It's been a long, eventful and very emotional day. We have not long been back on site and just enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of Vals Birthday Cake.
It was an early start, onto the bus for our day excursion around the French Countryside then into Belgium to Ypres.
First stop was Theipval, a huge monument documenting 1000's of names of men who literally vanished without a trace during the Somme offensive. A few miles down the road and we stopped at a church where a plaque was unveiled a few weeks ago, in memory of the men of the 16th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, which was formed by Colonel Ritson.
After a lunch stop, we carried on to Savy Graveyard to the grave of Fred Greenacre. Once there we carried out a short service in his memory and took Group photographs and placed items in front of his grave. This included, following a Canadian custom, of placing a small amount of earth from the persons home town at the base of the headstone. The earth that was used came from as close to Freds house in North Shields as we could get.
Back on the coach and across the border into Belgium and the town of Ypres. After tea, we all got changed into full uniform and headed up for the last post ceremony. A wreath from the Group was placed as part of the ceremony, escorted by a Cub, a Scout and an Explorer. After a quick trip into a souvenir shop and one of the many chocolate shops it was onto the bus for the journey home.
Everyone was in full voice getting some practice in for the campfire tomorrow night... including the Explorers, which surprised everyone!!
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