margaretdufay Posted 23 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 23 July , 2012 Hello Norman, I have only really added the British ones for Bullecourt and Fromelles as I thought they were quite exceptional. Sometimes the French memorials cover the two world wars and I have also included them. And just occasionally when I have come across some very different British ones in the same village as the French ones, but I have tried to limit this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 24 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 24 July , 2012 More from Fromelles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 24 July , 2012 Share Posted 24 July , 2012 Mags - in post 98, La Bassée, it looks to me as if the two women represent Alsace (coiffe à grand nœud, big bow) and Lorraine (bonnet), as in rescued and restored to France. Am I right? Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 25 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 25 July , 2012 Hi Gwyn, good question, didn't know the answer but found this information from this link http://www.la-bassee59.fr/patrimoine_monumentmorts.htm this is a quick translation. There is a statue of Joan of Arc. At the foot of the Liberator of France, Alsace and Lorraine are represented by two women presenting a wreath of flowers to her and the heros of La Bassée whose names are engraved on the base. A Poilu seems to be guiding them to France, from which they had been separated and they are returning home. The base is inspired from a work by Paray le Monial and is by Maurice Ringot. This monument was intended for the town of Orchamps Vennes (Doubs), which refused it (no reason given why). The Croix de Guerre was awarded in 1920 During the opening ceremony, on 7 Aug 1927, some of the former soldiers refused to come as they felt the Statue of Joan of Arc was inadmissible, as it was the soldiers who were being honoured. br mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 25 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 25 July , 2012 Passed through Calonne sur la Lys, and found this one with the graves actually placed within the monument itself, took a few pictures to give the detail of the stones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 25 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 25 July , 2012 second lot of photos for Calonne sur la Lys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 25 July , 2012 Share Posted 25 July , 2012 Hi Mags Thanks for the confirmation and the link. I wonder why Orchamps-Vennes refused it - there must be a story there! Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 26 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 26 July , 2012 Was visiting a friend in Caudry this evening , and of course now that I have caught the bug, I looked up the war memorial and so here it is, there is lots of detail so I hope you like it as much as I did. Had a look at the history of Caudry and discovered that it had been occupied for about four years by the Germans and the pictures depict some of that history. mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 26 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 26 July , 2012 Here are the first two panels of the Caudry monument Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 26 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 26 July , 2012 here thhe las two panelhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 29 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 29 July , 2012 passed through Haisnes near La Bassée The inscription reads as follows also a link to a site about if it may be of interest http://memoiresdepierre.pagesperso-orange.fr/alphabetnew/h/haisnes.html "Passer-by, whoever you may be, greet these heros who died for Freedom" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 29 July , 2012 Share Posted 29 July , 2012 Mags, you really have caught the bug! I'm still appreciating all the photos you're posting. Hopefully i can contribute a few more soon (I have taken more than I've posted but finding them is the problem) Earlier, I asked if the money for French memorials was raised by public subscription. Does anyone know? If not, I'll ask on the French forum Caryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 29 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 29 July , 2012 Hi Caryl. All contributions are welcome. From what little I've read some of the monuments were raised by public subscription, and some from money from the Dommages de Guerre as is noted on the Haisnes internet site, maybe other people have more info about this mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margaretdufay Posted 31 July , 2012 Author Share Posted 31 July , 2012 Found this one very moving Lambres les aire (near Aire sur la Lys) Mags Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 31 July , 2012 Share Posted 31 July , 2012 I was passing through Longueville just east of Paris last week and came across this finely detailed and victorious poilu on what looked like a recently refurbished war memorial cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 31 July , 2012 Share Posted 31 July , 2012 Here is the full monument cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 2 August , 2012 Share Posted 2 August , 2012 Couple of old postcards I've picked up. Hopefully someone will be able post the 'now' photos, now or at some point Writing on the back of the Tournus one is dated 1925, so that must have been built not long after the war. Caryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 2 August , 2012 Share Posted 2 August , 2012 Found a couple I took a few years ago Taulignan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 2 August , 2012 Share Posted 2 August , 2012 More of the Taulignan memorial Caryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 2 August , 2012 Share Posted 2 August , 2012 Beaumont Sur Vesle (this memorial looked quite new) Caryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 3 August , 2012 Share Posted 3 August , 2012 Think this is the last one I've found in my photo files for now. Another church memorial. This one at Grignan, in a lovely little church on a hill I'm not sure if places with a memorial in a church have one outside in the actual town or village. I don't remember seeing any in either place of the two church memorial photos I've posted. Of the memorials with one out in the community, it's often hard to get into a church to check. As here in the UK, perhaps they close their doors to avoid theft. Or maybe the priests are having a long lunch! The one below is popular with tourists so maybe that's why it was open (the little plaque at the left hand side is dedicated to those lost in WW2. Resistance IIRC) Slightly fuzzy, not sure what happened there, (my camera started playing up) but names are visible Is it me or do the memorials of the north look in better condition than the ones further south? Not the church memorials, the ones out in the community. The northern ones appear to be much more ornate and regularly maintained. Probably the communities were wealthier, the southern ones built in more rural country villages with not much money to spare for the building of memorials (thanks for the reply re public subscription funds mags) Caryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 7 August , 2012 Share Posted 7 August , 2012 more shells, this time in the village next to mine in the Ile de France cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Bennitt Posted 7 August , 2012 Share Posted 7 August , 2012 On looking through this thread again I realised that several posts portray the same figure (19, 63/4 in colour and my own 116/7). As a matter of interest, it is called Le Poilu Victorieux, sculpted by Eugène Benet. It adorns some 900 memorials in France and is reckoned to be the most widespread piece of art in the whole country. see here http://jcd.vb42.free.fr/Pages%20Diverses/SculpteurBenet.htm cheers Martin B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 8 August , 2012 Share Posted 8 August , 2012 Clairmarais (près de Saint-Omer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurel Sercu Posted 8 August , 2012 Share Posted 8 August , 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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