To The Rescue!

Dear all,

We thought we would update you on a few of our experiences etc.

The weather has been showery for some time now, but not enough rain for the farmers. Their crops are not growing very well & look a bit sad.

Today we picked up a rental car in Amiens & tomorrow will drive to St. Dizier to our friend's wedding


 A little more about St. Valery. ; William The Conqueror sailed from the port of St. Valery when he invaded England in 1066

We enjoyed our stay at St. Valery, but had to move on & are now at Piquigny, a quiet town.

 Cezanne to the rescue!

On our way here we were travelling behind another boat which gave trouble after the 2nd lock. Smoke started coming from the exhaust, then the engine, so a red light came on & a siren started, so they turned the motor off & the boat drifted. That was when Cezanne came to the rescue. We tied up along side & towed them 10 kms against the current intill we came to a mooring place. All was well on the straight parts of the river but it was difficult for Barry driving around the corners , with the current. Then we came to a srong cross current as a big diversion entered  the river. We gave Cezanne full revs but he was still moved about considerably. You may wonder why we towed the boat beside us. That was because it had no motor, therefore no steering, which would make towing it extremely difficult.The boat's problem was a worn out impellar, which Barry helped the owner replace.

Yesterday, the 15th June, we took the train to Arras to visit La Carriere Wellington. A memorial of the battle of Arras 9th april 1917.

In the entrance I took the 2nd photo which was in memory of the Passendaele battle. On 12th Oct. 1917 NZ'ders were involved in an attack which was an absolute disaster. NZ sufferred its greatest ever human catastrophe. In just 2 hours, more than 2800 NZ soldiers were killed, wounded, or listed missing. The most disastrous day in NZ's military history.

A memorial to the NZ'ders who died at Passendaele.

A very interesting website is ; Passchendaele- What it is all about-NZ ARMY website  

also this history site or the Wikipedia site on Passchendaele

The clay which was used to make the colums came from the mud at Passendaele & Coromandel.

We went underground with a guide for about an hour, visiting the numerous tunnels & learning about the life of those involved with this memorial at Arras. Miners from NZ played a big part in diigging the tunnels.They gave tunnels various NZ names. 24,000 men were underground here for 8 days before the battle began on 9th April, 1917.

The entrance to one of the tunnels dug by the NZ'ders.

there is a movie about it now called Passchendaele Preview here which I think is about the canadians involvement, they became known as storm troopers, to watch a battle scene from the movie...   link to youtube