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The Zuydcoote national cemetery

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La nécropole nationale de Zuydcoote. © ECPAD

 

Pour accéder au panneau d'information de la nécropole, cliquer ici vignette_Zuydcoote

 

Created in 1921 close to former campaign medical units, the Zuydcoote national cemetery initially brought together soldiers who had succumbed to their injuries in various Dunkirk hospitals in 1914-1918, then from 1953 onwards they were joined by the bodies of soldiers who had died for France in 1940 during Operation Dynamo.

Today, this national cemetery holds the bodies of 2 053 French soldiers, 2 037 of whom lie in individual graves. A collective grave brings together the remains of 16 soldiers. Alongside them lies one Russian, but also 201 Germans, including 31 in an ossuary. This cemetery comprises three plots: the 1914-1918 French plot, the 1914-1918 French Muslim plot, and the 1939-1945 French plot that contains 917 soldiers and resistance fighters from the Nord region and 14 Spaniards posted to workers' companies. A British military cemetery bringing together 177 bodies adjoins the Zuydcoote cemetery.

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Practical information

Address

59123
Zuydcoote

Weekly opening hours

Visites libres toute l’année

The fighting at Chasselay

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Colonne de tirailleurs sénégalais, avril 1940. © ECPAD
Prisoners, 1940. Source: German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv)

 

On 3 September 1939, Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany. After a period of waiting and sporadic fighting known as the “Phoney War”, on 10 May 1940 an enemy offensive was launched from the Ardennes, which was to go on inexorably until the signing of the armistice brought it to a close on 22 June.

During that time, the defence of the Lyon area was indissociable from that of the Alpine front, under threat from the Italians, who had been at war with France since 10 June. It was also a strategic crossroads on the Germans’ route to the south.

The Battle of Saumur

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The Napoleon bridge, scene of the fighting involving Lieutenant de Buffévent.
The Napoleon bridge, scene of the fighting involving Lieutenant de Buffévent. Source: L’Anjou, quarterly magazine, September 1990.

 

On 10 May 1940, when the “Phoney War” was over, Germany sent its armies against France and Belgium.

After prevailing in the Somme and the Aisne, the enemy advanced on the Seine. General Weygand, commander-in-chief of the French armies since 20 May 1940, ordered the defence of all rivers that might block the path of the invasion to the south.

The Battle of Stonne-Oches

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Elements of the 10th Panzer Division cross the Meuse during the Battle of France, 15-20 May 1940. © ECPAD
Elements of the 10th Panzer Division cross the Meuse during the Battle of France, 15-20 May 1940. © ECPAD

 

General Guderian’s XIX Army Corps, which attacked Sedan, comprised three divisions, the 1st, 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions, with a total of approximately 1 000 tanks. Facing them was the French Second Army, under General Huntziger, whose command post was at Senuc.

The Battle of Montcornet

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Colonel Charles de Gaulle beside French President Albert Lebrun on a visit to Goetzenbruck, 23 October 1939. © ECPAD
Colonel Charles de Gaulle beside French President Albert Lebrun on a visit to Goetzenbruck, 23 October 1939. © ECPAD

After crossing the Ardennes, General Guderian’s XIX Army Corps advanced to the northwest. On 16 May, the German vanguard reached the outskirts of Saint Quentin.

General Touchon’s 6th Army was tasked with establishing a defensive front on the Aisne. Stalling operations were needed in order to achieve this, so a number of units were sent forward.

39-45 MEMORIAL

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Complex of blockhouses in the fort of Cité d’Alet, Saint-Malo, with the museum entrance. © TCY / fr.wikipedia

Built in 1994 by Saint-Malo city council for the 50th anniversary of liberation, the memorial is installed in the German anti-aircraft defences built from 1942 onwards, in the grounds of the 18th-century fort of Cité d’Alet.

In an area of just over 500 m2, split between three levels and ten rooms, visitors are plunged into those dark years of Saint-Malo’s history. Photos, mannequins, weaponry and reconstructed scenes recreate the atmosphere of the period, based on the following themes:

 

  • The invasion of 1940
  • How the port was used
  • Building the bunkers
  • Cité d’Alet (one of the most fortified sites on the Atlantic Wall)
  • The battle for liberation
  • The island of Cézembre (one of the most heavily bombed sites of the Second World War)

 

The bunker itself has been restored to its original state. Tours (guided only) begin at set times and last one hour. Tours are followed at certain times by the screening of an archive film (45 mins), which charts the different stages of the battle for liberation, then shows the reconstruction of the old city, 80% destroyed in the fighting.

 

From June to September, themed tours are offered:

- “History” tour: Almost entirely in the bunker. Evokes the period 1940-44 in Saint-Malo. With film screening.

- “Discovery of the fortifications” tour: 75% outside, 25% in the bunker. Evokes the construction of the 18th-century and Second World War fortifications found on the site. Evokes the everyday lives of soldiers in those fortifications. No film screening.

The two tours are complementary.

 

Dias-MEMORIAL-39-45

Heavy machine-gun position in its original bunker.
Only reconstruction of its kind in France - A loophole in the corridors of the bunker.
- The radio and telephone transmission room.
- US transmission post. Credit: © Mémorial 39-45

 

Sources : ©MÉMORIAL 39-45
 

2019 PRICES

 

 

39-45 Memorial

Pass for

themed tours

39-45 Memorial

(June to September)

Adults

Groups of over 10 adults (per person)

Schoolchildren, students*

Families (2 adults + 2 or more children)*

Members of the armed forces, school parties (Saint-Malo only), jobseekers, people in receipt of Income Support

€ 6

€ 4

€ 3

€ 15

Free

 

€ 9

 

€ 4

€ 20

Free

 

 

Weekly opening hours

 

 

Tour start times

 

April, May, October

Closed on Mondays

 

 

June, September

Closed on Mondays

 

 

July, August

Daily

 

 

39-45 Memorial

Guided tours only (1 hour). Please arrive 20 minutes early.

 

Maximum 25 people at a time.

Groups by arrangement in the morning.

 

* Tours with film screening (45 mins extra):

“The Battle of Saint-Malo”

 

 

2.30 pm*

3.15 pm

4.30 pm*

 

 

 

 

Annual closing on 3/11

 

“History” tour

2.30 pm*
3.15 pm

4.30 pm*

 

“Discovery of the fortifications” tour

10.30 am, Thursday to Sunday

 

 

“History” tour

10.15 am*
2 pm*
3 pm*

4 pm*

 

“Discovery of the fortifications” tour

11 am
5 pm

Closed on 1 May and 1 November.
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Practical information

Address

Allée Gaston Buy 35400
Saint-Malo
+33 (0)2 99 82 41 74

Prices

See table bottom left.

Site Web : www.ville-saint-malo.fr/les-musees/
Email : memorial@saint-malo.fr

Mémoire du Maquis, history resource

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The Les Glières Plateau is a Second World War remembrance site. From 31 January to 26 March 1944, nearly 500 men gathered here, under the command of Lieutenant

Tom Morel, then Captain Maurice Anjot, to take delivery of weapons. After two months, those who had chosen “to live in freedom or to die” faced a massive, combined attack from the forces of Vichy and the Wehrmacht. Over 140 maquisards lost their lives

Things to see on the Les Glières Plateau, a site which is emblematic of Resistance values:


The Mémoire du Maquis history resource is open to the public approximately ten months of the year, and activities, events and visits are regularly organised there. Run by the Haute-Savoie Departmental Authority, this multimedia space is equipped with interactive terminals that enable you to freely consult the CD-ROM ‘The Resistance en Haute-Savoie’ and the website ‘Mémoire des Alpes’. It also has a projection room, where you can watch a historical portrayal of Les Glières, ‘To live in freedom or to die’ (52 mins) or the documentary ‘August 1944: the liberation of Annecy and Haute-Savoie’ (25 mins). There is also a gift shop.


The historical discovery trail: In the middle of the plateau, around the parachute drop zone, this waymarked trail charts the organisation and everyday life of the Les Glières battalion during the winter of 1944. Lasting two hours, it is accessible to walkers of all abilities. A worksheet is available for children to complete by reading the information boards along the path.


The National Monument to the Resistance: This work of modern art by Émile Gilioli symbolises resistance and hope. It was built in 1973 on the initiative of the Association des Glières. Inside the monument are other works by the artist. When you approach the Les Glières Plateau, the National Monument to the Resistance appears to sit on the grass of this vast meadow, its geometry mimicking the shapes of the mountains, in particular the Montagne de Jalouvre, which serves as its backdrop. It is a sculpture without substance, a bas-relief that appears disproportionately larger against a background of nature, its white mass standing out from the rest of the landscape.

 

 

Sources: © Mémoire du Maquis, accueil historique

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Practical information

Address

Plateau des Glières 74570
Thorens-Glière
04 50 33 21 31

Prices

- Full price: € 3 - Young people: € 2 (ages 9-25) - Groups: € 2 (over 11 people) - Free for children under 8 and veterans - Passes/combination tickets: two-site pass, family pass

Weekly opening hours

Daily except Saturdays, 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm to 5 pm July and August: Open daily, 10 am to 12.30 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm

Fermetures annuelles

October to February Local tourist office: Office de Tourisme de Pays de Fillière - 22, place de la Mairie - 74570 Thorens-Glières - Tel.: +33 (0)4 50 22 40 31

Email : resistancedepartementale74@hautesavoie.fr

Franco-Prussian War Museum – Loigny-la-Bataille

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©Musée de la guerre de 1870 – Loigny-la-Bataille

The Musée de la Guerre de 1870 invites you to discover the history of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). From the banks of the Rhine to the plains of Beauce, follow in the footsteps of the Prussian and Bavarian armies and grasp the importance of this conflict in French and European history.

The battlefield, the commemorative church of Loigny, its crypt and ossuary form part of the visitor trail.

 

> Remembrance Trail Battle of Loigny, 2 December 1870
Length of tour: 30 mins by car - 1hr30mins by bike - 4 hrs on foot

 

 

A century-old museum

 

 

The Loigny-la-Bataille museum collection was constituted in the days that followed the battle. General de Sonis, wounded in the fighting, spent his convalescence in the home of Abbé Theuré, the vicar of the village. Impressed by de Sonis’s account, Theuré began collecting objects found on the battlefield. Successive vicars opened a first museum in 1907, then a second in 1956. Over a century, the collection grew with bequests from the families of soldiers who fought in the battle.

 

A new interactive and immersive museum

 

Since September 2017, a new museum space of 240 sqm has been open to the public, divided into a history area and a remembrance area.

 

In the history area, the Franco-Prussian War is told through a series of objects that bear witness to the fierceness of the fighting:  helmets, uniforms, rifles, bayonets, shells, etc.
From Alsace to the Loire, visitors are able to retrace the steps of the armies on touch tables and re-enact the Battle of Loigny on the French or Prussian side. An immersive spectacle combining images and objects puts visitors among the soldiers on the Loigny battlefield, on 2 December 1870.

 

In the remembrance area, visitors are invited to follow in the footsteps of General de Sonis, whose sacrifice at Loigny saved the French army from annihilation. The story of General de Charette’s Papal Zouaves is also recounted: from their formation to defend the Pope in the 1860s, to their heroic acts on the battlefield in the Franco-Prussian War.

 

The visit proceeds with a tour of the church, crypt and ossuary, which holds the bones of 1 260 French and Prussian soldiers. Finally, this remembrance section gives visitors a sense of the decisive role played by a conflict that is often forgotten, yet which sowed the seeds of the world wars of the 20th century.

 

Virtual reality tour of the battlefield

 

The battlefield and its funerary and commemorative monuments are accessible to visitors.
As of 2019, virtual reality brings the battlefield to life.

 

The principle is simple: there are a series of terminals dotted around the battlefield, which visitors scan using tablets provided by the museum. Virtual reality then reproduces the battlefield and the village of Loigny, just as they were in 1870.

 

French, Prussian and Bavarian soldiers come alive and visitors relive the noise and fury of the fighting: skirmishes in the village cemetery (now no longer there), shells exploding in the fields, infantry charges across the plain.

 

Conferences and temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

 

The museum holds exhibitions, conferences and activities linked to the arts, history and French and European current affairs.

 

 

Programmation 2019-2020

 

Exposition « Guerre Miniature » : Soldats de plomb, Lego et Playmobil en première ligne

Exposition > 31 octobre 2019 - 5.50 €

 

Atelier LEGO - Lundi 26 août 2019 - 14h30-16h30 - 5,50 €

Atelier dans le cadre de l’exposition « Guerre Miniature » - Soldats de plomb, Lego et Playmobil en première ligne

 

Merveilles de l'art sur les chemins du pèlerinage de Compostelle

Conférence par Bernard de Montgolfier, conservateur honoraire du patrimoine       
Dimanche 15 septembre 2019 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

La bataille de Loigny en Wargame – Animation dans le cadre des Journées Européennes du Patrimoine
Samedi 21 septembre 2019 - 13h-18h30 - Gratuit


«  Atelier Lego Briques en vrac » – Animation dans le cadre des Journées Européennes du Patrimoine         
Dimanche 22 septembre 2019 - 14h30-18h30 - Gratuit

              

Un tigre chez le Roi-Soleil : Clemenceau et le traité de Versailles – Conférence par Samüel Tomei, Historien
Dimanche 13 octobre 2019 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

La fin d'un monde : La chute du mur de Berlin – Conférence par Clément Wingler, Historien

Dimanche 20 octobre 2019 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

Atelier LEGO - Lundi 28 octobre 2019 - 14h30-16h30 - 5,50 €

 

Le monde selon Napoléon III -  Conférence par Eric Anceau

Dimanche 9 février 2020 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

Le faste impérial – Conférence par Xavier Mauduit         

Dimanche 8 mars 2020 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

Napoléon III et Gambetta, la République contre l'Empire             
Exposition : 150 ans de la guerre de 1870 - Avril 2020          

 

4 août 1870 : Le drame de Wissembourg – Conférence par Abel Douay
Dimanche 29 mars 2020 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

Les raisons de la débâcle -  Conférence par Louis Delperrier        
Dimanche 26 avril 2020 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

L'héritage de l'aigle : 150 ans après, que reste-t-il du Second Empire ? Conférence par David Chanteranne
Dimanche 17 mai 2020 - 15h30 - 2,50 €

 

Les secours et soins aux blessés : de Crimée à Loigny. Conférence par le Colonel Pauchard
vendredi 7 juin 2020 - 15h30 - 2.50 € 

 

 

Sources : ©Musée de la guerre de 1870 – Loigny-la-Bataille

 

 

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Press pack

 

 

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Practical information

Address

Place du 2 décembre 1870 28140
Loigny-la-Bataille
02 37 36 13 25

Prices

- Tarif plein : 5,50 € - Tarif réduit* : 2,50 € *6-17 ans, anciens combattants, étudiants, demandeurs d’emplois - Gratuité pour les enfants jusqu’à 5 ans inclus et pour les membres de l’association Les Amis de Sonis-Loigny - Tarif Pass Dunois : 2.50 € - Tarif CNAS : 4 €

Weekly opening hours

Du 1er avril au 31 mai et du 1er septembre au 31 octobre : Du mardi au vendredi : 14h30 – 18h30 - Le dimanche et jours fériés (sauf 1er mai) : 14h30 – 18h30 - Fermé le lundi et le samedi (ouvert le lundi de Pâques) Du 1er juin au 31 août : - Du mardi au vendredi : 10h-12 h & 14h30-18h30 - Samedi, dimanche et jours fériés : 14h30-18h30 - Fermé le lundi (ouvert le lundi de Pentecôte) - Ouvert toute l’année pour les groupes et les scolaires - Ouverture exceptionnelle le premier dimanche de décembre (commémoration de la bataille de Loigny)

Fermetures annuelles

Du 1er novembre au 31 mars * IMPORTANT * le Musée reste ouvert TOUTE l’année pour les groupes et les scolaires (sur réservation)

Site Web : www.museedelaguerre1870.fr
Email : contact@museedelaguerre1870.fr

The Battle of Saint-Privat

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The Lauenburg 9th Jäger Battalion at Gravelotte, by Ernst Zimmer (1864-1924), 1910. Source: Kreismuseum Ratzeburg

The Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71

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Defence of the Gate of Longboyau, Château de Buzenval, 21 October 1870, Alphonse de Neuville, 1879

The Franco-Prussian War, between the German Confederation and France, lasted six months from 1870 to 1871. The immediate consequences for the belligerents were considerable: on the one hand, the fall of the Second French Empire, the civil war of the Commune and the advent of the Republic; on the other, the creation of the German Empire under the aegis of Prussia.

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