The soldiers buried here include Marcel Gueugnon, who died for France on 9 June 1940 and is buried alongside his father, Lieutenant Marius Gueugnon, who died on 20 August 1918. Grave 8 contains the remains of two brothers killed in 1917, Georges and Prosper Humbert.

The cemetery on the Route de Solesmes

Located on the road to Solesmes, this cemetery not only evokes the fate of this town, occupied by the Germans from 26 August 1914 to 9 October 1918, but most importantly the first battle of Cambrai, from 20 November until 3 December 1917, the German offensive of March 1918 and this second battle of Cambrai, the last battle on the Hindenburg line, which was to finally liberate the city in October 1918, the town by then having endured terrible destruction.

Later the town was "adopted" by the County Town of Birkenhead. The cemetery had been created by the Germans during their occupation from March 1917. They had constructed a few monuments and a stone cross there. On 11 August 1918, the Bavarian commander of the town had handed over the maintenance of the cemetery to the town. Afterwards the German Military cemetery that was in Cambrai was transferred there to the Saint-Sépulcre cemetery. The graves have now been regrouped. The remains of 10,685 Germans, 192 Russians, 6 Romanians and 502 British are to be found there.

13 km to the north east of Bapaume on the road between Cambrai and Bapaume is the Louverval Memorial. It commemorates the 7,048 British and South African soldiers who died at the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917 and whose graves are unknown. The Battle of Cambrai, marked by a breakthrough on 20 November, a cessation on positions on 22 November and a German counter attack between 23 and 29 November, resulted in a limited gaining of ground but taught the Allies some valuable tactical and strategic lessons. For their part, the Germans had discovered that their line of defence was vulnerable. The Memorial, situated on a terrace at the far end of the military cemetery, was designed by H. Chalton Bradshaw and the sculptor C.S. Jagger, whose two bas-reliefs illustrating battle scenes are to be admired.

1917 had been a terrible year for all the fighting nations during the ongoing First World War. At the end of the year, the British, seeking to destroy the Hindenburg line (the defensive system for the territories occupied by the Germans), decided to launch an offensive to the south of Cambrai involving the large-scale use of tanks. The battle was merciless: the first battles were a great success for the British troops, except at Flesquières, but the Germans, at first thrown into confusion, very quickly started a powerful counter-offensive. For 15 days, attacks and counter-attacks were to follow in succession, with neither of the two armies chalking up decisive success. The human losses were enormous: 45,000 British and 55,000 Germans were killed, as whole villages were destroyed. During the First World War, a new weapon appeared on the battlefields: the tank. Tanks were designed to support the attacks of the infantry, driving them across enemy lines. During the battle in November 1917, the "Tank Corps" of the third British Army (a total of 476 tanks) was engaged to break through the Hindenburg line.

The objective of the battle was to take the strategic positions of the Flesquières ridge and the Bourlon woods before targeting the liberation of Cambrai. At Flesquières, the British attack came up against fierce resistance from German troops, who managed to destroy or immobilise several tanks. One of those destroyed was buried by the Germans in the spring of 1918. In November 1998, thanks to a handful of enthusiasts, it was unearthed. Today this war relic can be seen in Flesquières. At Cambrai, the memory of this battle lives on through the monument to the soldiers from the Cambrai regiments, opposite the gate to the citadel and through the French Remembrance monument listing all those from Cambrai who died in combat during the Great War. The Louverval cemetery is an important place of remembrance for them.

Characteristics: - 26.5 tonnes - 8.50 metres long - 3.20 metres wide - 52 cm wide tracks - 5 machine guns with 13,000 to 30,000 cartridges - Crew of 8 men.
It was on the Flesquières ridge that the most important episode of the Battle of Cambrai took place. Overlooking the valley, it is possible for us to imagine the starting point of the British attack on 20 November 1917, on a front of about 8 km stretching from Havrincourt to Bonavis. There used to be a mill there, but since it could be used as a reference point for the British artillery, it was destroyed by the Germans. Today there is a project to build an orientation table showing the Hindenburg line's defensive system and erect a monument to the glory of the soldiers who fell on the battlefield.

This raised German bunker is characterised by its shape and its use, as it served as an observation tower. In fact, its position allowed communication with Cambrai using visual signals. The observation post was attached to the château garden. The building is still very well preserved today.

An exact replica trench was created for the filming of the documentary "he Trench" by the BBC. Tours of the site are possible on request to complement a tour of the tank.
 

Flesquières Hill British Cemetery

In this cemetery, as in all those with more than 400 graves, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has built a "Remembrance Stone" on which is engraved the inscription "Their Name Liveth For Evermore". In addition, the cemetery contains the graves of 589 known and 332 unknown soldiers. Next to the British are buried the soldiers from New Zealand and Australia who took part in the fighting at the end of the war.

Orival Wood British Cemetery

The remains of the famous English poet, Lieutenant Ewart Alan Mackintosh are buried here. In the same place there are also the graves of Canadian and German soldiers killed in the Flesquières sector.

Cette maison fut le lieu de retrouvailles familiales pendant toute son enfance et sa jeunesse. C’est dans une famille unie autour de valeurs communes (patriotisme, ferveur religieuse, sens de l’engagement…) et dans un contexte géopolitique en plein bouleversement, que s’est forgé le caractère du futur Président de la Ve République.

Monument historique, la Maison natale Charles de Gaulle a pour vocation de faire découvrir à un large public l’enfance et la genèse de celui qui deviendra le plus illustre des français.

La Maison natale Charles de Gaulle a fait l’objet d’une campagne de travaux de grande ampleur en 2020 qui a permis de conforter la structure de l’habitation mais aussi de la rénover complètement (décors restaurés, pièces de vie réhabilitées, jardin d’hiver restitué…). La maison recrée l’ambiance d’un intérieur caractéristique de la bourgeoisie industrielle du Nord à la fin du XIXe siècle telle que Charles l’a connue enfant.

Une visite 100 % immersive !

Located just six miles northwest of Lens, this cemetery was started in August 1915 during the Battle of Loos-en-Gohelle, when the chateau was used as a medical clinic. This site contains the bodies of over 2,000 fallen soldiers, 200 of which were never identified; special memorials were erected to six soldiers from the United Kingdom, known to be buried among them. Seven French soldiers are also buried here.

At the entrance to the cemetery, the chapel of Notre Dame de Lourdes built before the war by the Bréhon family has been reconstructed in its original spot.

MINDEF/SGA/DMPA Northern territory

In April and May 1917, some 10, 000 Australian soldiers were killed during the battles of Bullecourt. And from May 1917 to March 1918, the battles raged and the village changed sides almost 20 times.

Today, in the memorial park, the memory is sustained by the statue of the Digger, made by Australian sculptor Peter Corlett, the son of a fighter in the 'Great War’. The Digger is an Australian soldier who symbolises through his uniform and badges the four Australian infantry divisions engaged in the field: the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th.

In Dury Mill, 16 kilometres southeast of Arras, Dury Memorial preserves in stone the memory of the violent operations that culminated in the breaking through of the Drocourt-Quéant Line.

Erected in the centre of a park planted with majestic maple trees, a familiar block of granite bears on one side an inscription in French: The Canadian corps 10,000 strong attacked at Arras on August 26th 1918 stormed successive German lines and here on Sept. 2^nd broke and turned the main German position on the Western Front and reached the Canal du Nord.

The attack that enabled troops to cross the Canal du Nord is today commemorated by the Bourlon Wood Memorial, erected on land donated by the Count of Franqueville, then Mayor of Bourlon.

This large stone block, standing on the top of a hill and which can be reached by stone steps bordered by terraces, bears the following inscription: The Canadian corps on 27th Sep. 1918 forced the Canal du Nord and captured the hill. They took Cambrai, Denain, Valenciennes & Mons then marched to the Rhine with the victorious allies.

Hundred-year-old lime trees form an arch over the steps. These are the same trees that stood here at the time and were torn apart by shells, yet which have become tougher over time. The terraces have been planted with a wide selection of conifers and plants that enjoy shade. The memorial is located past the village of Bourlon, just south of the Arras-Cambrai road, three kilometres from Marquion.

Most of the Portuguese servicemen have been laid to rest in the Richebourg military cemetery (Pas de Calais). The land was purchased in August 1924 and the Portuguese War Graves Commission undertook the task of finding and regrouping the bodies in conjunction with the French government (department of ex-servicemen and the 1st military region).

Between 1924 and 1938, the Richebourg cemetery received 1,831 bodies from various cemeteries in France (Le Touret, Ambleteuse, Brest etc.), Belgium (Tournai) and Germany for prisoners of war. It was extended in 1939, bringing its surface area to four thousand three hundred square metres. This cemetery contains 500 steles, each bearing the Portuguese coat of arms. Once through the wrought iron gate with its heart motifs, follow the alley of pine trees leading to the Memorial and the remembrance museum. The vegetation here is Mediterranean. Opposite is the Notre Dame de Fatima Chapel, built in 1976 in memory of the Portuguese soldiers who bore the brunt of the German offensive of April 1918. At La Couture, where they had valiantly withstood the German advance, the France-Portugal association had a monument built to the soldiers of the Portuguese expeditionary corps. The famous Christ of the Trenches, a cross damaged by shellfire and retrieved by Portuguese soldiers, was rebuilt at Neuve-Chapelle after the war. At La Couture, the monument, in stone bronze, is the work of sculptor A. Teixeira Lopez and was erected by Portuguese workmen. On one of the walls of the gothic church ruined by the war, an allegorical figure representing the Homeland brandishes the sword of Nun'Alvares, the supreme commander whose victory in 1385 over the Spanish at Aljubarrota marked Portugal's independence. It is shown coming to the aid of a Portuguese foot soldier trying to strike down Death with the butt of a rifle.
The Memorial of le Touret resembles a cloister with vaulted corridors in Portland stone. The square courtyard enclosed by three full walls and a colonnade forming a long gallery. The names of the 13,479 soldiers who died before 25 September 1915 are engraved on walls of the courtyard and the colonnade. There are small pavilions at each end of the gallery in the western corners of the courtyard. Today, in the cemetery itself, 900 dead are commemorated.
The hamlet of Saint Vaast is situated between the village of Richebourg and Goix-Barbee. A clinic was started in May 1915 during the Battle of Festubert and then used in the years that followed. A railway nicknamed "Tramway of the Trenches" transported men and ammunition. The cemetery currently contains about 800 British, Indian and German bodies, few of which have been identified.
At the beginning of March 1915, through their daring exploits, the allied air forces paralysed all German telephone communications in Menin (Belgium). In revenge, the enemy shelled Neuve-Chapelle, leaving it in ruins. For the Allies it was vital to take back Neuve-Chapelle. On 10 March 1915, British troops attacked the sector.
They were helped in their task by Indian troops. Sixteen thousand Indian soldiers, of whom 5,000 were never to be found, fought side by side. Three successive attacks came up against the fiercest resistance. A fourth resulted in the taking of 2,500 metres of trenches, before Neuve-Chapelle was taken back. Indians, English, Portuguese and French symbolised the friendship that united the soldiers. These men fulfilled their duty before they died. After them and in memory of their death, there remains this Memorial built to the glory of the 10,000 dead. The construction of this Memorial was ordered by the President of the Republic on 11 August 1926. (official gazette). The land on which it was built was purchased in perpetuity by the Imperial War Graves Commission. It is dedicated to the memory of those killed from the Hindu units and in particular to those "missing in action". It is built on land belonging to the commune of RICHEBOURG. In 1915 the place was known as"PORT-ARTHUR" The Memorial, whose architect was Sir HERBERT-BAKER, well known in India as one of the creators of the Delhi modern, is circular in shape and on its façade is a column (reminiscent of the pillars of ASOKA) about 16 meters high surmounted by an imperial lotus, the imperial crown and the "Star of India". It is flanked by two tigers. This column and the tigers are supported by a "podium", on which is engraved India 1914-1918. From the base of the "pedestal", a wall with cross-hatched ornamental apertures extends in a semi-circle and at each end of the semi-circle, there are two small "Chattri" domes, towards the East and the West. On the opposite semi-circle, which is solid, the names are engraved. In the middle of a lawn is the remembrance stone. The names on the Memorial are classed by units; within each unit by rank and within each rank in alphabetic order. There are 4,847 of them. They represent all English and Indian social classes. They share the same spirit expressed on the monument: IN HONOUR OF THE ARMY OF INDIA WHO FOUGHT IN France AND IN Belgium, 1914-1918, AND TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF THEIR DEAD IN UNKNOWN GRAVES WHOSE NAMES ARE ENGRAVED HERE. In 1964, it was decided to add a special bronze panel to this monument on which are the names of 206 soldiers whose graves were in ZEHRENSDORF (East Germany) and could no longer be maintained. Work was completed in June 1966. IN MEMORY OF THOSE MEN WHO DIED IN CAPTIVITY AND WERE BURIED IN ZEHRENSDORF NEAR BERLIN.

The Canadian Memorial of Vimy, stands as an impressive tribute that Canada paid to all those who served their country in fighting or gave their lives during the First World war. It majestically overhangs the Douai plain and the mining area at the foot of the Artois hills. It indicates the location of the operation of which the Canadians are proudest, during the Second World war. It represents a homage to all those who fought during four years for their country and in particular to all those who paid with their lives.

On the pedestal of the Monument the following words are engraved:

TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD, THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA.

Inscribed on the ramparts of the Memorial are the names, of a thousand two hundred and twenty five Canadian soldiers who were posted "missing and presumed dead" in France. The soil of the park of this battlefield, measures a surface of 91,18 hectares (two hundred and fifty acres) and "is a gift of the French nation to the Canadian people ", as a plaque indicates at the entrance of the Monument. The Memorial rests on a bed of eleven thousand tons of concrete and masonry. For the pylons and the sculptures five thousand five hundred tons of limestone have been used and brought to the site from Yugoslavia. The construction of this gigantic work started in 1925. The Canadian National Memorial of Vimy was unveiled eleven years later by King Eduard VIII on July 26th 1936.

The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial is the work of horticultural experts. It is adorned with many Canadian trees and shrubs, in order to remember the forests and woods of the country. The memorial is surrounded by a green hillside that leads to a vast wood. At the sight of the perfectly restored trenches and tunnels, the visitor can imagine the enormous task the Canadian army corps had to achieve during this historical morning, many years ago.

November 9th 1997, representatives of the Canadian government proceed with the inauguration of the Interpretation Centre of the Canadian Memorial in Vimy. This Monument became one of the only national sites of Canada situated in a foreign country. The Centre is a complement to the guided tour of the tunnels and the trenches. The visitors can better understand the sense and importance of this Memorial. Furthermore they can better place the history of the Vimy Battle in the context of the Canadian participation at the First World war. The war, day after day, Vimy, a well planed battle; Vimy : the captured crest; and Canada remembers the war.

Thanks to photographic reproductions and banners (brown and ochre colors), artifacts, maps, graphic representations, an audiovisual multimedia presentation, explanatory texts, the exhibition allows the visitors to live the atmosphere which reigned in that period. The Interpretation Centre of the Canadian Memorial in Vimy is situated 200 meters from the Canadian Memorial in Vimy, near the main parking area. The Canadian Memorial in Vimy is located approximately 10 Km from Arras. Very close to Thélus, the Canadian cemetery and the monument honouring the Canadian artillery is situated in Zivy Crater. Here, a mine explosion dug a crater in the ground.

Monument and Memorial Park of Canada at Vimy

62580 Vimy

Tel : 03 21 50 68 68

Fax : 03 21 58 58 34

E-mail : Vimy.Memorial@vac-acc.gc.ca

Open every day except 25 December and 1 January From May 1 to October 31 :

10H à 18H November 1 to April 30 : 9H à 17H 

Maubeuge, located at the intersection of railway lines that, coming from Brussels and Liège, converge towards Paris – was a major strategic goal for both the French and the Germans.

In accordance with the Schlieffen plan, German troops entered Belgium on 4 August 1914, and Maubeuge was on their way there. On 29 August, the Germans set off a powerful bombardment. After eight days of siege, Maubeuge was still resisting, but the situation turned highly critical from 6 September. On 7 September, General Fournier, the Governor of Maubeuge, had to capitulate. The Germans took 450,000 prisoners and 450 guns and 80,000 shells.

During the war, Maubeuge was controlled by the German military administration in occupied Belgium. It was only released on 9 November 1918 by British troops.

The Assevent National Cemetery, located 5km from Maubeuge, is home to the bodies of soldiers who died for France during the Siege of Maubeuge in August 1914.

Established in 1916 by the German army, the cemetery was redeveloped in 1923 to gather the bodies of other soldiers killed during the battle that were exhumed from temporary cemeteries in the Nord department or from Ypres in Belgium. The cemetery holds 1,819 bodies, including 364 in individual graves and 990 in four ossuaries, which is likely to include a large number of Moroccan infantrymen. There is a German military cemetery on the other side of the railway line. It was built in 1924 and comprises of 998 bodies of soldiers who fell in September 1914 around ​​Meaux (Seine-et-Marne).

The Assevent National Cemetery was established by the Germans during the war and seems to reconcile German, French, Russian and British soldiers in death.

Nicknamed the Belle Inutile (the useless beautiful), the citadel is a Vauban structure built between 1668 and 1672. Pentagonal in shape, it is flanked on each corner by huge bastions protected by free-standing fortifications, part of which is preserved. The white stone Porte Royale faces the town and emphasises the power of the new sovereign. The buildings necessary for life in the Citadel surround the esplanade. Aligned with the Porte Royale, the arsenal, whose openings are emphasised by the stone décor, has a privileged place in the fort's spatial organisation The chapel, a gem of Baroque architecture, still has a brick façade richly decorated with fluted engaged columns, medallions, flame ornaments, etc.

The Chemin des Douves path takes visitors on a trail around the Citadel, to the Crinchon, a stream that was used to fill the ditches with water. The citadel itself is owned by the French Army. It can be visited as part of a tour organised by the Tourist Information Office in the Town Hall. Despite the modifications over the centuries, the Arras citadel is still testimony to Vauban's art.

There is a memorial in the Faubourg d'Amiens cemetery, not far from the citadel. It commemorates the deaths of 35,000 men – British, New Zealand and South African – who fell between spring 1916 and 7 August 1918 and who do not have their own tomb. The names of the dead are engraved on stone slabs affixed to the walls of the cloister with Doric columns, built by Sir Edwin Luytens. Faubourg d'Amiens cemetery on Boulevard du Général de Gaulle also has 2,652 identified tombs.

Opposite the Memorial, on the wall of the cloister is the "Flying Services Memorial", engraved with the names of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Air Force and the Australian Flying Corps.

Part of the Arras Memorial, erected in the Faubourg d'Amiens cemetery, is considered a homage to the first aviators who lost their lives in combat. The Aviators' Memorial is noticeable as soon as you enter the cemetery; it consists of a raised base surmounted with a globe.
The names of all the airmen who fell on the Western front and whose tombs are unknown are engraved on each side. These include the names of 46 Canadians. The Canadians were particularly distinguished in the air war. Twenty-five thousand of them served as pilots, lookouts, and mechanics in the British Forces. Canadian airmen received over eight hundred decorations and citations, including three Victoria Crosses, for their bravery. Out of the "aces" of the RAF, five were Canadian. Pilots like W.A. "Billy" Bishop, W.G. Barker, Raymond Collishaw and A.A. McLeod were famous for their boldness and their feats.

The New Zealand tunnels form a complex system of underground shafts and caves which extend from Arras to Bapaume and Cambrai. In 1916 and 1917, the New Zealand company of tunnellers extended an existing network of old caves with shafts to reach No Man's Land, under the German trenches. The site was rediscovered in 1996.

Website of the regional tourist board for the Nord

Quizz : Forts and citadels