Point du Jour - a journey through a cemetery

Footsteps of the fallen

In today's episode, we visit Point du Jour Cemetery near Athies, just outside Arras to walk through the cemetery and hear the stories of some of the men who lie buried within.
We begin with an overview of the Battle of Arras, before visiting the magnificent stone cairn to the memory of the 9th Scottish Division, known informally as The Jocks and Boks division. We hear the story of a New Zealand soldier who died during a disastrous trench raid with the men of the Cheshire Regiment, and looks at 5 men who lie together having died on the same day during the fighting at Auby.
We visit the grave of a motorcycle loving Lieutenant, who won the 1911 Isle of Man TT race before losing his life at the hands of one of Germany's greatest flying aces, and hear the story of "Pregnant Percy", one of the trailblazers of aviation, and who should have had credit as being the first member of the BEF to set foot in France, were it not for a shortcut taken against orders by a fellow officer from his squadron. Our visit concludes at the graves of the "Brothers in Arms" of the Grimsby Chums, who lay undisturbed and arm-in-arm in a battlefield grave until 2002 when their remains were found during road-building works.
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