Tim Thurlow
@TrenchTrotter
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Passionate about the Great War. Battlefield Guide. Walking the western front battlefields. Collector of WW1 militaria. Leeds United fan. Egyptology.
Joined January 2018
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View looking east from Manitoba Cemetery. Amazing light and wind and surrounded by storm. Gods of War preparing for Amiens 100. Taken 1700 hours today. Amazing light.
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Remembering the start of the battle of the Somme. 1st July 1916, 106 years ago today.
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A tangible reminder of the 1st July 1916. Devon’s cap badge found March 2018 near Ovillers Military Cemetery, scene of 2nd Devon’s attack that day. 106 years ago today!
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Remembering 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Kershaw Purdy. Killed on this day during the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. He was with the 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment. I am custodian of his cap seen in the photo and my hand. Note the dent in visor and slightly off centre badge. More…
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November 1916, Ancre Valley on the Somme. In two days from today 107 years ago the Somme battle was "officially" closed down due to impossible conditions. The man on the left has just been extricated from mud up to his armpits. Lucky to have been saved and yet smiling. More….
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105 years ago today. I wonder if he was thinking about his little girl he was destined never to see as he went over the top. And for her a life without Dad. The epitaph is very moving. Buried at Vermelles British Cemetery near Loos. She in turn had a life cut short.
#Loos
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I love tangible items with history. Here is such a thing. A WW1 soldiers spoon as issued to a soldier in the Northumberland Fusiliers with a service number 2984. Not he has deliberately ground down the bowl so it is more squared. Why? Read on for answer…
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The humble British Tommy. As good a soldier as any. Even surrounded by death and in a muddy hell the humour shone through. You could never defeat him. The Ancre Valley, Somme, November 1916. One of my favourite images of the Great War.
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Farmers hazards in the Somme fields. Thiepval today. British 6” howitzer round.
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The grave of a very brave man indeed. MC and Bar (not recorded on his headstone) and MM. Twice wounded and as a result had a limp and also his left elbow shattered. Despite recommendations he be sent home he convinced authorities otherwise and always remained a fighter. More….
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Possibly the finest and most emotive war memorial I know of. Bully-les-Mines, near Loos. It is a masterpiece.
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@NZinEgypt
@TourismandAntiq
@MFATNZ
It all seems a bit chaotic and disrespectful. They need to be treated with more respect. Feels like a circus. I know it is how things are done in Egypt. Also not being health conscious in respect of Covid. Just how I feel.
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Today marks the 105 anniversary of the opening of the Battle of Cambrai. One of those killed Arthur Kershaw Purdy. I have the honour of being the custodian of his cap as seen being worn in the photo. Note the crease in the visor caused by finger and thumb. Remembered.
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Sometimes the
@CWGC
gardeners surpass themselves. Truly stunning. Many are criticising the care given to the cemeteries by them on social media, but all I can say is I understand the challenges and am grateful for views like this. Thank you. Stunning.
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Incredibly rare Somme find. NZ Artillery button. Found near Mouquet Ferme. A one day or so action here in March 1918 by retreating forces. Rare indeed. And evidence of 18 pounder batteries too.
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A circle is closed. A journey completed. In March 2010 I stumbled upon a pile of twisted metal on the surface of a field near the village of Courcelette on the Somme. More.
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Marching into oblivion. New Zealanders at Crest Trench, Somme. Taken today.
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Then and now. This shell, a Brit 6” HE as seen in March 2018 in a puddle is still in situ at same location today near the village of Guillemont. Upright and minus it’s driving band. Used by farmer as a field boundary marker. Farming on the Somme, an everyday thing.
#farming
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Today was another challenging walk in vile conditions. We passed by Mouquet Farm near Pozieres. A place deeply sacred to Australia. And Australia spoke. Who was he? A special find in a vast sea of mud.
#AIF
#Australia
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Poppies above the Ancre Valley, Somme. Privileged to have been there and taken the photo.
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For most visitors of the Somme the villages they see are the rebuilt ones destroyed in the war. We are familiar with the drab 1920’s brick houses. However behind the lines much older structures are found telling us how those destroyed villages once looked. More....
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I paid my respects to this soldier yesterday. Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery, Gallipoli. For a brief moment in time he was proudly able to wear his medals. Not forgotten. 1st Essex. Killed 6/8/1915.
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On this day in 1915 the Battle of Loos was launched in support of a major French attack in the Champagne. Remembering all who fought in those terrible battles so long ago.
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Lost 1/7/1916. Found over 100 years later. Ovillers. 2nd Devon’s from where found.
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When you wake up tomorrow spare a moment to remember that the infantry battle of the Somme commenced at 0730 hours, 105 years ago. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps well into the 70's. Not a cloud in the sky. Too nice a day to die but nearly 20,000 British soldiers did....
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On this day 34 years ago. I had less than two years service. There by the grace of God go I. I have carried this scar for the majority of my life now. This things define us and how we view life.
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Taken mid November 1916. Ancre Valley I think? In two days from today 105 years ago the Somme battle was "officially" closed down by the British due to impossible conditions in which to fight. The French would continue to fight on into December. Amidst the dead the living smile.
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On the Somme today with my tour party. A few moments alone as they were at Thiepval and I found this grim and sad reminder of the 1916 battle. Upper from a British boot. It needed to stay where it was found and will soon return under the soil when the plough returns once more.
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Possibly my best photo from the Salient. Tomorrow I return to Ypres for four nights. The guiding season draws near a conclusion for 2024. Two more after this one then hibernation. This image from Oct 2022.
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So powerful. She gazes down on the grave of the fallen soldier. Canadas’ lost sons. The Douai plain below. Vimy Ridge. Last Wednesday.
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Once a proud memorial to the Reserve Infantry Regiment 111. Surmounted by a wonderful Griffin. Marked their cemetery. Now hidden from sight slowly decaying. Le Sars on the Somme.
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French shell. 75mm H.E. Just recovered by farmer. His quote “If you worried about these things you wouldn’t come to work, would you”. He then placed shell in tractor and drive off in company with his dog Roxanne.
#farmer
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“My first pride, My first joy. My brave soldier boy”. Hooge Crater Cemetery.
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This morning we walked the 1917/1918 Somme battlefields. We focused on events in September 1918. Walking Gloucester Road towards Villers Hill Cemetery and the view across Targelle Ravine toward Meath Post. More.
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Sometimes “Far from the Madding Crowd” is the best place to reflect & remember. It’s just me but I don’t do the pomp and ceremony? Too many peacocks among those remembering? But each to their own as long as truly remembering. Ypres Ramparts just shy of the eleventh hour yesterday
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Then and now. Just by the Nek, Sari Bair heights, Gallipoli.
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Somme field walking finds from over the years. All surface “eye” finds only. Been spring cleaning and took some pics. All badges have provenance re location and battalion apart from a couple. I guess these are my best bits. Very special to me.
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It’s been many a month since I’ve been here and it’s not been a sunny day. However always stunning. Remembering those awful days in April 1915.
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Well on Wednesday last I walked up to Regina Trench and found him. I said hello, told him the story and completed a journey of chance. He wanted to be found. I don’t think he has been visited before. I sent this picture to his family. Norman Waddell. Not forgotten. Thank you.
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The grave of Surgeon Lieutenant Frank Pearce Pocock, D.S.O, M.C. & Bar. Buried at Louverval Military Cemetery, France. First M.C. With Drake Battalion. Gained D.S.O. As surgeon onboard HMS Iris II in the Zeebrugge Raid. Rejoined Drake Battalion and gained his bar. More…..
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This superb picture was uploaded on an FB group. Too good not to share. Super image.
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Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the start of The Battle Of Verdun., 21st February 1916. Spare a moment to remember this awful battle and those who participated.
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When a book is more than a book. My main Christmas pressie was this battalion history of the 24th Battalion, CEF, Victoria Rifles of Canada. A superbly detailed history in all aspects but it contained a lovely but sad surprise……more.
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Managed to visit this special grave with its very moving epitaph again after three long years. Vermelles last week.
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Still on of my favourite photographs I have taken. The Welsh Dragon memorial at Mametz Wood.
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Relics of the Somme. All that’s left of a British bayonet. Just the hilt. Ovillers.
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Died 109 years ago today. A grave I often visit at Vermelles. One of the Loos battle casualties. 25/9/1915 - 25/9/2024. Remembering. A sad epitaph.
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Lost 1/7/16. Found 102 years later. Remembering that awful battle and all who suffered as a consequence. 2nd Devon’s, Ovillers.
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The iron harvest as seen on the Somme over the years. Part one.
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I found myself at Ypres Ramparts for 11 o clock. Stood in front of this soldiers grave and remembered them all.
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La Targette British Cemetery dwarfed by the neighbouring French one. Sobering image.
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They said Third Ypres ended when Passchedaele fell. Well it didn’t. A final throw of the dice. On a cold moonlight battlefield covered in snow at about 02.00am 2/12/17 two Divisions went over the top. In the words of the 8th Divs history..”A Moonlight Massacre.” More…
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The British and French Cemeteries at La Targette north of Arras. Unbelievable sight.
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Relics from a battlefield that is 107 years old. Pozieres, Somme. Surface finds from walks I’ve done over the years. They tell the story in a most powerful way.
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Last light at Ypres today. Sometimes you need to be alone with the dead. They talk at this time of day. You have to listen.
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Well it was to allow him to scrape into the corners of his mess tin or bully beef tins etc to get the last morsels out. A soldier is never not hungry and every scrap counts. A more rounded bowl doesn’t allow this so easily. More.
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My joy bringer gone. Over the sun a black cloud came. I am left alone. Menin Road South.
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Over the years I’ve walked the old battlefields of the Somme. Usually in March. Some of the items I’ve found on the surface with eyes only. Half a German helmet at Courcelette, German gas mask filter from Boom Ravine, Luger from Pozieres and stick grenades in Copse 125.
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Overlooking Serre on the Somme. Not often visited nor known about.
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A thread. Bear with me. I’m going to copy some of the last three paragraphs of this most moving memoir. A twenty year old Captain in the R.F.A. His thoughts on 11/11/1918 and the days that followed. Most appropriate now. Please read if you will………….
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Tonight is the eve of battle. 103 years ago. Such an awful day followed. The sun shone down on a slaughter.
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Heading home. Seeing this grave and epitaph makes you think. Some never headed home.
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Tomorrow I depart for Flanders to lead a party to commemorate and remember Armistice at Ypres.
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My day started at Tyne Cot Cemetery. I checked
@CWGC
website and there are many commemorated here who were killed on this day in 1917. Few have a grave. Rifleman Hawley was one of those. Remembered 105 years later on the day he died. You are not forgotten. 11/10/1917-11/10/2022.
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Many photos to share but I say goodnight. The living sun sets over the silent dead. Life and light touches darkness and death. I like this photo a lot. Captured by chance.
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A superb day at Ypres marking the Armistice. This afternoon my party and I returned to the Passchendaele area and made our way across the old battlefields. As the sun set.
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With over 40,000 burials in the cemetery and the ossuary Notre Dame de Lorette is the largest French war cemetery in the world. Situated on a high hill it has commanding views of the surrounding countryside. A most somber location. Photo taken last week. Never ceases to sadden me
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6” British HE shell. Somme February 2022. Farmers delight.
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Well I spent a huge amount of 2022 on the old battlefields of the Western Frint and Gallipoli. Highs and lows. Physical and mental pain. Joy and sadness. I’ve taken thousands of photos. Here but four. Let’s see what awaits in 2023.
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The horror of 1916 blanketed in Springs blue carpet. Bluebells in Delville Wood, Somme. 9/4/2024. Stunning.
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“My joy-bringer gone. Over the sun a black cloud came. I am left alone.” The saddest I have yet found. Menin Road South Military Cemetery, Ypres. You can feel the enduring grief and sorrow.
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Tomorrow sees me on the road to Ypres again for my final tour of 2022. I have the privilege of guiding my party around the Salient on the 10th and then spending Armistice Day in Ypres itself with a trip up to Passchendaele in the afternoon. Not forgotten.
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We all know this scene. A moment I recreate in my mind many a time as I fantasise about a cold beer as a long hot dry and dusty day closes. Whether in French summers of late at 40 degrees heat or Gallipolian walks in Suvla Bay. Ice cold. RIP.
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ANZAC day. Remembering Gallipoli, Pozieres, Ypres and more. Bloody good soldiers.
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Well I shall soon be watching the new “All Quiet On The Western Front” film. I am looking forward to a new take and don’t expect it to mirror the book or the very first adaptation. Despite the naysayers I’m going to keep an open mind. Photo from Courcelette, Somme. Haunting.
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Just watched the ITV programme re identifying bodies recovered on the old battlefields of 14-18. I’m so close to tears. It’s why I do what I do. So much of my soul is with them and everyone bought home makes me so happy.
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Thiepval. Reminders of war. 4.5” howitzer shell. Just me, a landscape and a silent witness.
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Tyne Cot this morning. Buried only last week. Finally a place to sleep silently and in peace with his chums May we never forget these men.
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And the storm cleared as we reached Ypres and this awaited. Totally stunning.
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Does nature provide a better backdrop than this. Menacing skies, lightening bolts and mother Canada weeping. Amazing end of day at Vimy Ridge today.
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Two sad and poignant relics of an action from this day 106 years ago at Gueudecourt. 6th R W Kent’s and 6th Buffs. Both 12th (Eastern ) Division. Found close together. Surface finds both.
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I arrived on Somme last Saturday. No snow but so raw and cold. Ice everywhere. And out of a cold muddy field. 2nd battalion. 1/7/16.
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Go and see it. No ifs, no buts. Don’t get judgemental. It’s a film, a story, it covers lots and the attention to detail is superb. It humanises the war down to the individual. Some loose sight of that?
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La Targette British Cemetery in the foreground simply dwarfed by the much larger French one behind. Let no one tell you France owes anyone a debt of liberation. Her blood flowed freely defending freedom. One of the most sobering views I know on the old western front.
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She never fails to capture grief and sadness. Dark lonely grief. Perfectly captured in stone. Vimy this morning.
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As far as the eye can see. Frenchmen who fell in the Artois. They came from all corners of La France to fight the invader and to live in freedom. Lest we forget.
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Being able to walk the Somme so close to 1/7/16 anniversary was special this week.
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“Be not far from me for trouble is near. There is no one to help me.”
Pure grief and anguish. Epitaph on a Flanders grave. Heartbreaking.
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So had 15 mins to myself at Thiepval this afternoon. Decided I would have a much about and found this coin in a field nearby. Its appearance was as seen in the photo. Thought it was modern until I picked it up and gave it a rub. 1912!!! Undoubtedly dropped by a soldier in 1916.
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A German bunker and in the front right foreground a solo poppy. Langemarck German Cemetery.
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