Maya

Thursday 4 July 1996

We had put off a second visit to Maya due to poor weather, but today was our last day and our last opportunity. Dressed in our waterproofs it was not what you would expect for the south of France in July.

This is the path from Maya Pass to the Gorospil. British reinforcements would have taken this path to delay the French advance.

Another photo on the same path, you can see from the puddles that it had already been raining heavy before we arrived. Just after we left the car it started to rain again.

By the time we reached the Gorospil the rain had stopped, but it was still very overcast. During the battle heavy mist also played a part, so it was appropriate to see the area in these conditions.

This is the area where 400 men of the 92th Highlanders fought a delaying action against a full French division.

Once more the weather cleared, and we decided to push on beyond the Gorospil along the Chemin des Anglais. This is the track the French followed in their advance from Ainhoa.

The French infantry would have seen this view as they neared the Gorospil from Ainhoa.

This area of the Gorospil was held by the British skirmish line and was the scene of fierce fighting. The British infantry were soon pushed back by vastly superior numbers.


The arrival of heavy rain forced us to abandon our final visit to Maya. This was the last photo I took as we made our way back to the car.

This was the last day of our holiday. The weather throughout had been a real challenge. We had come prepared for anything, including bad weather. We had visited all of the battlefields which we had planned to visit, and we had enjoyed them all. But it would have been much more enjoyable had we had warm sunny days to explore this beautiful area.