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sebneal.bsky.social
Snealspace
@sebneal.bsky.social
25 followers 25 following 4 posts
History, battlefields, travel, art, books, beer, wine, cricket & (others’) wit.
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sebneal.bsky.social
Apart from farmers inspecting crops, patiently waiting for us to get out of the way, all was quiet on the small Audregnies battlefield this week - so different from 1914 when for a short time there was mayhem: an artillery duel, a cavalry charge - & courage on both sides.
Looking towards the British infantry line, 1/Cheshires to the left & 1/Norfolks to the right. At the Audregnies Memorial looking towards the advancing German troops - and incoming shellfire. An officer of the Cheshires who wouldn’t surrender. The epitaph says it all. Looking towards the battlefield of Audregnies from the back of Wihéries cemetery.
July 19, 2025 at 8:36 PM
sebneal.bsky.social
Our final stop on the first day was at Wanquetin Communal Cemetery Extension for the story of a second, much less successful trench raid, carried out by 1/Royal Scots Fusiliers in March 1917.
The Cross of Sacrifice at the rear of Wanquetin Communal Cemetery. Pink roses bloom between the headstones of men on the ill-fated trench raid. That on the right belongs to Capt. W S Smith MC who died of wounds 23 March 1917. Flags and a photograph left at the grave of Canadian VC winner, Cpl Joseph Kaeble. He drove off an enemy attack virtually single-handed. Calvary at the entrance to Wanquetin Communal Cemetery.
August 22, 2024 at 6:12 AM
sebneal.bsky.social
We continued 2/16th QWR’s story at attractively-sited Maroeuil Cemetery. Somewhere around here QWR artist-soldier Philip Dadd “lay on top of a hill amongst masses of clover and vetch and … looked over miles of country … all smiling under calm skies, all mapped out in cultivation of various kinds.”
The entrance to Maroeuil British Cemetery. The headstones of two QWR men who died on the same day in October 1916, Rifleman Norman Mosscrop and Lieutenant Stanley Hipwell, who had won the MC for his leadership of the trench raid in September. Rifleman Philip Dadd’s headstone. There is a lovely view of open countryside from Maroeuil British Cemetery.
August 21, 2024 at 1:20 PM
sebneal.bsky.social
A long weekend battlefield visit began at Thélus for the story of a successful trench raid by 2/16th (Co. of London) Bn (Queen’s Westminster Rifles). They attacked the German line between Zivy and Lichfield craters.
The Canadian Artillery Memorial at Thélus. View across fields to the position of Pulpit Crater, from where the raid was launched. The entrance to Lichfield Crater Cemetery, unusual because it’s a mass grave. Looking towards Neville-St. Vaast from Lichfield Crater Cemetery.
August 21, 2024 at 10:55 AM