So, day ones slight sore throat turns into a grasping sore throat! When I awake I feel pretty rough, but a fine breakfast of double coffee, freshly squeezed O.J. and four pastries gets me on my way.
Today is just about covering ground, but I still come across reminders of what happened 100 years ago. The picture above shows a plaque attached to what looks like it was once a cross or memorial and simply says 'en Memoire du cemitiere de 1918' it sits atop a hill, surrounded by farmland and there is no other indication of a cemetery. I sit down and place a poppy remembrance cross, before moving on.
As I near Crapeaumesnil (the end of the days journey) I find lots of information boards telling of the battle that raged hereabouts through a large part of 1914, where the French and German armies basically held each other at bay. The statue and memorial refer to a French lieutenant who was shot for surrendering although he was found wounded. He attended the military court on a stretcher and was brought before the firing squad on a stretcher, pulled to his feet and shot. He was finally listed as having died for France in 2015. His name was Jean Julien Marius Chapetant, he was 23. As i reached my final destination, the temperature dropped considerably and it started to rain! As I appear to be developing something nasty I thought better of camping out and made a 3 mile detour to an Airb&b (hope that's not cheating!)
Apart from the 88mm shell I found propped against a sign on the road near Gury... nothing much else happened.
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