Page 11 - Walking Back Through Time

through the tragedy of war, can we confront our past - if only to ask the question "Why?"
Crossing the border into France about 2pm, the passage gradually be- comes more urbanised though it takes in a riverside stretch on the ap- proach to Lille. After a walk through the bustling centre I stop to enquire about accommodation at the Hotel De la Treille (normally 185eu per night). Amazingly the manager finds me a room for 41euros. Wow! Enthralled by this elegant place I gratefully accept the offer and change for the evening. Owing to a long first day on the road, it is only a brief encounter - 2 beers and modest supper of bread and cheese be- fore I retire from the lively hub of socialites to the peaceful confines of my room.
Day 3 Lille to Vimy Ridge - 40km
The din of merry-making tourists faded quickly the following eve as I drifted into slumber and today I feel fit and ready for action along some of The Great War's major battle fronts.
Bidding goodbye to my hosts after a wonderful stay, I take a cultural route to the edge of the city where I commence today's journey along the D925. The vibrant city of Lille remained in German occupation in the Great War until 17th October 1918; today it is cosmopolitan hub with university status benefiting from its rich location close to the Bel- gium border. Eminent architecture and village war memorials remain the dominant features of today’s journey as I pass through Wattignies, Seclin, Carvin; not far from here are the sites of WW1 battlefields of Neuve Chapelle and Loos. Both these proved costly to the allies - the former offensive incurred 12,000 casualties for a gain of less than half a mile. Loos was taken by Sir Douglas Haig's First Army but insufficient- ly backed up by Sir John French's British Reserves which limited the allies success and also cost French his job as Commander in Chief of the British Expeditionary Force. The brutal offensives of 1915 saw the barbaric use of poison gas by both sides; my great Uncle Ben survived the war but was left breathless from a gas attack on his gun crew. De- spite all this people still enlisted! My grandfather signed up whilst only