These regions are home to the many sites that bear the scars of two world wars. The sites commemorate the selfless sacrifice of those who took part and now, thanks to the regional Remembrance Trails, you can discover them at your leisure along local cycling and hiking routes. Each route develops a specific theme and is accompanied by an illustrated guide. Consult the guide on your mobile (or download it) to discover the human side of these conflicts and learn about the region and its history in an original and compelling way.
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Nine-tenths of Béthune’s centre was reduced to rubble during the Great War, in particular almost 70,000 shells fell on the town in May 1918 alone. Béthune was a strategic point that the Germans had tried to take since the start of the war. The belfry survived the fighting, albeit severely cracked and its top section missing. It is the last remaining building of the medieval period, dating from 1388, and would have been completely flattened but for the protection of the houses that surrounded it. Initially the idea was to leave it as it was, as a reminder of German barbarity. Restoration works officially ended on 6 October 1929 with the inauguration of the new chimes. The tenor bell bears the inscription: ‘VIGILANT IS MY NAME. I replace Joyful who was destroyed by war, and from the top of this restored belfry, I ring for Peace and to the glory and the future of Béthune rebuilt.’
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Run by the Union des Femmes Françaises, an organization similar to the Women’s Institution, the boys’ school served as an auxiliary hospital with 50 beds in 8 August 1914. Heavy shelling forced its closure three months later. The hospital was recommissioned by the British Army on 6 October 1915. The pupils had to live alongside the wounded soldiers and were trained how to act in times of danger. Issued with electric torches, they would take shelter in the cellar and knew how to use a gas mask. The boys were eventually moved to Bruay-en-Artois in August 1916 and their former dormitories were used to billet British troops for the rest of the war.
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The 1,200-seat theatre opened its doors in 1912 and was much-appreciated by the British troops. Situated near the billets in the rear, it was within easy reach for the soldiers and often enjoyed a full house in the afternoon, except on Sundays when it was closed. Comedy and clownery dominated the theatre’s programme with a mixture of variety shows and revue; while over at the Petit Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, or ‘The Palladium’ as it was renamed by the Brits, a troupe called Les Francies were the regular performers. Designed by the architect Guillaume, the theatre came through the war relatively unscathed and required only renovation, which was entrusted to Paul Degez.
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In 1915 the Buckinghamshire Regiment took up quarters in the former girls’ school, as this extract relates: ‘The officers are staying in private homes nearby. The school is well equipped, the soldiers have the use of a kitchen and can take baths and showers. Many of Béthune’s womenfolk are doing cleaning for them and ironing their clothes.’ Other regiments passed through the school, such as the 17th Middlesex Regiment which was well-known for its football team.
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The hospital set up in this school started treating wounded Indian soldiers in November 1914. In September 1915 the 33rd Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) moved in.
Throughout the war the school suffered regular shelling which led to evacuations in May 1915 and June 1916. Of the facilities installed in the school were a well-equipped operating room, a laboratory of microbiology and an X-ray room. Many great names in the field of medicine did stints in the hospital. There were also dormitories for the wounded and comfortable washrooms which received up to 800 men per day. The students remained in the school and, from their sleeping quarters in the basement, could hear the wounded soldiers crying out in pain.
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On 10 October 1914 the French Army withdrew to Arras, leaving the British to defend Béthune, as had been agreed between General Foch and Field Marshal French. They stayed for four years.
The first British soldier was buried in the cemetery four days later on the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, Béthune’s twin town. Most of the graves belong to soldiers who died in the British ambulances installed in the various schools around the town. The first plot of land to the right was granted to the British authorities but was soon found to be too small.
The bottom of the cemetery filled as the war progressed. A careful study of the dates on the gravestones gives an idea of the losses
suffered during battles in the sector (Festubert, Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée…) and the extent of the British Empire at that time. The most recent graves are those of twenty-six officersof the Manchester Regiment who were killed by a single bomb dropped by a plane on 22 December 1917 on Boulevard Kitchener.
Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the cemetery contains the graves of 2,923 British soldiers, 122 French and 87 German.
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This monument, designed by architect René Deligny and sculptor Paul
Graf, commemorates France’s 73rd and 273rd Infantry Regiments and 6th Territorial Infantry Regiment. It shows Minerva, Roman goddess of
military strategy, standing on a pedestal and holding a flag with, at
her feet, the arms of the towns of Aire-sur-la-Lys, Hesdin and Béthune. The memorial was inaugurated on 28 May 1933 in the presence of Mayor Alexandre Ponnelle and former soldiers of the Béthune regiments that were disbanded after the Great War.
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Named sub-prefect on 12 January 1914, Adrien Bonnefoy-Sibour carried out his duties with courage and composure throughout the war. By 12 April 1918 the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that the order was given to evacuate Béthune, although the sub-prefect and fifty diehards remained. The town council moved to Berck-sur-Mer. On 28 December 1919 the sub-prefect received French president Raymond Poincaré who awarded Béthune the Legion of Honour and the Military Cross.
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Situated on the military training ground of the Champ de Mars (now the sports centre), Chambors Barracks were used as a recruiting station. Lafeuillade and Montmorency Barracks, as well as the schools in the town, were also requisitioned. The youngest recruits were assigned to the 273rd Infantry Regiment; the oldest to the 6th Territorial. Once recruited, the new soldiers marched in procession to the train station.
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On 18 September 1920 at 6.40 p.m. Béthune Council received a telegram from the British League of Help announcing that the people of Bristol would sponsor the town’s reconstruction. During the war many British soldiers were quartered in Béthune and developed fond memories of the town. Around 70,000 soldiers enlisted in Bristol and millions of weapons and munitions left her port bound for France. Despite the deep financial crisis in the English west-country town, subscriptions town, subscriptions collected from her inhabitants helped build the Bristol Housing Estate which opened on 24 March 1925. It was demolished in 1968.
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The general hospital treated both civilians and soldiers of various nationalities (British, French and German). Because of the continual
shelling, the wounded were sent to Saint-Omer and Berck-sur-Mer unless their condition meant that it was too dangerous to move
them. Those who remained were cared for by the doctors and Franciscan nuns. The hospital was evacuated in 1917 and remained closed until April 1919. Two buildings of the old hospital are still visible on Rue Boutleux. Saint Pry Chapel is more recent, dating from the post-war reconstruction.
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Montmorency Barracks stood on the site now occupied by the Sévigné School. They housed British soldiers during the Great War. Robert Graves of the Royal Welch Fusiliers describes in his famous account Goodbye to All That his return from Briques Farm near Cambrin:
We spent the night repairing damaged trenches. When morning came we were relieved by the Middlesex, and marched back to Béthune, where we dumped our spare kit at the Montmorency Barracks.
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Designed by Jacques Alleman and the sculptor Edgar Boutry, the war memorial was financed in part by public subscription. A Minerva of Peace, the scene shows a veiled woman (Liberty) draped in a robe of stone (Pain). A laurel wreath represents the triumph of military might. The palm leaves evoke the greatness of the soldiers who died for their nation.
It was unveiled on 11 November 1928. Mayor Alexandre Ponnelle’s speech during the unveiling ceremony was typical of its time: ‘Today, to remembrance, Béthune adds an even greater solemn tribute with the inauguration of a monument that must commemorate for all time and all future generations the generous
sacrifice of their elders... Oppressed nations will forever turn to France, which will remain for all eternity the guardian of justice and law.’ The nearby Hôtel de Baynast, no longer standing, housed British General Headquarters.
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Dedicated to Saint Vedast, this sixteenthcentury church was totally destroyed in the war.When works began to remove the rubble in 1919, the ruins were still smoking. Louis-Marie Cordonnier rebuilt the church between 1924 and 1927 in a neo-Gothic style with Byzantine and art deco influences. Furnishings were financed by subscriptions organized by Archpriest Pruvost. Of note, there is a plaque commemorating civilians in the chancel, and a memorial to the British Empire in the north transept. The crypt of the Charitables Chapel was still in use during the FirstWorldWar.
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After rejecting the proposals of regionalist architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier, the Council launched in 1926 a competition to design a newTown Hall on the town square around the belfry. They received eleven submissions. Architect Jacques Alleman was selected, despite not having won the competition, and amid the ensuing controversy it was finally decided to use the site where the old Town Hall stood before the war. The plot was smaller than the one previously envisaged. Jacques Alleman applied the same architectural approach to the rest of the square. On the façade, on either side of the town’s arms, he decided to depict the Legion of Honour and the Military Cross which had been awarded to the town by President Raymond Poincarré on 28 December 1919 in recognition of its sacrifices and martyrdom.The inauguration was held on 7 April 1929. Mayor Alexandre Ponnelle was very enthusiastic about the rebirth of the town and spoke proudly of ‘a great and beautiful building’. Listed as a historic monument in 2002, the Town Hall is one of the most beautiful art deco monuments in the region.
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The reconstruction of Béthune fell within the scope of Cornudet’s law which required all towns of over 10,000 inhabitants to draw up plans for future development, improvement or extension. The solution proposed by the architect Mulart was simple: facilitate circulation in the town by enlarging or opening new roads without erasing its Medieval layout. It was a combination of tradition and modernity. The main square, or Grand’ Place, was given special
attention. Numerous architects, each with their own personal touch, gave the square an eclectic style. Combining new materials and surprising decorative elements, the square is like an open-air theatre. Red brick and stepped gables evoke regional traditions; while the simple and refined bulk of the buildings and the numerous geometric motifs speak in the language of art deco.
It is hard to imagine that, during the First World War, the square was teeming with soldiers from every corner of the British Empire: Scotland, Canada, India, Australia... Béthune was very much a British town. Café du Globe was a favourite place for soldiers to relax and unwind.
Soldiers often took photos of themselves in front of the shops and cafés, among the ruins or carrying out security checks. King George V came several times to Béthune to review his troops or see for himself the damaged caused by the shelling.
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