The town of Loos-en-Gohelle suffered huge losses during the war of 1914-18. Invaded on 10 October 1914, it was not liberated until August 1917 at the cost of thousands of lives. French, English, Scottish, Welsh and Canadian men all perished on the town’s soil, hence the number of memorials and groups that continue to preserve a trace of its history today.

The association “Sur les Traces de la Grande Guerre” (In the footsteps of the Great War), whose role is to preserve, safeguard and share this legacy, invites people to visit the Musée Alexandre Villedieu where all the objects on display come from the Loos battlefields. There were three major battles in Loos-en-Gohelle, within the triangle of hills of Artois (Vimy and Lorette) and the Douai plain.

The first battle took place on 9 May 1915. A diversion to the Battle of Lorette Hill, it was a deadly massacre for both French regiments.

The second battle began on 25 September 1915, and is more commonly known amongst the British as the Battle of Loos. This battle claimed many victims (among the British, 15,800 lives and 34,580 men injured; among the Germans, 20,000 killed or wounded). This battle is very dear to the British many of whom come to meditate at the graves in three British cemeteries in Loos-en-Gohelle. This battle liberated two-thirds of Loos as far as Hill 70 which remained under German control for a further two years.

The third battle took place on 15 August 1917. After the liberation of Hill 145 in Vimy, the Canadian soldiers arrived in Loos in mid-July to seize the remaining part of German-occupied Loos. Until 15 August 1917, 12,000 Canadians moved around in a network of underground tunnels planning the liberation of Hill 70.

The Loos footpaths (Sépultures path and Lone Tree path) are public ways where Great War fanatics and interested visitors can learn all about the historic past of Loos through the former World War I battlefields.

Musée 14/18 Alexandre Villedieu

Association "Sur les Traces de la Grande Foyer Omer Caron"

First floor, Place de la République 62750 Loos en Gohelle

Tel: +33 (0)3 21 70 59 75 or +33 (0)3 21 28 99 82

E-mail: a.villedieu@wanadoo.fr

Mairie de Loos en Gohelle (town hall)

Place de la République 62750 Loos en Gohelle

Tel: +33 (0)3 21 69 88 77

Fax: +33 (0)3 21 69 88 79

E-mail: contact@loos-en-gohelle.fr

Opening times: 9-11 am and 2-5 pm

N.B. Reservation only for afternoon visits.

With the siting of the Latécoère aircraft assembly and flight-test centre in 1930, followed by the Hourtiquets seaplane base at the end of that decade, Biscarrosse, a genuine gateway to the Atlantic, became the obvious place to build a seaplane museum - and the Musée de l’Hydraviation is the only one of its kind in Europe. The museum assigned itself the task of charting the history of seaplanes, from the pioneers in their quirky machines right up to the latest models found around the world.

To achieve this, it has assembled archives, photographs, old maps, autographs, original publications, flying suits, medals, uniforms, logbooks, flight logs, personal belongings of famous pilots, aircraft parts, engines, propellers, seaplane models (some of which are extremely old), aircraft interiors, original paintings and reproductions, posters, period advertising materials, and more.

This historical display occupies 850 sqm of floor space, partly in period buildings, since some served as lodgings for workers at the Hourtiquets seaplane base. Full-size seaplanes are today extremely rare. The weather and marine corrosion have taken their toll. Aside from a handful that have been restored by enthusiasts, today all the seaplanes that have been saved are in museums.

So why not in ours? Seaplanes dating from 1912 to the 1980s, restored or under restoration, are displayed in the main exhibition hall, in an area of 480 sqm.

The museum is eager to preserve this heritage and the manufacturing techniques specific to this sphere.

One rare piece was donated to the museum’s collection by Biscarrosse town council: an American Grumman Albatross, a real icon of maritime airborne search and rescue, whose first flight was in 1947 (a small number of aircraft of this type still fly today outside Europe).

In the context of the planned creation of the museum and redevelopment of the Latécoère site around its seaplane heritage, to be given a seaplane of such size, currently the only one of its kind in Europe, represented a unique opportunity.

Once restoration is complete, it should be possible for the aircraft to be used in a static capacity, with optimum safety conditions to allow the public to climb on board. The purpose of restoring the aircraft is so that it can be displayed to the public and serve as a “showcase” for the museum.

Sources: ©Musée de l’Hydraviation

Tourist office: 55, place G. Dufau, BP 10001 - 40602 Biscarrosse Cedex - Tel.: +33 (0)5 58 78 20 96

The part of the blockhouse that you can see is only 10% of its surface area. Almost entirely underground, the command post of the Graf Spee battery is one of the largest bunkers in the region. 

Set over five floors and with 500 sqm of exhibitions, the one-way circuit begins beneath the reception, in the quarters of the 25 soldiers who defended the position.  In rooms restored to exactly how they were then, discover what everyday life was like on the Atlantic Wall, through captivatingly realistic decors.

The subsequent levels immerse you in the atmosphere of the war years in Brittany: blitzkrieg, Stalags, occupation, Free France, collaboration, Resistance, fighting for Brest, liberation, and so on. Numerous anecdotes make this a moving encounter with the men and women who experienced the war, right here.

Return to the daylight on the level of the observation stations and panoramic viewpoint, offering unique views of the entrance to Brest harbour, from the Presqu’île de Crozon to Ouessant.

The tour ends with a walk around the site, where visitors can see the other short-range defence blockhouses, together with a variety of impressive equipment.

Sources: ©Musée Mémoires 39-45

Tourist office: Boulevard de la Mer, Plougonvelin - Tel.: +33 (0)2 98 48 25 94

The new visitor circuit presents the important strategic issues for the department of the Ain in the Second World War, situating them within the regional, national and European context.

Interspersed with personal accounts, the exhibition also reflects on the engagement of local men and women, charting their struggle against the German occupiers and Vichy regime to restore the Republic and freedom. It also sheds new light on the repression and persecution of civilians, Resistance members and Jews in the Ain.

Imbued with the spirits of its Resistance and deportee founders, the museum questions the construction of remembrance post-1945 and its contemporary uses. Through the history of the Ain, it is the France of the years 1939-45 that is revealed.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Ain - ©Agathe GAUBERT

Office de Tourisme Haut-Bugey, Nantua - Tel.: +33 (0)4 74 12 11 57

 Founded in 1992 by former members of the Resistance, eager to pass on the memory of all those who fought for liberation and for victory over Nazi barbarity, the museum takes visitors on a journey through the history of the Second World War in the department. Drawing on rich archives, the exhibition sheds light on specific features of the Ardèche Resistance: underground presses, pamphlet distribution, parachute drops and acts of sabotage. The museum’s founding organisation defines its purpose as follows: “Our museum is not dedicated to any unit, movement or leader in particular, but to the Resistance, which was a collective effort.”

 Located in the commune of Le Teil, the museum tells the story of the Resistance across the department. It is therefore not a local history museum, although the local Resistance is mentioned. Similarly, although references are made to links with other departments, the museum is devoted above all to the particularities of the Ardèche Resistance, and its role in the liberation of the department.

The archive put together by the museum’s founding organisation was registered with the departmental archives, then, in 1996, donated to the department. Catalogued under number 70J, it can be consulted by anyone wishing to research the history of the Second World War in the Ardèche. The archive continues to grow as a result of regular donations and collections.   

The museum has been run since 2010 by the Rhône-Helvie community of communes which, in 2017, became the Ardèche Rhône Coiron community of communes. It is maintained by the Ardèche departmental authority and the commune of Le Teil. It offers a varied cultural programme and a learning programme for schools.

2017 programmation

- Learning programme: workshops, self-guided tours with a specially designed questionnaire, help with preparing for the Concours national de la Résistance et de la Déportation (a competition for middle- and high-school students) and the loan of touring exhibitions. All activities for school students are free (regardless of age group or the geographical location of the educational establishment concerned).

Sources : © Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation en Ardèche

Office de tourisme - Place Pierre Semard, 07400 Le Teil - Tél.: 04 75 49 10 46

Set at the foot of the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Lens’ 14-18 presents the First World War on Nord-Pas-de-Calais soil.

The contemporary building, designed by architect Pierre-Louis Faloci, is comprised of black concrete cubes called ‘chapels’.

Using innovative museological techniques, this international interpretation centre has an outstanding collection of iconographic documents (maps, archives photographs, film footage from the period) and emblematic objects from around the world, which reflect the viewpoints of all the protagonists (French, Germans, British, etc.). There are nearly 400 large-format photos on display. Dynamic maps illustrate the different offensives, and some 20 archive films immerse visitors in the Great War.

The permanent exhibition, designed by an international scientific committee chaired by French historian Yves Le Maner, offers the keys to interpreting and appropriating the themes and chronology of the First World War. It establishes a coherent account of the events that took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region between 1914 and 1918. The major stages of the conflict presented are: the mobile war and the trench system; the bloody offensives and the occupation of the Nord; the 1918 offensives and death on the front; and ruins and reconstruction.

The display at Lens’ 14-18 makes the history of the First World War in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments accessible to the general public. The events are presented in summarised form, and visits take approximately two hours. The high-quality photos, objects from the collection and dynamic maps are exclusive to the centre, and help give visitors a rapid overview of the conflict.

Nearly 580 000 soldiers of 40 nationalities died along the 60 miles of front line spanning French Flanders and Artois. Their names are remembered at the Ring of Remembrance, the International Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, 1500 metres above sea level, and their army data sheets can be consulted free of charge on digital tablets in the remembrance area of the Lens’ 14-18 museum.

Set at the foot of the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Lens’ 14-18 presents the First World War on Nord-Pas-de-Calais soil.

The contemporary building, designed by architect Pierre-Louis Faloci, is comprised of black concrete cubes called “chapels”.

Using innovative museological techniques, this international interpretation centre has an outstanding collection of iconographic documents (maps, archives photographs, film footage from the period) and emblematic objects from around the world, which reflect the viewpoints of all the protagonists (French, Germans, British, etc.). There are nearly 400 large-format photos on display. Dynamic maps illustrate the different offensives, and some 20 archive films immerse visitors in the Great War.

The permanent exhibition, designed by an international scientific committee chaired by French historian Yves Le Maner, offers the keys to interpreting and appropriating the themes and chronology of the First World War. It establishes a coherent account of the events that took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region between 1914 and 1918. The major stages of the conflict presented are: the mobile war and the trench system; the bloody offensives and the occupation of the Nord; the 1918 offensives and death on the front; and ruins and reconstruction.

The display at Lens’ 14-18 makes the history of the First World War in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments accessible to the general public. The events are presented in summarised form, and visits take approximately two hours. The high-quality photos, objects from the collection and dynamic maps are exclusive to the centre, and help give visitors a rapid overview of the conflict.

Nearly 580 000 soldiers of 40 nationalities died along the 60 miles of front line spanning French Flanders and Artois. Their names are remembered at the Ring of Remembrance, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette International Memorial, 1500 metres above sea level, and their army data sheets can be consulted free of charge on digital tablets in the remembrance area of the Lens’ 14-18 museum.

Sources: © Lens’ 14-18 - Centre d’Histoire Guerre et Paix

Local tourist office: Office de Tourisme et du Patrimoine de Lens-Liévin, 58, rue de la Gare - 62300 Lens

Tel.: +33 (0)3 21 67 66 66

 info@tourisme-lenslievin.fr

www.tourisme-lenslievin.fr

The site of the archives of the ministries responsible for military affairs since records began, the Service Historique de la Défense (SHD) also has one of the most extensive specialist libraries in France. It also has the role of approving, cataloguing and gathering together the elements of military symbolism (emblems and insignias), as well as contributing to research into the history of defence.

Its collections, comprised of 450 km of archives dating back to the 17th century, totalling nearly one million works, represent a part of the French national memory, which the SHD’s archivists, librarians, historians and scientific and technical staff are engaged in preserving, transmitting and sharing. These first-class documentary resources belong to the French people.

Founded on 1 January 2005 through the merging of the former historical departments of the armed forces, the SHD is a branch of the Department for Remembrance, Heritage and Archives (DMPA), one of the departments of the Secretariat-General for Administration (SGA) of the Ministry of Defence.

It is comprised of three centres: the Centre Historique des Archives (located in Vincennes, Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, Toulon, Caen and Le Blanc), the Centre des Archives de l’Armement et du Personnel Civil (located in Châtellerault) and the Centre des Archives du Personnel Militaire (located in Pau).

Learn all about the SHD through the exhibition organised to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

The museum charts the history of the French volunteers who, thanks to Kieffer’s tenacity, were able to join the British commandos and take part in a number of operations alongside them. It focuses in particular on their training at the Achnacarry camp in Scotland and how they landed on the beach of Colleville-sur-Orne (present-day Colleville-Montgomery) with No 4 Commando, captured Ouistreham casino and liberated the town, joined up with British paratroopers at Pegasus Bridge, Bénouville, then installed themselves in Amfreville, all in the same day, 6 June 1944. They went on to fight in the Battle of Normandy until late August 1944, then in Belgium and the Netherlands.

All the pieces displayed in the museum are authentic, and most of the equipment and uniforms were donated by the families of the British and French commandos.

A scale model measuring 3.60 m x 1.10 m helps visitors to picture the landing at Colleville-sur-Orne and the capture of Ouistreham casino.

A 26-minute film (with English subtitles), comprised of documents and footage from the time, shows in particular the troops training at Achnacarry.

Exhibited in large display cases are many uniforms and weapons used in the conflict, including some very rare pieces.

Most of the objects and photographs are labelled in French, English and German.

This museum was founded in order to:

• explain what the commandos were and what they accomplished; and

• make sure their memory and example live on.

This poem says it all:

Tribute to the Kieffer Commando
(to the 177 commandos and their comrades-in-arms)
Commandos, an emblem of hope
flapping in the wind toward the sky of France,
You begin a hymn of deliverance
that echoes through the villages of France.
(...)

Claude Blin

The complete poem by Claude Blin is available at the No 4 Commando Museum

Sources : ©Musée N° 4 Commando

In a cinematographic setting inspired by poetic realism, a collection of more than 10 000 objects and documents evokes the daily lives of French people under the Occupation, while first-hand accounts from members of the Resistance in Vaucluse shed light on the profound motivations behind their actions, situated in the national context. Finally, a third section, “Freedom of the Spirit”, offers an in-depth look at “wartime intelligence” and Resistance ideals, what they meant and how they were taught. It comprises a series of underground editions, subject to censorship or sent from abroad, of militant magazines, manuscripts by René Char, Georges Rouault, André Breton, etc., and original works by Henri Matisse and Joan Miró, among others.

The museum also has: 

• a research and documentation centre (open to all by appointment), where information and archives in all media can be consulted and documents borrowed and copied.
• a bookshop selling a range of books on the period 1939-45 (general, thematic, new releases)
• an auditorium and a projection room, which can be booked for symposiums, seminars and exhibitions.

You can visit the museum unguided, and group bookings (minimum 10 people) are taken throughout the year.

Audioguides in English, French and German are available to visitors free of charge.

Guided tours, scripted booklets and educational workshops (art, writing, philosophy, etc.) mean school visits can be tailored to different age groups. Original trails around the museum’s collections or on the theme of this year’s “Concours National de la Résistance et de la Déportation” schools competition can be arranged with the museum’s education service.

Sources : ©Musée d’Histoire Jean Garcin : 39-45 L’Appel de la Liberté

After visiting the battlefield of Verdun, whose scars still visible 100 years on remind us of the horrors of war, a visit to the World Centre for Peace is a must. A symbol of the Great War, Verdun as the “Capital of Peace” offers a better understanding of how a regional crisis can deteriorate into a major conflict, how Franco-German relations have succeeded in overcoming the horror and the hatred born of the conflicts, how day after day the protection of human rights and freedoms is the best defence against a crazy world capable of the worst acts of destruction and madness.

Visitors will appreciate the outstanding charm of Verdun’s Episcopal Palace, a listed building from the 18th century, which for the past 30 years has been home to the Centre Mondial de la Paix, des Libertés et des Droits de l’Homme. In the 18th-century gardens, which can be visited free of charge, you can see a section of the Berlin Wall and discover its history, as well as enjoy one of the finest views of the town of Verdun.

The Centre presents a number of permanent exhibitions, on such varied themes as the First World War, Franco-German relations, contemporary conflicts and human rights.

Schoolchildren will enjoy the activity packs and workshops prepared by the education team and Canopé Meuse, while the scientifically inclined will be fascinated by the centre of excellence in First World War and Franco-German remembrance, which is the result of close cooperation between the different organisations housed in the Centre. 

Visitors will love the shop, with its more than 500 books to suit all ages.

Intended from the outset as a meeting place, the Centre Mondial de la Paix, founded in the presence of the UN Secretary-General, hosts a large number of events in its function rooms (which seat 20 to 300 people and include a film room). Conferences, film club, book fair... Not a week goes by without an event, usually with free admission to the public.

Since mid-April 2016, a group accommodation capacity of 56 beds means that parties visiting Verdun have somewhere to stay.

Sources: ©Centre Mondial de la Paix, des libertés et des droits de l’Homme