Press pack 2014
NORTHERN FRANCE
100 years later
we still remember
The Great War has conferred upon the
region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais a wealth of
heritage in the form of military cemeteries,
war memorials and archaeological remains.
This heritage is the silent and poignant reminder
of the events which shaped the conflict.
The First World War Remembrance Trails take in the sites and memorials which encapsulate the
momentous events that took place in Northern France at the beginning of the last century. Behind the
peaceful beauty of every site lies the gripping story of a soldier, a regiment, a battle or a place.
1
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Contents
Northern France so easy to get to
Page 4
Timeline and facts
Page 5
The Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern France
The Western Front in Northern France
Page 7
The war of movement and the first German occupation
Page 13
The Allies’ logistics base on the Channel Coast
page 16
Post war reconstruction
Page 18
Prepare your visit
Page 21
Diary
Centenary events in Nord-Pas de Calais
Page 27
Temporary exhibitions
Page 29
Appendix
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GREAT WAR
Page 32
27th August – September 1914 – Battle of Maubeuge
Page 33
October 1914: Lille under the occupation
Page36
October 1914: Armentières, the home of “Melle From"
Page 36
2
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Battle of Fromelles – 19th July 1916
Page 37
William Malcolm Chisholm 1st Australian to die during the Great War
Page 40
The Battle of Cambrai 20th November to 4th December 1917
Page 44
The Spring Offensive 1918
Page 46
4th November 1918: the death of Wilfred Owen
Page 47
4th November 1918: Liberation of Le Quesnoy
Page 50
Armentières and Bailleul reconstructed after the war
Page 51
Cambrai liberated in October 1918
Page 52
THEY HAVE A STORY TO TELL
Page 53
In Search of the Lost Tank : Philippe Gorczynski
Page 53
The Fort de Seclin :
the 19th century fort which captured the hearts of the Boniface family
Page 55
Michel Lannoo, Greeter :
A source of countless anecdotes on the history of the 1st World War
Page 57
Christmas truce
Page 58
3
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Northern France – So easy to get to...
By train
From London to Lille within 1h30 www.eurostar.com
French national railways (SNCF) www.voyages-sncf.com
By ferry
The Port of Dover has departures every 20 minutes around the clock. Sail with P&O www.poferries.com or DFDS Seaways to Dunkerque
www.dfdsseaways.com and My FerryLink to Calais www.myferrylink.com
By the Channel tunnel
For the time-pressed travellers Eurotunnel takes you from Folkestone to Calais in just 35 minutes. www.eurotunnel.com
Driving from the ports
Whether you travel by car from the port via Dunkerque, Calais or Coquelles, attractions are within 10 minutes to 2 hours drive of your
destination taking the fast and easy A 16, A 25 and A 26 motorways along the coast or inland. The motorways A 25 from Dunkerque to Lille
and the A 16 from Boulogne to Dunkerque are toll-free.
4
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Timeline and facts
1914
- Battle of the Frontiers (14-25 August 1914)
- Siege of Maubeuge (25 August to 8 September 1914)(D)
- Battle of Le Cateau (26 August 1914)(GB)
- First Battle of the Marne (5-10 September 1914) (F and GB)
Lille and Greater Lille: occupied from October 1914.
- First Battle of Artois (1-26 October 1914) (F)
- First Battle of Ypres (11 October to 30 November 1914) (D)
- First Battle of Champagne (10 December 1914 to 17 March 1915) (F and GB)
1915
- Battle of Neuve-Chapelle (10-13 March 1915) (GB)
- Second Battle of Ypres (22 April to 25 May 1915) (D)
- Second Battle of Artois (9 May to 30 June 1915) (F)
- Battle of Aubers Ridge (9 May 1915) (GB)
- Argonne Forest Offensive (20 June to 4 July 1915) (F)
- Second Battle of Champagne (25 September to 6 November 1915) (F)
- Third Battle of Artois (September 1915)(F)
- Battle of Loos (25 September to 8 October 1915) (GB)
1916
- First Battle of the Somme (1 July to 18 November 1916) (F and GB)
- Battle of Fromelles (19 July 1916) (GB)
- Battle of Verdun, the German offensive (21 February to 18 December 1916) (D)
- Battle of Verdun, the French counter-offensive (24 October to 18 December 1916) (F)
5
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
1917
- Battle of Arras (9 April to 15 May 1917) (GB) and Vimy Ridge
- Battle of Bullecourt, (11 April and 3-17 May 1917)
- Second Battle of the Aisne (16-20 April 1917) (F)
- Battle of Messines (7-14 June 1917) (GB)
- Third Battle of Ypres (31 July to 10 November 1917) (F and GB)
- Battle of Cambrai (20 November to 10 December 1917) (GB)
1918
- Operation Michael (21 March to 5 April 1918) (D)
- Offensive Georgette (Lys Valley) (9-29 April 1918) (D)
- Blücher-Yorck Offensive (27 May to 17 June 1918) (D)
- Operation Gneisenau (9-13 June 1918) (D)
- Second Battle of the Marne (15-19 July 1918) (D)
- Battle of Amiens (8 August to 4 September 1918) (GB)
- Battle of Cambrai-Saint-Quentin (26 August to 12 October) (F, GB and B)
- Battle of Saint-Mihiel (12-16 September1917) (US)
- Meuse-Argonne Offensive (26 September to 11 November 1918) (F and USA)
- Flanders Offensive (28 September to 11 November 1918) (F and GB)
- Picardy Offensive (17 October to 11 November 1918) (GB)
4th November 1918 Le Quesnoy – scene of the last New Zealand battle of WW1.
Sambre Canal –
Last British battle of WW1, the crossing of the Sambre on 4th November 1918 where Wilfred Owen lost
his life.
6
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern France
The Western Front in Northern France
By late 1914 both sides had lost all hope of a rapid victory. The French and British Armies found
themselves pitted against their German counterparts along a line which stretched nearly 800 kilometres
across France from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. A long war of position and attrition had begun.
The Western Front ran like a scar across the countryside of Northern France between the historical
provinces of Flanders and Picardy. After a number of minor operations in the Artois Hills, the French
Army handed over to British troops in 1915. The following years saw an increase in military activity with
major offensives at Arras in April 1917 and Cambrai six months later.
Today, the numerous military cemeteries which punctuate the region are testament to the fierceness of
these battles, the provenance of the men who fought them, and the miserable conditions soldiers of
both sides endured in the trenches.
Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial in Richebourg
In October 1914 the British Army in
Flanders was reinforced with troops
arriving from India who would take part
in a number of battles in the region,
including the Battle of Neuve-Chapelle
(1915) where 4,047 men of the Indian
Corps were lost. With its 15-metre high
column flanked by two tigers and topped
with the Star of India, the
Neuve‑Chapelle Memorial is the only
place of remembrance on the Western
Front to commemorate the sacrifice
made by Indian soldiers during the Great
War.
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Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Richebourg Portugueses Military Cemetery
Intent on showing its support for the Allies, the young Portuguese
Republic organized an expeditionary force in 1916. Portuguese soldiers
were placed under British command and assigned to the front between
Laventie and Festubert in French Flanders. On 9 April 1918 the
Portuguese suffered numerous casualties during the German offensive
on Lys Plain. Richebourg is the only Portuguese war cemetery on the
front and the final resting place for the 1,831 Portuguese soldiers who
died in 1918.
Dud Corner Cemetery and Loos Memorial in Loos-en-Gohelle
Loos Memorial, which encircles Dud Corner Cemetery, immortalizes the names of the 20,000 soldiers of
the British Army who have no known grave. Most of these soldiers were killed at the Battle of Loos in
late 1915. Among them was the only son of the famous writer Rudyard Kipling. The author of The Jungle
Book never got over the loss, as can be clearly felt in his Epitaphs of the War wherein he wrote the lines,
“If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied“.
The late discovery of John Kipling’s burial place
St-Mary’s advanced Dressing Station Cemetery
At this Cemetery are 1,787 graves of soldiers who perished during the Battle of Loos, of which 1,591 are
of “unknown soldiers”. Among the graves is that of Rudyard Kipling’s son John. The father spent his final
years until his death in 1936 searching for the grave of his only son who died in the battle at the age of
18.
Although he was short-sighted, John Kipling was admitted into the Irish Guards regiment. The lieutenant
was killed on September 27, 1915 in his first attack in the Battle of Loos. He was only 18. His body was
reported missing. At the end of the war, his name was engraved on the Loos Memorial of Loos-enGohelle. In 1991, after much research, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission certified that John
Kipling had been laid to rest in St Mary's ADS Cemetery in Haisnes, Parcel 7, Row D, Grave No. 2.
8
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
French National War Cemetery at Notre-Dame- de- Lorette in
Ablain-Saint-Nazaire
In May 1915, French troops attempted to wrest control of the Artois Hills
from the German Army. They failed at Vimy Ridge but succeeded in
retaking Lorette Spur, at a cost of 102,000 men. Today, the National First
World War Cemetery is the final resting place for some 40,000 French
troops, including 22,000 unknown soldiers. Lorette Spur is the largest of
the French war cemeteries and a poignant reminder of the huge losses
sustained by every sector of society during the Great War.
Inauguration 11 November 2014
International memorial to the 590 000 soldiers
fallen accross Northern France during WW1
Erected on the summit of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Plateau (commune of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire),
close to the French national necropolis, it will be one of the largest memorials in
the world, since it will bring together some 600,000 names, presented in alphabetical order,
without distinction between nationality, with former allies and foes being beside each other.
9
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Fromelles Australian Memorial Park
The statue in Memorial Park shows Sergeant
Fraser carrying a wounded comrade out of
no man's land in the aftermath of the Battle
of Fromelles, an operation launched to
divert attention away from the major Allied
offensive on the Somme. The nineteenth of
July 1916 shall ever be remembered in
Australia as the day their soldiers first
fought in action on European soil during the
First World War and one of the country's
most tragic episodes which resulted in 5,533
Australian casualties.
New Museum of the Battle of Fromelles
Opened July 2014
The Battle of Fromelles took place on 19th and 20th July 1916
and opposed British and Australian divisions to a Bavarian
division. The shock was terrible, within 24 hours, there were
nearly 8,500 victims. Many of the soldiers who died on the
battlefield could not be found. In 2009, a team of
archaeologists uncovered the bodies of 250 British and
Australian soldiers missing at Fromelles. A serious campaign of
identification began, and with each restored identity, it is the
story of one soldier that rises to the surface. Follow the battle,
the archaeological research and the history of fallen soldiers
through the permanent exhibition. Discover a story that keeps on being written.
Rue de la Basse Ville 6 59249 FROMELLES 6 Phone +33.(0)3.59.61.15.14
http://www.musee-bataille-fromelles.fr
Vimy Ridge National Historic Site of Canada
Canada’s monument to her 11,285 soldiers reported lost on
French soil during the Great War stands at the heart of a
107-hectare park overlooking the Pas-de-Calais coal basin.
Built at the place where, on 10 April 1917, Canadian troops
fighting as part of the British Army captured Vimy Ridge, the
memorial’s white pylons and sculpted figures mark a
defining event in the history of Canada.
New visitor centre to open for 100th anniversary of
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Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 2017
Canadian guides on Canadian land
The land for the park was “the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada".
The Vimy Canadian Memorial is considered as Canada's most impressive tribute overseas to those
Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War.
The visitor Centre has an exhibition about Canada’s involvement in WWI.
All year round, Canadian volunteers provide guided tours of the underground tunnels and front-line
trenches, free of charge. Most of them are Canadian students
The Student Guide Program in France is an opportunity to travel and teach people from around the
world about Canadian history in both French and English for 4 months. The program is managed by
Veterans Affairs Canada
German War Cemetery at La Maison Blanche in Neuville-SaintVaast
This German War Cemetery is the largest of its kind in France. Established by
the French at the end of the war, the cemetery is the final resting place of
44,833 German soldiers who died in Artois. The German War Graves
Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge – VDK) redesigned the
cemetery in the 1970s. A cross at the entrance to the site bears the words,
“Peace to men of goodwill“, an aspiration shared by the VDK in their motto,
“Reconciliation above the graves“.
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Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Wellington Quarry in Arras
On 9 April 1917 the British Army launched a huge surprise attack on the
German lines before Arras to divert attention away from the main
French offensive which was to take place on the Chemin des Dames
Road in Aisne. That morning saw 24,000 soldiers flood out from the
network of old chalk-quarry tunnels to attack the German defences.
Today the tunnels of Wellington Quarry are open to the public and invite
the visitor to discover the gripping story of the Battle of Arras.
Louverval Military Cemetery and Cambrai Memorial
On the 20 November 1917 the British Army launched an
attack on German Lines at Cambrai. This operation was the
first of its kind to rely on tanks to support the infantry and in
all 476 Mark IVs were used. Initially things went well and the
British broke through the Hindenburg Line; however the
German counter-attack, which came a few days later,
pushed them back. Next to the Louverval Military Cemetery
stands a memorial to the 7,000 men of the Commonwealth
killed in the Battle of Cambrai.
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Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The war of movement and the first German occupation
On 4 August 1914 the German Army put the Schlieffen Plan into action and launched its troops across
Belgium with the ultimate objective of taking Paris. Despite the resistance of the Belgian Army and
British and French expeditionary forces, the Germans continued their advance towards the French
border which they soon crossed near the town of Maubeuge.
After the stalemate of the First Battle of the Marne and the Race to the Sea, the Western Front stabilized
and the belligerents dug in. The war of movement had turned into a war of position.
The German Army occupied the territory it had conquered. Local resistance to the new military masters
soon developed but was mercilessly suppressed.
The summer of 1918 saw a return to the war of movement. The Allied Armies, placed under the sole
command of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, launched a huge offensive which would break the German
lines of defence and lead to the liberation of the occupied territories.
Monument to the executed of Lille 1
The World War I monument in Lille shows the four leaders of
the city’s Resistance lined up against a wall just moments
before their execution by the German Army in the dungeons of
the citadel. Along with Léon Trulin, who can be seen lying at
their feet, Eugène Jacquet, Georges Maertens, Ernest
Deceuninck and Sylvère Verhulst set up a network for
communicating information to the Allies about the German
occupiers of Lille. They were eventually betrayed and executed
on 22 September 1915.
Ors Communal Cemetery – burial place of Wilfred Owen
“What passing bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns“, wrote Wilfred
Owen in the opening of Anthem for Doomed Youth. Like many of the poets
of World War I, Owen described the lives of the soldiers in the trenches and denounced the
horror of the fighting. He was killed in action on 4 November 1918, as his company tried to cross La
Sambre Canal near the village of Ors, and laid to rest in the military section of the local cemetery.
13
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Wilfred Owen’s Forester’s House of
Turning round and going back to the edge of the Bois
l’Evêque, the brickwork of the Maison Forestière gives
way to an immaculate white in which an atmosphere
of peace and tranquillity reigns. Transformed into a
work of art by Simon Patterson, the house is a book
opened at the poetry of Wilfred Owen. Through the
voice of Kenneth Branagh, Wilfred Owen’s lines
resound in an Olympian calm. Visitors go down into
the cellar via a swirling spiral staircase on which
Wilfred’s letter is engraved for all time. And, after a
few moments of reflection and meditation, they will
hear Wilfred writing to his mother his reassuring
words of the 31st October 1918: “There is no danger
here, or if any, it will be well over before you read
these lines”.
A week later, Susan Owen opened the letter
informing her of her son’s death, while the bells of the
parish church rang out to announce the signing of the
Armistice. “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori”*.
* It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.
Le Cateau Military Cemetery and German Necropolis
In the summer of 1914 British and French troops were forced
back towards France as the German Army swept across
Belgium. On 26 August the soldiers of the British
Expeditionary Force held their ground near the town of Le
Cateau to slow down the enemy's progress and allow the
Allied soldiers enough time to reorganize prior to continuing
their retreat. In the aftermath of the fighting, the Germans
buried 150 dead British soldiers in a corner of the town's
civilian cemetery.. British victims of the fighting in the summer
of 1914 were initially buried in the town's graveyard but as space ran out they were later buried by the
Germains in their cemetery. Today almost 700 white Commonwealth headstones can be seen standing
alongside the black crosses of the 5,000 German graves.
14
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Le Quesnoy New Zealand Memorial
On 4 November 1918 the town of Le Quesnoy was liberated
by New Zealand troops who scaled the Vauban fortifications
using simple wooden ladders. Fastened to the rampart wall,
the New Zealand Memorial not only depicts the events of that
memorable operation it also shows the Kiwi national emblem:
a silver fern. Ninety years on from the Armistice of the First
World War, the liberation of Le Quesnoy remains one of the
most significant events in the history of the New Zealand
Army.
Leveau Fort
In the summer of 1914 the German Army marched through
Belgium and entered France where they came up against the
fortified outworks of Maubeuge. Designed by General Séré de
Rivières, they had been built to defend the French border after
the defeat of 1871. On 25 August 1914 the Germans surrounded
the town in what was to become the longest siege of the war: it
lasted a fortnight. Today the museum of Leveau Fort tells the story
of Maubeuge during the two world wars
Completely destroyed during the bombing, a fixed bridge and the
drawbridge were the only access to the fort. They were rebuilt for the
commemoration of the battle and inaugurated on 6th September 2014.
15
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Allies’ logistics base on the Channel coast
In 1916 the General Headquarters of the British Army took up residence in the village of Montreuil-surMer which subsequently became the nerve centre of an immense logistics chain stretching along the
Channel Coast.
Boulogne-sur-Mer and other Channel ports saw a steady flow of supplies and fresh troops entering
France from all over the world. After training, the new recruits were sent to the various sectors of the
Western Front under British control, such as Flanders, Artois and Somme. Vast hospital complexes were
also set up on the coast to care for the wounded returning from the Front.
Wimereux Communal Cemetery
In Wimereux Cemetery, among the graves of
the 3,000 soldiers and nurses who died in the
British Army field hospitals, lies the final
resting place of Lt-Col John McCrae. A
Canadian doctor, McCrae was the author of
the famous poem In Flanders Fields which he
dedicated to those who fell in the Great War.
The subsequent popularity of his poem
contributed greatly to the poppy being chosen
a symbol of remembrance: “In Flanders fields
the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row
row…“.
as
on
Étaples Military Cemetery
The final resting place of almost 11,500 soldiers, Étaples Military Cemetery is all that remains of a vast
hospital complex which was set up to treat the wounded and evacuated troops of the British Army
during the Great War. The town of Étaples was also home to the largest training camp outside Great
Britain for recruits coming from all parts of the Commonwealth. Millions of men passed through the
forty barracks of Étaples on their way to the Western Front.
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Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Equestrian Statue of Field Marshal Haig in Montreuil-sur-Mer
The equestrian statue of Field Marshal Haig is one of the few reminders of the British presence in
Montreuil during the Great War. It was here that Douglas Haig, Commander-in-chief of the British Army,
installed his General Headquarters between 1916 and 1919. Montreuil suddenly became the British
Army’s centre of operations for the supply of troops, provisions and equipment from the French ports of
Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk to the nearby front in Flanders, Artois and Somme.
The military history of the British Expeditionary Force in France
is well documented. The battlefield sites attract thousands of
visitors each year. The heroism of the soldiers in the trenches is
the stuff of legend.
But much less well known is the huge “back office” operation
that gave vital support to the troops in the field through social
welfare and logistics. The BEF’s General Headquarters was setup
in Montreuil-sur-Mer just inland from the channel coast. Here regular officers and men, supported by
civilian experts, provided essential services through some 20 specialist departments. Logistics on this
scale had never before been attempted.
17
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Post war reconstruction
Zone Rouge (lit. Red Zone) was the name given to the area
in France which had been ravaged by four years of
fighting. The ground had been laid bare and the towns and
infrastructure had all but been destroyed.
The reconstruction of the villages, towns and cities was
driven by the wishes of the elected representatives and
the imagination of the architects who were commissioned
to draw the plans. The rich architectural heritage of Arras
was faithfully rebuilt to its pre-war glory whereas towns such as Bailleul adopted a traditional regional
style which they combined with innovative town planning. Other towns such as Cambrai and Lens chose
to rebuild in the modern Art Deco style.
Modernity was also reflected in the choice of materials used during the period of reconstruction,
reinforced concrete was immensely popular, however traditional materials such as brick and stone were
far from ignored.
Town of Bailleul
Spared from much of the fighting in the early days of the war,
the town of Bailleul was eventually destroyed in the German
spring offensive of 1918. During reconstruction the local
authorities commissioned "regionalist" architects, such as
Louis-Marie Cordonnier, to give a traditional Flemish
appearance to what would be in fact a modern and carefullyplanned urban area. Today, as a result of their work, post-war
Bailleul is undoubtedly one of Flanders’ most beautiful towns.
18
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Armentières Town Hall and Belfry
Used extensively by the Commonwealth for stationing troops prior to the various
Battles of Ypres, the Flanders town of Armentières was also the setting for the song
'Mademoiselle from Armentières'. Reduced to rubble during the German Spring
Offensive in 1918, the town centre was redesigned after the Great War by the
architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier. His regionalist ideas can be seen in many features
of the town, notably the design of the bell tower which adheres faithfully to the
style of the Flemish Renaissance.
Melle From
The origins of the song lie in the story of an English officer who was rather too familiar with a café waitress, the
famous Marie Lecocq, who responded with a slap in the face. Red Rowland, then aged 27 and a sergeant in the
British army, witnessed the incident and was inspired to write a few verses about it.
Mademoiselle from Armentières is a symbol of womanhood as an irreplaceable companion to man in times of
grief and anguish.
In November 2008 Line Renaud unveiled the new statue dedicated to “Melle From”. Standing near to the military
block within the civilian cemetery, it shows four soldiers of various nationalities carrying the famous young lady
shoulder-high. Initially only three verses of the song were penned by Red Rowland but over the course of time
that grew to 120!
19
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Town Hall, Bell Tower and Main Square of Béthune
During the Battle of the Lys, in the spring of 1918, the German
Army attempted to take the town of Béthune and, following their
failure, showered the town centre with incendiary shells. The 14th
century bell tower in the main square was one of the town’s few
architectural features to have survived. In the aftermath of the
battle the houses which bordered the square were rebuilt in a
mixture of styles. The town hall, designed by Jacques Alleman, is the central piece of this architectural
ensemble.
Mis en forme : Police :14 pt, Gras,
Couleur de police : Couleur
personnalisée(RVB(148;54;52))
Town Hall, Bell Tower and Squares of Arras
By the end of the Great War, after suffering almost
constant shelling from 1914 to 1917, Arras was in ruins
and a “martyred city“. It was decided that its prominent
features, such as the bell tower, the town hall and the
facades of the houses bordering the main square, should
be rebuilt as faithfully as possible to the originals. Using a
mixture of reinforced concrete and stone facing, architect
Pierre Paquet managed to restore much of the rich
architectural heritage of Arras.
Town centre of Cambrai
When the Germans retreated from Cambrai in October
1918 all they left their Canadian successors was a ghost
town with a burned-out centre. The architect Pierre
Leprince-Ringuet was given the job of rebuilding the town
and he gave Cambrai new squares and streets,
concentrated the administrative buildings and shops into
specific areas, and designed a brand new town hall. Today
the architecture in Cambrai's centre is a mixture of
traditional regional styles and the more modern concept of
Art Deco.
20
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Prepare your visit
“The Remembrance Trails of the Great War in Northern
France”
The First World War Remembrance Trails take in the sites and memorials which
encapsulate the momentous events that took place in Northern France at the
beginning of the last century. Behind the peaceful beauty of every site lies the
gripping story of a soldier, a regiment, a battle or a place.
The brochure and the website provide historical and practical information
about thirty-six major sites which can be found on four easy-to-follow
trails. Follow the Remembrance Trails and discover how the conflicts of the
20th century marked the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com
Tourist Map
Covering Flanders and Picardy, this tourist map presents a selection of remembrance sites
tracing the history of the Great War. From the first Battle of Ypres in 1914 to the battle of the
Somme on the 1st of July 1916, the Battle of Arras on the 9th of April 1917 and the Chemin
des Dames offensive on the 16th of April 1917, this map is an excellent discovery and
promotional tool and sets out the battlegrounds and the range of the fighting.
Western front sites and events brochure
A selection of sites and events from Antwerp and West Flanders in Belgium, Cambridgeshire and Brighton &
Hove in England to Nord, Pas-de-Calais, the Somme and Aisne.
21
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Smartphone applications
Diaries 14-18 – the smartphone app that takes visitors to five unique WW I
sites along the remembrance trail
in France and Belgium
The Battles for the Artois at Mont St Eloi (Pas de Calais)
Mateship and Cobbers Fromelles (Nord)
From World's End to Beaumont Hamel (Somme)
Between heaven and earth on the Chemin des Dames (Aisne)
Death as an everyday occurrence at Lijssenthoek (Western Flanders)
A new free digital application is available to discover five unique sites of the First World War.
With ‘Diary 14-18”, armed with his or her smartphone, the visitor accompanies Guillaume
Naylor, a 21st century hero, on the trail of a rediscovered past to sites associated with the First
World War and is taken back a hundred years into the heart of that conflict. Formerly
battlefields scarred by trenches and shell craters, they are now once again peaceful green
countryside.
www.diaries14-18.com
Victoria Cross, The Heroes’ trail
The heroes’ trail runs from the battlefields in Nord-Pas de Calais through the Somme to the
Chemin des Dames. It consists of six routes, which take you to the scene of the major battles
involving British forces from 1914 until 1918.
A mobile application has been created allowing visitors to find out more about 50 brave British
soldiers who left their mark on the history of the Great War. These men all received the most
prestigious military decoration of the Army of the Commonwealth and previous British Empire
territories (Scots, Irish, Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders): the Victoria Cross.
www.victoriacross.fr
22
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Discover the hiking and cycling routes of the Remembrance Trails
To commemorate and preserve this history, several walking and cycling trails have been created . This is part of a
collection of local walks now in place in memory of the Great War in the Nord-Pas de Calais region. The trails offer
a rich, well-documented cultural and historical experience with a 16 page guidebook.
Mis en forme : Police :Gras
“The battle of Fromelles” trail
An 8.5km sign-posted hike leads visitors along in the footsteps of those who fought a battle
where Australian soldiers distinguished themselves with a spirit of camaraderie so clearly
reflected in the Cobbers statue in the Fromelles Park. From the church in Fromelles, the trail
moves past the l’Abbiette blockhouse, the Australian Memorial Park, VC Corner and the
former infirmary or Trou Aid Post. The walk ends at the Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery
where 250 soldiers were re-interred in 2009 after their remains had been found in the mass
graves in the Bois des Faisans woods.
Following in Wilfred Owen’s Footsteps
The 6 km trail starts out from the Maison Forestière or Forester’s House opened in
October 2011 and Simon Patterson’s work of art in his memory where he spent his
last night, and passes through the woodlands of the Bois l’Evêque and the cemetery
where he was laid to rest and on to the banks of the canal.
Other trails coming soon
An audioguide in French and English isavailable from the Cambrai
tourist office tracing the story of the British soldier-poet, who died
at Ors at the age of 25 on the 4th of November 1918.
Remembrance trails in Maubeuge
The 25 km cycling trail “Maubeuge fortified town under siege” takes visitors
to the main sites associated with the siege of Maubeuge and shows how the
German succeeded in the siege of the town.
The 2.4 km walking trail, “Maubeuge under the Germans” recalls the
occupation of the town throughout the period of the First Wolrd War.
23
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Great War cycling trail in Artois
In 1915 the French Army retook the hill known as Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. In 1917 the Canadians
liberated Vimy Ridge. Today the remembrance sites of the Artois Hills commemorate these major events
of the First World War.
Discover the hiking and cycling routes of the Remembrance Trails : http://www.remembrancetrailsnorthernfrance.com/walking-and-cycling.html
http://wartimehistory.pas-de-calais.com
Due to its strategic geographical situation, the Nord-Pas de Calais region has always been a major
stake in the conflicts which have shaped the European and World History.
Stories from the Great War in Northern France
Follow the interwoven stories of three British and Commonwealth families as they embark on a journey
taking them back to the Great War. Visit the Nord tourism pages at www.tourismenord.com/greatwarstories , where you will find three fictitious narratives featuring
A British family: “Friendship from the mine to the front line”
Two pairs of friends from New Zealand and Australia: “Don’t forget me!”
A group of young British students: “A School Trip: War Poetry”
24
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Agincourt witnessed one of the most important battles in 1415: the Hundred Years War.
In 1520, King Francis the first of France and King Henry VIII of England decided to meet between Ardres
and Guînes at a place best known as ‘The Field of the Cloth of Gold’.
During the twentieth century, Pas-de-Calais was a place of bitter confrontation throughout the two
World Wars.
Today, visitors pay tribute to the soldiers who came from across the globe to fight on the Western Front
during World War I. Discover their stories on http://wartimehistory.pas-de-calais.com
Online exhibition - The ways of the Great War
The First World War is widely remembered as a war of position and trench warfare. At the same time
this conflict also involved a lot of movement. Soldiers travelled to and from the frontlines, and as a result
civilians were also displaced. Soldiers from all over the British Empire arrived in Europe to fight, while
Chinese workers left Asia for Europe. Finally, after the war, there was even more movement as families
or veterans travelled to the former battlefields, cemeteries and memorials to mourn their lost ones.
This virtual exhibition follows the cycle of exhibitions “Four ways to the Great War”. The In Flanders
Fields Museum, the Musée départemental de Flandre, the Historial de la Grande Guerre, the Caverne du
Dragon-Musée du Chemin des Dames and the Departments of Pas-de-Calais and Nord joined forces for
this exhibition.
www.thewaysofthegreatwar.co.uk
25
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Find out more
Follow the Remembrance Trails of the Great War
in Northern France
http://www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com
http://www.facebook.com/GreatWarJourneys
26
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Centenary events in Nord-Pas de Calais
7th to 11th
November 2014
Remembrance walk from Ypres to Albert. Stop in Fromelles area (8th
November)
A four days’ walk in the traces of the First World War from Ypres to Albert. In
2014, the fourth such walk will stop over in the Pays de Weppes on its First
World War Men and Landscapes discovery trail. Option of the whole four days’
walk or that one day only.
11 November
2014
Inauguration of the International memorial dedicated to the 600 000
soldiers who died in the Artois region of Nord-pas de Calais on the
Western Front, all nationalities being combined, former allies and
enemies
French necropolis of Notre-Dame de Lorette in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire
Centenary of the battle of Neuve-Chapelle
10 March 2015
Major Site:
- Neuve Chapelle Indian Memorial
9 May 2015
Centenary of the French offensives in Artois (France, Germany)
Major Sites:
- French national necropolis of Notre-Dame de Lorette
- German military cemetery at La Maison Blanche, Neuville-SaintVaast
May 2015
25 September
2015
19 July 2016
Inauguration of a new visitor centre in Souchez :
Battlefield portal for the Great War in the French Flanders and in Artois
The Souchez «Portal » will additionally offer an IT consultation area which
will allow visitors to view the route taken by the 600,000 soldiers whose
name is listed on the international memorial at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette,
as well as a tourist information point.
Centenary of the Battle of Loos (UK)
Major Site:
- Dud Corner cemetery and Loos memorial
Centenary of the Battle of Fromelles (AUSTRALIA GREAT BRITAIN)
Major sites:
- Fromelles Australian Memorial Park
- Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery – Fromelles
27
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
November 2016
9 April 1917
Opening of the Battle of Cambrai museum
http://en.tourisme-cambresis.fr/
Centenary commemorations of the battle of Arras and of the Canadien attack
on Vimy Ridge
9th April 1917, 5.30am (UK time): 24,000 soldiers raised out of the Arras
Quarries to take part in the famous Battle of Arras, a diversionary operation in
advance of the ‘Chemin des Dames’ attack.
To pay tribute to the British soldiers who took part in the Battle of Arras, a
remembrance ceremony is organised every year on 9th April at 6.30am (French
time) on the site of the Wellington Quarry.
Arras Wellington Quarry
The ceremony begins at 06.30 hours (05.30am British Time) to coincide with
the launching of the battle.
Rue Arthur Delétoille, 62000 ARRAS, France
+33 (0)3 21 51 26 95
www.explorearras.com
Canadian National Vimy Memorial commemorations
A ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge takes
place at the Vimy Monument at 3:00 pm.
Canadian National Vimy Memorial
Chemin
des
canadiens
(route
D55)
62580
Vimy
+33 (0) 3 21 50 68 68
www.veterans.gc.ca
Centenary of the Battle of Cambrai (UK – GERMANY)
20
November 2017
Major Sites:
- Louverval Military Cemetery and Cambrai Memorial – Doignies
- German Military Cemetery of Solesmes – Cambrai
- The Flesquières Tank and museum dedicated to the battle of Cambrai
Centenary of the Lys Battle (PORTUGAL – GERMANY - UK - FRANCE)
9 April 2018
Major Sites:
- Portuguese Military Cemetery, Richebourg
- Towns of Béthune, Bailleul, Armentières
4
November 2018
Centenary of the liberation of Le Quesnoy (NEW ZEALAND) and the death of
Wilfred Owen, poet (UK)
 Major Sites:
- Le Quesnoy New Zealand Memorial
- Ors Communal Cemetery – Maison Forestière Wilfred Owen
28
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Temporary exhibitions
1 February to 31
December 2014
Exhibition “1914-2014: THE COALMINING AREA AT THE HEART OF THE
CONFLICTS”
Museum of Mining History – Lewarde
Ever since, the Nord-Pas de Calais’ coalmining belt has been swept by the
successive conflicts of the Revolution, the Empire, two World Wars and even the
war in Algeria.
Spread over three centuries, these conflicts had dire and lasting consequences
for the mining belt’s inhabitants, who were forced to undergo the sufferings of
war and difficulties in getting about and finding food while continuing to work,
but who also rose up in revolt, who resisted and who endeavoured to live their
lives in spite of everything.
http://www.chm-lewarde.com/fr
20 September to
27 December
2014
Estaminet Melle from Armentières
5 September
2014 to 2
February 2015
Exhibition “State of war: Douai and Recklinghausen”
Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse
Armentières - complexe cinématographique « Ciné Lumières »
As early as 1914 the Great War disrupted the daily lives of the inhabitants of
Douai. The town was occupied by the Germans and requisitioning and
destruction was rife. In the same period the German town of Recklinghausen
was subject to restrictions and censorship, its inhabitants were going hungry.
The archives presented in this exhibition show what life was like for the
inhabitants of two towns which are today twinned.
From November
8th to February
1st 2015
The impact of image during the First World War
Musée de Flandre, Cassel
From November 8th to February 1st 2015
For the Centenary of the beginning of the First World War the Musée de Flandre
presents a small selection of advertisements, postcards and propaganda movies
from its own collection.
Information is central to the war process, but its political use increased
unusually after August 1914 and during the whole conflict. Targets are
numerous: they want to rally national opinion for this long war and rally new
countries too, but also get the enemy and its public opinion down.
To go further into this theme, Cassel and the front of Flanders are mentioned in
a room called “Par Sacrifice” on the first floor of the museum. This room was the
marshal Foch’s former office. In October 1914, the front formed a circle called
29
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
15 November
2014 to 15
February 2015
the Salient around the city of Ypres. While the battle of the Yser was raging,
General Foch was setting his headquarter in the Hotel de la Noble Cour in Cassel
to coordinate the Allies’ forces in the North. He stayed until Spring 1915 and was
replaced by general Plumer.
Exhibition “Caricature during the Great War (portrayals of the enemy)”
Cambrai, Musée municipal
In collaboration with the Historial de la Grande Guerre, Péronne
http://www.villedecambrai.com/culture/musee.html
25 october 2014
to 15 march 2015
Exhibition “Accounts of the Great War: the power of drawing”
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage - Musée du Touquet
Mobilized in 1914, many artists in the trenches took to drawing to escape the
horror and sordid reality of war. The sketches and watercolours of Marius
Chambon, Jean Louis Forain and Lucien Jonas show, with great sensitivity, what
life was like for soldiers at the front. They are presented alongside letters written
by the soldier Chambon to his wife which attest as much to his patriotism as to
his need to create to survive. Life in the back area is also illustrated in
watercolours by Jeanne Thil who takes for her subject life in the hospitals and
the suffering of the patients, of course, but also scenes of joy.
20 September
2014 to 22 march
2015
Exhibition “Women in 1914-1918”
Béthune ethnology museum, chapelle Saint Pry.
Contact : 00333 21 68 40 74
11 October 2014
to 30 September
2015
Exhibition “Living behind the lines during the Great War”
Bailleul, Musée Benoît-De-Puydt , from August 1914 to December 1917
On the 8th of October 1914, 48,000 German troops and 16,000 horses invaded
the town, with a traumatic effect on the local population. On the 14th of
October, British troops drove off the German army.
Because of its road and rail infrastructure, Bailleul was to serve as a forward
base for the British military government from the 15th of October 1914 to midApril 1918.
From the local asylum which would receive the wounded soldiers to the schools
which were used as barracks; from the regulations imposed on civilians by the
British army to requisitioning; not to mention the provision of an adequate
water supply for the town, how could the continuation of everyday life be
ensured?
Paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, ceramics, archived documents and
audiovisual material seek to take us into the private lives of a number of families
with the aid of the precious testimonies they have left behind.
Part of this exhibition will remain on show until 2018 and will then be followed
by a retrospective on the period from 1918 to 1934.
30
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Spring or autumn
2016
Exhibition “War on War”
Lille, Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse and Lille palais des beaux-arts
As part of the official commemorations of the centenary of the First World War,
this exhibition “War on War” tells the story of the painful disillusion which set in
and expresses the viewpoint of German artists which bore a singular
resemblance to that of their French counterparts.
The exhibition will bring together a significant selection of around one hundred
and fifty works mainly from German public collections, with large numbers of
engravings alongside around fifteen paintings. Painting was not, for obvious
physical reasons, a medium much used by soldier artists and drawings produced
on the front line therefore take pride of place in the exhibition, which will
consist of four sections depicting the various artistic and stylistic aspects
favoured by this generation of artists.
www.pba-lille.fr
25 April
ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Bullecourt
Each year on the 25th April, the Australians and New-Zealanders commemorate
ANZAC Day, their day of remembrance.
Bullecourt 1917 museum
1, rue d'Arras F- 62128 BULLECOURT
+33 (0)3 21 55 33 20.
E-mail : [email protected]
31
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Appendix
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GREAT WAR
32
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Walled Fort - Fort Leveau at Feignies
27th August – September 1914 –
Battle of Maubeuge
On 27 August 1914 sixty thousand German troops besieged
Maubeuge. The following day their artillery began
bombarding the various fortified outworks. On 7 September
General Fournier, the governor of the fort, announced the
surrender of the French troops, which was complete by the
following day.
The Siege of Maubeuge lasted two weeks, the longest of its
kind in the First World War, and provided the Germans with
45,000 prisoners; however it did slow the invading troops in
their advance towards the French capital. It also prevented
them from taking part in the Battle of the Marne which
began on 5 September.
Today the Museum of Leveau Fort in Feignies tells the story
of the fortified town of Maubeuge and how the occupation
affected its inhabitants. It also describes the lives of the
soldiers who fought in the Great War.
Completely destroyed during the bombing, a fixed bridge
and the drawbridge were the only access to the fort. They
will be rebuilt for the commemoration of the battle and
inaugurated on 6th September 2014.
Denis Fernand, who became a prisoner of war on
th
the 7 of September tells the horror of the
bombing: "Everybody has moved into the
corridors, waiting anxiously for the outcome of
the event ahead, a great coldness envelops
everyone’s faces ... A 420 (shell) falls just above
our heads, fear overcomes us all following the
tremendous hit by the big howitzer. We are
completely buried (here the event becomes
indescribable). Roused from my stupor, I get up
with difficulty, all around me are cries and groans,
the desperate calls of the wounded, the
atmosphere is heavily charged, I must find a way
out if I do not want to die from asphyxiation.”
It is August 1914; using Big Bertha the Germans
bombarded the surrounding forts. At Fort Leveau
120 men lost their lives. On the 7th of September
1914 a shell blasted into the bunkers. From that
moment and until the liberation by British forces
on the 8th of November 1918, Fort Leveau and
Maubeuge found themselves under occupation.
Today this fort, an hour’s drive east of Lille, is a
monument to one of the tragedies of the Great
War. Below is a first person account by a visitor to
the Nord-Pas de Calais site:
“The chaos of that War has now been pacified by
the green pastures of the Hogneau Valley with its
whispering marbled streams. I cross the Avesnois,
sown as it is with hedgerows. As if in sympathy
with the hills along the route my vehicle
‘undulates’ before it finally arrives at the 19th
century Fort.
The Fort at Feignies, built by General Séré de
Rivières, is one of six strongholds around
Maubeuge which saw our soldiers fight tooth and
nail and resulted in a large human sacrifice. The
tales of these heroic times are among the slices of
life that the Fortress now seeks to recall and
recount for future generations. Among these for
instance, is the story of the nine soldiers buried in
the trenches and whose bodies were only found 82
years after the Great War.
Many letters offer reminders of the Great War, such
as the poignant writings of Denis Fernand …
Fort Leveau
http://fortdeleveau.voila.net
Phone + 33 3 27 62 37 07
[email protected]
Letter on display at Fort Leveau
The Race to the Sea 33
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Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Noël Lutrin and Alice Dubois: the Resistance
networks
October 1914: Lille under the
occupation
Greater Lille
Life under the occupation –
The Resistance networks and civilian
victims
Lille was occupied by the Germans from October 1914. The years
from 1914 to 1918 were to be
seen as terrible years during
“ I die for the Motherland and
without regret. I am simply very sadwhich, for four solid years, the
inhabitants lived under martial
for my dear mother and my brothers
law and were looted by the
and sisters…”
occupying forces. The large
Léon Trulin
industrial towns of the
metropolitan area - Lille, Roubaix
and Tourcoing – were invaded: factories, land, bridges and locks
dynamited. Former swimming baths and factories were used as
detention centres.
In spite of everything, the
population and a handful of
industrialists distinguished
themselves by their bravery and
by acts of resistance, as is borne
out by statues depicting martyrs
such as Léon Trulin.
Today, this city with its flavoursome Flemish accent is a dynamic
metropolis in whose streets enquiring visitors can still linger over
a number of reminders of that troubled period.
Léon Trulin: as the creator, with his friend
Raymond Derain, of the “Noël Lurtin”
resistance network (an anagram of his name),
he stands as the symbol of a courageous
youth cut down too soon by the enemy. He
was arrested by the Germans between
Antwerp and the Dutch frontier at the age of
18 while gleaning valuable information. On
the 5th of November the verdict was
delivered: it was a bolt from the blue, he was
sentenced to death. Léon Trulin declared
simply: “I did this for my country”. Then he
wrote in his small notebook: “7th November
1915, at 4.10 French time, received sentence
of death around 3.15”. And underneath: “I die
for my country and without regrets. I am
simply very sad for my dear mother and my
brothers and sisters who suffer fate without
being guilty”. On the 8th of November 1915,
he was executed in the citadel moat.
At the corner of the rue Léon Trulin and the
rue Faidherbe there is a statue in his memory.
Louise de Bettignies
Better known as Alice Dubois, Louise de
Bettignies spied for the Intelligence Service
during the First World War. She recruited 80
members to her “Alice” network. Cultured
and multilingual, she came to be regarded by
the British as the “queen of spies”. Her fate
was not unlike that of Léon Trulin. She was
arrested in Tournai, narrowly escaped a death
sentence and died in Cologne in 1916…
Among the information she passed on was
news of the German attack on Verdun in 1916
and other information gathered casually. She
is buried in the town of her birth, Saint
Amand les Eaux. In Lille, in the boulevard
Carnot, a monument was erected portraying
a soldier kissing the hand of Louise de
Bettignies.
Monument to the carrier pigeons
A distinctive feature which is obvious in a region of pigeon-fanciers. At the entrance to the zoological gardens, the
monument erected in 1936 pays tribute to some 20,000 carrier pigeons that died for France and to the pigeonfanciers shot by the enemy for having kept carrier pigeons…
Monument to the executed of Lille
The World War I monument in Lille shows the four leaders of the city’s Resistance lined up against a wall
just moments before their execution by the German Army in the dungeons of the citadel. Along with
34
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Léon Trulin, who can be seen lying at their feet, Eugène Jacquet, Georges Maertens, Ernest Deceuninck
and Sylvère Verhulst set up a network for communicating information to the Allies about the German
occupiers of Lille. They were eventually betrayed and executed on 22 September 1915.
Place Rihour War Memorial
“To those citizens of Lille, soldiers and civilians (….) who died for Peace”. This inscription in bas relief on the remains of the
former city hall who was burnt down in 1916 is in homage to those who died in the war.
Among the terrible events was notably the loss of 134 dead and over 400 injured in the explosion at a munitions depot in the
th
Moulin district on the 11 of January 1916, an explosion which was heard over a radius of 100 kilometres and left a crater
150 metres in diameter. It also recalled the sad fate of those imprisoned. In July 1915, 30 hostages were locked up in the
Citadel and 131 others were deported to Germany when workers in Lille refused to work for the army of occupation. In
November 1916, 300 civilians – among them the mayor, M. Delory, were sent to a camp in order to persuade the French
government to release its own German hostages.
35
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Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
October 1914: Armentières, the home of “Melle From”
Known as the “nurserie”, Armentières is
certainly one of the main witnesses of the
Great War and one of the most famous
towns on the Western Front from a British
point of view. Made famous by the British
song ‘Mademoiselle from Armentieres’, the
front here is a microcosm of the First World
War. Meet the men of Cité Bonjean Military
Cemetery, you’ll be told personal stories and
anecdotes as moving as surprising..
On Saturday 17th October 1914, the First
Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the 17th
brigade and the 6th British division entered
Armentières. The front line settled down just 2 kms from the town, which was under bombardment from the
German guns based on the other side towards Capinghem.
The town of Armentières and its inhabitants, awarded two Croix de Guerre, paid a heavy price in the two world
wars, and notably in the first: over 90% of the town destroyed, its sons killed on the battlefield and its civilians cut
down. Numerous commemorative plaques have been erected in various places in the town, on public and private
buildings, in memory of the victims of the war: lists of dead parishioners in every church ands plaques of
remembrance in schools and other public buildings.
The Cité Bonjean war cemetery
700,000 Commonwealth soldiers are buried on French soil, 20,000 of them in the
Armentières district.
During the horrific conflict that was the First World War, Armentières, which at the
time was a British stronghold, saw terrible events. In this vast expanse of
headstones are the resting places of 2643 soldiers of various nationalities.
The cemetery was opened in 1914 and then used as a civilian cemetery because the one in Bizet was too exposed
to bombardment.
To these figures can be added 30 graves from the Second World War.
The “Cité Bonjean New Zealand memorial” is just one of the 7 memorials in France and Belgium built in memory
of the New Zealanders who fell on the Western Front. Avenue R. Salengro
36
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Battle of Fromelles – 19th July 1916
The 19th of July, 1916, will forever be a date of sober remembrance
in France’s collective memory and a truly sombre one in the heart of
all Australians. For as the Battle of the Somme began on the 1st of
“Don’t forget me,
July that year, British military command took the decision to launch a
major diversionary offensive at Fromelles. By the end of that battle
Cobber”
5,533 Australian soldiers, 1,500 British and 1,600 Germans had
perished in what is described as the worst 24 hours in the military
history of Australia. Some of their bodies were buried in a mass
grave somewhere on the site in a location that was never found until a certain morning of spring 2008…
19th and 20th July 1916: History of the Battle of Fromelles
What is described as "the single bloodiest day in the history of the
Australian Army" and one of Australia's greatest 20th century
tragedies, took place at Fromelles (Northern France).
Despite massive losses in the first 24 hours of the Somme offensive,
British GHQ came to believe, in the days that followed, that the
situation was encouraging and a large-scale enemy retreat was likely.
On the 9th July 1916, so as further to destabilise the German front, it
was decided to launch a major diversionary offensive to take Aubers
Ridge and cut round to the rear of the enemy. The near 4 km long
attack front was overlooked by very strong German defences from positions such as the Sugar Loaf salient, a wellarmed concrete bunker that dominated British lines The plan called for a slow, methodical, massive
bombardment, immediately followed by an infantry advance and attack. With the situation on the 16th of July
deteriorating sharply along the Somme, the Fromelles operation certainly came at a challenging time.
Nevertheless the mass offensive planned by IX British Army Corps commander Lieutenant-General R. Haking,
prevailed.
Launched at 0600 on the morning of 19th July, 1916, the infantry attack immediately came under intense machinegun and artillery fire as it moved, via sally-ports that became death traps, across a 300 m extent of no-man's land.
The four waves of infantry were mowed down one after another, five minutes apart. The few Australian soldiers
who managed to penetrate the German front line were immediately isolated and subjected to counter-attack. Noman's land was littered with Australian corpses, a scene that reminded some eye-witnesses of an open-air
slaughterhouse. Even though the failure was immediately perceived, a second attack was launched at 0900. On
the morning of 20th July two totally isolated Australian survivors from the first wave -- AWM AS Flament and AS
Flament (CK) -- after spending the night in German trenches, moved to return to their lines. They were mown
down by German machine guns however.
The final fatality count of this battle says all there needs to be said about the brutality of industrialised war that
made intensive use of artillery and machine guns: 2000 Australians killed or missing, 3,500 wounded and taken
prisoner, 1500 Britons out of action while the Germans, in their defensive position, reported 1600 casualties.
37
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Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
After the destruction of World War I, the village of Fromelles was reborn rising again from the ruins. Farmers
returned to producing crops on once-ravaged lands and by the end of the 20th century only Commonwealth War
Graves Commission cemeteries and some German blockhouses remained to mark the former battlefield. In 2007
the discovery of five mass graves dug by Germans two days after the battle, and their subsequent careful
excavation, unearthed the remains of 250 people -- mainly Australians -- a good many of whom were later
identified through DNA analysis. Their remains now lie buried in a new cemetery in the village. A FrancoAustralian museum stands as a memorial to the tragedy of the Battle of Fromelles, described as the worst 24
hours in Australian military history.
The Battle of Fromelles remembrance trail
On 19th July 2013, 97 years on, an 8.5km sign-posted hike leads
visitors along in the footsteps of those who fought a battle
where Australian soldiers distinguished themselves with a
spirit of camaraderie so clearly reflected in the Cobbers statue
in the Fromelles Park. From the Eglise de Fromelles, the trail
passes by the l’Abbiette blockhouse, the Australian Memorial
Park, VC Corner and the former infirmary or Trou Aid Post. The
walk ends at the Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery where 250
soldiers were re-interred in 2009 after their remains had been
found in the mass graves in the Bois des Faisans woods.
The Australian memorial park
Mis en forme : Police :Gras, Couleur
de police : Couleur
personnalisée(RVB(148;54;52))
For three days and nights after the fury of the Battle of Fromelles men ventured into noman’s-land, despite the potential danger of enemy fire, to bring in their wounded
comrades. It is this spirit of camaraderie that is so clearly reflected in the statue that now
stands in the centre of the Memorial Park. During one trip a soldier called out the
immortal words, 'Don't forget me, Cobber'. Today, perched upon a German bunker
of the first line, the statue of Sergeant Fraser is shown carrying a fellow Australian
on his shoulders.
The work is entitled ‘Cobbers’ -- Australian slang for "mates". In a diary he kept Simon
Fraser describes how he came to the aid of some of the wounded soldiers, acts which
prompted his selection as the model for the Fromelles Memorial Park statue sculpted by
Peter Corlett of Melbourne.
38
Press contacts
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Discovery of the Pheasant Wood mass
graves
Le Trou aid post
Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery lies in a small wood of weeping
willows in a quiet corner of Fleurbaix, a few hundred metres
from Fromelles Australian Memorial Park. A small bridge leads
up to the low stone gate which guards the entrance to the
graveyard. It is without doubt one of the most beautiful
Commonwealth cemeteries in the region.
V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery
and Memorial – Fromelles
One hundred metres from
Memorial Park and its tribute to
the courage of the Australian
Cobber lies the VC Corner
Australian Cemetery which was
established after the Armistice of
1918. It consists of two mass graves
covered with immaculate lawns
and marked with a cross. The graves contain the remains of
more than 400 Australian soldiers who were killed in the
Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916. At the back of the plot
stands a memorial bearing the names of the 1,208 Australian
soldiers who lost their lives in the offensive but whose
remains were never found.
Pheasant wood cemetery
On 19 July 2010, ninetyfour years after the
action at Fromelles, the
Commonwealth War
Graves Commission
inaugurated Pheasant
Wood Cemetery, the first
of its kind to have been
built since the Second
World War.
Following independent research by
French and Australian historians, the
Australian Government conducted tests
in 2007 and 2008 on sites located on the
edge of what the Germans during the
Great War had called Pheasant Wood.
The tests revealed the presence of five
mass graves dug by the Germans after
the Battle of Fromelles. In 2009 it was
decided to exhume the bodies and
carefully recover all evidence so as to
identify the remains using DNA samples
and other records.
The remains of 250 servicemen were
exhumed following a careful study by a
team of archaeologists, anthropologists,
forensic experts and military historians,
and the bodies were reburied at
Pheasants Wood the new military
cemetery. Using all the evidence
collected during the excavations, a
research program is to be carried out in
2014 to identify the remains: the
anthropomorphic data is to be compared
to military records of soldiers missing in
action. DNA samples will be compared
with those of Australian and British
families whose relatives were known to
have disappeared during the battle.
Archaeologists spent four months
analysing bones and about 1,300
additional items, such as shoes, lockets,
locks of hair and pipes. DNA samples
taken from the archaeological remains
and more than 1000 descendants of the
soldiers killed in the area have since
identified more than seventy of the
unknown soldiers whose names are
inscribed on the VC Corner Memorial and
they are now buried in individual graves.
39
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Australian Remembrance Trail along the Western Front
This Australian Remembrance Trail connects all World War I sites in France and Belgium where Australian forces saw action.
Each year on 25th April Anzac Day is celebrated in remembrance of the sacrifice made by the Diggers, the nickname earned
by these courageous soldiers from the other side of the globe. This trail passes through the various sites where Australians
fought -- Villers-Bretonneux in the Somme and Ypres in West Flanders Zonnebeke. In Nord-Pas de Calais, they are honoured at
Fromelles and Bullecourt. This is why the Australian Government supports two major museo-graphical projects: the
rehabilitation of the Jean et Denise Letaille Bullecourt 1917 Museum (which was re-opened on 25th April, 2012) and the
creation of the new Fromelles memorial visitor centre.
The battles of Bullecourt
The first major attacks on the Hindenburg Line : 11April and 3-17 May 1917
On 11 April 1917 the Allied offensive on the Western Front at Arras and Vimy Ridge had been
underway for two days when General Gough, chief of the British 5th Army, launched an attack
on the Hindenburg Line between the villages of Quéant and Bullecourt. With no support from
heavy artillery, the Australian 4th Division and the British 62nd Division relied on 12 tanks to
breach the German defence. The tanks arrived late and, suffering technical problems, were
soon pinned down by German fire and rendered useless. With the German defences almost
intact, and with no possibility of breaching them, the Allied soldiers could only retreat.
The Diggers of Bullecourt
In all, nearly 10,000 men of the Australian Imperial Force were killed or wounded. In 1993 the
Australian Memorial Park of Bullecourt inaugurated the statue of a digger to honour the
memory of the Australian soldiers who fell in these two battles. 'Digger' was the affectionate
name used among the Australian soldiers to refer to their comrades and aptly reflects the nature of trench warfare. Sculpted
by the artist Peter Corlett, who also carved the Cobber of Fromelles, the Digger of Bullecourt proudly bears the symbols of
the Australian Forces: a slouch hat decorated with the Rising Sun badge.
Every year on ANZAC Day (25 April) the Australian Ambassador to France presides over a ceremony to commemorate all the
Australian soldiers who lost their lives in the Great War.
Bullecourt 1917 museum Jean and Denise Letaille
The old museum
For more than 30 years the former Mayor of Bullecourt, Mr Jean
Letaille, and his wife Denise, collected weapons, machinery and other
relics left behind in nearby fields by Australian, British and German
soldiers during the War. The items were displayed in their barn.
war
The new museum, inaugurated in April 2012
The refurbished Museum retains the structural features of the original
barn and stable, however the interior has been converted to accommodate contemporary displays and modern exhibition
features. The museum is arranged in two sections. The ‘Battle Room’ covers the history of the First World War and Battles of
Bullecourt in 1917. The ‘Tribute Hall’ covers the personal stories of Australians who fought in Bullecourt including images of
soldiers from various nations who fought, died and went missing at Bullecourt and related artefacts and documents.
Audio guides are available in French and English – the French spoken by Jean Letaille himself.
Contact details : 1, rue d'Arras F- 62128 BULLECOURT Tel : 00333 21 55 33 20. E-mail : [email protected]
40
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Museum of the battle of Fromelles
Official opening 18th July 2014
The new museum project presents a part of the collection of the FWTM 14-18
(Association Fromelles-Weppes – Terre de Mémoire 14-18) and collections . The
project is made possible through the support of local and national government in
France and of the Government of Australia and includes objects loaned by the
Australian Government. It will reflect the archaeology of the site of the mass graves at
Pheasants Wood, an extraordinary discovery.
A link between sky and earth
The architecture of the Museum of Fromelles is aimed at establishing a link between
sky and earth, between visitors and the “burial” of soldiers. This is a building with a low profile, which is half-sunk
on its North-east façade.
Only the space containing the exhibition areas emerges from the landscape, indicating the trace of a burial. This
emergence is in concrete, evoking the stacking of successive geological strata and different types of soil in the
basement.
An octagonal core evoking the military and sacral
construction
The museum is organized around an octagonal core which
houses the exhibition hall. This form, in the spirit of the
adjacent cemetery, evokes both the rigid geometry of
military construction, and the pure geometry of the sacral
as the octagonal drum of the church in Fromelles.
An exhibition focusing on memory
In direct visual contact with the cemetery, the path of the
exhibition recalls the geometrical plan of the cemetery. The
museum is mainly dedicated to the Battle of Fromelles, but
by linking its international context, national and local levels. The flow of visitors is intended to take into account
the small size of the building, the human and social mix of visitors expected and regulations on safety and disabled
access.
Upon entering, the visitor takes a bridge “across” the different sequences. It is suspended above the ground, an
echo of archaeological excavations, to channel the course in “accompanying” the visitor didactically.
The first space is dedicated to the excavation of 2009. After, the visitor enters an area with scenes of German and
Britain trenches.
The focus of the visit is the War Room, a circular space. The course of the Battle of Fromelles will be presented by
video projection on a table. The two last spaces are memorial spaces dedicated to the soldiers who came here and
died in hope of peace.
41
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
William Malcolm Chisholm – 1st Australian to die during the Great War
Never forgotten.
On Saturday 15 June 1929, Dr William Chisholm puts
pen to paper in his room at the Rubens Hotel on
Buckingham Palace Road, London. He has just arrived
from Sydney, Australia. A considerable task awaits him in France. He
writes to the mayor of Ligny en Cambrésis, a village in the Nord region
of France, informing him of the visit he will shortly make with his
daughter, Mrs Keep. Their tickets for Paris in hand, they will make the journey to Ligny a few days
later. In their bags, an urn containing the ashes of his wife, Emma Isabelle Mitchell. Arriving at the
Ligny en Cambrésis cemetery on 22 June 1929, William Chisholm feverishly scatters his wife’s
ashes. A few metres away, in the military section, lies Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm, their
eldest son, fallen on 27 August 1914 during the battle of Le Cateau Cambrésis. Engaged by the
British forces, Lieutenant Chisholm was the first Australian to be killed in the Great War.
On 26 August 1914, after the Battle of Mons in Belgium, the British and the
Belgians beat a retreat to Le Cateau Cambrésis. General Smith-Dorien, head
of the British Expeditionary Force had six German divisions on his heels. The
British troops made an about-turn to take part in the combat. Engaged in the
1st East Lancashire Division, Lieutenant Chisholm received a shrapnel injury
to the right leg. Losing a lot of blood, he was taken behind the lines under a
deluge of fire. At the end of the afternoon he was moved to the Ligny en Cambrésis church, where
he died during the night.
Emma Isabelle Mitchell, who never got over the loss of her son, decided to be
laid to rest near him in Ligny en Cambrésis. Over the years, links were forged
between the family and the town. Before returning home in August 1919,
William Chisholm donated an income of £1,000 to maintain the English soldiers’
graves and organize a celebration of remembrance on the last Sunday of August.
The ‘Annual Chisholm Celebration’ was held every year until the 1960s.
Schoolchildren and the town council would leave the church and go down Rue
Chisholm (named on 19 July 1926 in recognition of the Lieutenant's sacrifice)
to the cemetery to lay a wreath.
The donation was made every year until the Second World War, when William Chisholm suspended
payments for fear that the money would be used by the Germans. 16,843km away, when William
Chisholm walked through the doorway of his home at 5 Rosemont Avenue, Woollahra, Sydney, his eyes
would
fall
upon
these
five
letters :
‘LIGNY’.
He
too,
never
forgot.
42
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Mis en forme : Police :11 pt
William Malcolm Chisholm, born on 25 February 1892 at 139 Macquarie Street,
Sydney, arrived in Great Britain with his parents in 1910. His father, William
Chisholm, a surgeon, wanted his children William, Colin and Helen to have the
very best education. In 1911, William entered the Royal Military Academy at
Sandhurst as a cadet. He left an officer on 17 July 1912 to join his battalion, the
1st East Lancashire Division, based in Colchester.
Practical information :
From 1st August 2014, to commemorate the Battle of Le Cateau Cambrésis, the
Cambrésis Tourist Office has created a 38 stage Great War circuit. Accessed via a
tour, or Smartphone app, an angel guides visitors from Mons in Belgium to Le
Cateau Cambrésis, through Ligny. The village of Ligny is marked by a totem which
pays tribute to the Chisholm family.
www.tourisme-cambresis.fr
43
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Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Battle of Cambrai 20th
November to 4th December 1917
The Battle of Cambrai, an attack launched against
the Hindenburg Line in November 1917, was yet
another bloody and pointless offensive on the
Western Front. Nevertheless it revealed tactical
innovations on both sides. The most spectacular of
these was the British Army's use of tanks which
were, for the first time, to be a decisive element in a
battle; however the new counter-attack methods
employed by the Germans were probably the most
important leap forward in the short and medium
term.
Deborah or “Mister
Heap’s bus”
The Battle of Cambrai –
20th November 1917
Philippe Gorczynski, an
hotelkeeper in Cambrai and
a passionate of history and
the region, became convinced
that “Deborah”, one of the
tanks used during the battle
of Cambrai, was in fact buried
on the battlefield and set out
to investigate. In 1998 his
efforts were finally rewarded:
the tank buried, at a depth of
some two and a half metres,
was uncovered in a field! This
relic, now a Historic
Monument, will become the
centrepiece of a museum
display that tells the story of
the Battle of Cambrai. Due to
open November 2016.
The attack began on 20 November at 6.20 a.m.
along a ten kilometres wide front. The Tank Corps
provided 476 tanks (of which 350 were armed) to
lead six infantry divisions into the field. The
bombardment which accompanied the attack was
carefully timed and took the Germans by surprise.
Preceded by a rain of explosive shells, the tanks
made quick progress and soon reached the enemy's
trenches. The Hindenburg Line had never before
been so deeply penetrated. The surprise and terror
provoked by the tanks among the German ranks
caused several units to retreat and the British took
8,000 prisoners on the first day of the offensive.
Never had an attack advanced so quickly since 1914
and by the evening of 20 November the British vanguard had won nine kilometres of terrain
and was closing in on Cambrai.
But once again the problem of capitalizing on the initial breakthrough reared its head.
By the time the fighting had come to a close, on 4 December, the initial and unexpected
success of the British Army had deteriorated into a total failure. All the terrain which had been
won in the initial stages of the offensive had to be abandoned and the losses, although similar
for both sides, were high. The British casualties amounted to 44,000 killed, wounded and lost
in action (including 6,000 prisoners) and the Germans 45,000 (including 10,000 prisoners).
44
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Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Flesquières Ridge panorama
The Monument of the Nations at Flesquières
was unveiled on the 24th of November 2007 in
memory of the men who took part in the
offensives during the Battle of Cambrai in
November 1917. The avenues are a symbolic
representation of the British flag, the Union
Jack, and each of them leads to one of the focal
points of the battle. One leads to the viewpoint
indicator.
In the centre, the bare concrete represents the
Hindenburg Line and its bunkers. It is imprinted
with the caterpillar tracks of a tank heading
towards Cambrai followed by the footsteps of
the infantry, a sign that the German lines had been broken.
On the wall are inscribed the names of the Allied regiments involved. Roses planted on the site of a
military cemetery which has now disappeared can still be seen like a message of hope, still flowering.
Cf: In Search of the lost tank
Louverval Military cemetery and Cambrai
Memorial, Doignies
Beside the Louverval war cemetery, the Cambrai Memorial pays
tribute to 7000 Commonwealth soldiers killed during the Battle of
Cambrai.
Pay homage to Ewart Alan McKintosh
Soldier–poet Lieutenant Ewart Alan Mckintosh fell in action in fighting at Cantaing sur Escaut on the
21st of November 1917.
A Scot born in Brighton, he studied at Oxford and signed up in 1915, landing in Etaples as a Second
Lieutenant in the 5th (Sutherland and Caithness) Battalion Seaforth Highlanders. He was sent to the
Somme, where he wrote his first great poem, “In No Man’s Land”. On the 16th of May 1916, like the
“cobbers” at Fromelles, he carried in on his back two men wounded on the battlefield at Arras. This
action earned him the Military Cross but the loss of two soldiers, among them David Sutherland, had a
grave effect on him. His poem “In Memoriam” carries the dedication: “So you were David’s father, and
he was your only son”. Wounded a few months later, he returned home for convalescence and fell in
love with his nurse, Sylvia Marsh, to whom he became engaged. Nevertheless he re-enlisted and set off
back to France, from where he explained to Sylvia in October 1917 that “the dead men’s hands were
beckoning, and I knew that I must go. The dead men’s eyes were watching, lass, their lips were asking
too. We faced it out and paid the price – are we betrayed by you?” During the Battle of Cambrai, he
was killed by a bullet to the head on the 21st of November 1917. He was buried in Orival Wood
Cemetery, Flesquières.
45
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Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Spring Offensive 1918
The Spring Offensive, also known as the Kaiserschlacht (Battle of the Kaiser) or the Ludendorff
Offensive) is a term used for the series of German counter-attacks on the Western Front
between the 21st of March and the 18th of July 1918. The Germans had realised that their
only remaining chance of winning the war was to destroy the Allies before the United States
could deploy enough troops in Europe to topple the Reich. 50 German divisions were
moreover being redeployed along the Western Front following the signing of the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk with revolutionary Russia.
Several German operations were carried out: Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau and BlücherYorck. Michael was the main attack, intended to break through the Allied lines and outflank
the British forces from the Somme to the Channel. Once this had succeeded, they hoped that
the French would seek an armistice. The other offensives were subordinated to Michael and
were designed to divert the Allied forces from the principal offensive on the Somme.
Kaiserschlacht: The German Spring Offensive of 1918
The second phase of the German offensive (Operation “Georgette”, also known as the Battle
of the Lys) was launched in French Flanders on the 9th of April. For Ludendorff, it was “double
or quits”. The scenario was the same as the first phase: a spectacular breakthrough on the Lys,
the rapid taking of Estaires (9-10 April, accompanied by the torching of the town) and the
Messine Ridge (10-11 April), an advance on Hazebrouck which ground to a halt close by this
major rail junction (12-15 April), the destruction and capture of Bailleul (12-15 April), an initial
battle on Mont Kemmel (17-19 April) and a new setback in reaching Béthune which brought
with it the furious and massive bombardment of the whole of the town centre.
Whist several Britsh divisions tried to check the German attack with often derisory methods –
makeshift barricades in the streets of Armentières and Bailleul, or delaying tactics by groups of
fighters on railway embankments – others crumbled under the violent impact; it was the same
for the Portuguese Expeditionary Force which was smashed to pieces outside Neuve-Chapelle.
To come to the assistance of his endangered ally, Foch decided to send in French troops as
reinforcements. It was these French units which suffered the apocalyptic bombardment in the
Second Battle of Kemmel on the 25 th and 26th of April. Despite their major losses, the Allies
managed to stabilise the front. On the 29th of April, the Kaiserschlacht ended in an
acknowledgement of failure.
The scale of losses was considerable, on both sides, because of the size and the duration of
the double offensive. The British lost 236,000 men between the 21st of March and the 29th of
April; the nature of the losses was striking: relatively few killed (20,000 nevertheless), many
disappeared (120,000, most of them captured). Numerically, the French suffered fewer losses
(92 000), but the proportion of those killed was high in the units fighting on the Kemmel. As
for the Germans, they lost in the same period 348,000 men.
46
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4th November 1918: the death of Wilfred
Owen
Wilfred Owen’s last days
“Dearest Mother, I will call
this place from which I’m
now writing ‘The smoky
Cellar of the Forester’s
House”
Huddled in a damp cellar,
Wilfred Owen and his men were cold and hungry. They rested
and shared out a few pieces of chocolate from a parcel sent by
Wilfred’s mother. On the 31st of October 1918, by the light of
a candle, Wilfred Owen took up his pen and replied with these
reassuring words from the smoke-filled cellars of the house in
the forest: “It is a great life. I am more oblivious than alas!
yourself, dear Mother, of the ghastly glimmering of the guns
outside, & the hollow crashing of the shells.”
The war was approaching its end. The Allies had extensively
broken through the Hindenburg Line and were retaking territories occupied by the Germans, but there
were a few pockets of resistance still to be taken. In Ors, the Germans were dug in at a farm on the
other side of the canal. The order was given to Second Lieutenant Wilfred Owen to cross over the
canal.
On that 4th of November morning, Ors was enveloped in thick fog. Wilfred beat
a path through the shattered woodlands of the Bois l’Evêque with its smashed
or uprooted trees. The village was in ruins. During the preceding two weeks, the
people had fled the infernal din of the planes unleashing a hail of bullets. All
that remained were splinters of rails and wood, cubic metres of dust and the
splattered debris of brick and stone hurled over 200 metres through the air.
Orders are orders! Despite the warning from Colonel Marshall to his senior
command that the position was unassailable, Wilfred Owen advanced to the
normally peaceful banks of the canal. The fog lifted and the men were caught in
a hail of shots. The brave conduct of some of them who tried to build a pontoon
bridge was in vain. “Tac tac tac” – it was all over. Wilfred was hit on the towpath. He was only 25 years
of age. On the 3rd of October 1991, a commemorative stone was put in position by the canal.
47
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
A few short steps from the Sambre-Oise canal, the Ors British
Cemetery is one of the village’s two military cemeteries. It was laid
out to receive the remains of over 40 soldiers who perished that
morning during the assault on the German positions. The other men
who fell that day on the canal in Ors are buried in the military
section of Ors village cemetery. Among them are Colonel James
Marshall and Second Lieutenant Wilfred Owen. On Wilfred’s
gravestone is carved the epitaph: “Shall Life renew these bodies? Of
a truth All death will he annul”, added by his mother, Susan Owen, and taken from her son’s poem,
“The End”. Incorporating a slight change from Wilfred’s original
words, Susan has added a message of hope.
Turning round and going back to the edge of the Bois l’Evêque, the
brickwork of the Maison Forestière gives way to an immaculate white
in which an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity reigns. Transformed
into a work of art by Simon Patterson, the house is a book opened at
the poetry of Wilfred Owen. Through the voice of Kenneth Branagh,
Wilfred Owen’s lines resound in an Olympian calm. Visitors go down
into the cellar via a swirling spiral staircase on which Wilfred’s letter
is engraved for all time. And, after a few moments of reflection and
meditation, they will hear Wilfred writing to his mother his reassuring
words of the 31st October 1918: “There is no danger here, or if any, it
will be well over before you read these lines”.
A week later, Susan Owen opened the letter informing her of her
son’s death, while the bells of the parish church rang out to
announce the signing of the Armistice. “Dulce et decorum est pro
patria mori”*.
* It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country.
The commitment of Jacky Duminy – Mayor of Ors, a commune of 653 souls
At the ceremony for the placing of the commemorative stone on the 3rd of
October 1991, it all started for Jacky Duminy, the mayor of Ors. On being
approached by British visitors who had come to pay their respects at the
tomb of Wilfred Owen and who were asking to visit the cellar of the
Forester’s House, Jacky Duminy became interested in the war poet Wilfred
Owen. He wanted to have someone translate these realistic poems
describing the brutality and horrors of the war in the trenches and the gas
attacks. Among the best known of these poems are Dulce Et Decorum Est,
Anthem for Doomed Youth and Strange Meeting. His research threw up a number of strange
coincidences. The Wilfred Owen Association pointed out that his poems had already been translated
by Roger ASSELINEAU, who was none other than his godfather. Jacky set up the Association Wilfred
Owen France and learnt that Owen’s last letter to his mother had been written in the Forester’s
House. The project began to take shape. The cellar of a brick-built house became a monument
dedicated to the poems and the memory of Wilfred Owen.
48
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Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
The Wilfred Owen Trail – Official opening 2nd June
2013
To mark the 120th
anniversary of his birth,
Nord Tourisme opened
the Wilfred Owen
walking trail and its
associated interpretation
panels. Starting out from
the Maison Forestière,
the Forester’s House
which is dedicated to the
poet and was opened on
the 1st of October 2011,
it leads via his last path through the Bois L’Evêque to the canal
where he lost his life with soldiers of his regiment. Visitors can
stop for a final meditation and act of remembrance by his grave in
the village cemetery in Ors.
Start of the walking tour from
La Maison Forestière - Route Départemantale 959, “Bois l'évêque"
59360 ORS
Press contacts
The Forester’s House – Inaugurated
1st October 2011
An artistic project by Simon
Patterson
Having noticed the numerous
visitors who come to Ors to pay tribute to
Wilfred Owen, the poet and soldier killed
during an offensive near this village in the
north of France, the mayor and the
inhabitants decided to set up an ambitious
project based on the Forester's house where
the poet spent his last days and it was from
there that he wrote his last letter home.
Owen was tragically killed in action at the
nearby Sambre-Oise Canal just a week
before the war ended, causing news of his
death to reach home as the town’s church
bells rang out for the armistice. The project
aims to highlight the contemporary and
universal nature of the poet's work.
The exterior of the house remains ostensibly
the same, but the walls are rendered white,
the roof is white and the whole building
looks like a solid sculptural object. The house
stands out like a ‘bleached bone’ against the
dark forest.
Viewed from the north, the roof appears
normal but when viewed from the south, the
structure reveals itself to be in the form of
an open ‘book’, face down with spine
uppermost, the ‘pages’ constructed out of
glass to admit maximum daylight into the
interior.
The central idea is to create a sanctuary
away from the outside world. The interior
therefore is gutted, leaving an open white
space, lit from above. The interior of the
house is clad with a translucent skin of glass
onto which are etched drafts of Owen’s
Anthem for Doomed Youth.
The cellar remains untouched and is
accessed by a curved ramp alongside which
runs the text of Owen’s last letter home to
his mother.
The forest house is neither a museum nor a
memorial to Owen; instead, it’s meant to be
a quiet place for reflection and the
contemplation of poetry.
The Forester’s House is open to visitors free
of charge
Route Départementale 959, "Bois
49l'évêque"
59360 ORS
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
4th November 1918: Liberation of Le
Quesnoy
A daring band of Kiwi soldiers who in 1918 single-handedly retook
Le Quesnoy by scaling the walls sealed the still strong links with
New Zealand. In a deed of considerable derring–do they not only
stormed the ramparts of the most extensive walled town in Nord–Pas de Calais, but did so without
losing the life of any of the 55,000 French residents. Of the 400 New Zealand casualties, 93 died in
action – marked by a simple memorial within the garden grounds of the stunning Vauban designed
fortress laced with walks. Don’t miss Teko Teko the Maori giant, a gift from the New Zealand Rifle
Brigade. He is next to Pierre Bimberlot the town’s wicker giant.
One of the largest fortified towns in France, Le Quesnoy was captured by the Germans and used as
garrison town during the four years of the Great War. But on 4 November 1918, New Zealand soldiers
scaled the fortifications with ladders and succeeded in liberating the town. The New Zealand
monument, built on the ramparts of Le Quesnoy, commemorates this event, known as ‘Anzac Day’.
Every year in autumn and spring, New Zealanders come to Le Quesnoy to pay tribute to their
countrymen and to celebrate their victory here.
Le Quesnoy New Zealand Memorial
On 4 November 1918 the town of Le Quesnoy was
liberated by New Zealand troops who scaled the
Vauban fortifications using simple wooden ladders.
Fastened to the rampart wall, the New Zealand
Memorial not only depicts the events of that
memorable operation it also shows the Kiwi
national emblem: a silver fern. Ninety years on
from the Armistice of the First World War, the
liberation of Le Quesnoy remains one of the most
significant events in the history of the New Zealand
Army.
50
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Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Armentières and Bailleul destroyed in April 1918 and
reconstructed after the war
Briefly occupied by the Germans in October 1914, Bailleul soon became a rearguard base for
the British Army fighting on the front in Flanders. However on 15 April 1918 the Germans once
again took the town as they advanced westwards. For more than three months, until its
liberation on 31 July, Bailleul was shelled almost everyday by the British and, later, the French.
More than 100,000 shells landed on the town, destroying 98% of its buildings. Used
extensively by the Commonwealth for stationing troops prior to the Battles of Ypres, the
Flanders town of Armentières was a British stronghold for much of the Great War. On 10 April
1918, during the Battle of the Lys, Armentières was evacuated by the British in the face of the
advancing German Army. The town was subsequently bombarded by the Allies to render its
roads, railways and buildings useless to the invading army.
The rebuilding: Louis Marie Cordonnier –architect of the
post war era
Hullabaloo was the
The Fairy Mélusine still stands guard over the town.
nickname given to
Lille architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier was given the responsibility for
Bailleul by the British
rebuilding Bailleul and relished the opportunity to produce designs
which reflected the Flemish ideal; however he did respect the traditions
soldiers. Unable to
of certain dogmas, as can be seen in Saint-Vaast Church which is faithful
to the Romano-Byzantine style. Probably the greatest achievement of
pronounce the name
the architect from Lille was his design for the town hall and the bell
they used unusual
tower, buildings which the Flemish consider to be symbols of their
turns of phrase
independence. He gave full vent to his regionalist ideas by including a
central brattice, a corner tower, corbie-steps, and an impressive roof
punctuated with dormer windows to give the building a strong Flemish
character. The adjoining bell tower, also built in brick, towers a lofty 62
metres above the ancient guardroom and is topped with an onion dome and a statue of
Mélusine, the fairy protectoress of the town.
Mademoiselle from Armentières and the Flemish Renaissance
In Armentières, he seized the opportunity afforded to him by the
reconstruction effort to redesign the town centre according to the
ideals of the Flemish Renaissance. He was responsible for an iconic
feature of the town in the shape of the 67-metre high bell tower,
decorated with bartizans and machicolation, which today dominates
the central square. The town hall is another fine illustration of his
Flanders style with its ornate facade, grand staircase and a great hall
worthy of any burgomaster.
51
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Cordonnier also designed the pyramid-shaped war monument in the town square, sculpted by
Edgar Boutry, and the market hall which is today a venue for live entertainment. Another
edifice of note is Saint-Vaast Church whose neo-Gothic grandeur dominates the town hall with
its 83-metre-high bell tower. The architects of the Reconstruction also turned their attention
to restoring industrial buildings and an example of this is the old Motte-Cordonnier Brewery
built on the banks of the Lys River. Interesting civilian architecture on the street named after
President Kennedy is the result of some friendly rivalry between the town's prominent citizens
as they rebuilt their homes.
Cambrai liberated in October 1918
Cambrai was eventually liberated on 8th October 1918 when the Canadians, encountering
little resistance, took the town. The month before their withdrawal, the Germans evacuated
the town and set fire to its centre. Symbolic of the destruction the Germans wreaked in the
town, the jacquemarts which struck the hour on the chimes of the town hall clock
(affectionately known as Martin and Martine) were wrenched from their perch and thrown to
the ground. A new town centre raised from the ashes.
In the aftermath of the war it was clear that the
town centre had to be rebuilt because more than
half of the houses had been destroyed and the
town hall was greatly damaged. A committee
comprising elected representatives, engineers,
architects and artists decided to completely rethink
the area and entrusted the task to architect Pierre
Leprince-Ringuet who drew up a new and modern
layout for the centre. Around the town hall, which
he had rebuilt in its original 18th-century style,
Leprince-Ringuet grouped together the various
different activities of the town: the court, the chamber of commerce and the post office were
placed around the Place de la République; the prefectural offices were rebuilt on Place
Fénelon Square; and the shopping district was concentrated around the Place d’Armes, in
Flemish-style buildings. In all, a multitude of squares and streets were built and enlarged to
facilitate the movement of traffic and make Cambrai the modern but characterful town it is
today.
52
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
THEY HAVE A STORY TO TELL
In Search of the Lost Tank
The Battle of Cambrai
20th November 1917
At 06:20 on the 20th of November 1917, nine battalions
of the British Tank Corps launched an assault on the
Hindenburg Line.The attack was a triumph. But by
nightfall 150 of the 476 tanks in the offensive had been
knocked out of action. One of these was "Deborah
D51" which was abandoned at the edge of the village
of Flesquières with the bodies of its five crew men lying in the still smouldering wreckage.
Philippe Gorczynski, an hotelkeeper in Cambrai and a passionate of history and the region, became
convinced that “Deborah” was in fact buried on the Cambrai battlefield and set out to investigate. In
1998 his efforts were finally rewarded: the tank buried, at a depth of some two and a half metres,
was uncovered in a field! This relic, now an Historic Monument, was to become the centrepiece of a
museum display that tells the story of the Battle of Cambrai.
The passion that drives Philippe Gorczynski, started back in 1965, a time when he regularly spent
school holidays in the Somme. Here in the woods, fields and under the ground, traces of the 19141918 battles are omnipresent. The rusted remains of war were naturally an attraction for all the lads of
the village. Shells, cartridges, old rifles, bayonets, regimental badges, etc., all were collected in a state
of perhaps sublime ignorance and with not a little imprudence.
Later however and inspired by Michel Bacquet, a Cambrai businessman who has devoted much energy
and part of his life to historical research, Philippe Gorczynski read Bacquet’s book: "Cambrai, Battle for
Three Steeples" and it soon became one of his favourite resources.
In 1977, Michel Bacquet organised ceremonies to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the battle.
For a final time and with intense emotion, many British, Canadian and German veterans gathered at
the site. During the event, Philippe seized the opportunity to meet many of the old soldiers who had
been part of the 1917 offensive.
The impression this left on him led to an important decision: Philippe planned to start a new collection,
this one to the living and one that would be brought to life through the memories of the men and
women who fought through and survived after the war. Thus he set off on a journey of discovery. At
Ribécourt-la-Tour, he met a Madame Bouleux and her daughter, a meeting he admits he will not readily
forget. For Madame Bouleux told him: "as a little girl, I witnessed the burial of a tank, in the village of
Flesquières, it took place in the fields in front of my parents’ cafe."
Philippe was quick to realise the importance of this titbit. In Cambrai there was no monument neither
was there a museum to commemorate and explain the battles of 1917.
Philippe made a reconnaissance of the area and followed this up with a field survey which however
produced no results. Meanwhile other testimonies surfaced that contradicted his primary source ... but
Philippe is not a man who gives up easily. He continued his research in British and German archives
spending hours, days even, scanning reports from tank commanders to their superiors. Most of these
53
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Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
documents had been written in November 1917 on the battlefields. Under his microscope went the
battle logs of divisions and regiments, maps of trenches and photos taken at the time.
Helped by a colonel in charge of the military air
base BA 103 Cambrai-Epinoy and the Niergnies
Flying Club, the researchers flew over and
photographed areas that might show signs of
the buried tank. These aerial photographs were
compared with those made in 1917-18 by the
British and German squadrons and with others
made after the war by civil aviation authorities.
Even a dowser with his divining rod was called
in to help!
Six years after the start of the research he and
his friend Jean-Luc Gibot, another local history
buff, published the results of their work under
the title " Next the Tanks". A copy was personally handed over to the British monarch Queen Elizabeth
II.
The research showed that all the collected data overlapped
while electronic detection resources using military equipment
definitively confirmed the location of the lost tank.
On the 5th of November 1998, a crane began the first dig but
the initial result was negative nevertheless the searchers
pressed on. Two hours later at a depth of 2 metres, the crane
bucket scraped along the bottom of the hole with a shrill
squeak. Philippe peered in and his eyes filled with tears!
Where the clay was mixed with rust, riveted metal plates had
appeared. There was no doubt about it the abandoned tank had been found!
By the 20th of November 1998, the soil was completely cleared away and three days later the tank was
fully exhumed and moved to the shelter of a local farmyard.
Thanks to the Tank Museum in England, the recovered tank was positively identified as "Deborah D51"
from No. 12 Section of the 12th Company commanded at the time by 2/Lt Frank Heap. Letters, objects,
and medals were found as well as a photograph from 1917 showing the destroyed tank bearing the
slogan "Mister Heap's bus". This image reflects the pride of the soldiers who went to the front and it
honours veterans whose story has finally been told, 99 years after the event ... so that we shall never
forget.
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Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
FORT DE SECLIN
This 19th century fort which captured the hearts of the Boniface family
Is now home to an extraordinary collection relating to the First World War
Former home to Bavarian troops fighting in Fromelles
It all started in the 1970s in what used to be a sweets
factory in Lille. Didier Boniface, the father of five
children, was in the habit of accumulating there lots of
military uniforms, medals and kepis, an obsession
which rapidly caught on with the whole family. Today,
his youngest daughter Sophie is inviting me to her Séré
de Rivières fort in Seclin to the south of Lille, home to
these accumulated objects which have now become an
extraordinary and unique collection of artillery pieces and horse-drawn wagons. So much for the
exhibits, but these walls also bear witness to the crossed destinies of the men involved. A Bavarian
regiment took up residence there during the First World War and this same regiment was on the front
line during the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. Liberated in October 1918 by the 6th Battalion, the
King’s Liverpool Regiment, it was used as a British Army field hospital until 1920… These and other
stories Sophie tells today to visitors whose curiosity is aroused and who pass through the gates into the
grounds of her estate.
Setting off from Lille on a misty morning, it takes me only ten minutes to reach Seclin, leaving the
urban landscape and its industrial zones behind and entering a kind of no man’s land. I take a country
road and can make out some brick walls under an earth mound. Turning off onto a cobbled street I
spot the caponnières and a number of ventilation shafts. Built in 1873, the 15 hectare fort was part of
the network of defences south of Lille.
Sophie opens the doors leading on to her world. We cross a bridge, go through a tunnel and find
ourselves at the very heart of the fort, in the middle of a courtyard off which are underground
passages, barrack quarters and dormitories, a very masculine world in which Sophie is quite at ease.
“When I was a child, I would play in the shells of tanks.” She leads me, closely followed by her two
sons, to her favourite play area. In the former barrack room is the
present-day museum. “An idea which came to me during an
anniversary celebration,” Sophie tells me. In 1976, her father Didier
was struck, during a stay in Britain, with the beauty of the horses’
harnesses. Today, in an area of some 400 m², Didier’s passion has
led to a chronologically arranged display of German, French and
British wagons and tanks from 1870 to the FT 17, including the
famous thirteen pounder, the emblematic cannon of the British
artillery.
To get this far, a lot of elbow grease was called for. Having acquired
the fort in 1995 for a symbolic one franc payment, Didier the
father, Annick the mother, Sophie and her brothers all rolled up their sleeves. Clearing the ground and
cleaning everything became their daily lot, often at nights too. In 2000, the family finally moved in. In
2003, the “14-18” museum opened when Sophie was 23 years old. She was an Erasmus student
abroad, and turned down job offers in order to return briskly to her first love, her fort. Today, followed
55
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
by her two blond-haired sons, she never tires of exploring its nooks and crannies to unearth items such
as a French soldier’s flask, a boot-waxing kit or a British newspaper from August 1918. These
mementoes help swell the museum’s collections, while the fort itself has still not yielded all of its
secrets. To help share them with visitors, Sophie and her family are creating accommodation in the
former officers’ barracks and she will met up with other visitors from Britain or Australia who are
pleased to be able to spend a short time of conviviality with a French family over soup and cheese. The
children get to know these visitors from other parts but doubtless other projects are already running
through their little heads.
www.fortseclin.com.
Reservations: [email protected]
From April to 11th November, Saturdays and Sundays at 3 pm (except public holidays). Gates open and
close 5 mins before each tour. Concessionary rates for visitors presenting the EuroPiat guide. Open
daily by arrangement for visitors with Lille CityPass, visitors from abroad and groups.
Historical re-enactments are taking place every year mid October to celebrate the liberation of the
fort in October 1918.
56
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Michel Lannoo, Greeter,
A source of countless anecdotes on the history of the 1st World War
Or how the idea of the Unknown Soldier was born here.
The tiny French town of Erquinghem-Lys, close to Armentieres, is brimming with World War
One memories, recorded by local historian Michel Lannoo, now in his sixties, while chatting
with British visitors to its two Commonwealth cemeteries.
Helping him has been Jack Thorpe, whose Grimsby-born father, himself a British
soldier,stayed on in France at the end of World War Two for ‘reasons of the heart’. Between
them, they have discovered that the tradition of paying homage to the Unknown Soldier
could well have started here – as could Ch’ti, a unique form of patois spoken by locals and
in the trenches.
This is said to have originated when a linguist of French origin, living in London with his family, enlisted in the French army during
the Great War. Unable to understand his Northern comrades, despite having perfect French, he compiled a glossary of Ch’ti terms.
This was later published in Britain.
Also buried amid the stories surrounding the Churchyard Military Cemetery and the Suffolk Military Cemetery at La Ronlanderie
Farm is how a courageous young stretcher-bearer, Arthur Poulter, calmly rescued around 40 of his brothers-in-arms for which he
was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Another tells of how the epitaph “A soldier of the Great War/ Known unto God” starkly carved on crosses caught the eye of Rev
David Railton, a chaplain based in Erquinghem-Lys, as he walked through the church cemetery on his way from the infirmary in
the Parc Deliot to the priest’s house. He vowed to do his utmost to honour the memory of these victims of war once the fighting
was over.
The concept came to fruition when in 1920, as part of British commemorations to honour those who fell during the Great War,
one of six bodies exhumed from major battle areas on Western Front was taken via Dover on HMS Verdun to Westminster Abbey.
Among those paying their respect during the interment in what became the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was Arthur Poulter. It
is now one of the most visited war graves in the world. In France the Tombe du Soldat Inconnu was placed in the Arc de Triomphe.
The idea of a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier then spread to other countries.
Michel’s interest in Erquinghem-Lys, began when, microphone in hand, he asked his parents to describe life in the small riverside
town, with its population of just 4,400. His hobby quickly began a passion. So much so, the former computer expert now has his
own website on the town’s history (www. Erquinghem-Lys.com) Nowadays Brits arriving on Armistice Day November 11 are not
only greeted with pipers playing their own National Anthem but quickly get to know Michel and Jack. More stories start to flow,
with medals, notebooks, paintings and a host of other wartime items also being handed over for safekeeping at the Musée
d’Ercan, 59193. This opened on June 5, 2005.
Run by Erquinghem-Lys et its History Association, it now houses some 140 mementoes donated by British families with relatives
buried locally. Its three galleries contain documents, reminiscences, weapons, uniforms, photos and other assorted items
retracing the major periods in the town’s history to the present day. Entry to the museum, which opens on Sundays or by
arrangement, is free.
Michel is one of the Nord’s 40 Greeters – volunteers passionate about the locality they live in – who offer free of charge tailormade tours on a variety of topics, from history and architecture to local flora and fauna. (see: www.nordgreeters.com) The
Greeters system originated in New York in 1922 and now operates worldwide.
The role-played by Erquinghem-Lys stemmed from the winter of 1914 when after the so-called war of movement and the “race to
the sea”, the front remained stable until the spring of 1918. Situated a few kilometres from the front, the town became a forward
base occupied by troops from the Commonwealth. The Germans were established a few kilometres away in the area around Bois
Grenier.
In April 1918, the Germans mounted their Georgette offensive, their final attempt to reach the North Sea. The front gave way and
the town was occupied from April to August, until the German advance was repelled. The town fell victim to fighting and was
razed to the ground; nothing more than a metre high was left standing
57
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]
Like a Christmas present
December 1914 – December 2014… 100 years on Chistmas truce
On the Armentières front, between Houplines and Frelinghien at the Ferme de la Moutarderie
(Hobb’s Farm) a brief fraternisation between Scottish and German troops almost spelt the end of the
war… One month before Christmas, Karl comes back again to the letter which his great grandfather
had sent to his wife Anna on the 26th of December 1914, a letter to which was attached a mysterious
piece of cloth.
December 1914, in the sodden trenches, Lieutenant Johannes Niemann casts his
mind back: “Here, by the Moutarderie farm, the soldiers were collapsing under the weight of Christmas gifts. In spite of
the cold and the damp, everyone was jammed packed together and there was a joyful mood. Our fellow soldiers started to sing
Christmas carols. Facing us, about 500 metres away, hidden behind their sandbags in their camp in the wood, there were the
Cameronians and Seaforth Highlanders from Scotland. My comrades wanted to have a bit of Christmas fun, it was after all
the 24th of December. The Scots replied with jeers of mistrust. From our trenches, we brandished a Christmas tree. There was
fire from the other side… And yet, early in the morning, we stood up and revealed ourselves, calling out “Happy Christmas” to
the soldiers opposite and moving on into no-man’s-land. We had to show we were unarmed. A Scottish soldier came to meet us.
”Happy Christmas, Fritz”, he replied. We started to exchange memories, talk about our families. We shared a nice hare stew
together and formed bonds of friendship with these soldiers in their skirts, and we teased them about their dress. I remember one of
my men saying “it’s unthinkable that a man should be wearing a skirt”. In response, one of them hitched up what he called his
kilt and showed his backside. His dress didn’t stop him running after the ball. The football match ended in a 3-2 win for our
team before the ball ended up in the barbed wire. Confident and embracing one another, we were certain that the war would be
over in just a few days. But the next day, this fraternisation was just a memory. In spite of our friendships of a day, the war in
the trenches started up again.” Karl put the letter down and rubbed the piece of cloth again his
cheek… the message he had received the day before now made real sense to him.
Tomorrow, he would pack his case and leave for Scotland. He would get to know this
unknown stranger who had told him that their respective great-grandfathers had
been old friends.
Exhibition: The Christmas 1914 Truce- Armentières
26 November to 7 December 2014, in partnership with the Regiment of Royal
Welsh Fusiliers and the Sachsen Infantry Regiment in Armentières Town Hall.
Exhibition organised by a descendent of Captain Clifton Inglis Stockwell of the
Royal Welsh
Commemorative Football match 19th to 21st December 2014
Tournament for fan teams from England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales,
Germany, France and Belgium
8 national teams’ very own fan teams will fi ght a friendly match on the site where
100 years ago football proved to be a unifying factor. Part of the weekend will also
be spent exploring the area on foot.
Final on the Flanders Peace Field in Mesen.
Qualifying matches in Mesen, Comines-Warneton and Armentières.
More information http://www.fplusf.be
58
Press contacts
Nord tourism – Delphine Bartier – Phone : + 33 320 57 50 12 – Mobile : + 33 674 19 39 45 – E mail : [email protected]
Pas de Calais tourism – Benoît Diéval – Phone : + 33 321 10 34 68 – Mobile : + 33 683 15 72 67 E-mail : [email protected]
Nord Pas de Calais tourism – Katia Breton – Phone : + 33 320 14 57 59 – Mobile : + 33 608 34 76 15 – E-mail : [email protected]