Branch Report on the WW1 Commemorative trip to Armentières in

ISSN 1748-913X
P.A.O
PRESIDENT
Brian Jarvis
15 Loughton Way
Buckhurst Hill
Essex IG9 6AE
0208 505 1154
James White
8 Roding View
Buckhurst Hill
IG9 6AQ
Email
0208 505 1592
[email protected]
SECRETARY
Valerie Geller
21 Charteris Road
Woodford Green
Essex
IG8 0AP
CHAIRMAN
Stephen Goddard
26 The Meadway
Buckhurst Hill
Essex IG9 5PG
0208 505 2570
E-mail:
0208 505 6176
E-mail
[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
MEM0RIAM
2015
A very happy and peaceful
new year
January
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]
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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 67metre 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.
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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).
4
Thomas McCann had joined our party from England in order to visit Armentiers to find the grave of his
uncle in the town’s cemetery where he laid a wreath.
Following the ceremony at the cemetery we all marched at the rear of a procession to La Grand-Place, the
town square, led by the official party and the re-enacters, accompanied by bands playing songs from the
Great War, watched by many residents. More wreaths, including ones from Stephen and from Peter
Spencer (on behalf of Buckhurst Hill Parish Council), were laid at the Monument Aux Morts, the town’s
war memorial, and the national anthems of France, Belgium, Britain and Germany were played.
5
The Mayor made a diplomatic speech about reconciliation and the need for the lessons of the War to be
passed on to the young and about the importance of European unity and solidarity to ensure the
continuance of peace in the region. He repeated this theme in thoughtful speeches he made in different
places over the week-end when he welcomed the representatives of the various countries who were
attending. These included groups from three town twinnings with Armentières, among which was
Stalybridge in the north of England. There was also a very frail, elderly gentleman from North Africa who
was wearing medals which included, we were told, the equivalent of our Victoria Cross.
Hearing the Last Post sounded at so many war memorials and seeing row upon row of graves of the men
who were slaughtered in the Great War obviously gave a very solemn atmosphere to the visit; however,
as outlined on the front page, the highlight of the four days occurred on the Sunday morning during a
grand reception in the Town Hall which followed the ceremony at the town’s War Memorial outside in
the Main Square. During the reception Stephen was approached by an officer carrying a velvet cushion
with a medal on it, which was duly pinned to his jacket with Gallic ceremony and a kiss on both cheeks.
Also present were the members of the Scottish pipe band who had paraded with us, they now gave a
lively rendering of ‘Mademoiselle from Armentières’, which entered into the spirit of the day.
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The final day of the visit consisted of a tour of the Commonwealth War Cemeteries on the Ypres Salient on
the Western Front (see next month’s Journal which will also include details of the men from Buckhurst Hill
who lost their lives around Armentières in the Great War). At the end of the day we all had a meal in Ypres
where amongst other gifts Stephen presented each of our hosts with a ‘King’s Shilling’.
TO CONCLUDE: at sunset on the penultimate day of our visit to Armentières we returned to Cite Bonjean
Military Cemetery for the Drum Head Ceremony in front of ‘The Great Cross’ (photograph above). The
Last Post was played by an elderly local gentleman; also present was a Scottish piper who played so
plaintively.
As we were leaving (and the rain had started to come down again) we noticed the piper had gone to stand
by one particular headstone in the mist and was playing his own private lament. Jill Sutcliffe rightly
suggests that this poignant moment summed up the entirety of our visit to Armentières.
Text: Peter Spencer/Jill Sutcliffe/ Margaret Sinfield
Photographs: Carol Goddard/Ray Howlett/Margaret Sinfield
Notice Board
No Branch Meeting in January
Tuesday 20th January
Branch Executive: at 3 The Drive, 19.00hrs.
Tuesday 3rd February
Branch Meeting: St James URC Church, 19.45hrs. Followed by a
talk by Kenneth Manterfield on ‘Artistic Impressions’.
7
THE PITY OF WAR
.
Thoughts on the Great War in 1914
The two poems in this article entitled ‘1914’ and ‘August 1914’ sum up many of the feelings of War Poets during
the first months of the Great War.
Both Wilfred Owen and Isaac Rosenberg wrote many other War poems before they were both killed in action, in
November and April 1918 respectively.
It is not known when WILFRED OWEN wrote ‘1914’ but on December 21st 1914, following the bombing of
Scarborough, when sixteen persons were killed and over 400 wounded, he wrote a letter to his mother which
included the line ‘The beginning of the End must be ended, and the beginning of the middle of the end is now’. It is
thus fair to assume that he wrote his two verse poem ‘1914’ that same month. The first two lines are especially
evocative.
1914
War broke: and now the Winter of the world
With perishing great darkness closes in.
The foul tornado, centred at Berlin,
Is over all the width of Europe whirled,
Rending the sails of progress. Rent or furled
Are all Art's ensigns. Verse wails. Now begin
Famines of thought and feeling. Love's wine's thin.
The grain of human Autumn rots, down-hurled.
For after Spring had bloomed in early Greece,
And Summer blazed her glory out with Rome,
An Autumn softly fell, a harvest home,
A slow grand age, and rich with all increase.
But now, for us, wild Winter, and the need
Of sowings for new Spring, and blood for seed.
Although the title of ISAAC ROSENBERG’S poem ‘August 1914’ obviously refers to the first month of the war,
this poem was actually written in 1916, as Rosenberg, (who had been born in Bristol and whose family came from
what is now Latvia), trained as a private soldier for the Front Line. At that time his attention will have been fully
focused on the consequences of war.
AUGUST 1914
What in our lives is burnt
In the fire of this?
The heart’s dear granary?
The much we shall miss?
Three lives hath one life –
Iron, honey, gold.
The gold, the honey gone –
Left is the hard and cold.
1915
Timeline
Iron are our lives
Molten right through our youth.
4 February
24 January
Germany
introduces
A
burnt
space‘Unrestricted
through ripe fields
Battle of Dogger Bank
Submarine
Warfare’.
Helps
America
British victory, thanks to
A fair mouth’s broken
tooth.
decoding of German
wireless message.
decide to enter the war.
.
8