This tree has grown from a conker which itself came from one of the last trees left standing after the Battle of Verdun during the First World War.
On 21st February 1916, the Germans attacked the mighty fortress of Verdun in eastern France in an attempt to destroy the French Army. The ensuing battle lasted for 303 days. For the French, there was only one access route – a narrow road that became know as “la Voie Scree (the Sacred Way) along which all their supplies and reinforcements had to pass.
In July of that year, the British launched the Battle of the Somme. One objective of this offensive was to relieve pressure on the French by forcing Germany to remove troops from Verdun. Finally on 19th December, perhaps the greatest and longest battle in world history ended, with the Germans having been pushed back to their original positions. Some 300,000 had been killed and a further 400.000 wounded.
For France, Verdun is remembered much as the Somme is by the British, symbolising the horrors of war. In November 1920, to bring the Unknown Warrior back from France, the British government could think of no more appropriate ship than HMS Verdun.
The Verdun Tree was planted here in St Albans in 1976 to mark the 60th anniversary of the battle. A horse chestnut is in fact in many ways appropriate to mark a battle, as the starch from its conkers is an essential component of cordite – unlike gunpowder, an almost smokeless explosive.*
*information from a signboard next to the Verdun Tree
Oh I remember this little place in St Albans.
But the white dove bench looks new to me.
Maybe it’s a new addition?
Red poppies and white doves can look a bit too English to me.
We need to add a bit of blue, perhaps another bench with blue rain drops, to bring out some “Frenchiness”. After all, the tree came from France, right?
So this tree is dual nationality? France-born England-raised?
I don’t know when the bench with doves arrived.
That must be new then?
Cos I have seen the poppy bench elsewhere before.
I have seen the poppy bench in many places.
What a very appropriate thing to do, Cherie
I think it was a lovely idea
It would be interesting if someone listed how many thousands of wars there have been on this oh-so-lovable planet since then.
We don’t need a statistic to tell us about the perpetual cycle of wars that mankind insist on engaging in.
What I want to know is why… mankind never learns from its past mistakes.
Unsurprisingly, most of it has do with stupidity.
Feel yourself hugged, my dear.
Thank you
A hug is one of the things I need most at the moment.
How cometh, dear? Are you sad? Just let me know via mail. I do prefer you to be happy, you know?