Page 21 - QARANC Vol 17 No 1 2019

THE GAZETTE QARANC 19
Somme Visit 2018
A number of Association members travelled with a party from the RAMC Association (Ulster Branch) to the Somme area to commemorate the centenary of the signing of the Armistice. The party visited the Ulster Tower and Thiepval Wood where they had a guided tour of the trench system that crisscrossed the wood during the first Battle of the Somme and heard about recent finds following excavations. After lunch at a cafe that had WW1 trenches and barbed wire in the back garden, we went to the Thiepval Monument where the names of thousands of soldiers with no known grave are inscribed on Lutyen’s masterpiece.
The following day, 11 November, the party moved to Pont Remy where there was a dedication to the Commonwealth soldiers in the British cemetery in the presence of local dignitaries, while local primary schoolchildren placed poppies and Union flags on each grave as the soldier’s name was read out. A small band then accompanied the children as they sang the National Anthem in front of the Sword of Sacrifice. This large group of personnel then processed through the town to the French memorial in the town centre, where the dedication was repeated with French tricolour and cornflowers being placed on the memorial. The schoolchildren then sang the ‘Marseillaise’ and repeated the British National Anthem. The RAMC Association had commissioned a commemorative coin for the centenary and all those present gave each child a coin as well as some items brought from the Royal British Legion.
Following these ceremonies, we were invited to the Mayor’s parlour for a drinks reception, before attending a gourmet dinner in the French equivalent of the British Legion. This was an interesting event as each course was interspersed with dancing accompanied by an accordion! The Mayor very generously invited the group to have a farewell drink in her parlour en route to the airport.
It was a very humbling experience as well as a privilege to have attended such an event in France on the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War.
Major (Retd) Nuala Green Chair Northern Ireland Branch
Northern Ireland Branch: Somme visit; The Centenary Dedication Parade at La Somme
Nuala Green by the bridge over the River Somme