New battle of the Somme
French farmer terrorises British families paying tribute at heroes’ graves
IT IS one of the most poignant memorials to some of the thousands of brave British soldiers who died at the Battle of the Somme.
But 100 years on, visitors hoping to make a pilgrimage to a site that marks the resting place of hundreds of Tommies face a new battle just to get there. A French farmer who owns land near the cemetery has been threatening visitors who use a track that leads to it, shouting at them, starting fires – and even driving his van towards them at high speed.
The situation is so bad that one major tour company has cancelled visits, and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) has ‘urged caution’ to those making the trip.
The skirmish has broken out near the village of Serre in northern France, where there are memorials to the Army’s famous Pals Battalions at the Sheffield Memorial Park. It is owned by Sheffield City Council and maintained by the CWGC.
To reach the site, visitors have to use a 200-yard unmade track that runs beside 62-year-old Jean Louis Legrand’s farmhouse and sugar beet fields. He is angry about people driving along the track and then parking.
It is claimed that he is becoming increasingly aggressive, threatening one visitor with a pair of tree-loppers, and setting bales of hay on fire to scare away a woman.
Last week he was seen speeding up and down the narrow track in a van as visitors tried to make their way to the site.
Andy Thompson, chairman of the Surrey branch of the Western Front Association, which researches and commemorates the actions of British forces, said: ‘Only last week a colleague of mine took a party on foot to the site and all of a sudden the farmer drove along the track at about 40mph.
‘The group managed to scatter in time, but he did exactly the same thing as he came back down the track.
‘I’ve heard the story about him burning hay, and know of someone he manhandled and pushed against a car.’
Camille Masson, the mayor of Serre, is furious that the village’s reputation is being damaged, and has complained to police. Mr Masson said: ‘The farmer is aggressive in his behaviour, and it is embarrassing for the village.’ He claimed the track was in fact owned by the local council and cars did have a right to use it. But the furious farmer hit back: ‘People park on my land and I get nothing – no money, nothing.’ Asked how elderly people could access the memorials if they had difficulty walking, Mr Legrand replied: ‘If they cannot walk up the track they should stay at home.’ And he added: ‘It is my right to set fire to my hay when I want to.’ Victoria Wallace, director general of the CWGC, said: ‘We are very concerned about the situation at Serre, and we would urge caution when visiting.’ The memorial park attracts 200,000 British visitors a year. As well as monuments to the Pals Battalions there are four cemeteries at the site: Serre Road Number 3 has 81 graves, Queens Cemetery has 311, Luke Copse British Cemetery has 72, and Railway Hollow has 107 graves.