I suspect that The Reverend Canon Bruce Hawkins was prepared for such a response and, being the excellent preacher he is, continued with his ‘sermon’ without batting an eyelid.
    To set the stage for what was to follow was important to me if not at this early hour for our young charges.
    Bruce explained that World War 1, the Great War and “war to end all wars,” started after the assassination in June 1914 of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Gavrilo Princip a Bosnian Serb. It ended on November 11, 1918, with an armistice, although the official conclusion was not until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. The combatants were the Entente Powers, consisting initially of France, the UK and Russia against the Central (European) Powers being initially Germany and Austria-Hungary.
    Unlike WW2, which really did see fighting across most of the world, WW1 was quite remarkable, as most of the fighting took place in a small area, the Western Front. This front, which stretched only 70 miles between the River Somme in France in the south and Ypres in Flanders (Belgium) in the north, was no greater than that of the Normandy invasion in WW2. There were other fronts, including the Eastern Front and ones in the Middle East, Italy and the Far East but all were relatively insignificant compared to the Western Front.
    The losses in the war were horrific. Over 5.5 million allies were killed; nearly 13 million were wounded and over 4 million were listed as missing. The Central Powers numbered over 4 million dead; over 8 million wounded and nearly 4 million missing.  These numbers do not include the millions of civilian dead and wounded.
    Bruce further explained that the allied cemeteries were constructed and are still maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Of the 2500 cemeteries worldwide over 400 are on the Western Front as the allied dead were buried where they fell. Of these 186 are on the Ypres salient and 243 on the Somme, the areas that we were visiting.
    So it was that I loaded my contingent of two young men and two young women Royal Marines into my trusty Volvo Estate and set forth in pursuit of Bruce and Stephen for our first site. My fears for the success of our venture increased markedly. Rather than engage me in inquisitive conversation following Bruce’s fascinating lecture, my charges relapsed into the land of nod from which they had only recently emerged.
    Bruce had decided that before visiting a cemetery, and to logically set the stage as it were, we should first visit the site of one of the major battles.
    On July 1 1916 the Battle of the Somme commenced. In the first two hours nearly 800 young soldiers from Newfoundland, from a total compliment of 1000 men, perished. The actual battlefield is now the Newfoundland Memorial Park in Beaument Hamel.  
It was here that something happened which will ever remain in my memory. It was also the point where our trip took on a new dimension for all concerned.
    A number of the “lads”, as the girls liked to call their Royal Marine male counterparts, were running around re-enacting their idea of the battle, jumping in and out of the trenches and craters and pretending, with suitable vocal accompaniments, to be shot or wounded. Suddenly one of the girls watching from the edge of one of the trenches let out the most ear-splitting scream. Thinking that something awful had happened, Bruce and I rushed over to find the girl, together with some of her friends, kneeling on the ground weeping uncontrollably. It took us some minutes to get them composed whereupon we learned that they had suddenly realised what war was all about. It was the realisation that their lads in 1993 were no different from the lads 77 years earlier, in 1916, the fragmented remains of many of whom probably still lay in the earth beneath the spot upon which they were standing. It was here that they understood what it meant to be in the armed services and that life is more than just fun, games and music.
    Each of the major powers has a memorial erected to honour those of their service personnel for whom there is no actual grave in one of the cemeteries. The Canadian one at Vimy is, in my opinion, the most beautiful and the British one at Theipval undoubtedly the most ugly and sinister. This monstrosity, which to my eye resembles a biscuit factory, was designed by no less an architect than Sir Edwin Lutyens. Notwithstanding it does provide a fitting memorial to the 73000 British missing in action.
    Of the many cemeteries we visited, and which I am bound to say were treated with the utmost respect and reverence by our young friends following the experience at Beaument Hamel, a few stand out more than others. Each was beautifully maintained and a sense of peace prevailed as one passed through the entrance gates.
    The biggest by far is Tyne Cot at Passendaele near Ypres. Here there are nearly 12000 graves and the 8 ton stone block memorial has an additional 35000 names of the missing.
    The prettiest by far is at Authuille which has only 472 graves and therefore, being under 1000, no memorial stone.
    Not all the cemeteries were created at the site of battle. The one at Etaples near the coast has over 11000 graves primarily of those who died in the nearby military hospital.
    Finally the most unusual; a wee cemetery tucked away in a most unlikely spot near Ayette for a couple of dozen or so Chinese and Indian from the Labour Corps who perished thousands of miles from their homelands participating in a war the cause and purpose of which I doubt they ever knew.
    I think I speak for the young Royal Marines when I say that this trip left a lasting impression on us. Not least, in my case, seeing a group of typically irresponsible youngsters mature and gain a military bearing before my very eyes. The stupidity of war and mans in humanity to man really strikes home with such an experience.
    In 2005 Bruce decided to retire from his parish and heed the advice of his Bishop and develop, as a full time occupation, his unique ministry involving battlefields of both world wars. He formed Reveille Battlefield Tours and now conducts small and intimate excursions.
    He believes there is an even greater sense of spirituality standing amidst the trenches and cemeteries of the Western Front or on the Omaha Beach in Normandy than we mortals can ever experience in the more august atmosphere of Canterbury Cathedral.  
    I can do no better than quote him.
    “These places, where so much carnage and suffering was meted out, where the real cost of liberty and democracy was demonstrated to the ultimate degree by the thousands of young men and women; these places have become the cathedrals of the modern world. To visit them is to discover not only the greatest cataclysm of the last century but also a unique expression of the grandeur of the human spirit. When these are present God is not far behind”
    For those of you interested in learning more about Reveille I urge you to visit his web site at www.revellebattlefieldtours.co.uk . I am also hoping that Bruce will be visiting me later in the year and that an opportunity might be created for him to speak. Watch this space!

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