First World War sites that may be of interest to North Americans.

[A.W.U.K.]

I went to France for a few days over the Christmas break, travelling down the A26 motorway to the Champagne region, a journey that passes close to many places mentioned in WW1 histories.

The first place visited was Vimy Ridge, where the Canadian Memorial stands.

The land in the foreground is still pitted with shell craters.

The surrounding wall is inscribed with the names of dead Canadians with no known grave.

In the car park:

The view east from the ridge towards Lens. The peaks are slag heaps, not hills. This was all German-held territory for most of the War.

A tiny pillbox/observation post?

The fenced off woods opposite are full of shell holes and unexploded munitions.

A short distance away, a part of the trench system has been reconstructed: These are German trenches.

One of the many craters caused by the massive mines that were exploded under the German lines prior to the assault.

Undisturbed trench systems gently decay in the woods.

Pill box in the allied lines.

Some kind of large calibre mortar?

An old trench zig-zags away.

I've some more photos to post later.

 

[LEGION 12]

As always great pics Thanks for posting them cant wait for more !

 

[RevDevil]

Thanks for sharing that. I love reading about most topics in history. Great pics too.

 

[mqqn]

Very cool - thank you very much for taking time to share those pictures.

Muchly appreciated!

best

mqqn

 

[mete]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...s-WWI-France-inside-antique-store-camera.html

You never know where you will find it !

 

[theHobbyist]

Great pictures sounds like a great stop you had there...

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Next day: The cathedral of Soissons. The front lines between the German and Allied armies had run east and west along the Chemin des Dames for several years before the great German offensive of the last week of May 1918. The Germans advanced up to 50 miles southwards forming a great semicircular salient into the allied lines between Soissons in the west and Reims in the east. To the south-west US troops, including Marines, were thrown into the defence when the Germans reached Chateau Thierry and the nearby Bois Belleau (Belleau Wood). Soissons was overrun and the cathedral suffered a great deal of damage in the fighting.

Inside are these photographs of the damage:

And this plaque commemorating the dead of the British Empire.

Memorial to the dead of the British Empire, near the cathedral.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Next day: A typical French war memorial in the small village of Crugny.

A small French war cemetery.

Here lie 2506 unknown French dead. (Beyond is a German war cemetery)

Part of the fort de la Pompelle. Built in the 1880's, it was obsolete but happened to form part of the front line near Reims.

The slopes around the fort are covered in shell holes.

A memorial to the Russian unit which garrisoned the fort for a time.

In Reims, a French scout band perform as Mounties.

In Reims, the Canadian-German-French Christmas Market.

The Mars Gate, an amazing survival from the Roman Empire.

Reims war memorial.

North-West tower of Reims cathedral. This cathedral also suffered in the fighting. The Germans made strenuous efforts to capture Reims and the French made equally strenuous efforts to prevent it's capture. This cathedral is where almost all the French kings were crowned.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Next Day: In the churchyard of the tiny village of Dravegny, the graves of 7 RAF aircrew of a crashed Lancaster Bomber. The 8th member survived and visited the graves as recently as 2005.
Where British Empire and Commonwealth combatants were buried too close together to allow room for individual headstones (when they came to be added later), the details of two, or occasionally even three, were inscribed on one headstone.

The American Oise-Aisne War Cemetery near Nesles.

6,012 American dead were buried here.

An unknown soldier

One chapel contains the names of dead with no known graves.

The other chapel has this map of the campaign area. Right at the very top is the original front line and almost all of the map was covered by the German advance of the last week of May. An allied offensive in July took all the land back, the direction of advance being generally slightly east of northwards. The numbers are of US divisions and show the territory they recaptured. Chateau Thierry and Belleau Wood are in the south-west corner.

Belleau Wood. Hard to make out but there are shell holes in this area.

At the bottom of the hill is the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery

A Commonwealth cemetery

These headstones commemmorate soldiers who were killed early in the war but whose graves were obliterated in later fighting.

Many of the graves are of unknown dead.

 

[AKC]

I always enjoy taking the trip with you.

 

[knarfeng]

Thanks for taking the time to share these. You have a great eye for photography and a knack for written descriptions.

 

[338375]

The pictures are awesome. Thanks for taking the time to share them with us. You can see so much more in the pictures, than you can on documentaries.