Armentières in English
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- Écrit par Section 14
1914 - 2014: 100 year!
« The Race to the Sea - 1914 - 2014 - Armentières »
- France -
LA COURSE A LA MER - THE RACE TO THE SEA
WETTLAUF ZUM MEER - DE WEDLOOP NAAR DE ZEE
The « Race to the Sea » means the last stage of the warfare at the start of the Great War. It took place on the western front from September to December 1914 after the battle of the Marne when the German offensive stops. Each belligerent faces the same issues; there are huge losses of human lives and equipments even though no major changes happen on the front. From then, there is only one option, which is taking the enemy from the North, in order to catch him fully… hence the « Race to the Sea » is launched. The headquarters from both camps take units from the whole front line to feed with men this action. During this phase, the front moves very rapidly. From the 20th to the 30th September 1914 it’s in the Somme, and then the fights get to the Val de Lys and Armentières area at the start of October 1914…
The « Race to the Sea Group 1914-2014 » together with the town of Armentières, the Espace Naturel Lille Métropole and the Office de tourisme for the Armentières area, and also together with British, Belgian and German active and re-enactment units invite you to various commemoration ceremonies from the 10th to the 12th October 2014 in Armentières and at the « Prés du Hem » (Northern France).
The provisional program, subject to change, is the following:
- Friday 10th October 2014 - Afternoon
- Visit from schools to show them the arrangements at the « Prés du Hem »
- Saturday 11 October 2014
- 11am: Official ceremony. Inauguration of the « Prés du Hem » by the lord mayor of Armentières.
- From 2pm: Opening of the « Prés du Hem » to the public: Exhibitions, re-enactments, lots of French, British, Belgian and German units wearing 1914 uniforms. Horses, artillery pieces, vehicles and equipments from this period (Taxi of the Marne, field kitchen, and so on), complete bivouacs with tents, equipments and ustensiles from the Great War…
- Sunday 12 October 2014 :
- 10am: ceremony at the British cemetery « Bonjean » to honour the Commonwealth Deads. –
- Parade towards the Grand-Place and ceremony at the cenotaph in honour of the dead in Armentières
- From 2pm till 4pm: historical re-enactment at the « Prés du Hem »
- 6pm: « Last Post » at the British cemetery « Bonjean »
- Monday 13 October 2014 :
- Guided tour for the Royal British Legion on the important historical places.
***Alongside the project “The Race to the Sea - 1914 – 2014”, there is another project, done by the town of Armentières. It creates a memory walk with explanations along the way, where the fighting took place. Armentières also offer "The Mademoiselle from Armentieres Estaminet". It will be located in the heart of a British cantonment of the First World War...
« Because a man without memory is a dead man,
a people without memory is a people without a future… »
- Field Marshal Foch -
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