Etaples

[17107BM]

Hello all.

I'm putting together a tour itinerary for next summer that covers some of the places my Grandfather was located.

He arrived Etaples 11.4.17, acording to his war records. My question is, is there much to see there of the site of the TRAINING CAMP etc. Any help welcome.

Cheers

[angelab]

There's a bit of info and some photos upstairs in the Musee Quentovic, just off the main square of Etaples. Open Mon, & Wed-Sat 2-5, Sun 2.30-5.30 (July & Aug, Mon, & Wed-Sat-Sun 10-12 & 2-6, Sun 10-12 & 2.30-6.30). Closed Tues. Admission 2.50 euros.

The vast CWGC cemetery must occupy a lot of the space that was allocated to the hospitals during WWI. I am not sure if there is anything to be seen by following a nature walk into the dunes just north of the town. Maybe others will give you info on that.

Here's a diagram of the signposted walks in the area; I'd have thought that the green and the yellow routes would be the most likely to cover the WWI ground - but the only information on them here is about the birdlife you are likely to see!

Angela

[17107BM]

There's a bit of info and some photos upstairs in the Musee Quentovic, just off the main square of Etaples. Open Mon, & Wed-Sat 2-5, Sun 2.30-5.30 (July & Aug, Mon, & Wed-Sat-Sun 10-12 & 2-6, Sun 10-12 & 2.30-6.30). Closed Tues. Admission 2.50 euros.

The vast CWGC cemetery must occupy a lot of the space that was allocated to the hospitals during WWI. I am not sure if there is anything to be seen by following a nature walk into the dunes just north of the town. Maybe others will give you info on that.

Here's a diagram of the signposted walks in the area; I'd have thought that the green and the yellow routes would be the most likely to cover the WWI ground - but the only information on them here is about the birdlife you are likely to see!

Angela

Thanks for your reply.

Bird life and WWI. It's on the agenda!

Cheers

[kenf48]

There is afaik only one accessible map of Etaples which shows the camp in 1917.

Paul Nixon has done us a service by posting it on his blog

http://armyservicenu...ruary-1917.html

The camp was demolished in 1920 and nothing remains of the old camp, although it is possible, with time to explore and referring to the map, to imagine where the hospitals were. I don't think the estuary and the dunes will have changed that much, but access can be difficult and there is no access from the cemetery.

See this thread esp. post 13

http://1914-1918.inv...1

In the comparison map on the above thread you will see the CWGC Cemetery, the biggest in France, occupies more or less the same space today as shown on the original, that is between the railway line and the Camiers Road (today the D940) in the top left hand corner. The road has been widened and is quite busy with fast moving traffic. There are large lay-bys on both side of the road outside the cemetery. The terrain on the opposite side of the road to the cemetery, depending on the time of year is either muddy or low brush and brambles and not very easy. There are no marked paths and it is quite heavily wooded so it's difficult to get a perspective towards the town. The cemetery is well worth a visit, and the museum mentioned above small, but interesting.

If you want to follow in your ancestor's footsteps it's about an hour's drive from Calais, (they would have marched, probably from Boulogne).

It's not a major detour from the main sites around Albert, Arras and the Somme but to do it justice you would need to factor in the best part of a day.

I'd suggest at the beginning or end of a trip. It really depends how important it is to you.

As a resort town Paris Plage has lots of accommodation and there is a Kyriad Hotel more or less on the site of the camp! Camping might be a more authentic experience I've previously posted a photo on the forum showing the tented city!Can't find it at the moment but the drawings of Iso Rae give a great impression of the number of tents often referred to in the literature.

http://www.awm.gov.a...les/iso_rae.pdf

Etaples was a significant part of the Great war soldiers' experience summed up powerfully in Wilfred Owen's often quoted description when writing to his mother on New Years Eve 1917:-

"Last year, at this time... I lay awake in a windy tent in the middle of a vast, dreadful encampment. It seemed neither France nor England, but a kind of paddock where the beasts are kept a few days before the shambles. I heard the revelling of the Scotch troops, who are now dead, and knew they would be dead. ... But chiefly I thought of the very strange look on all the faces in that camp; an incomprehensible look, which a man will never see in England; nor can it be seen in any battle, but only in Étaples.

It was not despair, or terror, it was more terrible than terror, for it was a blindfold look, and without expression, like a dead rabbit's."

No apologies for repeating this but as with so many Great War experiences it is difficult for us to comprehend even when visiting the sites.

Ken

[angelab]

Fascinating to see the map, Ken, and also the very interesting article and pastels by Iso Rae. I saw some of her work a few years back in a temporary exhibition in one of the other museums in Etaples, the Musee de la Marine. And I think the Le Touquet Museum may have one or two - I can't quite remember - among works by other members of the Ecole d'Etaples.

Till seeing the map, I had not realised that the camp area extended so far the other side of the railway tracks.

The present-day railway station still looks as if it dates from those times.

Angela

[17107BM]

Many thanks for your replies, very informative. I think given your response that the area is well worth a visit.

[stephen p nunn]

Hello all.

I'm putting together a tour itinerary for next summer that covers some of the places my Grandfather was located.

He arrived Etaples 11.4.17, acording to his war records. My question is, is there much to see there of the site of the TRAINING CAMP etc. Any help welcome.

Cheers

I personally really enjoy visiting that area and have some special memories of going to the graves of Maldon Lads at Etaples. There is an interesting local museum in town and when we were there last (in November 2008) there was an exhibition about the camp's story from 1915 to 1919. There is also a good booklet called 'The British Camp at Etaples 1914-1918' by Douglas Gill and Julian Putkowski. In it the authors address the mutiny and the myth but (as controversial and inaccurate as it is) I have fond memories of 'The Monocled Mutineer' (BBC 1986)!

Enjoy your trip.

SPN

Maldon.