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The CHRONICLE ISSN 1748-913X P.A.O PRESIDENT SECRETARY CHAIRMAN Valerie Geller Stephen Goddard Brian Jarvis James White 21 Charteris Road 26 The Meadway 15 Loughton Way 8 Roding View Woodford Green Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill Essex Essex IG9 5PG Essex IG9 6AE IG9 6AQ IG8 0AP 0208 505 1154 0208 505 2570 Email 0208 505 1592 0208 505 6176 E-mail: E-mail [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] The CHRONICLE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE BUCKHURST HILL BRANCH OF THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION Affiliated with 2324 Squadron ATC 781 IN January A very happy and peaceful MEM0RIAM new year 2015 2015 Dear Friends I have edited our Chronicle regularly since I took over from Mac Alpine with the edition for September 2003 (No 650). This present Chronicle is being edited by Margaret Sinfield, aided by Marian. Some things don’t change – in the edition for September 2003 it was announced that the Branch AGM would be held on November 4th, just as it was this year! However subs were to remain unchanged at £15.50! Stephen ARMENTIÈRES – THE RACE FOR THE SEA In October last year a group of eleven branch members travelled to Armentières in Northern France for the town’s commemorations of the Race to the Sea on the Western Front; this four-day visit will be the major concern of this edition. We begin with one of the visit’s highlights: Stephen was rewarded for his tireless work in linking our branch of the Royal British Legion with the French re-enactment groups by the presentation of a magnificent medal, plus the Diploma for Croix d’Honneur Franco-Britannique with the rank of Knight The Chronicle is printed and published by the Royal British Legion, Buckhurst Hill Branch No BRO868. All articles very welcome. Please send to the Secretary or by e-mail to [email protected] 1 ARMENTIÈRES IN THE GREAT WAR Armentières, just north-west of Lille, is very close to the Belgian border. During the Great War the town was also called ‘the nursery’ as it was here that newly arrived British troops were taught how to dig trenches and to prepare for the fighting ahead. Tragically it was the last town many of them would see, so it has an important place in British military history. For four years Armentières held out against German attacks with trenches forming the front line only two kilometres from the town. However at the beginning of April 1918 the civilians evacuated the town ahead of a vast German advance; on April 10th, during the Battle of the Lys, there was a prolonged and heavy bombardment by the German army with mustard gas. The British troops were forced to evacuate the area and the town was subsequently bombed by the Allies to render its roads, railways and buildings useless to the invading army. German troops could not enter the commune for two weeks after the mustard gas bombardment because of the heavy contamination from the gas. Witnesses to the bombardment said that the shelling was so heavy that liquid mustard ran in the streets. The town was occupied by the Germans next day, and was not recovered by the Allies until October 3rd 1918. LA COURSE A LA MER (THE RACE TO THE SEA) OCTOBER 11th TO NOVEMBER 2nd 1914 The Battle of Armentières was fought by German and Franco-British forces in October 1914, as each opposing army attempted to envelop the northern flank of their opponent. British troops of the British Expeditionary Force moved north from the Aisne front in early October and then joined in a general advance with French troops further south, pushing German cavalry and military back towards Lille until October 19th. The German 6th Army began attacks from Arras north to Armentières in late October 1914, (where it was faced by III Corps from Rouges Bancs), past Armentières north to the Douve river, beyond the Lys. During desperate German attacks, III Corps, with some British and French reinforcements, were pushed back several times, but managed to retain Armentières. The German 4th Army then turned its forces at Ypres and the Yser, so by the end of October 1914 the attacks of the 6th Army on Armentières were reduced to probes and holding attacks, which gradually diminished during November. As described above, when the German attack became too strong British troops evacuated Armentières, and the town was bombed by the Allies to make its roads, railways and buildings useless to the invading army. One casualty of the shelling was the 17th century town hall which was totally destroyed. THE TOWN HALL After the Great War, during the reconstruction of Armentières, architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier redesigned the town centre in the style of the Flemish Renaissance. He was responsible for the iconic 67- metre high bell tower, decorated with bartizans and machicolation, which today dominates the central square. The Town Hall is another fine illustration of his Flanders style with its ornate facade, grand staircase and a great hall worthy of any burgomaster. Cordonnier also designed the pyramid-shaped war monument in the town square, and the Church of Saint-Vaast, whose neo-Gothic grandeur dominates the town hall with its 83-metre-high bell tower. OUR VISIT IN OCTOBER 2014 Ten members of the Buckhurst Hill branch plus Thomas McCann from Carlisle set off on the Friday morning on Eurostar (train and hotel tickets having been efficiently organised by Lucy from Clippers Quay Travel in of Queens Road), armed with poppy wreaths and an extensive itinerary. However, we had not appreciated how extensive the Race for the Sea commemorations in Armentières were going to be. We were the only representatives in the town from an English branch of the Royal British Legion so from the moment we arrived on the Friday afternoon we were made to feel most honoured guests. 2 We had hardly reached Hôtel Joly and found our rooms before we were taken to the Town Hall, where an archivist gave us a guided tour of the impressive building. This was followed by a reception hosted by the Deputy Mayor where alcohol flowed and gifts were exchanged between the Deputy Mayor and Stephen on our behalf. In the evening we were invited to l'estaminet, the bar/restaurant in Près du Hem, (the local nature reserve). We were joined at dinner by re-enacters - these are men and women who take part in Great War commemorations throughout France and Belgium, setting up living history camps wearing 1914 military uniforms. These volunteers, who included a group from the Isle of Wight Rifles Living History Society, were camped in tents nearby and were preparing to re-enact the battle with the Germans the next day. On the very wet Saturday morning we were invited back to Près du Hem for the official opening of the Race to the Sea commemorations by the Mayor. From beneath our umbrellas we observed drills by the re-enacters; equipment from the Great War was also displayed at their unfortunately rain-soaked campsite in the park. One soldier explained to us that although their uniforms took perhaps a day to become soaked through, it took three days for them to dry out, so we could imagine the misery of the men in the trenches. Also taking part were some cavalry, an ancient Paris taxi of the kind that rushed troops to the Front, nurses in a mock-up hospital theatre, war widows in black and ladies wearing fashions of the day. We then visited the town’s museum where we watched a 1919 aerial film of northern France which showed the total devas-tation in the area during the War, including the ruins of Armentières following the Germans advance in 1918. There was also a re-construction of the 1914 French café which was the inspiration for the song ‘Mademoiselle from Armenetières, parley vous?’ 3 That evening the Mayor hosted a Republican Banquet for 300 guests where a buffet of impressively presented food on long tables was consumed by the invitees, together with cocktails, wine and beer. A cabaret, consisting of an accordion player and a singer, valiantly sang French military songs, which only some of the local people seemed to know. In honour of the English guests the singer had learnt ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’ and ‘Roses of Picardy’, which was a friendly and thoughtful gesture, so we sang along with him to show our appreciation. We returned to our hotel sometime after midnight! SUNDAY was the day for solemn remembrance at Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery in Armentières. Building the cemetery began in October 1914 and it now contains 2,132 Commonwealth burials of the Great War. 500 German graves remain in the cemetery. At the side of the cemetery is the Cite Bonjean (New Zealand) Memorial which commemorates forty-seven officers and men of the New Zealand Division who died around Armentières and who have no known grave. It is one of only seven New Zealand memorials on the Western Front. The cemetery and memorials were designed by Sir Herbert Baker. Baker, who is buried in Westminster Abbey, was a prolific architect of many stately public buildings including South African House in London. The re-enacters were at the cemetery in force, as were numerous local dignitaries, including the Mayor. Following the playing of the Last Post wreaths were laid at the war memorial, ‘The War Stone’, and Steven laid a wreath on behalf of the Branch. We each wore a poppy and a bleuet (the blue cornflower worn by the French).
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