Guest BrianW Posted 21 May , 2003 Share Posted 21 May , 2003 This question may reflect a great deal of stupidity on my part, but having searched high and low for the answer, I guess I'm past any potential embarassment. What does the name "Festubert", as in the Battle of Festubert, actually refer to? A town? A road? River? Area? Valley? My inability to snag this elusive answer is starting to drive me nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 21 May , 2003 Share Posted 21 May , 2003 Brian, c'mon! just type "Festubert" in any search machine, and voila, you will find the first hint: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/..mairiedefestuber...ert/summary.htm ,or http://perso.wanadoo.fr/..mairiedefestuber...ert/history.htm with nice photos. Right on, it's a town! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 21 May , 2003 Share Posted 21 May , 2003 Festubert is a village really, but no doubt the local Maire thinks it's a town!. For place names, ViaMichelin is not bad. Type the place name in to the box marked 'ville' under 'cartes en europe', hit the button and you are whisked to a Michelin map showing you where it is. Try Festubert. Watch out for 1914-1918 Flemish though: many places in Belgium now have modern Flemish spelling which is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 21 May , 2003 Share Posted 21 May , 2003 A French site called Mappy.com is also useful for this sort of thing, and finding route plans and town etc maps. See: Mappy.Com It is in English, and covers the whole of Europe - inc. UK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 21 May , 2003 Share Posted 21 May , 2003 ... Watch out for 1914-1918 Flemish though: many places in Belgium now have modern Flemish spelling which is different. Chris, Festubert is in France and doesn't have a Flemish name. Only villages and cities in Flanders (North Belgium) and Northern France have Flemish names, from which the spelling changed if necessary shortly after WW2. If anyone encounters any difficulty with locations in Northern France/Belgium, I'm always prepared to help... Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank_East Posted 21 May , 2003 Share Posted 21 May , 2003 Jan When did Ypres assume the Flemish name of Ieper?.We British always referred to the city as Ypres which was the French name despite the fact the the state of Belgium existed from 1830.Was it as late as post World War2? Did the Flemish place name alternatives receive official recognition after the Flemish language was made official and of equal status to French?. I must say a visitor to Belgium will be always impressed by the flexibility of the inhabitants use of languages. At a "beer hole"on the French border the owner's wife( I think it was ) completed a sales transaction with me in English and simultaneously was talking to other customers in both French and Flemish.I noticed the same practice with a hotel waitress switching between French and Flemish as locals came into the bar and throughout our stay was trying out her English on us as were were trying out our French on her. I suppose German is also spoken in the former German territory on the Eastern border. Regards Frank East Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 Frank, It has been a long struggle to get Dutch as the only official language in Flanders. The first law which really instituted Dutch in Flanders was in 1921. Since 1898 Dutch was accepted as an official language in Belgium, but French was still used as the language of the social elite, also in Flanders. Why do the British always use the French names of cities? Well, because the official maps were in French and the social elite, army and diplomacy only spoke French. Regards, Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 I must say a visitor to Belgium will be always impressed by the flexibility of the inhabitants use of languages. At a "beer hole"on the French border the owner's wife( I think it was ) completed a sales transaction with me in English and simultaneously was talking to other customers in both French and Flemish.I noticed the same practice with a hotel waitress switching between French and Flemish as locals came into the bar and throughout our stay was trying out her English on us as were were trying out our French on her. Frank. You want to hear what they speak in Luxembourg!!! In one bar in Clervaux, I witnessed the barman speaking French, German (sometimes within the same sentence!), Dutch (to me, for some reason ), Letzeburgesch (the "native" Luxembourg tongue), English and even Russian!!!!!! (a Moscow dance school was visiting the area - where (and why)he learned to speak Russian, God knows!!!)). This all within the space of about an hour! Merci Villmols! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurent Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 Hi, Festubert is a name of little village near Bethune...take a look to my web pages about The Battle of Festubert in May 1915 at: http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/arham search pages about Festubert 1915. Cheers Laurent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurent Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 A great map The Battle of Festubert 15-25 May 1915...Cheers Laurent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurent Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 This question may reflect a great deal of stupidity on my part, but having searched high and low for the answer, I guess I'm past any potential embarassment. What does the name "Festubert", as in the Battle of Festubert, actually refer to? A town? A road? River? Area? Valley? My inability to snag this elusive answer is starting to drive me nuts. Hi, just a picture of Festubert battlefield in 2003...Indian village 1st trenche of 1st RWF and 2nd Scots Guards 15 May 1915... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurent Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 Canadian Orchard Festubert 2003...Scots Guards lost more than 80 soldiers for this strong point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 If anyone has pictures of the area attacked by the 47th London Division on the 25th May, I'd be very grateful!! My wife's grandfather was wounded in action serving with the 23rd Londons on that day. Regards Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurent Posted 22 May , 2003 Share Posted 22 May , 2003 If anyone has pictures of the area attacked by the 47th London Division on the 25th May, I'd be very grateful!! My wife's grandfather was wounded in action serving with the 23rd Londons on that day. Regards Simon Yes, i have pictures of all battlefield of Festubert area...see my personnal web pages about Battle of Festubert at: http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/arham . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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