4th Grand Falls Scouts & Venturers2019 World Jamboree and the 2019 European Adventure!

Jul 23rd The Last Post

After a second very emotional day we arrived at our once again shockingly nice hotel in Ypres, Belgium.  The hotel was only a few minute walk from the main market square, so we walked over to explore the market and visit the In Flanders’ Fields Museum.   

Belgium was a neutral country for both World Wars, and in both World Wars they were invaded and decimated.  Cities in Flanders were reduced to mud and vast sections of the country became an unrecognizable wasteland.  As such, Belgium has a very different take on the wars… in Belgium museums there is no glory, only sadness.  The In Flanders Fields museum does an incredibly effective job at sharing the horror and loss. 

Another highlight to the In Flanders Field Museum is climbing the historic clock tower to experience the best view in Flanders.

After the museum we worked our way back to the hotel to change into our formal uniforms before our walk to the Menin Gate for the Last Post

Every evening at 8pm precisely, the “Last Post” has been sounded since 1928 under the imposing arches of the Menin Gate. This memorial shaped like a Roman triumphal arch displays the names of 54.896 soldiers of the then British empire who went missing in action.  Just being at the memorial is humbling, but when you consider that this community has shut down the busiest bridge crossing in town every single day for a century to say thank you is beyond words.  What we do once a year on Remembrance Day, they do every single day.  

After spending some time exploring the monument, we worked our way to the street and secured what we figured was a decent spot.  Not long after arriving the volunteers at the Menin Gate spotted our Scout uniforms and ushered us into a place of honour behind the buglers… wow!  While we were lining up waiting for the ceremony to begin I was suddenly taken aside by a volunteer in uniform and asked to do a reading at the ceremony!  Obviously I accepted without hesitation.  What a great moment for Scouting 🙂

After the ceremony we formed a horseshoe under the gate so we could say thank you with our own ceremony with O Canada and the Ode to Newfoundland.  We were all still so caught up from the emotions of the day and just by being surrounded with the 54.896 names of the missing in fine print all around us that we focused simply on getting the words out without breaking down.  We were so focused that we didn’t notice the giant crowd that had gathered around us until they broke out into applause after Devin dismissed us.  So many people stopped to welcome us, and thank us as Canadians for coming.  

It was a reflective walk back to the hotel where we enjoyed a late supper before a few of us went back out on the town for some night time exploration.  

Despite the town being well lit and beautiful at night, pretty much everything was closed.  After much searching we finally found one store that was open…

Not quite as bad as it looks as the Scouts bought SNACKS, it just happens they sell alcohol pretty much everywhere in Europe.  The Scouts did however buy a nice bottle of “wine”…

Great end to a great day!

Jul 23rd In Flanders Fields…

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
      In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields.

John McCrae

While Carl was regaling us with the history of the Essex Farm he received a call about his father… who’s health had taken a sharp turn for the worse…  In one breath Carl told us his dad was dying, and in the next he continued on about how great Canada is… as a Troop, we told Carl to go home, and we return to Ypres to take care of ourselves for the evening.  Family first! Carl is “one of us” and we take care of our own 🙂

Jul 23rd Thousands of Graves Later…

Fresh from our experience at Vimy Ridge, Carl takes us on a bit of a detour so we can drive past a German Cemetery… each black cross represents the burial of at least two German soldiers who never made it home… and the crosses go on for what seems like eternity… there simply were no winners of the so called “great war”… 

Arriving at the Cabaret-Rouge Cemetery was an overwhelming experience… 7,650 graves… a truly incomprehensible number of graves… of people… lost… the worst part is that we knew this was NOT our biggest cemetery… that would be tomorrow…  here lies the Canadians lost at Vimy…

Jul 23rd 14 days…

After a VERY early wake-up we loaded up and hit the road for Vimy Ridge.  The memorial at Vimy Ridge serves as Canada’s monument to the 11,169 Canadians who never came home from the first World War but have no graves as their bodies were never recovered.  This is our monument to the missing heroes who were never properly put to rest.  The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first time all three divisions of the Canadian Armed Forces fought together under a Canadian Commander, and the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge distinguished Canada as a nation apart from United Kingdom for the first time.  So going in to this day, we knew it was going to be another very big day.

When we arrived at Vimy Ridge we were split in to two groups by the Canadian tour guides, so one group could explore the trenches while the other descended into the catacombs.  

Painstaking effort was made by the Canadian government to preserve the battlefield as best as possible.  The trenches that remain were ACTUAL trenches from the First World War, but the sand bags were replaced with cement bags to ensure they would be preserved.  The land around the trenches remains deeply pot marked from artillery fire and is in fact still inaccessible due to the danger of unexploded ordinance.  

The catacombs at Vimy Ridge are truly mind-blowing!  This immense complex of tunnels and chambers has been preserved and immediately takes you back 100 years to what it must have been like for the soldiers preparing for the raid.  At one point in the tour we get to this decent dormitory bunk room – hardly “nice” except for in comparison to what sleeping in the trenches would have been like.  Our guide explains that the dorm was for the messengers.  You see, in WWI all communication between the various players on the field of battle where made by messengers running sheets of paper around with orders on them.  This of course made the messengers the ideal target to disrupt an army’s effectiveness, so messengers had an average lifespan of just 14 days.  14 days.  The position was so dangerous that you could not be ordered to be a messenger, you had to volunteer.  The guide went on to explain that there was a never ending line of volunteers… the war was so hellish that people lined up to take a job in which they knew at least their war would end within 14 days… wow… there are no words…

So for the most part I’m going to need to let the pictures tell the story as words cannot even come close to describing what it felt like to visit the Vimy Memorial… The Canadian approach to reflecting the “Great War” was different than a lot of our allies – our Vimy Ridge Memorial tells a story of suffering, loss, and profound sadness.  This is not a monument of victory, it’s a giant monument of loss.  Every aspect of the Vimy Memorial speaks to a nation in grief, not a nation reveling in victory.  

When Hitler occupied France in World War II the Nazi troops went out of their way to vandalize and destroy the Allied monuments from World War I.  This was basically the standing order throughout France, until Hitler came upon Vimy Ridge.  Even Hitler was so moved by the Vimy Ridge monument that he ordered it protected by his personal guard.  “Hitler Approved” is not a seal we want, but it does go to show the profound power of this memorial that even the Nazi’s couldn’t bring themselves to deface it.

Vimy is simply something that every Canadian should experience…

Jul 22nd Caribou Racing and Arras

Carl was VERY time conscious on our trip, so he made it clear at Beaumont-Hamel that if we wanted our extra time there we better be ready to RUN through our remaining tour of the caribou, so run we did!  On our way to Arras we had a VERY brief stop at the caribou in Gueudecourt…

Learned about a very unpopular farming chore here in France… cleaning up the unexploded shells in the field and taking them to the road… seriously!

And then a very quick sprint to the caribou at Monchy-le-Preux…

Despite our best efforts we just could not work in our final caribou in France at Masnieres, but it was totally worth it to have the extra time we had at Beaumont-Hamel.  

As we arrived at our hotel in Arras, we were once again pleasantly surprised by the accommodations.  Although not as fancy as the place in Dieppe, it was still a lot nicer than we expected.  Our supper was at a nearby restaurant… couple funny moments at supper that are better shared in person than online… including an incident with a horse… and a picture Scouter Gerry wanted us to show his wife… but anyway…

After supper a few of us went out to explore Arras, and then after the Scouts went to bed, Carl took some of the Scouters on a later tour out to the town square to see the historic lights turn on… they didn’t turn on… another good story though for another day 😉

Jul 22nd Better Than the Best

When we arrived at Beaumont-Hamel, in a lot of ways it was like coming home.  Seeing the Newfoundland and Labrador Flag waving alongside the French and Canadian Flags was pretty fantastic.  We stopped for a picnic lunch (first time in Europe that we didn’t eat lunch on the bus) and then made our way to the visitors’ centre. 

Hunter was a “Scub” and we were planning to invest him in front of the great Caribou here at Beaumont-Hamel.  When I mentioned our plan to Carl, he cautioned me that this was a VERY busy place, and it was unlikely we’d be able to stay at the caribou long enough for the ceremony.  He encouraged me to ask the staff, which I did.  Here response was one I won’t soon forget “You’re all from Newfoundland – you’re home now.  Do as you please”. The experience is not one that I can really put to words, but I think the pictures do a pretty good job…

After the tour it was time for Hunter’s investiture.  Adding one more member to the world’s largest peace movement seemed an appropriate tribute to those who died here at the Battle of the Somme.  It was a tough ceremony to get through, and very few of us had dry eyes by the end of it, but we were all immensely proud to be Scouts in that moment.  Quite the crowd ended up forming around us, but we hardly noticed.

With that done we had one more ceremony to conduct, and one that we knew would be even more difficult.  Our beloved Group Commissioner, Scouter Ed “Baloo” Thorne, had planned to join us on this trip, and we knew he was most looking forward to this moment, standing together at Beaumont-Hamel.  Our youth asked to leave behind a Baloo crest so that he could at least be there with us in spirit.  This became a theme going forward, and thanks to the youth there are Baloo crests at memorials in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

We left Baumont-Hamel in silence, lost in thoughts and reflecting on our experience.  Hard to imagine there was still a LOT more left to experience this day!

Jul 22nd First 944 graves…

Our next stop on this emotionally overwhelming day was the Canadian War Cemetery in Dieppe.  Really the next logical stop it seems… this was our first of many cemeteries, but I can still remember how much it hit me how carefully maintained the cemetery is.  After 73 years the people of France are still very diligent at caring for the final resting place of the Canadian soldiers.  

Encountered some poison ivy on the way out… funny story actually…

After the cemetery we left Dieppe and the coast and moved our way inland towards the Trail of the Caribou.  Beaumont-Hamel was our next destination and knowing that kept things pretty subdued on the bus.  Going from what was one of Canada’s darkest days on the battle field to what was beyond a doubt the absolute darkest day for Newfoundland on the battle field is a weighty transition.   This was promising to be a hard day…

Jul 22nd “You promised you’d come back, and you came back!”

Although the Mémorial du 19 Août 1942 (Dieppe Raid Museum) was one of the most moving moments of the trip, it’s really hard to put the experience into words.  The museum is a partially restored theatre that still shows interior scars from Nazi occupation.  After a short tour our guide, a dedicated volunteer, sat us down for a movie about the Dieppe Raid.  For those who don’t know, the raid on Dieppe in 1942 was a desperate attempt by the allies to gauge the Nazi coastal defenses and to experiment with a large scale landing.  The battle was referred to as a raid from the beginning as no one had any false hopes of breaking the Nazi lines or gaining any sort of a foothold.  The soldiers involved knew from the outset that the raid was little more than a suicide mission, but one that was absolutely necessary to win the war.  Seeing as the Canadians had no intention of liberating Dieppe at this time they were fearful that the Nazi’s would seek retribution on any of the Dieppe citizens that assisted the Canadians during the raid, so the Canadian pilots dropped leaflets on the town urging citizens to stay indoors.  The leaflets basically said that this is a raid, not liberation, and closed with “We promise we will come back”.  I only tell the story so that you can have some appreciation of the emotion of the experience.  After explaining all this to us the volunteer looked at us solemnly and said “You promised you’d come back, and you came back.  For that we will forever be grateful”.  There wasn’t a dry eye there.  Turns out that after the success at Juno Beach the Canadians pushed in to occupied France further than any other of the Allied forces with the sole objective of the liberation of Dieppe.  Some of the same soldiers that survived the raid indeed came back to free the people of Dieppe.  

If that wasn’t enough the video depicted the raid in vivid detail.  The rocky beach at Dieppe is very distinct, and even though the video was black & white and 73 years old, you could clearly see that the beach with all the bodies, all the death and tragedy was the exact spot we ran into the ocean the previous night.  There was a scene that showed a giant pile of bodies on the exact staircase that we stopped at to dry off after a wonderful night on the beach.  It really, really brought everything in to a sharp focus that we all felt.  The Scouts were silently hugging each other and we all had a new appreciation for just how special our late night dip really was.

Jul 21st Sunset to Sunrise in Dieppe

As happy as we were with our hotel in Caen, the hotel in Dieppe was WAY above our station!  One of those places you immediately feel guilty about bringing Scouts to 😉  The rooms were gorgeous, the food delicious, and the staff very friendly.  Of course no one could speak English, and my French is good only for ordering coffee, so I have some fond memories of trying to communicate with folks using mostly charades (I am terrible at charades as an aside).  

After supper and a chance to settle in, we all walked down to the beach for a short ceremony and to really take in where we were standing.  

After the ceremony we watched the sun finish it’s decent and stood enjoying the peaceful darkness and watching the waves crash in.  Hard to imagine that this was location of one of most terrible military sacrifices in this history of our country.  We had all been talking for months about taking a night swim at Dieppe, and now was the moment… the kids turned to us wondering if we were serious…  I remember looking over at Scouter Dan, Dan shrugged, and we ran into the ocean together.  What a way to end a powerful day!

After our swim, we all took a moment to dry off on the stairs leading up to the road above.  Scouter Gerry and I had a “brilliant” idea to return to see the sunrise on the beach (another item we had been talking about for months).  Unsurprisingly, there were not many takers… in fact, only Eric volunteered to get up with us, lol!

In my opinion though, it was their loss, as the sunrise was one I won’t soon forget…

After breakfast we all gathered at the Canadian Memorial for another ceremony to give thanks

With the sun quickly warming up the morning, we walked a short distance through the picturesque streets of Dieppe to the Canadian Dieppe Museum. 

Jul 21st Pacific Ocean, Farmers and Super-Etienne

With very little enthusiasm, we all got back on the bus… not easy to leave Juno Beach.  So our trip towards Dieppe was far from uneventful as the farmers were protesting and periodically setting fire to tractor tires on various highways… this kept our tour on the rural (and very narrow) back roads of France.  As you can see from the pictures, it was a BEAUTIFUL drive!  At one point our unbelievably skilled bus drivers ended up having to turn around the bus on a street that I would have trouble turning my minivan around in!  The people in the small community were equally impressed as a nice older lady stood by and applauded, lol!

And then the “cabin fever” kicked in…

…and then we crashed

Finally we arrived at Dieppe, France!