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Senones National Cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Senones. © ECPAD

 

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Built in 1920 and further developed up until 1935, Senones National Cemetery is home to the bodies of 818 Germans, 795 French, 372 of whom are buried in two ossuaries, eleven Romanians, six Romanians and six Russians killed in the region of Upper Alsace After the Great War, the remains of soldiers buried in various makeshift cemeteries in the Senones, Ménil, Moyenmoutier, Petite-Raon and La Forain areas were moved to this cemetery.

The town of Senones found itself in the firing line between 1914 and 1918.  The heavy bombing caused huge destruction and many civilian casualties. Consequently, Senones was awarded the 1914-1918 War Cross.

 

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Senones
À 70 km au sud-est de Nancy, sur la RN 42

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Eléments remarquables

Croix monumentale, 1914-1918

Plaine French national war cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Plaine. © ECPAD

 

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The national war cemetery of Plaine contains the bodies of soldiers who died for France during the fighting that took place during the summer of 1914, in vallée de la Bruche and during the liberation of the Colmar Pocket (1944-1945).

Begun in 1919 then extended in 1924 to bring together the temporary cemeteries of Schirmeck, la Broque and Colroy-la-Roche, this war cemetery contains the bodies of 1,487 French soldiers, 214 of which were placed in individual graves. Among these men, 54 British soldiers and 33 Russians are buried, 17 of which in a common grave. The remains of 1,273 servicemen were placed in three ossuaries.

In 1954, the bodies of 138 soldiers who died during the Battle of France in 1940 or the liberation of Plaine 1944-1945 were brought there.

In 1923, an equestrian statue of Joan of Arc was erected in the centre of the cemetery. Under the Nazi occupation, to avoid it being destroyed, this monument was buried in the cemetery and then reinstalled to its original location after the Liberation.

 

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Plaine

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Eléments remarquables

Monument équestre de Jeanne d'Arc commémorant le sacrifice des morts de la Grande Guerre

Grendelbruch French national war cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Grendelbruch. © Guillaume Pichard

 

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The national war cemetery of Grendelbruch contains the bodies of soldiers who died for France during the fighting that took place during the summer of 1914, in vallée de la Bruche and Muckenbach. Established in 1923, this cemetery contains 144 soldiers, in particular those of the 21st Army Corps, 107 of which were placed in an ossuary.

In the surrounding area, many remnants of bunkers and steles can still be seen, like the one erected at Muckenbach, commemorating the fighting of 17-18 August 1914 in Grendelbruch-Muckenbach.

 

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Grendelbruch
Au sud-est de Wisches, sur la route de Muckenbach par la N 420

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Wisches French national war cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Wisches. © ECPAD

 

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The national war cemetery of Wisches contains the bodies of soldiers who died for France during the fighting that took place during the summer of 1914, in vallée de la Bruche and at Schirmeck. Established in 1924, this national cemetery brings together 504 bodies, 60 of which were placed in individual graves. The remains of 444 soldiers were placed in two ossuaries. In the surrounding area, many remnants of bunkers and steles can still be seen.

Containing the remains of French soldiers, the Wisches war cemetery is characteristic of military cemeteries from the beginning of the First World War, and the treatment of the deceased soldiers. Indeed at that time, officers were usually buried in individual graves, while the troops were buried in mass graves. This principle lasted until 1915, but the use of individual graves was extended to all soldiers. The law of 29 December 1915 accorded all soldiers who died for France the right to be buried in an individual grave.

 

 

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Wisches

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Grandfontaine French national war cemetery "Le Donon"

La nécropole nationale de Grandfontaine. © ECPAD

 

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The national war cemetery of Donon in Grandfontaine contains the bodies of soldiers who died for France during the fighting that took place during the summer of 1914, in vallée de la Bruche and at Schirmeck. Created in 1923, this war cemetery brought together the bodies of 300 soldiers, in particular those of the 21st Army Corps. Two ossuaries hold the remains of 110 infantrymen and those of 72 infantry and sappers. The other soldiers (182) are buried in individual graves. In 1954, the bodies of 24 French soldiers who died during 1939-1945 were buried there.

Inside the cemetery, an imposing stone monument is dedicated to the officiers, sous-officiers et soldats - Combats du Donon 21-22 août 1914. In the surrounding area, many remnants of bunkers and headstones can still be seen.

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Grandfontaine
À 60 km au sud-ouest de Strasbourg, sur la D 392

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Eléments remarquables

Monument aux morts du combat de Donon, 21-22 août 1914

Badonviller French national war cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Badonviller. © ECPAD

 

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The national war cemetery of Badonviller contains the bodies of soldiers killed at Vosges or Haute-Alsace. Established between 1920 and 1935, this cemetery holds 2,653 bodies, 1,444 of which were laid to rest in individual graves, and 1,209 in two ossuaries. Alongside these soldiers are also buried 28 soldiers who were killed in the Second World War. In the centre of this war cemetery stands a monument designed by the sculptor Antoine Sartorio (1885-1988, dedicated to the memory of the men of the 363rd Infantry Regiment.

 

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Badonviller
À l’est de Lunéville, D 992

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Eléments remarquables

Monument aux morts tombés au col de la Chapelotte

The Epinal national cemetery

La nécropole nationale d’Épinal. © ECPAD

 

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The Epinal national cemetery brings together the bodies of 1,307 French soldiers, 881 of whom lie in two ossuaries, 11 Russians and 9 Poles who died in the town hospitals opened during the Great War, as well as 71 Indians who died during the Second World War. Created in order to welcome garrison graves from before the war, this cemetery was successively developed between 1921-1924 then in 1935 in order to bring together the bodies exhumed from temporary military cemeteries.

In 1914, faced with the proximity of the fighting, 14,000 of the 26,000 civilians fled the town. The elderly were moved towards the Haute-Saône, whereas the young orphans were welcomed in Mâcon. In order to ensure the security of the town, non-mobilised men welcomed the populations fleeing the fighting that was taking place in the sector of Raon-l'Etape and Badonviller.

Throughout the whole of the war, this stronghold would be subjected to numerous bombardments and became a town behind the front where warehouses, feed stores and hospitals were set up. These health structures opened in requisitioned buildings, such as numerous barracks, schools or civilian hospitals. 

In September 1921 the mayor of Epinal, Augustin Baudouin, asked for his town to be awarded the Croix de Guerre (War Cross): "Located a few kilometres from the line of fire which, at one point, was less than 25 km away, at the junction of numerous railway lines ending at Saint Dié, Nancy, Neufchâteau, Dijon, on the path of the troops going to the front, Epinal did not cease - throughout the duration of the hostilities - to be the enemy's target. (...) Epinal was constantly on alert throughout the hostilities; its inhabitants suffered both personally and materially; more than 250 torpedoes were launched at the town during the course of the fighting, not to mention the bombardments by machine guns and the inevitable accidents due to the defence fire from the square". In October 1921, the town received this honour, as it did in 1939-1945. In 1954, these two decorations were incorporated into the town's coat of arms.

 

Some of the soldiers buried in this cemetery were Commonwealth troops and came from India. Prisoners-of-war, these men were imprisoned at Frontstalag 315 in Chantraine near to Epinal. On 11 May 1944, an American squadron bombarded the sector. By mistake the barracks, like those of Chantraine, were for the most part destroyed. 500 Hindus died there, whilst over 2,000 left to hide in the forests surrounding Epinal.

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Épinal
À 75 km au sud-est de Nancy, sur la RN 57

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Eléments remarquables

Monument aux morts 1914-18

Rambervillers French national war cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Rambervillers. © ECPAD

 

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Created in 1914, the national war cemetery of Rambervillers contains the bodies of soldiers who died during the Battle of Mortagne and those who died in 1918 in the town's military hospitals. It brings together 1,547 French soldiers, 881 of which were placed in two ossuaries, 24 Russian, eleven British, eleven Polish and one Chinese (grave no. 169) for the First World War, and two French soldiers killed during the Battle of France in 1940.

 

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Rambervillers

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Saint-Benoît-la-Chipotte National Cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Saint-Benoît-la-Chipotte. © ECPAD

 

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Nestling in the foothills of the Vosges, Saint-Benoît-la-Chipotte National Cemetery holds the remains of soldiers who died for France during the Battle of Mortagne (24 August to 13 September 1914). Established in 1919, it was redeveloped from 1920 to 1935 to take in the bodies of soldiers exhumed from temporary cemeteries in the region between Rambervillers and Saint-Dié. It was completely redesigned in 1975. Covering a surface area of 7,070 sqm, the cemetery holds the mortal remains of nearly 2,000 French soldiers, nearly 900 of whom are buried in two ossuaries.

 

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Saint-Benoît-la-Chipotte

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Monuments aux morts 1914-1918

Ménil-sur-Belvitte French national war cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Ménil-sur-Belvitte. © ECPAD

 

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Begun in 1914 following the Battle of Mortagne, the national war cemetery of Ménil-sur-Belvitte contains the remains of 1,096 French soldiers, 197 of which were placed in an ossuary. In 1924, this site was rearranged to hold the exhumed remains from temporary military cemeteries in the region. On the initiative of the Abbé Collé, village priest and local representative of the association Souvenir Français, a monument was erected, opposite the cemetery, to commemorate the 13th, 14th, 15th and 21st Army Corps. In the parish church, a stain glass window also commemorates the commitment of these units. During the war, this priest transformed his rectory into an infirmary. From 1915, he created a museum with objects found in the surrounding battlefields. In 1944, this collection disappeared during the withdrawal of the occupying troops.

 

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Menil-sur-Belvitte

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Croix monumentale commémorative 1914-1918

The Rozelieures national cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Rozelieures. © ECPAD

 

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The Rozelieures national cemetery holds the remains of soldiers who died during the battles of the Trouée de Charmes (or Charmes Breach). Created in 1921, it is a testament to the extreme violence of the clashes of summer 1914 that took place in the Lorraine region. Developed until 1923 in order to bring together the bodies that were initially buried in the temporary cemeteries in the communes of Borville, Giriviller, Vallois and Maattexey, this cemetery holds the bodies of 1 154 soldiers, 915 of whom lie in two ossuaries. This place of remembrance is dominated by an imposing memorial lantern, to remember the units involved in the Rozelieures combats. Nearby, numerous monuments remind us of these battle feats.

 

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Rozelieures
Au sud de Lunéville, D 22d

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Eléments remarquables

Monument commémoratif "Aux vainqueurs de Rozelieures"

Gerbéviller National Cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Gerbéviller. © ECPAD

 

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Gerbéviller National Cemetery, in the locality of Grand Rupt, is the final resting place for 2,167 soldiers who gave their lives for France during the Battle of the Trouée des Charmes, in August 1914. It was established in 1920, at the same time as the neighbouring German cemetery, and testifies to the extremely fierce fighting that took place in the region to stem the German advance in 1914. In 1924, the site was enlarged to receive the remains of soldiers exhumed from the neighbouring cemeteries of Charmes, Haroué, Moyen and Chenevièvres.

The cemetery contains the individual graves of 728 soldiers, together with the remains of another 1,439 soldiers buried in collective graves, all from World War I. Three soldiers who fell during World War II are also buried here.

 

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Gerbeviller
Au sud de Lunéville, D 914

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The Bayon national cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Bayon. © ECPAD

 

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The Bayon national cemetery holds the remains of soldiers who died during the battle of the Trouée de Charmes (or Charmes Breach) and those of the wounded who succumbed to their injuries at the supplementary hospital n°2 in the Sœurs de Saint-Charles hospice. Created in 1914, this military cemetery brings together the bodies of 169 French soldiers, 96 of whom lie in individual graves. Two ossuaries preserve the memory of 69 soldiers. Alongside these soldiers who died in 1914-1918 lie three French soldiers, a Polish soldier and four German soldiers who were killed during the Second World War.

Within the cemetery is a war memorial from the commune of Bayon, showing the symbolic attachment of the local population to those who died, and who are also remembered by means of a stained glass window in the parish church.

 

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Bayon
Au sud-ouest de Lunéville, D 9

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Eléments remarquables

Monument aux morts 1914-1918

Friscati French national war cemetery at Vitrimont

La nécropole nationale de Friscati. © ECPAD

 

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Located at the so-called Mouton noir, the national war cemetery of Friscati contains the remains of soldiers killed during the fighting around Lunéville or those who died in military hospitals. It is built on the site of a temporary cemetery born from the initiative of a teacher from Lunéville, Marie-Marguerite Wibrotte. Containing 3,713 bodies, this cemetery is the largest of the three military cemeteries in Grand-Couronné de Nancy. Three ossuaries preserve the memory of 1,683 soldiers, while 2,026 rest in individual graves.

At the entrance of the cemetery, a triumphal arch was erected in 1927, topped by an infantryman perpetuating the memory of the defenders of Lunéville.

Two plaques are affixed to this monument. The first pays tribute to the 37 soldiers of the Light Infantry 2nd Battalion who fell at Vaucourt. The second is dedicated to the American soldiers of 1917-1918 and the French Forces of the Interior resistance fighters killed during World War II.

At the summit of the cemetery stands a monument erected in the memory of Marshal Lyautey. The Marshal's ashes, until they were transferred to Invalides in 1961, were kept at this site, close to the château de Crévic where he lived before the war.

 

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Vitrimont
À l’ouest de Lunéville, D 97

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Eléments remarquables

Chapelle - Monument aux morts de la bataille de Lunéville - Plaque aux morts de 1940 et aux morts américains de 1918 et de 1944 - Stèle aux morts de Verdun

Reillon French national war cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Reillon. © Guillaume Pichard

 

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Established after the fighting in August 1914, the national war cemetery of Reillon contains the bodies of soldiers who were killed in the clashes at Vézouze and the Lorraine front. It also bears witness to the extreme violence of the operations of summer 1914. This remembrance site contains the bodies of 1,324 French soldiers, 370 of which were laid to rest in two ossuaries. Alongside these soldiers are buried two French soldiers killed in June 1940. There are two monuments at this site to honour the memory of those who died in the service of the 223rd and 333rd Infantry Regiments.

The cemetery is adjacent to a German cemetery containing 5,428 bodies, 2,842 from the First World War including 1,873 in an ossuary, and 2,586 soldiers from the Second World War, including 330 in a collective grave.

 

 

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Reillon
À l’est de Lunéville, D 163

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Eléments remarquables

Monument aux morts des 223e et 333e RI 1914-1918

The Leintrey national cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Leintrey. © ECPAD

 

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Known as the "nécropole des entonnoirs" or shell-hole cemetery, this national military cemetery preserves the memory of French soldiers who died during the night of 10-11 July 1916 when five German mines buried under their trenches exploded. These shell-holes are the most significant remains of the mine war on the Lorraine front.

Nearby a monument was built in memory of Lieutenant Nissim de Camondo (1892-1917) and his observer, Lieutenant Lucien Des Essarts, who were shot down on 5 September 1917 on board their Farman 130 during a photographic mission over Leintrey. Nissim's body was first buried by the Germans at Efringen-Avricourt, then returned in 1919 to rest in the Montmartre cemetery. Devastated by the loss of his son the father, Moïse de Camondo, a rich Jewish banker whose daughter was deported to Auchwitz in 1944, donated his collection of 18th century works of art to France. The Nissim-de-Camondo museum in Paris is therefore testament to the weight of the mourning and affliction of a father overwhelmed by the loss of his son. At Domjevin, an imposing underground surgical ambulance station has been preserved. Dug out between July 1916 and January 1918 this hospital, which contained the latest equipment, was not however put to use.

 

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Leintrey
À l’est de Lunéville, D 19

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Monument commémoratif aux morts du 162e RI

Neufchâteau

Source : pages14-18.mesdiscussions.net

Creation: World War I. Local hospitals.

 

Layout: 1924, 1934, 1935, bodies from the cemeteries in Neufchâteau and the vicinity in the southeast of the Vosges department (Contrexéville, etc.), Maxey-sur-Meuse and de Colombey-les-Belles, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department were brought together.

1955 to 1962, bodies from World War II were brought together.

 

1961, full renovation.

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88300
Neufchâteau

Summary

Superficie : 6 206 m²
Nombre de corps : Individual graves : 1008
1914-18 : 833 Frenchmen 120 Germans 1 Russian 2 Poles
1939-45 : 47 Frenchmen 5 British

Eléments remarquables

Remarkable elements: 1914-1918, 1939-1945 War Memorial.

The "La Valette" national cemetery in Abreschviller

La nécropole nationale de La Valette. © ECPAD

 

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The La Valette national cemetery brings together the remains of 455 French soldiers, including 372 buried in two ossuaries, who died during the Battle of Sarrebourg in August 1914. It adjoins a German cemetery holding 274 bodies, 70 of whom are in individual graves and 204 in an ossuary. These German soldiers belonged to military units whose garrisons were in Bade, from Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Lorraine and Alsace and the Rhineland.

Created in 1914 following the Battle of Sarrebourg, it was developed in 1925 by bringing together the bodies exhumed from the surrounding areas, in particular Vasperviller, Voyer, Nitting, Landange, Bébing... Nearby, on the forest track between the Biberkirch and Voyer forests, an isolated grave preserves the memory of an officer, second lieutenant Petermann from the 149th infantry regiment (RI). This young graduate of the Saint Cyr military academy had on him a letter in which he expressed his desire to be buried at the spot where he fell.

 

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Abreschviller
Au sud de Sarrebourg, D 44

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Walscheid National Cemetery

La nécropole nationale de Walscheid. © ECPAD

 

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Built in 1914 at the end of the battles fought to the south of the scene of the Battle of Sarrebourg, Walscheid National Cemetery contains the bodies of 404 French soldiers, 345 of whom are buried in two ossuaries. This cemetery was then redeveloped in 1924 and contains primarily the bodies of soldiers from the 21st Army Corps, mainly from the 5th and 6th Colonial Infantry Regiments (CIR).

 

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Walscheid
Au sud-est de Sarrebourg, D 96

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National Necropolis of Plaine-de-Walsch

La nécropole nationale de Plaine-de-Walsch. © ECPAD

 

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The Plaine-de-Walsch National Necropolis contains the bodies of 361 Frenchmen, including 319 who were previously buried in two ossuaries. After the battle of Sarrebourg (August 1914), thousands of bodies were strewn across the battlefield. With the officially recorded loss of 20,000 men, 20 August 1914 remains the deadliest single day of the First World War.

To prevent epidemics, the burial of these victims was of major importance. So, the German army requisitioned all men aged 16 to 60 to act with speed to bring the remains of all those killed in the sector to this cemetery. Without always stopping to identify the bodies, these men collected the fallen and buried them in deep common graves.

In 1924, under the supervision of the French War Graves Department, other bodies from the provisional cemeteries of Schneckenbusch, Troisfontaines, Hommarting, and Niderviller were transferred to this site.

Nearby is a German cemetery containing the remains of 277 German soldiers, most of whom also fell on 20 August 1914.

 

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Plaine-de-Walsch
Au sud-est de Sarrebourg, D 96

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