie feeling I had felt in Tyne Cot
and the Menin Gate to return. Each statue faced the graves of thousands of
soldiers and they were built to look as though each is a soldier looking over
the graves of their comrades. This recent visit, I walked in expecting to catch
sight of the statues instantly, however soon realised I was standing next to
them, as they have been moved to another boundary of the cemetery. The statues
now still look over the graves from a different view, but stand at the back of
the mass grave of 40,000 + unidentified German soldiers buried together. Unlike
many other cemeteries we visited, I did not feel like I could easily walk
around on my own and just like in 2012, stayed with others to acknowledge the
gravesites. Tyne Cot Cemetery is the resting place of just under 12,000
soldiers and the walls to the cemetery, dedicated as the Tyne Cot Memorial of
the Missing holds the names of almost 34,000 soldiers. Once again, re-walking
the steps of my 16-year-old self, I was able to further comprehend the amount
of graves, as I now understand the background the battles fought throughout the
Ypres Salient. I believe by walking back through Tyne Cot, with the 2019 group
and along some rows by myself, I felt a feeling of comfort, in the thought of
these soldiers being the reason we can live the life we do today.
Ultimately,
this recent tour has taught me that no matter where you are from or what
upbringing you have, people can come together as one, whether that be at the
time of war or for other matters completely. As I continue to make changes in
my life and as I soon become a university graduate, I know the journey in which
is Connecting Spirits, will continue to connect me to others and keep me
thinking of the reason I am able to live the life I live today.
