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North Manchester Battlefield Society
The Somme 2007
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October 7th to 15th 2007 2007 saw the NMBS return to the Somme, a place that we
had visited in 2001 but had not really done justice and also a place where Kevin and Stuart had not been too.
This time we decided to use the “Lancemobile” and after reading the instructions left by the Saint Cath
we headed to Dover, driving down through the early hours to get a Ferry to France from Dover around 5am.
To the “younger” NMBS members this was a “Faff” and having slurped on copious amounts of Red Bull or Relentless caffeine drinks they seemed to quieten down but this meant a few “Tactical” wee stops. After we crossed the Channel to Dunkirk we travelled to Ferne-Ollivers CWGC to pay respects to Herbert Preen, Steve’s Great uncle who is buried there. The after a while of quiet reflection and placing a personal floral tribute on Herbert’s Grave we headed into France and onto the Gite which we had found in the village of Beaucourt-sur-l’Ancre – wonderfully located close to all the main battles of the Somme. Basically it was right slap, bang in the middle of the Somme Battle areas. Before we got there we wanted to go to the V2 sites in Northern France.
After leaving Ypres
we travelled across to a Second World War site and the Massive V1 and V2 Nazi Rocket Site at La Coupole,
The La Coupole Museum was planned and constructed over
a ten year period from 1987 to 1997. The Wizernes dome was declared an historical site in 1985 by the French government. The
museum resides inside and around the old mining quarry where, in 1943, the German Army began work on the second of several
giant hardened bunkers, intended for launching 40-50 V2 rockets at London each day. Inside the museum, the "Historical
Centre about the war and development of the rocket," you will now find exhibits that document the German planning and
construction of the bunker, the Nazi occupation of France, mans conquest of space, and one example of a surviving A4/V2 rocket. The Museum is a "Must See"
visit - just to see the size of the place. After leaving the V2 site we headed to our main goal - The battlefields of
the Somme.
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The Somme 2007