This is our Lest We Forget tour of France in October 2007.
The expression Lest We Forget is more widely used in respect of the soldiers who fought for their country in the war and lost their lives. No lives were lost on our tour although we had some near death experiences and could have killed anybody associated with the NZ Rugby Union.
So why is this our Lest We Forget tour?
Quite simple really. Even though our trip coincided with the Rugby World Cup we couldn’t call it our Bringing home the cup tour because as you know there are no prizes for getting 8th. Oh all right, 7th; Australia exited a day before us. We couldn’t call it our Gourmet Tour of France, that would be insulting to the French because we lived on baguette, pate, cheese and cheap bottles of wine. In France the culture, food, landscape and people vary so much from one area to another.
But nothing left more of an impression on us than their history. Roger has always had a keen interest in the ANZACs and their part in the World Wars. We were to be in France, a country rich in ANZAC war history, at the same time as the Passchendaele (Belgium) battle’s 90th anniversary. We visited commemorative services, cemeteries, museums, battlefields, underground forts, tunnels, cinemas etc covering both World War I and II in many regions of France and Belgium. So what was it that we remembered most about our trip to France that inspired the title of this album? Quite simply it’s the people for whom we seldom utter the words Lest we forget.
And in a selfish kind of way its not just the country’s war history we won’t forget. There is so much more and hopefully this album will serve as a reminder to us when we are old and forgetful... Lest We Forget !
Menin Gate, Ieper
Tyne Cot Cemetery
The Futility