The Ring of Remembrance – Ablain-Saint- Nazaire (62)
This is the only international monument built in France for the centenary of the Great War.
The Ring of Remembrance was born of the desire to bring together posthumously the names of almost 600,000 soldiers who fell during the first World War in Nord-Pas de Calais, without making any distinction by nationality, gender, or religion.
This architectural achievement is the work of architect Philippe Prost. It is situated in the middle of the largest cemeteries and international memorials on the hills of the Artois
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Sucrerie British Cemetery, Graincourt Les Haverincourt, France
I found this unusual cemetery by following the signs, then walking along a beautifully maintained path to the middle of a field. Here's what CWGC say about it
Graincourt-le-Havrincourt is a village just south of the main Cambrai to Bapaume road (N30), about 10 kilometres from Cambrai.
Sucrerie British Cemetery is on a minor road that leads directly from Graincourt-les-Havrincourt, crosses the main road and then leads towards Moeuvres. The Cemetery is at the end of a long access path which starts about 0.5 kilometres from the main road.
Historical Information
Graincourt-les-Havrincourt was captured by the 62nd (West Riding) Division on the 20th November 1917, and again, after a hard struggle, by the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division on the 27th September 1918.
The cemetery was made by the 63rd Division on the 6th October 1918.
There are now nearly 60, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number are unidentified and one grave, which cannot now be found, is represented by a special memorial. The graves are in one long trench, almost all of whom belonged to the 63rd Division and fell in the capture of Graincourt.
The cemetery covers an area of 202 square metres, without the approach road and is enclosed by a low rubble wall.
Courcelette British Cemetery
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Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France
Video of this cemetery in northern France - CWGC says
Caberet Rouge was a small, red-bricked, red-tiled café that stood close to this site in the early days of the First World War. The café was destroyed by shellfire in March 1915 but it gave its unusual name to this sector and to a communication trench that led troops up the front-line. Commonwealth soldiers began burying their fallen comrades here in March 1916. The cemetery was used mostly by the 47th (London) Division and the Canadian Corps until August 1917 and by different fighting units until September 1918. It was greatly enlarged in the years after the war when as many as 7,000 graves were concentrated here from over 100 other cemeteries in the area. For much of the twentieth century, Cabaret Rouge served as one of a small number of 'open cemeteries' at which the remains of fallen servicemen newly discovered in the region were buried. Today the cemetery contains over 7,650 burials of the First World War, over half of which remain unidentified.
The Canadian Connection
Many different Commonwealth units served in this sector during the war and the cemetery contains the graves of British, Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Indian and South African soldiers. It is also the final resting place of over 70 officers of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. Cabaret Rouge has a particularly close connection with the Canadian Infantry, however, as hundreds of Canadians who were killed at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917 were ultimately laid to rest here.
The cemetery and shelter buildings were designed by former Canadian Army officer Frank Higginson. Higginson worked as an architect for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the 1920s and later acted as Secretary to the Commission.
In May 2000 the remains of an unknown Canadian soldier were taken from this cemetery and buried in a special tomb at the foot of the National War Memorial in Ottowa, Canada. A focal point for remembrance, he represents more than 116,000 Canadians who lost their lives during the First World War. A headstone in plot 8, Row E, Grave 7 marks his original grave.
The Importance of Vimy Ridge
German forces seized the village of Souchez and the surrounding countryside as they advanced through Northern France in 1914. German artillery units were able to control this sector of the front from two ridges which flanked the village -- Vimy Ridge to the east, and Notre Dame de Lorette to the west. After 12 months of bitter fighting, the French forces captured the high ground at Lorette in the autumn of 1915. When the French handed this part of the line to the Commonwealth forces in March 1916, Vimy Ridge was still in German hands.
Vimy Ridge was the key to the German defensive system in this sector. It protected an area of occupied France in which coal mines and factories were in full production for the German war effort and the fortified vantage points on the ridge dominated the surrounding battlefields.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge formed part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras which began on 9 April 1917. The Canadian forces managed to capture most of the German positions on the ridge on the first day of the attack and by 12 April they had occupied the village of Thélus and pushed the Germans back to the Oppy-Méricourt line. By taking the ridge the Canadians achieved a major tactical success, but in just four days of fighting they suffered over 10,000 casualties, 3,500 of whom were killed. The battle was the first action in which all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together and had a major impact on Canadian national identity.
Marcoing British Cemetery, near Cambrai, France
Video of the Marcoing Commonwealth War Graves cemetery. CWGC say Marcoing British Cemetery was made after the Armistice, by the concentration of graves (almost all of November 1917 or September-October 1918) from RUMILLY GERMAN CEMETERY and from the local battlefields.
There are now nearly 400, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, over half are unidentified and special memorials are erected to 19 soldiers from the United Kingdom, four from Canada and one from New Zealand, known or believed to be buried among them.
We shall remember them.
Cimetiere militaire de 14/18 Souchez (cabaret rouge)
Souchez est un village 3,5 kilomètres au nord d'Arras, sur la route principale de Béthune. Le cimetière se trouve à environ 1,5 kilomètres au sud du village sur la côte ouest de la D937 route d'Arras à Béthune.
Le 26 Septembre 1915, Souchez a été prise par les Allemands, par les troupes françaises, qui ont remis le secteur aux forces du Commonwealth .Le village a été complètement détruit. L'Cabaret Rouge est une maison sur la route principale à environ 1 kilomètre au sud du village.
Ce cimetiere contient les tombes de 6725 britanniques . 749 cannadien . 116 australiens . 7 nouvelle zelande .43 sud africains .15 indiens et 4 allemands
Ecoivres Mititary Cemetery
The graves of the mostly British and Canadian soldiers are in chronological order: the graves of the men of the 46th North Midland Division who relieved the French in March 1916 are followed by those of the 25th Division who fell in the German attack at the foot of Vimy Ridge in May 1916; next come the men of the 47th London Division who died between July and October 1916 and finally the graves of the Canadians who lost their lives in the successful assault on Vimy Ridge in April 1917. (Ecoivres Military Cemetery - Mont-Saint-Eloi)
KORTRIJK, Belgium, Commonwealth War Grave Lance Corporal Vercoe:
As part of my wife’s genealogy research a friend (who was also doing family research) took us on a day trip to Belgium and France to visit Commonwealth War Graves where we had already established through previous research that family members were buried. Our first stop was Kortrijk (St. Jan) communal cemetery, Belgium where Bernard Vercoe was known to be buried. Lance Corporal Bernard Vercoe of the 2nd New Zealand Entrenching Battalion died of sickness on 22nd November 1918.
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae read by Seth Hunter Perkins.
Music : Nurture by Chris Allen & Steve Satterthwaite & Alex Johnson (Valiant Hearts OST)
Sites featured in the video:
Faubourg d'Amiens Cemetery and Memorial, Arras
Cabaret Rouge Cemetery, Souchez
Ablain Saint Nazaire Church, Ablain Saint Nazaire
Vimy Ridge Canadian National Memorial, Vimy
Text:
In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.