THE annual visit of the Farnham Great War Group to the battlefields of France coincided with the 100th anniversary of Operation Michael, the German offensive, which began on March 2, 1918. The group would find evidence of how both armies had evolved their tactics since 1914 to fight a more mobile war with artillery, storm troopers and tanks now playing key roles.

The weather on March 21, 1918, was foggy, perfect for the fast-moving German storm troopers to advance around strongholds and mop up later. The group’s first stops were Ronssoy, Villeret and Hargicourt, followed by a walk to Fervaque Farm, now a quiet copse but the craters and old munitions lying on the ground testament to the fierce fighting of a hundred years ago.

The next stop was at the impressive new, recently opened, Cambrai Tank 1917 Museum in Flesquieres. It is dedicated to Deborah, a British tank buried after the fighting in 1917. It was excavated, conserved and is now the centrepiece.

The museum contains artefacts and interactive displays about the 1917 battle. Alongside the museum is the Flesquieres Hill British Cemetery where members of Deborah’s crew lie buried.

They moved on to Bellicourt Tunnel on the St Quentin Canal, where Australian and American troops breached the Hindenburg Line, and then on to nearby Riqueval Bridge, site of the highly iconic photograph of Brigadier General JV Campbell VC addressing hundreds of troops on the canal bank. The final visit of the first day was to nearby Bony U.S. cemetery, where the Americans killed in that assault now lie buried. It is an impressive setting of rows of white crosses reminding visitors of their sacrifice.

The second day started at the impressive Australian Corps Memorial Park above the Le Hamel battlefield where in just 93 minutes 2000 Germans were killed and another 1,600 captured, testimony to the well-planned and executed Australian attack.

A walk to the site of Pear Tree trench showed where Henry ‘Harry’ Dalziel singlehandedly captured a machine gun post and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

At the magnificent Australian Memorial, Villers-Brettoneux the group paused at the grave of Jean Brillant VC before moving onto the highly successful but costly Canadian attack at Hourges. Close by in Hangard Wood British Cemetery the group paid their respects to John Bernard Croak VC.

It was back to 1916 next and the Battlefields of the Somme, in which two relatives of one of our group fought. First was Captain ‘Billy’ Nevill, whose East Surrey Company kicked footballs across No Man’s Land as they attacked. The second was Lt Cyril Smith of the 1/7th Middlesex who lay severely wounded in Bouleux Wood for many hours before being rescued. In nearby Combles Communal Extension Cemetery are the graves of four of his fellow 1/7 Middlesex officers killed in the same attack.

Evidence of the German defences were found in Leuze Wood in a remarkably preserved observation point which had distant views across to Ginchy and Guillemont . It is in Guillemont Road Cemetery that Lt Raymond Asquith, Grenadier Guards, son of Herbert Asquith, former British Prime Minister is buried.

Close by is the grave of Lt William Stanhope Forbes, son of the artist who composed this poignant epitaph, “He saw beyond the filth of battle, and thought death a fair price to pay to belong to the company of these fellows.”

Friday began with a brief visit to two small remote British cemeteries, Roeux and Crump Trench, before moving to Orange Hill, in the British battle Zone near Arras. It was attacked on March 28, 1918. during the German Operation Mars offensive. It was onto Vis-En-Artois Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing. There are 2.000 soldiers buried here and 9.000 names on the Memorial of soldiers killed in the 1918 advance though Picardy and Artois.

In Dominion Cemetery at Hendecourt is the grave of Arthur George Knight one of seven Canadians awarded the VC for their role in breaking the strongly fortified Drocourt-Queant line. The next three visits at the Canadian Forces Memorial, Dury, Crucifix and Dury Mill British Cemeteries gave a good idea of the expansive landscape where the advancing Canadian and British soldiers were exposed to heavy enemy fire right across to the Canadian bridgehead between Sains-Les-Marquoin and Moevres.

Here the Canal du Nord acted as a vital barrier for both German defenders and the attacking Canadian and British troops. Alone in a nearby field are the remains of a German pillbox, whose position afforded the machine guns a devastating field of fire towards the canal. The day ended with a visit to the grave of Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson VC in Sanders Keep Military Cemetery.

The final day started in Romeries Communal Cemetery at the grave of Private Ernest Jackson, Royal Fusiliers who was shot at dawn for desertion on November 7, 1918, four days before the war ended.

This year’s wreath was laid at Le Cateau Communal Cemetery in memory of a Farnham man, Captain Archibald Franklin M.C., 26 years old of the 9th Battalion, the Devonshires. He died after a short bout of pneumonia on November 30, 1918. He won the Military Cross during the Third Battle of Ypres. His family home was Beltinge,Weydon Hill Road, Farnham.

The penultimate stop was the valley of the Selle, where an often overlooked battle began on Thursday, October 17. Infantry and tanks, preceded by a creeping barrage, moved forward on a 10mile (16 km) front south of Le Cateau with the Fourth Army forcing the Germans back towards the Sambre–Oise Canal.

Near the Canal in Ors Communal Cemetery the group visited the grave of the acclaimed poet, Lt Wilfred Owen MC alongside the graves of two VC recipients, 2nd Lieutenant James Kirk VC and Lieut. Col JN Marshall VC, MC and Bar, before ending the trip at the Forester’s House, now a fitting memorial designed by artist, Simon Patterson. It was here Lt Wilfred Owen spent his last night before being killed during the canal crossing.

The visit allowed the group to see at first-hand how the tactics had changed over the four years of fighting. The nine Victoria Cross recipients visited bear testament to the ferocity of the fighting and the bravery of these individuals.

The cost in lives remained high, borne out by the many immaculately kept Commonwealth War Cemeteries that dot the landscape which are a poignant reminder of the huge loss of life that continued right up until the Armistice on November 11, 1918.