The real centenary of the Battle of the Somme

At Froissy, Somme, on 5th to 8th May 2016, there will be a commemoration of the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Do come if you can. Wrightscale are going to be there, with a WW1 display and our book 'Colonel Péchot: Tracks To The Trenches'
The museum and preserved railway are Bray sur Somme on the D329. Full details are on the APPEVA website.
You will be asking two questions. Why was the Battle of The Somme important? Why are the French making their commemoration in May rather than July?
It is important to commemorate the battle, as so many British, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and people from other parts of the Empire died, not to forget the French and Germans. For the British, it was the beginning of a painful process of rethinking, in military and social terms. 
Thanks to the revolution in military transport, the First World War was not over by Christmas 1914. With 60cm portable light railways, millions could be sustained on the battlefield for years. As 1916 approached, the  Allies looked for a new battlefield toenable, they hoped the army of British volunteers to drive the Germans out of France. The area around the river Somme was chosen. On its way to Amiens and down to the sea, river and canal flowed through the Front. Verdun was under attck further south; the French wanted the battle sooner, the British later.  July 1st was chosen as a compromise, and that is the date we British remember.

This map dates from late July 16 showing the Front pushed east. On July 1st, Froissy was almost on the Front; the French managed to attack up the escarpment and take Dompierre. Map courtesy of Terry van Winkle

The French had been preparing the battleground since the previous year. By May of 1916, they had at least a dozen 60cm gauge railway systems, supplying their sector of the battlefield, south of the Somme. The British were to the north and along the valley of the Ancre, a tributary of the Somme.
The British had precisely one, taken over from the French. Their plan was to build conventional links - standard gauge railways and canals - and rely on motor transport in the mean time. One of the many lessons that the slaughter on the Somme was to teach them was ... to belatedly build their own WD narrow gauge system. This has since been celebrated in such events as the MRT 'Tracks To The Trenches' at Apedale Staffs in 2014 which pulled in a massive happy crowd. The Froissy event promises to be just as interesting.

This  0-6-0 locomotive in French military grey is of the pattern used in WW1 (not quite sure about the chimney!) Photographed by MD Wright at the Apedale Tracks to The Trenches event

This partly explains why, from the French point of view, the centenary should take place in the spring rather than the summer of 2016. In addition, France has chosen May 8th  to commemorate all the wars of the 20th century. It is a public holiday. In Britain, we just have the May Bank Holiday which wanders around the calendar between the 1st and 7th.

Also pictured at Apedale 2014, is this Brigadelok type 0-8-0 locomotive, also painted in authentic colours.  Yes, the buffer beams are red, but they were too low to be spotted by the enemy and the bright colour could just save the life of a soldier working on the line.

Thus, by French logic, we should be out there, remembering the Battle of the Somme at Froissy on 5th to 8th May. People wearing First World War uniforms have been invited, plus surviving locomotioves and rolling stock. Froissy was at the centre of the action, lying on the north/south boundary of the French and British sectors, and on the east/west divide of the Front itself. The Germans will be there too.

The British Simplex was one of the locotractors developed for use on the Front. THis was also photographed at Apedale by MD Wright

Take a train ride. It will be vastly more civilised than the journey the soldiers took. Engineering works such as teh tunnel were post-war additions. Wagon-loads had to be pushed up the slope by hand or pulled, one at a time, by crazy little petrol-motors, taking care not to damage the camouflage screens.  It all had to happen at night, when the enemy were least likely to see you. If there was a mishap and you were driven to profanities (all too common an occurrence) you were well advised to swear quietly. If the enemy couldn't see, he could still hear!
But enjoy the sun, the camaraderie, the very physical nature of the railway ride. Every contour is marked by a gasp, every bend by a little jolt. We are a hundred years away n time and a thousand years in spirit, but it is good to remember those distant people, almost all volunteers.