from The Independent, Monday
October 18, 1999
Fields of Somme might
again turn red
By John Lichfield in
Paris
IF THE plan goes ahead, it will be the
biggest war memorial yet created: a forest of poppies 12 miles long and 100
yards wide, following the trench lines of the most disastrous battle in British
history.
For six weeks each June and July, when
poppies are blooming in Picardy, tens of millions of flowers would form a "river
of blood". The army of poppies would march into the distance on either side of
the line that carries the Eurostar trains between London and Paris.
They would straddle the A1 autoroute, used by
British motorists driving south from the tunnel and Channel ports.
The idea of a permanent, living memorial to
the soldiers who died on the Somme in 1916 (and also in 1914 and 1918) was
devised by Pascal Truffaut, professor of architecture at Lille. It has been
eagerly received by councils and accepted, in principle, by farmers and farm
associations, who would cede or lease the strip of land tracing the 1916 battle
lines.
No formal decisions have been taken but
Professor Truffaut says his idea has been greeted with "overwhelming
enthusiasm". He is confident that a mixture of public and private funding will
be agreed before the end of this year to pay for a £40,000 feasibility study. A
relatively modest sum would be needed to complete the project within two to
three years – no more than £1.5m, by Professor Truffaut's estimates.
He believes the money could be raised from
local, national and European funds and private contributions from well-wishers
in France, Britain and elsewhere.
"The idea came from a mixture of my interest
in the 1914-18 war and professional work on similar but much smaller projects.
Once the idea came to me, the only thing surprising or unusual about it, as far
as I could see, was that no one had proposed it before."
Officials at the Picardy regional council
also said the plan had not been formally adopted and opinions would be sought
from all interested parties, including British veterans' organisations. An
official said that the idea was "very persuasive and moving".
The number of visitors, especially British,
to the Somme and all First World War battlefields has been increasing steadily,
the official said. The corridor of poppies could be a fitting memorial and a
means of attracting more people to a depressed region.
For 46 weeks of the year the poppies would
not be visible. The period of blooming would coincide with the biggest of the
three great battles on the Somme. It would also be one of the peak periods for
tourism and pilgrimages to the battlefields. Professor Truffaut suggests the
poppy corridor could be marked at other times of the year with discreet signs
and works of art.
On 1 July 1916, 13 British divisions went
over the top on the Somme. Many were formed from the "pals" regiments: young men
from the same cities and same streets who had volunteered together and were
thrown into battle together for the first time. They were mown down in waves:
19,000 killed and 57,000 wounded on the first day, the greatest loss in a single
day suffered by a British army. By the time the battle petered out in the
November mud, there were 420,000 British, Irish and empire casualties, 194,000
French losses and 465,000 German – more than a million dead and wounded for no
strategic gain or loss on either side.
Professor Truffaut insists on the use of
poppies, even though they are a specifically British symbol of the war. (The
French have adopted the bleuet , or cornflower). "Partly, this would be a
tribute to the tens of thousands of British and British empire soldiers who died
on the Somme," he said. "But I believe that the colour of poppies, the colour of
blood, would be more striking and more moving. My idea is that they should form
a 'river of blood', a permanent reminder of the sacrifice, and the horrors, of
the war, for all the nations who were involved."
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