jrah60 Administrator
Joined: 04 Dec 2009 Posts: 1915 Location: East Kilbride
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 3:57 pm Post subject: Arras Memorial, France. |
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ARRAS MEMORIAL, PAS DE CALAIS, FRANCE
Viewed from the Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery
The Arras Memorial is in the Faubourg-d'Amiens Cemetery, which is in the Boulevard du General de Gaulle in the western part of the town of Arras. The cemetery is near the Citadel, approximately 2 kms due west of the railway station. The French handed over Arras to Commonwealth forces in the spring of 1916 and the system of tunnels upon which the town is built were used and developed in preparation for the major offensive planned for April 1917. The ARRAS MEMORIAL commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with sculpture by Sir William Reid Dick. The memorial was unveiled by Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force on the 31 July 1932 (originally it had been scheduled for 15 May, but due to the sudden death of French President Doumer, as a mark of respect, the ceremony was postponed until July).
No. of Identified Casualties: 34796
This is a small section of Bay 6 listing some of names of The Black Watch.
This is a section of Bay 9. The photo shows some of the names of the Gordon Highlanders, Cameron Highlanders, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and Royal Irish Rifles.
John Houston |
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