Pozieres Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Anyone going to Arras in the near future? I'd really appreciate a pic for a soldier I'm researching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burlington Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Yes, to the Somme in Mid Sept via Vimy Where do you need the photo from? Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummy Posted 12 August , 2004 Share Posted 12 August , 2004 I'm over on the Somme next week, intending to visit Arras also if I can be of help. Cheers Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pozieres Posted 14 August , 2004 Author Share Posted 14 August , 2004 Hi, Sorry for the delay, If you visit the Arras memorial I'd appreciate a photo of the inscription to Private Joseph Bray 200579. Bay 4 and 5 Arras memorial. I travelled to the somme in April but we did'nt have time to get to Arras. Many thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Samson Posted 30 August , 2004 Share Posted 30 August , 2004 I'm visiting Vimy and Arras tomorrow (31 August 2004) with my parents to make up for a dreadful trip they took earlier in the year organised by their local RBL (spending just 10 minutes at the memorial and seemingly more interested in hopping from cafe to cafe). Am happy to photograph inscriptions at both sites. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Dixon Posted 30 August , 2004 Share Posted 30 August , 2004 Please see request in the thread "Arras or Le Touret memorials" in photo and document requests....any help would be much apprciated! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Samson Posted 3 September , 2004 Share Posted 3 September , 2004 Here is a photo of the inscription to Private Joseph Bray on the Arras Memorial. Pozieres, if you let me have your email address I can send you a larger, uncropped version. All the best Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pozieres Posted 6 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 6 September , 2004 Gary, you're a star! Thanks very much indeed for your help. I'll reply to your mail with my address. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Molier Posted 12 September , 2004 Share Posted 12 September , 2004 Dear members, On 26th. September 2004 I'm going from the Netherlands to Arras and Ypres. However, I've never been to Arras before, and I don't know exactly how to find the monuments and cemeterys. It's obvious I want to visit as many as possible in one day, so if you have any suggestions to fill this day as logical as possible, please let me know. Any routes around the area of Arras are more than welcome. Thank you very much. Hans Molier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Molier Posted 14 September , 2004 Share Posted 14 September , 2004 As posted earlier, I'm going to Arras on 26th September 2004. Does anyone has a good map or any tips for visiting several memorials or cemeterys where VC-recipients are buried in the area of Arras ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derwisj Posted 14 September , 2004 Share Posted 14 September , 2004 Hans, try to get the following book in dutch : velden van weleer-chrisje en Kees Brants- It is available at www.proxis.nl. Isa a travel guide to all the regions of the western front. pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Samson Posted 14 September , 2004 Share Posted 14 September , 2004 Hi Hans, One item I would recommend to take with you is a good street map of Arras if you’re planning to visit the memorial. My parents and I didn’t on our trip a week or so ago and after a short while rather wished we had. We knew from the CWGC website that it was close to the railway station and the Citadelle but hadn’t appreciated just how built up Arras is and how few signs there are for the memorial. After lunch in the town centre we headed out to the ring road, following signs to the station. After sometime cruising here, there and everywhere my Dad eventually spotted a sign to the Citadelle so we cut carefully across the traffic and headed in that direction. I turned slightly too soon and we found ourselves heading into the Citadelle itself, along a short but very narrow road, preceded by three French soldiers wheeling off-road motorcycles and their officer. They very courteously waved us on but I quickly realised we wouldn’t get past the manned security barrier without some kind of official pass, which we didn’t have. I drew level with the officer - a huge, well-built man in combat fatigues - wound down the window, and considered what I should say. I decided against starting my explanation of why we were in Arras attempting to drive into this military installation by saying “Nous sommes touristes” on the grounds that unless pronounced carefully it can sound very much like “Nous sommes terroristes” and I could imagine safety catches being clicked off before I’d even finished the sentence. Instead I managed, in what schoolboy French I could muster: “Excusez-moi, nous cherchons la cimitiere…” “…anglaise?”, he finished my sentence. “Oui”, I nodded enthusiastically. “C’est la-bas”, he said pointing down the road some two hundred or so meters. And there it was, the architecture was unmistakably Lutyens, red brick and white stone. I turned around as carefully as I could in the impossibly small space immediately in front of the Vauban entrance to the Citadelle and rejoined traffic on the ring road. It was just a short drive to the memorial, now sited rather incongruously on the edge of town surrounded by houses, petrol stations and a busy commuter route. We parked as near to the memorial as we could and on entering were immediately struck by the quietness. Outside we had experienced the rush and noise of traffic as everyone went about their business but inside the memorial it was almost eerily still and deserted. I took photos of inscriptions to the men on my local war memorial and several others asked for by Pals. Ironically, my men were on stone that had weathered badly and was in dire need of replacement whereas those I’d agreed to take for others were on newly inscribed plaques. Isn’t that always the way! We spent an hour or so wandering up and down the rows of headstones, typically picking out the unusual ones…one to a Russian soldier, a group of German graves, and several Sikh headstones. Of course, the impressive RFC memorial is there too. We had just enough time at the end of the day to scoot back to Calais and pick up some inexpensive wine before catching the return ferry. If you have time to visit the Arras Memorial I’m sure you’ll be impressed and moved, as indeed we were. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 15 September , 2004 Share Posted 15 September , 2004 And just down the street a place where Gestapo shot resistance fighters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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