Havrincourt memorial

Just returned from a fascinating couple of days touring the World War I British battlefields. My father's father fought with the 62nd Division, also known as the West Riding Division, which saw its first action in 1917. My father knew nothing of his father's war story, because he never spoke of it. So it was a wonderful piece of research we undertook, tracking the division's path across northern France. They entered the war just after the Somme debacle, and their first fighting was during the German army's withdrawal to the Hindenberg line. They were at the battle of Bullecourt, which is still remembered in Australia because of the massive death toll. And several months later they played a key role at Cambrai, the world's first ever tank battle (though tanks had been used briefly at the Somme and Bullecourt). At Cambrai the 62nd made a monumental advance, taking the village of Havrincourt and sweeping four and a half miles to the north. The feat was even mentioned in the House of Commons. But the effort petered out, and Cambrai went down as yet another allied failure. Less than a year later the 62nd re-took Havrincourt in the push that presaged the end of the war. After a long drive across the bare Picardy fields, my father and I arrived at Havrincourt, whose chateau was rebuilt after the war. We drove down a lane. And there at the foot of a hill -- exactly where the tanks rolled nearly 90 years ago -- was a huge obelisk commemorating the 62nd. It was an unexpected sight, and very moving. The picture I found on the web is of the obelisk's inauguration in 1922.