Itinerant exhibition "Trunks full of memories 14-18"

Until 2014

With the support of the Interreg IV project "TransMusSites 14-45"

Even before the end of the Great War, some of the people living through those times decided to keep some souvenirs of their experience in the form of military objects, personal documents, photographs, drawings or writings. They now allow historians to retrace the lives of the men and women living through the years from 1914 to 1918 and to shed more light on the history of society in wartime. The collective project named "Trunks full of memories 14-18" has brought together 16 trunks, each containing personal souvenirs of the Great War.

Together, these souvenirs provide us with insight into the lives of men and women at war, both civilians and soldiers from the Nord-Pas de Calais and Belgium as well as English, Portuguese and German soldiers who fought in the region.

By giving a voice to these objects, we have an unparalleled access to the history of those dark times. Part of the exhibition will be itinerant. Other pieces will be installed permanently in each partner museum.

97th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles

19 July 2013

On 19 July 1916 Australian soldiers launched an attack at Fromelles to divert attention away from the main offensive in the Somme. That attack was the first operation on the Western Front to involve Australians.

Recently, 250 British and Australians soldiers buried by the Germans in the aftermath of the battle were discovered and, of these, 110 bodies have since been identified.
This year a ceremony will be held in Pheasant Wood Military Cemetery where graves have been built for 9 recently-identified soldiers of the Great War.

Discover Fromelles Australian Memorial Park

Learn more about the Battle of Fromelles

Commemorations of the death of Wilfred Owen and of the liberation of Le Quesnoy

4 November 2013

On 4 November 1918 at Ors, not far from Landrecies and Cateau-Cambrésis, fell a soldier who is today considered to be one of the major figures of British twentieth-century poetry: Wilfred Owen. Every 4 November a ceremony is held at Owen's grave to commemorate the life of a poet whom the war made famous but ultimately extinguished.

On the same day New Zealand soldiers succeeded in climbing over the walls of the fortified town of Quesnoy, some 20 km from Ors. It was an exploit that led to the town's liberation. Since then the people of Quesnoy pay tribute to their Kiwi liberators at the foot of the memorial dedicated to them on the ramparts.

Discover Ors Communal Cemetery where Wilfred Owen is buried

Discover Le Quesnoy New Zealand Memorial

Learn more about the liberation of occupied territories in 1918