Behind the front lines in the Val de Somme.

The village of Bonnay was briefly occupied by the Germans in 1914 following the French army’s retreat. After the German retreat in September, the fighting shifted towards Albert. Bonnay remained behind the lines for the remainder of the war.After 1915, the area came under British control and the village was used as a rest area. To make it more difficult for German aircraft to spot it, camouflage netting was strung across the village. In April 1918, under pressure from the Germans, the village was once again under threat and came under German bombardment. The house on the left of the photograph served as the headquarters of the ‘13th Australian Field Artillery Brigade’. It was men from this unit who shot down the famous Red Baron on 21 April 1918.These artillery gun carriages, photographed in the courtyard of a farm in Bonnay, belong to the 5th Artillery Division. Privates Bob Buie and Snowy Evans, who serve in this unit, were credited with the shot that brought down the ‘Red Baron’. His body is said to have been kept in the commune before being taken away by the Royal Australian Air Force.

Georges Guynemer was one of the ‘Aces of Aces’ of the Great War, with a record of 53 official victories. He was thus the second-highest-scoring French pilot, just behind René Fonck and his 75 victories.At the head of his squadron, he was stationed at Cachy from April 1916 to January 1917. It was there, in fact, that his squadron took on its famous name, ‘L’escadrille des Cigognes’ (The Storks’ Squadron). Paul Lengellé, who would go on to become the official painter of the Air Force, was then a student at the Lahoussoye School, in front of which you are standing. He later recounted that, in early 1917, his class was evacuated upon the arrival of British officers. He then realised that they were accompanying Georges Guynemer. He recounted: ‘I walked past him, filled with admiration, whilst one of my classmates, Paul Ballue, who was older than me, took the liberty of speaking to him…’ The pilot had made an emergency landing near the village. He went to the school to contact his unit by telephone in order to be evacuated.

Franvillers is a farming village, surrounded by fields. In 1916, although the village was some distance from the fighting, it was used to house British troops.The numerous farms provided accommodation (photo 1). This photo was taken in the courtyard of the farm on your right. The fields were harvested by British troops during September 1916 whilst fighting continued further to the east. A welcome diversion for the soldiers, the army’s work in the fields also provided relief for a local population deprived of their men who had gone off to fight, and even stepped in to replace them when the villagers had been evacuated due to the fighting. Yvon Calmus was born in 1902. He lived with his family on Rue de la Ferme. His father, Louis, was called up during the war. He was killed in the Marne on 21st October 1915.When Franvillers was evacuated in the face of the German advance in March 1918, Yvon was left alone in the village. Australian soldiers found him in the ruins of his house and took him with them to Australia.He eventually returned to France to do his military service, then settled in Rouen.

The village of Baizieux played an important role for the Australian army during the spring of 1918. The château, in fact, served as headquarters for the 4th Division. A prisoner-of-war camp was even set up on the outskirts of the village.During the German advance in March 1918, the village came under threat. It was subjected to intense shelling. In this photograph taken in front of the castle walls, we can see Australian soldiers carrying a deceased man. He was not one of their own, but a local resident who had stayed behind with his wife despite the evacuation of the population, and who was killed by a German shell. He was buried by the Allied forces in the cemetery at Baizieux. As you continue on your way towards Hénencourt, stop off at the Rolmont mill, built in the 15th century.From August 1915 onwards, an airfield was set up in the fields around the mill. In this photograph, taken in August 1916, we can see an aircraft from the 4th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. This unit carried out reconnaissance and bombing missions and was involved in numerous engagements with the German air force throughout the Battle of the Somme.

The commune of Hénencourt served as a command centre throughout the war. The château provided sufficient space and comfort to accommodate successive military headquarters. King George V of England even attended a sporting competition organised by the army within the town’s boundaries.However, in March 1918, the town was threatened by the German advance, and Albert fell on 27 March. The Allied troops were forced to retreat. The town’s main street was then filled with British soldiers making their way to their new positions.In the photograph, the château is still intact; the right wing was destroyed a few weeks later in a fire. As you continue on your way towards Bresle, stop at the pillbox located on the outskirts of the village. Following the German advance in April 1918, the Allies feared a further attack. Consequently, to protect Hénencourt Castle, which was serving as their headquarters, several pillboxes were built in the village. The ‘Royal Engineers’ of the 47th Division were responsible for building them between July and August 1918. As the Allies went on the offensive in the days that followed, these pillboxes were never used.

Situated at the bottom of the valley, the village of Bresle offered some protection from artillery fire. Being close enough to the front, it served as an entry point to the trenches. Trench systems led the soldiers directly to the front line further to the east. Nevertheless, as the Germans advanced in 1918, the village also suffered damages.Known as St Mark’s Tree, an ancient lime tree – which had been a sacred site for the Gauls – once stood here. Sadly destroyed in 1918, the war memorial was erected on the site of this tree. During the four years of the war, Bresle was passed through and occupied by men from all over the world. As a result, we can still find traces of these men’s presence in the houses that survived the conflict. One such example is the ‘Rising Sun’, the emblem of Australia, carved into the stone, which you can see in the photograph.

The village of Ribemont-sur-Ancre was under particular threat during the German advance of March 1918. As a result, it was reinforced by Australian troops, who were seeking to stem the enemy offensive. Barricades were therefore erected in the village in anticipation of street fighting. Ultimately, the Germans were halted to the east of the village, and by the end of March they continued their advance south of the Somme, heading towards Villers-Bretonneux. Like many villages in the Val de Somme, Ribemont-sur-Ancre was evacuated by its inhabitants. However, the official historian Charles Bean was surprised to come across a local resident who was making his way towards him despite the bombardments.The man was a veteran of the 1870 war, during which he had lost an arm. He refused to leave his home in the face of the German advance.

When the Allies resumed their offensive in the summer of 1918, many Germans were taken prisoner. In the first photograph, we can see a column of prisoners marching up Rue de Vaux, to the left of the war memorial, and heading towards the village square.These men were then transported to prisoner-of-war camps such as those at Baizieux or Villers-Bretonneux, for example. They were used as labourers, even after the war, to clear the former battlefields.In the background, we can also see the extensive damage suffered by the village. Following the death of his son on 25 September 1915, Rudyard Kipling recounts the history of the regiment to which he belonged. In his writing, he describes the ‘2nd Irish Guards’ passing through the village in May 1917 enjoying the return of fine weather. The soldiers lived alongside the residents who had remained in the village. This provided an opportunity for them to forge bonds, some of which would endure beyond the war.

We know that the 36th Casualty Clearing Station was set up in Heilly on 1st March 1916. At that time, it consisted of tents pitched near the station, to the south of the railway line. The captain who kept the unit’s diary notes that the camp measured 165 metres by 70 metres, or 11,500 square metres – the same size as the Licorne football pitch in Amiens. The location was ideal in the run-up to the Battle of the Somme, as Heilly station lay on the Albert–Corbie railway line, which was heavily used to evacuate the wounded to hospitals. The cemetery, meanwhile, opened in May 1916. The first burial was that of John Westcott Solomon of the 25th Field Ambulance (Royal Army Medical Corps), who died on 26 May 1916. The ‘Heilly Station Cemetery’ is the largest military cemetery in the Val de Somme. Nearly 3,000 men are buried here. 1st July marked a turning point for the 36th CCS. Treating the wounded became its primary mission. The assault on the Somme front began at 7.30 am. Heilly, who was stationed about 12 km from the front, began to see the consequences from midday onwards.On that day : 1,005 wounded were admitted to the CCS. 270 were evacuated on the first train. A second train evacuated 233 soldiers. With no further trains available, the CCS was closed at nightfall. Lorries were then directed straight to Corbie, resulting in a longer journey for the wounded.

The Allied occupation of the village changed over the course of the war, in line with troop movements as soldiers were redeployed to other sections of the front. Thus, from the spring of 1918 onwards, the village was occupied by Australian troops. Heilly continued to serve as a rest and recuperation area for the soldiers. In this photograph, we can see Australian soldiers returning from the baths, which were set up in the village’s old mill a short distance away. A cemetery was even laid out in the castle gardens. At the end of the war, the graves were moved to the cemetery at Ribemont-sur-Ancre. In the second photograph taken in July 1918, we can see two models sitting on a bench at Heilly station. Written on the suitcase are the words: ‘I want to go home, George.’ This message, addressed to King George V of England, reflects the weariness of the soldiers who had been fighting for four years.