THE SOUTH ARRAS SECTOR DURING WWI
From first Artois Battle (october 1914), Battles of Arras, to Hindenburg Line battles 1917 - 1918
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In Nord-Pas-de-Calais Region, During the second half of the First World War for March 1917 (before Arras Batlle begins) until September 1918, among others, the valleys of the Sensee river and Cojeul river (South of Artois, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Hauts de France) were a particularly dangerous sector mainly because of the presence of the famous "Hindenburg Line" (British name, "Seigfried Stellung "for the Germans," Grande Tranchée" sometimes for the French or "Ligne Hindenburg").
The villages on or around the Hindenburg Line crossing, after more than two years of occupation (since early October 1914), will undergo many changes : first by the German occupation in itself because of the providing engineering necessary for communications, transport of troops and equipment, hospitals, cemeteries hospitals, cemeteries... that will flourish especially during 1916 and the Battle of the Somme. The absence of men in the fields, the seizure of livestock and crops, and the requisitioning of factories also served its purpose in the early years of the war. Then, by the creation of the Seigfriedstellung which forces the Germans, in addition to the line itself (construction started late September 1916) who will not fail to scour our territory, made further changes in the sectors concerned : roads, bridges, railroad tracks, prison camps (70000 men will be attached to the construction : prisoners Russians, Belgians ... Germans, professional or military, civilians ...), storage area for barbed wire or concreat.... The Operation Alberish (German retreat with ransacking to regain the Hindenburg positions) will also do its job. And last but not least because of the total destruction of the area between March 1917 and September 1918, during which time the Hindenbrug Line will be under almost uninterrupted fire particularly during main phase known as "Arras Battle" until the Anglo-Canadian victorious August-September 1918 offensive. 100 days, Hundred Days Offensive).
The rebuilding of Hauts de France and more precisely the 100% devastated of Arras area after mainly the Battle of Arras and after, will only start in the early 1920s with people returning from all over France, who had the courage to find their home ruins braving the prohibition to rebuild areas classified "Red Zone" ).
The Hindenburg Line Museum will offer you the possibility to follow the actors of this local history.
1917 - Why Hindenburg Line? - MAin Local FACTS
Discover the chain of major events spent in Hauts de France that led to the Siegfriedstellung in front of Arras and 1917 battles
- October 2-4, 1914: German invasion of the ARRAS sector - The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife on June 28, 1914 brought Europe and then, through alliances, the world into the Great War. Germany then launches its offensive on August 17, 1914 set up by Helmuth Von Moltke : the Schlieffen plan consisting of the attack of France, by Belgium, violating the neutrality of the latter, in a vast movement turning by the north of Paris with this city as main objective. The aim being to launch this advance as quickly as possible, before another front opens to the east. The Russian mobilization, faster than expected by the German command, implies a reorganization of the original plan by shortening it. The German troops thus oblique southwards in front of Paris, only to be finally stopped and pushed back by the armies of General Joffre (episode of the famous "cabs de la Marne"). It is then the "race to the sea" which follows the Schlieffen plan and the Battle of the Marne: the German troops, pushed back, try to take by the flank the bulk of the French troops, the latter do the same from the north, and so on in the direction of the North Sea. The Germans advanced quickly northward to bypass the French forces, and were stopped by the 10th French army in front of Arras. The French troops harassed the German troops with the 75 mm cannon. Fighting broke out at Guémappe, Wancourt, Neville-Vitasse, Mercatel - a few clashes between dragon riders, cuirassier and Uhlans were reported here and there, as at Croisilles and in villages submerged by the German wave, but nothing was done, all these villages were already lost. Clashes follow one after the other... In the sector, the Germans ended up advancing a little further west and were stopped at the gates of Arras and, in the Somme, at those of Albert. Still with alternating attempts to take the opposing army by its flank, clashes multiplied towards the north in this episode of the "Race to the Sea" that continued. Fighting raged notably north of Arras, in the direction of Lens, around Ablain Saint Nazaire, Souchez, Givenchy-en-Gohelle..., and the infamous hill of Notre Dame de Lorette (October 1914 - October 1915) culminating, like the nearby Vimy Ridge, in the strategic coalfields of Lens. Little is known about it, but before the Canadian troops took Vimy Ridge in April 1917 and shed their blood there in turn, French troops by their Moroccan division broke through the German lines on May 9, 1915 without, unfortunately, this advance being able to be realized by a total capture of Vimy Ridge. The retreat had to be sounded after severe losses were suffered by the colonial troops.
The front and the fighting got bogged down. Positions came to a standstill in the autumn of 1915. Quickly on the conquered ground, the invader settles in. It is already the beginning of the German occupation in the sector around Croisilles. There were months of deprivation, bullying raged, the villages and their inhabitants were subjected to parades, magazines, foreign habits, requisitioning of animals or crops, then as the months went by, with the fighting in the west as well as in the Somme, many hospitals ended up flourishing with their almost adjoining cemeteries, ... they filled up little by little ... As much as the civilians have to suffer deprivation, as much as the Germans here breathe a little... we are already in 1916, the British army has now taken place west of our villages. The Battle of Verdun has been raging since February 21, 1916 on the French front, and west of our villages, the German cemeteries are filling up a little faster, indeed, the shells are raining down on the Somme with the launching of a major British attack on July 1, 1916: the Battle of the Somme.
Winter was approaching, after the heavy fighting that had been going on since 1914 in the Marne, in Artois and elsewhere, whereas now German, French and British troops were getting bogged down in the fighting on the Somme and at Verdun, among other places. A conference opened at the rear of the German front, at Cambrai, at the large headquarters of the 6th German Army recently transferred from Douai. The date is 8 September 1916. Attending among others, Guillaume II, the Kronprinz, Paul Von Hindenburg, Erick Lundendorff... During this assembly, the idea of the creation of a defensive line is put forward by Lieutenant-General Fuchs in order to reduce the front and thus save men.
- 27 September 1916 : Start of construction of the Siegfried Stellung (Hindenburg Line) - The Kronprinz Rupprecht von Bayern, to whom the project has been presented, approves it. Colonel Kraemer (artillery officer) is in charge of the construction. Nearly 70,000 men (Germans, Belgians, Russians, French,...) will be employed for 3 months of planned work. The new line of defence, named Siegfreidstellung (named after a hero of a Wagner opera 1876, not to be confused with the Siegfried Line built by the Germans during the Second World War, which somehow faced the Maginot Line) was emerging without the Allies noticing it yet (the first Royal Flying Corps observations attesting to visible work were made at the end of October).
From everywhere comes labour : Russian prisoners, camps are created throughout the future installations, close to the construction sites, among others, in Vis-en-Artois and Fontaine-lès-Croisilles, French or German civilians (especially construction companies), Belgians... A gigantic and unprecedented organization (just as impressive as the future installations themselves) was then set up : roads, bridges, railways, stations, depots, factories in order to produce and transport the necessary equipment for the most important defensive installation created during the First World War.
- October / November 1916 : First British observation of the installations by the Royal Flying Corps - The wide trenches (which would be further widened by the appearance of the first British MkI or "Mother" tanks in September 1916 in Pozières and Flers-Courcelette) were now very visible, the white chalk that had risen from the basement marked the sites of a fabulous and impressive organization of trenches and dense barbed wire fields very clearly visible to the Royal Flying Corps observers. Concrete positions of machine guns (MEBU = Mannschaft EisenBeton Unterstände - Reinforced concrete shelters - Pillboxes for the British soldiers) are visibly sown every 100m on the first line, in staggered rows with those in the second trench. And that's where the tip of the iceberg is....
- February 9, 1917 : Operation Alberich - Under pressure, while the Siegfriedstellung installations were not finished, under the British nose and beard, the Germans applied their defensive strategy : they carried out their withdrawal (Operation Alberich) to the Hindenburg Line. This retreat was accompanied by a systematic destruction of the land granted to the enemy : houses were destroyed, main municipal crossroads were mined, trees were cut on the roads, fields, when possible, were flooded....
- February 22-23, 1917: British discovery of the German retreat and start of pursuit - the activity on the front line of the Somme is unusually loud, after patrolling, the observation is clear: the enemy trenches are empty. The first observations of the departure of the Germans from their trenches took place at Petit Miraumont and were reported by the men of the 7th Royal West Kent on 22 February 1917.
- Mid-March 1917: British pursuit operations - With the help of cavalry and cycling troops, all villages between the old and new German positions are deserted, destroyed, burnt... The pursuers will find it very difficult to follow the Germans in full retreat that they accompany with systematic destruction, devastation provided for in the Alberich plan. The Villages of Irles, Monchy au Bois, Ligny Thilloy were liberated, the Adinfer wood was also empty, Blaireville and Douchy-les-Ayette were both abandoned by the Germans. Towards Beaurains it is the same. The 8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade (Indian troops) launches into the pursuit on the orders of Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough, groups of cyclists will also be employed. Ervillers, Hamelincourt and Moyenneville are empty.
- March 17, 1917 : Croisilles Burns - The British are a few thousand meters from German installations and they are rubbing shoulders with the outposts that are buying time for the troops to take their place in the Siegfried Stellung defence line. A fierce resistance to the surroundings of the Hindenburg system is reported. On 18 March, the pressure is brought by Gough south of Arras with his cavalry which he orders to advance in the direction of Ecoust, Croisilles, Lagnicourt and Henin-Sur-Cojeul (engaged in the race : Lucknow brigade - Jacob's Horse, 29th Lancers, Yorkshire dragoon, 2nd Cyclist corps, 1st King's Dragoon Guards and ANZAC riders -Australian and New Zealand Army Corps).
- March 20, 1917 : Our area is now within the reach of British artillery - the first Allied shells fall on our villages (after those of the French in October 1914).
- April 2, 1917 : Croisilles is in the British hands - This is an indication of the difficulty the British are now facing as they approach the new German defensive positions of the Siegfriedstellung trenches, the village of Croisilles was attacked on March 20, 1917 for the first time by troops from the 6th Northamptonshire (54th Brigade, 18th Division), Jacob's Horse, 1st King's Dragoon Guards (1KDG), and 29th Lancers elements. The first Croisilles battle lasted 14 days and was fought in 3 major assaults where the British lost their first thousand men in our sector for a 1000m advance. British troop intal their positions on Henin-Croisilles - Ecoust line. It was then decided to take advantage of the movement by capitalizing on the pseudo retreat of the Germans, a major attack is planned in a few days, the British guns that arrive will blush, the Germans in the sector will undergo nearly a week of hell preparing for what will be the Battle of Arras.
- 9 April 1917: Battle of Arras, First Battle of the Scarpe, Battle of Vimy Ridge - After the sector was plunged in a deluge of steel for days, action prelude to Battle of Arras , the British and Canadian armies went to the front with from north to south: the Canadian army on Vimy Ridge then the 51st English division, the 37th, there 12th, the 3rd, 56th, 30th and 21st divisions. At Vimy, north of Arras, special efforts were made, the lessons seemingly learned from the carnage of the Battle of the Somme: revised attack strategy, underground mines, coordination, and intensive shelling for days of all strategic positions within artillery range on and around Vimy Ridge itself.... Quickly but not without difficulty, the fortified Vimy Ridge and a good section of the Hindenburg Line was taken by Anglo-Canadian troops at the north end east of Arras. The German positions will be removed in front of Vimy, therefore, Arras and as far north as Fontaine Les Croisilles, this village being the pivot point for the movement of the new front. At the junction with the Sensée valley, at this point as far south as Bullecourt - Ecoust, the installations are the best designed and completed in the sector. The lines defined as the objectives of the Battle of Arras attack such as the Black Line, the Blue Line, the Brown Line, are taken one by one, the British are stopped towards the Green Line and the front line is established (south of the Arras-Cambrai road) from Monchy le Preux - Wancourt - Henin sur Cojeul - Fontaine - Bullecourt .
It was at this time that the interrogation of a German prisoner by the 21st Division made it possible to learn, among other things, the existence of an extraordinary level of installation, larger than expected. In the sector in particular, there is a tunnel nearly 18km long running under the second line of trenches of the Hindenburg Line network at east and south of Arras...
- April 11, 1917: Battle of Bullecourt (Anglo-Australian attack) - After the good progress of the first days of the Battle of Arras and the foot placed on the fortified ridge of Vimy, the British general staff decided on 10 April to push the Germans to retreat again, opening a new battle a little further south of Arras : at Bullecourt. They hope that the proximity of a secondary line spotted by observers (the Wotan line or Drocourt-Queant line) will help them. 12 tanks are planned for this second phasis of Battle of Arras, but do not arrive on the scheduled day in Bullecourt, the attack is therefore postponed 24 hours. A misunderstanding pushes the men of the West Yorkshire Regiment of the 62nd Division to yet advance, despite the cancellation, between Fontaine-les-Croisilles and Bullecourt : the losses are significant, unnecessary and sterile. In front of Fontaine Les Croisilles, the 21st Division suffered very heavy losses. Particularly affected were the 15th Durham Light Infantry, the 1st East Yorks, the 10th King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI), the 64th MG Corp, following a fierce German counter-attack, they had to retreat. On 11 April 1917, in cold and snowy weather conditions, the 62nd English Division, with the West Yorkshire Regiment dressing its wounds of the previous day, still attacked between Fontaine les Croisilles and Bullecourt. The 4th Australian Division rushed in the axis Ecoust - Bullecourt to try to gain a foothold in the Hindenburg Line between Bullecourt and Quéant, this, without artillery preparation but with the help of 11 tanks (12 tanks initially planned) that came out of the railway line winding between Ecoust and Bullecourt, they will finally be of limited help. It was a carnage for all the troops engaged south of Fontaine-les-Croisilles facing the wall formed by the Hindenburg Line in this sector, the heaviest losses were sustained by the 4th Australian Brigade of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zeland Army Corps) housed between the two forts of Bullecourt and Quéant, both villages surrounded by trenches and barbed wire. The Australians did indeed gain a foothold in the German lines but were eventually trapped there so that, once all ammunition and grenades were exhausted, it was impossible to retreat : the no-man's-land was perfectly covered by German machine guns, snipers and field artillery, the trap inexorably closed in on them, the result for the ANZAC 'Diggers': they lost 2339 men out of 3000 engaged in this second phase of Battle of Arras. This serious strategic error did not fail to have important repercussions on the whole sector. Indeed, the illusion of the capture of Bullecourt at a given moment led to a series of confusions resulting in the loss of thousands of men as far north as Fontaine-les-Croisilles.
Towards the Arras-Cambrai road, Monchy le Preux was abducted at the cost of equally appalling losses for the 37th Division at work around this village.
Between April 1917, 12 and 17th, 50th british division took Wancourt village and "Tour de Wancourt" Wancourt tower (Between Chérisy and Wancourt). A key point theater of very heavy fightings.
The British troops will now focus their efforts southwards of Arras with Fontaine les Croisilles as a new objective. Fontaine is located just behind the two parallel trenches of the Hindenburg Line on a perfectly drawn section up to Bullecourt, very accomplished, and well held, moreover, located at the bottom of the valley, which gives an advantage to the occupant taking advantage of the slope to see the assailants arrive. However, the last gains of the opening of the Battle of Arras, gives the possibility to perhaps take the village of Fontaine by the flank, without attacking the Hindenburg Line from the front, but along it ... From Wancourt Tower and Wancourt Village, british troops concentrated attacks to Guémappe and Chersiy Sectors.
- April 23, 1917: Second Battle of the Scarpe - Next phase of Battle of Arras, a major British assault north of Fontaine les Croisilles is decided : the 7th British Corps put the means by firing 3 times more shells than at the opening of the Battle of Arras already described as terrible are 400,000 projectiles of all kinds (only for the VII British Corps) that will fall on a front of 15 km in a few days. Observers indicate that until then, even during the Battle of the Somme, there was no more intense fire. The British of the 33rd Division (100th and 98th British Brigades) nibbled away at the German trenches with a simultaneous frontal attack and in enfilade of the parallel trenches of the Hindenburg Line southward. Some gains, on the outskirts of villages north of Fontaine such as Chérisy which is approached or Guemappe ... always with very heavy losses especially for the 1st Queen's Regiment of the 100th Brigade. It was during this period that the British, who were able to gain a foothold in new modest stretches of the Hindenburg Line at the south of Arras, measured the impressive installation, notably by the presence of a fabulous underground network judiciously designed, they called the Tunnel Trench. This underground system was perfectly designed and allows thousands of men to take shelter there relatively comfortably. In the event of a hard blow, sections can be instantly knocked down to prevent invasion.
- 3 May 1917 : Anglo-Australian Attack (Third Battle of the Scarpe) - Third main phase of Battle of Arras : A major attack was launched on the sectors of Bullecourt (2nd Australian Division of ANZAC), Fontaine-les-Croisilles (21st Division and 62nd English Division in the south) and Chérisy (14th English Division in the north and 18th Division in front of Chérisy) during the third Battle of the Scarpe. The organization of the battle was at first tedious, the allied generals did not all agree on the time of the attack, the troops were badly organized and late informed as well as badly distributed over the width of the front too wide for the number of men, some of whom had to advance over portions of land of more than 500m in unfavourable conditions, particularly between Fontaine and Chérisy. The 21st Division lost 1,000 men during the day, the other divisions counted losses at least equivalent. A few too modest gains compared to the considerable levels of losses recorded in this Arras south sector.
- 16 May 1917 : Official end of the Battle of Arras - The fighting did not stop in the sector despite the official end of the so-called "Battle of Arras", far from it! The battle for the Hindenburg Line in front of Chérisy, Fontaine Les Croisilles and Bullecourt continues relentlessly ....
- June 15, 1917 : Attack on "the Ilsand" ("the island") - "The Ilsland" is the part of the Hindenburg Line still in German hands between Fontaine-les-Croisilles and Bullecourt. This portion south-east of Arras was again attacked this time mainly by men of the Londons Regiments (58th Division) and the 21st Division. The gains were a little more interesting than the previous days especially in the first line of German trenches, they were notably made by the 2/3rd Londons. The 2/4th Londons suffered very severe losses. The Hindenburg Line at this point is little by little nibbled meter by meter ...
- July 1917 - March 1918 - The South of Arras sector becomes a bit calmer with the major actions now concentrated in Belgium during the Third Battle of Ypres (or Battle of Passhendaele). However, in the idea of maintaining pressure on the Germans, multiple British actions are conducted almost daily: raids, assaults, artillery shots, gas... always in this sector of Artois, they will always bring their share of dead and wounded because naturally, the German opponent always responds. Between these raids, the maintenance of trenches, barbed wire, communication routes... are always as risky and deadly. And, other actions, as for them, are more important and carried out as a diversion for the main attacks located further south as on November 20, 1917 when the battle of Cambrai opens employing more than 400 MarkIV tanks. Between Fontaine-Les-Croisilles and Bullecourt, the men of the 3rd Division and those of the 16th Irish Division were launched on a front of nearly 3km of trenches. A breakthrough was made in the second line of German trenches and a new portion of the first line as well as a section of the Tunnel Trench (the tunnel under the Hindenburg Line) was taken, it was a great success. However, the troops of the 6th Connaught Rangers and those of the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers (16th Division) had many missing at the tip of the attack.
- March 21, 1918 - July 18, 1918 : Operation "Michael" and Operation "Mars" of the "Spring Offensive" or "Battle of the Kaiser" - The hard-won Hindenburg Line trenches, and a wide strip behind them, were returned to the Germans as a result of a major offensive leading to a 50km incursion into the British sector. On March 21, 1918, 200,000 Germans, who had never undertaken such a maneuver since they had settled in the Siegfried Stellung (Hindenburg Line), left their positions after a barrage of 6,000 artillery pieces positioned between Arras and La Fère. The British are overwhelmed, they are retreating, the positions prior to the Alberich operation of February-March 1917 are even in places exceeded especially in the Somme where the Germans are at the gates of Amiens. In the sector, it was the 34th, 3rd and 59th British Divisions that fought and resisted well, but at what price?! the 34th Division in front of Fontaine recorded a colossal loss of more than 3000 men in 3 days. They retreat a few kilometers. Further north, the British held out better, thanks in particular to the favourable positions of Vimy Hill.
- August-September 1917: "the Hundred Days Offensive" ou "the 100 days of Canada" - After a regaining of ground on the Somme at Albert, an Anglo-Canadian attack, which will be victorious, is launched in front of Arras. Difficulties were again felt in the vicinity of the still dreaded Hindenburg Line even if it was at this stage far from what it had been in March-April 1917. The Germans at Croisilles resisted, the network of trenches surrounding the village was still solid. The 5th Canadian Division took charge of attacking a sector still uninvaded for the moment, around Chérisy on 27 August 1918. Elements of the 26th Canadian Battalion advanced well and reached the Sensée River, the 22nd (French Canadians) and 24th Canadian Battalions had much more difficulty and fought without any artillery support. The objectives were finally taken and held but at Chérisy, the loss for the 22nd Battalion was almost total (39 unhurt out of 700 engaged at the beginning of the assault, no officer was still standing), on their right, the 56th British Division lost 2400 men, the 157th Brigade (52nd Division) located between Fontaine-Les-Croisilles and Croisilles which entered into action on 24th August with 750 men and 23 officers, was relieved on 27th with 223 men and 6 officers still fit for combat ... The losses are considerable, but the result is there. This breakthrough in front of Arras will be the source of the final German retreat in the sector. The area was gradually liberated in the following days, from then until 11 November 1918, the Germans would retreat inexorably to Belgium.
- 1920s: Reconstruction - Despite being classified as a "Red Zone", and therefore declared a sector unsuitable for reconstruction due to soil pollution and the dangerousness of the weapons left on the ground after the Battle of Arras, many displaced civilians or demobilized or liberated soldiers return carrying and find the location of their homes thanks to what little remains of wells or tree stumps... Witnesses of the time tell us that the closer one got to the remains of the Hindenburg Line, the more the destruction was visible until it was total, to the point that the villages right on the line became nothing but bricks and dust with one pile higher than the others : that of the church ... The first ones recovered what they could to make a makeshift shelter, then set up barracks made of "elephant" or half moon sheet metal, cleared the roads, rebuilt the village, restored the fields... Some still note the presence of human remains in the barbed wire of the Hindenburg Line several years after the end of the fighting.
- 23rd September 1920 - in our area of Artois, the villages that were sacrificed in the fighting were awarded by the Croix de Guerre : Beaulencourt, Béhagnies, Bertincourt, Beugnâtre, Beugny, Bihucourt, Bucquoy, Bullecourt, Bus, Chérisy, Courcelles-le-Comte, Croisilles, Douchy-lès-Ayette, Ecoust-Saint-Mein, Ervillers, Foncquevillers, Fontaine-les-Croisilles, Frémicourt Gomiécourt, Grévillers, Hamelincourt, Haplincourt, Hébuterne, Hermies, Havrincourt, Lebucquière, Ligny-Thilloy, Martinpuich, Riencourt-lès-Bapaume Rocquigny, Ruyaulcourt, Saint-Léger, Sapignies, Le Sars, Souastre, Le Transloy, Trescault, Vaulx-Vraucourt, Vélu, Villers-au-Flos, Warlencourt-Eaucourt, Morchies, Metz-en-Couture, Puisieux, Morval, Mory, Moyenneville, Neuville-Bourjonval, Noreuil, Léchelle, Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume, Bancourt, Ayette, Avesnes-lès-Bapaume, Ablainzevelle, Achiet-le-Grand, Achiet-le-Petit. ..
World War II (WWII) :
- May 1940 : Sporadic renewed fighting during the Second World War. Beginning of the occupation and acts of resistance. The tunnels of the Hindenburg Line as tunnel trench, which are still partially accessible at this time, serve as caches for parachuting organized for the resistance of the sector.
- September 1944 : Liberation of the sector.
- September 24th, 1944 : The first V2 missiles, a kind of cruise missile ("V" for "Vergeltungswaffe": "retaliation weapon"), were launched industrially in September 1944 in order to target the morale of the populations and the allied disorganization as far as England. In Euskirchen (Germany) on 24 September at 18:21, the 2nd battery of the 836 specialised artillery battalion launched a shot in the direction of Artois, which fell in Croisilles 9 minutes later and blew away part of the village to the point of taking down the church clock and causing 7 victims. A few minutes later, another bomb, presumed to be a V1 model this time (a type of unmanned aircraft) fell at Marchiennes without causing any damage. Whether these flying bombs were lost, or whether they were aimed at these areas, is difficult to know for sure.
- Today : relics remain present, the signs of 4 years of war are still visible more than a hundred years later, The Hindenburg Line Museum will offer you to discover more...
This is only a modest summary... many events took place during the Great War in the area of the Hindenburg Line trenches (Siegfied stellung) around Arras and cannot all be recounted in these lines, some facts even surface only with time, passion and patience of our members. Help them!
THEY WAS HERE...
Victoria Crosses and celebrities who makes our local history between 1914 and 1918
Victoria Crosses : Arthur Henderson VC, Michael Wilson Heaviside VC, Horace Waller VC, David Lowe MacIntyre VC, David Philip Hirsch VC, George Howell VC, Rupert Vance Moon VC, William Clark-Kennedy VC, Ernest Beal VC, John MacLaren Erskine VC (VC won at Givenchy in 1916 - kiled at Fontaine les Croisilles)... and others and others...
Celebrities : Seigfried Sasson, Enst Jünger, Manfred Von Richthofen (the Red Baron), The Kaizer Guillaume II, the king Georges V, Haig, Ludendorff, Hindenburg, Kronprinz Ruppercht, Winston Churchill, Georges Vanier...
You will discover their common history to our little piece of France...
