| The
battle of Arras began in 1914. Though Arras itself
was never permanently occupied by the Germans they
spent two days in the town in September 1914 and a
salient bulged east from the city into enemy territory
throughout the war. With the German lines barely 2
miles away the town was always under heavy shellfire.
Held initially by the French, and saved by the determination
of General Foch not to give up the city and by magnificent
efforts by General Barbot and his Zouaves, in 1916
they handed over to the British who stayed until the
end of the war. The town is at the north eastern end
of the Somme battlefields and has a great variety
of restaurants and places to stay.
Under
the town are miles of tunnels and chambers in which
thousands of troops were stationed in preparation
for assaults on the German lines. In 2006 a memorial
to New Zealand tunnelers was placed above one of the
entrances to the tunnels and work is underway on an
underground museum.
The
story of the fighting around Arras is told in our
book Western Front - North and travel information,
historical backgrounds, battle descriptions, details
of memorials, cemeteries and museums. can be found
in it.Click on the picture of Western Front
- North for details or on BUY THIS BOOK to buy it!
This
book includes a free battlefield map worth £3 |
