Folkestone
As we approach the 90th anniversary of the Armistice, the effective end to the Great War, we look at the role played by Folkestone during those years of conflict. As the town shed its holiday atire and took on its drab war time role, we recall that this was more than just a town in ’good old Blighty’. Folkestone was on the front line in many ways. The guns from France and Flanders could be heard clearly. From here many millions of soldiers made the short sea crossing to France, and the Western Front. For many the march along the Leas and to the waiting troops ships at the harbour, it would be the last time they set foot on English soil.
During the early days of the war, when it was still seen as a ‘great adventure’ the men marched with smiles and songs, waved off by enthusiastic crowds. But as the death toll mounted, the crowds of cheering well wishers disappeared and the only sound was the drum of the men’s boots, fading as they descended Slope Road (renamed after the war as the Road of Remembrance) to Folkestone harbour.
Harry Patch, who describes his life in The Last Fighting Tommy (Published by Bloomsbury in 2007), recalled his brief interlude at Folkestone. It was the second week in June 1918 when he crowded aboard the paddle steamer at Folkestone harbour with comrades heading for France and what became know as the Battle of Passchendaele. Harry recalled ‘…we watched England and the white cliffs gradually recede into the darkness. I wasn’t the only one who wondered whether we would ever set foot on her soil again…All the lights on board were extinguished and we were forbidden even to smoke, for there was a genuine threat from submarines…’
It is difficult to appeciate the vast numbers of men who did not set foot on British soil again. Folkestone, like most town and villages, has its memorials to those destined never to return. The War Memorial is striking but, nearby and not so obvious, is the tarn erected at the top of the Road of Remembrance recalling the thousands of men who passed that spot en route to the Westrn Front.
This year another and unique memorial has appeared in Folkestone. The summer of 2008 has seen the town become the centre of a remarkable public arts event, the Folkestone Triennial. With projects by world famous artists receiving worldwide acclaim, one is of particlar interest to us. On the Leas, between the Bandstand and the Leas Cliff Hall, what at first site appears to be simple hard standing carved into the well manicured lawn bears closer inspection. Designed and installed by Mark Wallinger, the square is set with pebbles, each of which is individually numbered. The work, titled ‘Folk Stones’, represents the number of British soldiers killed on the frist day of the Battle of the Somme on the 1st july 1916. There are 19,240 numbered stones in this powerful piece of work. No more fitting spot could have been found for this artwork; many of those represented by the stones marched past this very spot on their way to France.
For more information about the exhibition, visit the Triennial website :
TRENCHES
For the men who had spent time in and around Folkestone before heading for the Western Front, there was training to be undertaken. Bayonet and bombing (grenade throwing) practice and route marches were staple diet, but it was the trench practice which they would need most. To cater for this need, the men were set to work digging trenches on hillsides and in fields around the town. These would double as defence works in the event of an invasion.
The following is an extract from the Official History of he 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions:
‘Route marching and entrenching formed an important part of the syllabus, which was of course prepared in accordance with the experience of almost a year of actual fighting— transmitted through the general staffs of the Imperial and Canadian forces in the field — as a basis. An interesting feature of the training at Shorncliffe in connection with entrenching was the construction of trenches for actual purposes of defence, in case of an invasion from the Channel, along the whole shore line at varying distances from the water. In concealed positions in the sand and on the hills from Folkestone Harbour to the Hythe Canal, regular trenches were constructed furnishing, in addition to the training in construction, a line of defence guarding the coast opposite the town and camp. Entrenching was of course carried on in proximity to the camps on the sides of the hills and wherever it was possible to do so. Bombing practice was also an important feature in the training, under strict regulations to ensure the maximum of safety in handling explosives of such a dangerous character.’
Click on the following links for pictures from the Canadian National Film Board of men in the training trenches around Folkestone and Shorncliffe: Image 1 : Image 2
Remarkably, some of these trenches still exist, having lain untouched and forgotten for 90 years. It is a sobering experience to stand in them. Here are some pictures of the trenches today:
