The Thiepval memorial

Flavia Faedo (UK)

The Thiepval Memorial is situated four miles (almost 6.5km) north of the town of Albert, in northern France, and was built to commemorate British soldiers who have no known grave, yet died here during the Great War of 1914-1918. This memorial rises majestically from the woods and, on approaching the site, one cannot help but feel overwhelmingly embraced by this awe-inspiring sight. If you look up, over 73,000 names of the ‘Missing of the Somme’ are engraved in this impressive war memorial.

At this stage, the reader might be wondering what this history article is doing in a rock and fossil magazine! However, as I said, if you look up, you can read over 73,000 names. But, if you look down, you can see fossils …

It was October 2008 and a trip was organised to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armistice (11 November 1918). Steve, Alice, Megan and I, together with our battlefield guides, Stephen and John Garnett, toured round the Somme and, fairly soon, we were studying, not only the memorials, but the fossils as well. The pictures accompanying this article are from the slabs on the floor of the memorial and there is a new five pence coin for scale.

We also visited surrounding cemeteries and fossils were found there, too. Overall, I must say, we all thoroughly enjoyed an exceptional trip and I highly recommend a visit for both the history and the opportunity to see excellent fossils in cross-section.