BATTLE FOR THE ARTOIS

The French Flanders and Artois regions of France were the sites of some of the most notable battles of the Great War. To understand why this was, it is necessary to understand the geography of the area.

The geography of the Western Front dictated that there were only three main areas where Allied forces could mount sustained attacks on German lines, and which afforded direct routes to the essential rail lines that supplied the Axis forces. These areas were the Somme, Champagne and Artois.

The Artois region generally stretches from the English Channel to the north down to Bapaume in the south. It encompasses the municipalities of Saint-Omer, Lens, Béthune and Arras. Most of this area is flat, fertile farmland. At the start of the war, much of the Flanders Plain was woods and small fields, divided by hedgerows planted with trees and cultivated from small villages and farms. Obstructions and terrain made infantry and artillery operations difficult, and mounted action was impossible. Around Lens and Béthune was a coal-mining district full of slag heaps, pitheads (fosses) and miners' houses (corons). The area around Lille was taken up with manufacturing including sugar beet and alcohol refineries and a steel works near Aire-sur-la-Lys. The entire area features a high water table, which often creates extremely muddy conditions.

The area is wholly dominated by two ridges located at Vimy and Ablain-Saint-Nazaire/ Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Plateau.  These two ridges are within sight of each other with elevations of 165 metres for Ablain-Saint-Nazaire and 145 metres for Vimy

When exploring the battlefields of this area, it is important to keep this geography in mind. It is also important to not get lost in the chronology of battles fought here during World War I. This was an active field of operations with different major battles and smaller engagements overlapping each other. Instead of viewing the struggles in this area as a series of individual engagements, it is probably more useful to view the “Battle of Artois” as a five-year campaign by both sides to control high ground and gain tactical advantage and strategic dominance.

A summary of battles in the Artois during World War One:

Armentières (or the Battle of Lille) - The Battle of Armentières was part of the “Race to the Sea”, the series of battles that decided the line of the Western Front as trench warfare took over in the autumn of 1914.

The First Battle of Artois (17 December 1914 – 13 January 1915) was a French attack to push the Germans off the high ground at Lorette Spur and Vimy Ridge.

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) was an Allied attack intended to cause a rupture in the German lines to be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge and possibly Lille.

The Second Battle of Artois (9 May – 18 June 1915) involved a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army and the British First Army.  Battles that were part of the larger Second Battle of the Artois were the Battle of Aubers Ridge (9 May 1915) and the Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915) and both were part of the British contribution to the Second Battle of Artois.

The Third Battle of Artois (25 September – 4 November 1915) was fought by the French Tenth Army against the German 6th Army in a failed attempt to capture Vimy Ridge. The battle is also known as the Loos–Artois Offensive and included a British offensive by the British First Army known as the Battle of Loos.

The Battle of Fromelles (19 July 1916) was a bloody initiation for Australian soldiers to warfare on the Western Front. Soldiers of the newly-arrived 5th Australian Division, together with the British 61st Division, were ordered to attack strongly-fortified German front line positions near the Aubers Ridge in French Flanders.

The Battle of Arras (9 April – 4 May 1917) was a diversionary attack to assist a French offensive in the Aisne.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge (9-12 April 1917) was a successful Canadian occupation of important high ground.

The First Battle of the Scarpe (9-14 April 1917) was a British assault featuring the first cavalry attack since the start of the war.

The First Battle of Bullecourt (10-11 April 1917) resulted in a mauling of ANZAC troops.

The Battle of Lagnicourt (15 April 1917) was a German counter-attack.

The Second Battle of the Scarpe (23-24 April 1917) was a British effort to take over a sector of the Hindenburg Line.

The Battle of Arleux (28 - 29 April 1917) was an attack on German reserves to prevent them from joining the Battle of the Aisne.

The Second Battle of Bullecourt (3-17 May 1917) was another failed Australian attack against the Hindenburg Line.

The Third Battle of the Scarpe (3-4 May 1917) was a general offensive to improve tactical positions.

The Battles of the Lys/Lyse Offensive (9-29 April 1918) was a last gasp German offensive.

The Second Battle of Arras (29 August- 3 September 1918) was a Canadian-led attack across the Canal du Nord and start of the “Hundred Days” push to end the war.

Overview

Following the “Race to the Sea” and the aftermath of the Battle of the Marne, the Western Front was consolidated in October 1914, the war of position began and the first trench works were laid out. Originally intended to be temporary, the trenches came to dominate the battlefields of Europe, eventually developing into extensive fortified systems.

In September and October 1914, German forces were pushing westward along most of the Western Front and into French Flanders. On October 2, the Germans captured Douai, and pressed their attack forward. French forces staged counter-attacks and flanking attacks that slowed the German advance. However, from early October 1914 the German army (mostly Bavarian divisions) occupied the band of high ground in Artois consisting of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Plateau and Spur and Vimy Ridge, allowing them to dominate the French positions protecting Arras to the south and maintain control over coalfields located to the north near Lens. The Germans established a series of strongly-constructed trench fortifications at high points and transformed villages at Nueville-Saint-Vaast, Souchez, Carency and Ablan-Saint-Nazaire into fortresses. Because they dominated the high ground, they were able to emplace artillery on reverse slopes that were naturally protected from Allied observation and fire.

From October 1914 to late 1915, the French launched numerous wide-scale offensives in an attempt to capture the high ground and penetrate the German front. Intense artillery preparation and mass infantry assaults all had the same result: short-term successes followed by successful German counter-attacks and heavy casualties. The intensity of combat on the Western Front was more intense in other sectors of the Western Front throughout 1916 and the Artois region was relatively quiet. This changed significantly in April and May 1917 when the Allies began a series of major attacks in the Artois as part of the Nivelle Offensive. These attacks finally saw the capture of Vimy Ridge and a push of the Germans eastward, culminating with the Second Battle of Arras in August-September 1918.

Major Engagements In The Battle For The Artois

The Battle of Armentières  (also known as the Battle of Lille).

The Battle of Armentières was part of the Race to the Sea, the series of battles that decided the line of the Western Front as trench warfare took over in the autumn of 1914. The battle took place between the River Douve and a line between Estaires and Foumers and was fought by the British 3rd Corps against the German 6th Army. To the south it merged into the Battle of La Bassée, and to the north into the Battle of Messines. On 12 October, III Corps advanced to the River Lys from St. Omer, and on 13 October the 3rd Corps engaged Germans defending the line of a small stream, the Meteren Becque, from a strong position on a ridge behind the line. Without reinforcements, 3rd Corps launched a frontal assault on the German lines. After a day-long battle, that cost 3rd Corps 708 casualties, the Germans pulled back. On the same day news reached the British that the Germans had occupied Lille, a serious blow to the overall British strategy, which was for an advance to the north east of Lille.

The 3rd Corps continued to advance over the next six days. It was facing units of the German 6th Army, who on 14 October were ordered to stand on the defensive while the Fourth Army launched the German attack from Menin to the coast (this attack would develop into the Battle of the Yser and dominate the First Battle of Ypres). On 17 October, 3rd Corps captured Armentières and began repairs to the bridges over the Lys. The British made some further advances, but the remainder of the battle saw the British on the defensive, repulsing a series of German attacks. Armentières remained in British hands throughout the fighting, although the front line was slightly pushed back. The most forceful German attack occurred on 29 October. Heavy fighting occurred along the Armentières front until November 2, at which time hostilities abated to sporadic fighting throughout November.

The battles on the Armentières front, Lille and Yser, were the last battles of encounter and manoeuvre on the Western Front, until 1918. Afterward, both sides settled into the war of position and trench battle became the norm.

The First Battle of Artois

In early October 1914, General Ferdinand Foch , in command of all French forces north of the Oise River, gave orders to cede no further ground to the German Imperial Army and turned French forces to counter-offensive.  Continued occupation of high ground in French Flanders could not be tolerated by the Allies, as from these points the Germans could dominate the French forces from Lens to Arras and control the Lens coalfield to the north. Control over the heights allowed the Germans to position their artillery on reverse slopes, where it was protected from observation and where gunners were relatively sheltered from attack. To defend these positions, the Germans quickly dug rough trenches at all high points and turned the nearby villages of Nueville-Saint-Vaast, Souchez, Clarency and Ablain-Saint-Nazaire into fortresses.

In December 1914, an attempt was made to seize the Lorette Heights and the fortified town of Carency. Map This was the First Battle of Artois which lasted from December 17, 1914 to 13 January 1915 (this attack was concurrent with an attack in Champagne).  In December 1914, six French Divisions attacked the ridge but were repulsed by withering machine-gun and artillery fire. Despite massive artillery preparations and valiant infantry assaults, the French were unable to penetrate the second German line. Heavy losses on both sides resulted in an informal truce during Christmas 1914. The situation did not change in January and the French offensive ground to a halt on 13 January.

Indian Expeditionary Force

Over a million Indian troops served overseas during the Great War on the Western Front, Gallipoli, East Africa, and Mesopotamia. In Europe, the Indian Expeditionary Force was under the command of General Sir James Wilcocks and consisted of two infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions. At the Battle of Neuve Chapelle the 7th (Meerut) Division led the assault. Unfortunately, the Division had no artillery of their own, were unfamiliar with the newly issued Lee Enfield Rifle and were poorly equipped to resist cold continental weather. English officers posted to the Indian Army were often unable to communicate with their soldiers because of language barriers and units lacked cohesion. With poor morale and training, the Indian soldiers had a tough go of it on the Western Front, and by October 1915 the infantry divisions were transferred to Mesopotamia. The cavalry divisions remained and took part in the Battles of the Somme, Bazentin, Flers-Courcelette and Cambrai.

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915)

This battle was a prelude to the much larger Second Battle of the Artois that was to begin in May 1915. General French, in command of British forces, was encouraged by Joffre to launch an independent attack with the goal of capturing the village of Neuve Chapelle, Map which was presenting as a German salient into the British line. A secondary goal was to take Aubers Ridge, an important observation post overlooking the region. This was the first major attack launched by the British Army since the beginning of the war.

On March 10, four divisions (forty thousand men) gathered on a sector of the Front that was only three kilometres wide. The attack opened in the early morning with a heavy artillery bombardment by 342 guns, guided by reconnaissance planes of the Royal Flying Corps. This shelling was the largest since the start of the war. Once the shelling ceased, British infantry, including the Indian Corps, began a rapid advance through Neuve Chapelle. However, after a few hours the attack bogged down due to insufficient munitions and poor communication. The British began to take heavy casualties, particularly among the Garhwal Rifles who ran into German defensive positions that had been mostly unaffected by the bombardment. British soldiers attempting to take Aubers Ridge also came up against undamaged barbed wire entanglements and suffered significant losses.

The Germans rushed reinforcements to the battle from Lille and launched a counter-attack on 12 March. By 13 March, the fighting ceased with the total British gain limited to an area two kilometres deep and three kilometres wide with 7,000 British and 4,200 Indian soldiers, either killed or wounded. The Germans absorbed similar losses.

The Second Battle of Artois (9 May-18 June 1915).

While the high ground in the Artois was of enormous tactical importance, an Allied thrust eastward in the Artois was also of immense strategic importance. Due to geography, there ere only three main areas where Allied forces could mount sustained attacks on German lines with direct routes to the essential rail lines that supplied the kaiser’s forces. These points were the Somme, Champagne, and Artois.

In the zone of operations from Rheims to the North Sea the German armies were supplied by rail from lines that ran from the Rhine into the Douai Plain and then through Valenciennes to Aulnoye, Douai, Cambrai and Saint. Quentin. The Allies recognized that an advance eastward in Artois could cut the lines supplying the German armies between Arras and Rheims. Also, in the spring of 1915, the war on the Eastern Front was going very badly for Russia, and it was deemed imperative to launch a major offensive against the Germans on the Western Front in order to provide some relief to the struggling Russians.

The first Allied effort to break through the German line was the Artois Offensive in spring 1915. Joffre's plan was to reduce the great German salient, which had been in place since October 1914, by attacking it simultaneously in the north, in Artois, and in Champagne n the south. In the Artois, the French were to again attack at Vimy and the Lorette Spur while concurrently the British and Canadians attacked concurrently at Aubers Ridge and Festubert.

The Germans had constructed formidable defensive positions along their front, which in this area curved westward from Liévin, up and across the Notre Dame de Lorette Plateau and then south past Carency to Roclincourt and east of Arras. Five German trench lines had been dug across the plateau and fortified with iron roofs, sandbags, concrete and barbed wire. A machine-gun nest had been built into the trench every ninety metres and small, fortified posts supported the defenders.  Artillery and machine-guns in Ablain commanded the southern slopes of the Lorette Ridge, and those in Souchez the eastern face of the Spur. Guns hidden in Angres and Liévin to the north-east of the plateau commanded the approaches from the plain to the north. Local industrial buildings had also been fortified. In Carency, each street and house had been fortified, connected by underground passages, and garrisoned. Field guns and machine-guns had been dug into the gardens and orchards, as well as behind the church, which made it impossible to attack the village except form the south and east. Trenches connected Carency with Ablain and Souchez on the Béthune–Arras road. The Germans had dug trenches under which lay a German fortress known as the “White Works” between Souchez and Arras at the hamlet of La Targette. To the east of La Targette, was the village of Neuville-Saint-Vaast, which had also been turned into an underground fortress. South of Neuville-Saint-Vaast, linked by tunnels to Saint. Vaast on both sides of the Arras–Lens road, the Germans dug tunnels and small strong points organized in a maze, with dead-ends and sally ports for the defenders to pop out of - a position dubbed the “Labyrinth”.

French general d'Urbal was appointed to the command of the Tenth Army, which was to attack on a fifteen kilometre front. The plan was to smash through the German defences around the Notre Dame de Lorette Spur and then capture Vimy Ridge. On May 3, 1915, French artillery began a six- day bombardment of  Vimy Ridge and the Lorette Spur. In the morning of May 9, French 33rd Army Corps under the command of General Pétain attacked along six kilometres of the front and succeeded in overwhelming the German trenches and advanced three kilometres over the Lorette Plateau toward Vimy Ridge. Regrettably, French reserves were slow to reach forward positions and French artillery lacked the ability to support lead elements of the French assault. The artillery used up most of its ammunition and frustratingly, twenty-four French guns were disabled by premature explosions of poor-quality shells while still in the breach. While the Moroccan Division briefly captured Vimy Ridge on May 9, they were unable to hold it against the German counter-attack. After a few days, this division (comprised of French troops formerly serving in Morocco and a large number of French Foreign Legionaries) was pushed back down below the ridge. The French attempted a second attack on June 16, but this failed.

Without adequate reinforcements and effective artillery support the French were unable to consolidate hard-won advances.  The most advanced French infantry were cut off by German barrage-fire and suffered from a serious shortage of water. As a result, the Germans were able to reorganize and counter-attack, stalling the French assault. Every attempt to advance was met with massive artillery-fire, and German artillery continued to pound the attacking French. German soldiers in fortified positions and machine-gun nests cut down many men as they bravely tried to pick their way across no-man’s land. The assault on the Lorette Plateau was particularly gruesome as bursting shells had disinterred the corpses of hundreds of French and German soldiers killed in earlier fighting, leaving partially rotted corpses strewn about the field of battle. The French attack, intended to last 10-14 days, ended up taking almost six weeks. In an effort to suppress German artillery fire coming from Neuville, Souchez and Angres, the French dropped ten thousand shells filled with carbon disulphide and phosphorus, which gave a combined asphyxiating and incendiary effect.

Vicious fighting continued, and by June 18, the French had finally succeeded in taking permanent control of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Heights, as well as the villages of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire and Carency. By this time though, the French had suffered over 102,000 casualties, and they could no longer press the attack. Vimy Ridge remained firmly in German hands.

Even though the French failed to achieve the goal of taking Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of the Artois resulted in a tactical advance gained by the French. They had recovered sixteen square kilometrems of ground, including the Lorette Plateau, and were now at equal elevation to Vimy Ridge and German defences. This made Vimy Ridge more vulnerable to attack. The Artois Offensive ended with 300,000 French casualties including 100,000 deaths. The Germans suffered some 30,000 casualties.

Until the end of June, the Germans tried to restore their front positions but failed to regain the Lorette Spur, although they did succeed in retaking and consolidating positions in and around the Labyrinth.

British actions in the Second Battle of Artois

In support of the French attack on the ridges, Field Marshal Sir John French ordered the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), to mount a concurrent attack on Festubert  and Aubers Ridge. This ridge, an important observation position, was defended by the German 6th Army. The British goal remained the same as it had been two months earlier in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle – to penetrate the German line and cut the railways supplying the German armies as far south as Reims.

The British attack on Aubers Ridge began on May 9 and the Battle of Festubert began May 15.

The Battle of Aubers Ridge

The British First Army under General Sir Douglas Haig was given the task of attacking the German front line on either side of the Neuve Chapelle. The plan of attack was to make two breaches in the German defences, 5.5 kilometres apart, after which the infantry was to advance to Aubers Ridge about 2.7 km farther beyond Map. The attack was by the I Corps and Indian Corps from the south and by 4th Corps in the north opposite Fromelles. The preliminary bombardment began at 5:00 a.m. but only lasted forty minutes. The British infantry fell on surprised the German defenders and there were some early successes in advancing forward. The British bombardment turned out to be ineffective. Few German machine-guns were destroyed, and these inflicted many casualties on the British infantry as they advanced across no man's land. The attack failed to penetrate the first German trench and was called off on May 11. The British attack at Aubers Ridge was a failure and allowed two German divisions in reserve to be diverted south to defend Vimy Ridge. The British suffered about 11,000 casualties in this assault, and German losses were severe as well.

The Battle of Festubert

On May 12, the British resumed their offensive, this time near Festubert, with a three-day bombardment of German positions. In a change of tactics, the infantry attempted a night attack in silence by three divisions beginning at 11:30 p.m. on 15 May. The initial attack was limited in scope being along a front less than five thousand metres across and a planned advance less than one thousand metres. Map  Shelling by English artillery did damage to German positions, but many machine-gun posts and infantry dugouts underneath survived. Despite this, the British succeeded in taking the forward German positions and support trench before digging in. On the left, German return fire stopped the advance in no man's land. Much of the German front line was destroyed, but scattered German parties in shell-holes blocked both flanks and prevented a further British advance.

On 16 May Haig resumed the offensive and British troops were ordered to press on. By the morning of 17 May, the German 14th Division was forced to retire to a new breastwork dug 1.2 km behind the original front position. This new line received significant reinforcements which enabled the Germans to repulse further British attacks. Where the British did capture positions, they found these to be pre-registered by German artillery and so faced heavy, accurate shelling. By the time the attack was called off on May 25, the British had suffered 16,644 casualties.

Givenchy

In further support of the main French attack, on June 15-16 4th Corps of the British First Army attacked north-west of La Bassée along with the 7th, 51st and Canadian divisions. Map Despite a sixty-hour preliminary bombardment assisted by tactical reconnaissance RFC squadrons the British could see that German defenders had manned the front line before the advance began. The attack proceeded in the face of German small arms, but despite this the Allies penetrated the German front trench. The German infantry were well-supplied with hand grenades which they used to beat back the attack and force a British retreat on the first day of fighting. The British tried again, and as earlier on in the fighting took the German front line but were again forced back by a German counter-attack. Further attacks were cancelled.

On 16 June, the British launched a further attack on Bellewaarde Ridge. Again, despite early successes, German counter-attacks and a British shortage of ammunition prevented the consolidation of these advances beyond the German front trench.  

Lessons Learned

Both sides learned from the Second Battle of the Artois and made tactical adjustments. The French would emphasize careful preparation of communication trenches, jumping-off trenches, and assembly positions in conjunction with careful reconnoitering of German defences and heavy advance bombardment artillery. The French also sought to adapt to the German ability to counter-attack by emphasizing momentum, with reserve troops following up the attacking force closely. Attacks in open country were to be preferred over fighting for obstacles like villages and woods and the attack should be on a broad front, to allow centres of resistance to be outflanked and to disperse German fire power over a wider area.

German analysis of the battle led to renewed emphasis on providing shelters for the infantry that were deep enough to resist heavy artillery and to increase the number of defensive positions behind the front, which would slow an advance and delay subsequent attacks, by forcing the attacker to move artillery into range. Reserve positions were to be as solidly built as front-line defences. Much of the new digging on the rest of the Western Front was done on reverse slopes, invisible to ground observers and capable of being engaged only by howitzer-fire.

Third Battle of Artois (25 September – 4 November 1915)

The Third Battle of Artois was part of a combined French/English operation, also known as the Loos–Artois Offensive. The French objective of the operation was to capture Vimy Ridge. The English role was to capture the village of Loos. This offensive was launched concurrently with a major offensive by the French in the region of Champagne.  As with earlier efforts in the Artois, the ultimate Allied goal was to use a massive push to break through the German lines and capture the strategically important railways essential for the German war effort. The combined offensive would see fifty-four French and thirteen British divisions engaged on a total front of ninety kilometres. The French area of operation for the Third Battle of Artois was between Lens and Arras, under the direction of General Ferdinand Foch. Vimy Ridge was the jewel to be taken.

Germany understood the strategic importance of Vimy Ridge and so had turned it into perhaps the most fortified location on the Western Front. Thirteen divisions of Crown Prince Rupprecht`s 6th Army were deployed along the Vimy fighting line and in reserve. The French sought to soften German defenses through a massive 4-day bombardment from September 21 to 25. The Germans sheltered in deep dugouts.

On September 25, the French launched their infantry assault with nineteen divisions of the 10th Army under the command of General Dubail. This attack did not, however, get underway until several hours after the bombardment ceased as Dubail made the decision to wait until mist on the ridge cleared around midday. For this attack to succeed, it was imperative that the preliminary artillery barrage cut the coils of barbed wire strung across no-man`s land and destroy the majority of fortified positions. French soldiers advancing up the ridge soon found that neither of these tasks were accomplished.  

To further complicate matters for the French, it began to rain in the afternoon of September 25, with the result that the slope up Vimy Ridge became slick and sticky with mud. With German wire and a majority of their defensive positions still intact, the outcome of the battle was predetermined. The French slogging through the mud of no-man`s land had no chance against the well-placed and-manned German positions, and the French were cut down in horrifying numbers. The 13th Division had casualties of over 40%. Although the 29th Division absorbed heavy losses and managed to reach the top of the ridge, they could not hold the position and were forced to retreat following a strong German counter-attack.

The British area of operations for the Third Battle of Artois was from La Bassée to Lens. This was a battle which British military command did not want to fight in 1915. The idea to launch an attack in the Loos area was Joffre`s, but Field Marshall French and General Haig opposed it as they believed the terrain was unfavorable and did not feel they had available to them adequate men or munitions. They were over-ruled by the Minister of War Lord Kitchener.

The Battle of Loos Map began with a British bombardment of the German positions for several days before initiating the infantry attack on September 25. Six divisions of the First Army under General Douglas Haig were thrown at the German line. As in the French sector, artillery failed to adequately sever barbed wire or adequately break German defences.

At Loos, General Douglas Haig ordered the first British poison gas attack of the war. At the end of the conventional artillery barrage, the British fired several thousand canisters of chlorine into the German lines. The results of the poison gas attack were mixed. While some Germans were affected, in parts of the battlefield a fickle wind blew the gas back towards the British soldiers who were only equipped with rudimentary gas masks that offered little protection.

In total, the British suffered 48,000 casualties, as many as the French had suffered at Vimy. The German success is credited to their adoption of a tactic known as "elastic defence", a series of support lines rather than one heavily-defended front line. The method proved its worth and was thereafter used widely along the Western Front. The British had initial success and captured the town of Loos, but their attack soon ran into problems. Field Marshal John French refused to release reserves to Haig, and this detracted from the attacking force`s ability to consolidate captured areas. There were also significant disruptions to the flow of supplies and ammunition to advance units. In the result, the British were too undermanned and undersupplied to meet the inevitable German counter-attacks.

Hohenzollern Redoubt

A lesser but intense engagement also occurred in October 1915 when the British attempted to capture a small hill near Auchy-les-Mines. The Germans transformed this position into a formidable fortress that became known as the Hohenzollern Redoubt.  On 13 October 1915, a British attempt to take Hohenzollern with the help of poison gas failed, resulting in heavy losses (3,500 men).

In March 1916, the British Army relieved the French 10th Army in the sectors of Arras and Vimy. After the failure of three French attempts in 1914 and 1915 to break through the German front at Vimy (i.e. the three battles of Artois) the sector enjoyed a relatively quiet period up to the spring of 1917.The only significant action in the area during 1916 was the Battle of Fromelles.

The Battle of Fromelles (19 July 1916)

The Battle of Fromelles Map, while fought in the Artois, was really part of the Battle of the Somme being waged eighty kilometres to the north. By mid-July, British Command optimistically  thought the Somme offensive was weakening the German line and thought that a diversionary attack at Fromelles might divert German troops and give a boost to the main offensive. British forces near Fromelles, under General Richard Haking, consisted of members of First Army XI Corps from the United Kingdom, along with members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).  The principal defenders of the German line were the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division, a unit that consisted mostly of recalled reservists.

German bunker from the First World War between Fromelles and Aubers constructed by the German 4th Company of Fortress-Engineers

The attack of Fromelles was against heavily-fortified German lines equipped with big guns and machine-guns positioned in blockhouses. The German defences were dug at Fromelles in depth. Begun in January 1915, the German construction program involved laying barbed wire, building camouflaged concrete gunnery nests in critical locations, and digging the second line of defence. German tactical plans were that if the first line fell, troops could retreat to the second line and prepare a counter-attack. Defenses included thick, artillery-resistant bunkers, fortified firing posts, sturdy lines of trenches and miles of barbed wire. It was a position in which the Germans could hunker down and where Allied artillery bombardment would cause few casualties.

Preliminary shelling failed to destroy the concrete shelters of the Germans and this resulted in the Australian and British troops being cut down by machine-gun fire as soon as they entered no man's land. The attack began at 5:30 pm on 19 July. After the artillery barrage ended, British and Australian troops advanced in daylight into the quagmire of no man’s land.

Many soldiers were cut down as soon as they exited the trenches. Well-sighted German machine-gun fire turned Allied sally ports into death traps from which the soldiers were unable to escape. In the centre, artillery fire stopped the 183rd Brigade from even leaving their trenches. The left battalion of the 184th Brigade was almost entirely annihilated by artillery and the surviving troops were severely mauled before reaching the German trenches. During the night artillery shelling by both sides caused further casualties. The British commanders planned further advances, then canceled or postponed them. Members of the 182nd Brigade who had penetrated into German lines were overwhelmed by a counter-attack. General Haking withdrew some troops under cover of darkness. News of the postponement of one of the offensives did not reach the Australian 58th Battalion. Together with part of the 59th Battalion they advanced into no man’s land, were stopped there with heavy casualties and eventually withdrew.

The Battle of Fromelles was a costly failure and caused significant Australian casualties, without accomplishing any of the objectives set by British command.

A video about the Battle of Fromelles can be seen here: Fromelles youtube

Robert Nivelle

The Nivelle Offensive

In 1917 the Artois region once more became an active area of operations. In the Spring of 1917, the British initiated a large offensive devised by French general Robert Nivelle who had replaced General Joseph Joffre in December 1916 as commander-in-chief of the French Army. Nivelle had become a French national hero by leading the recapture of Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun. Nivelle’s plan was for a major assault by French forces in the Aisne region (the Second Battle of the Aisne) at Chemin-des-Dames Ridge supported by a secondary attack by British forces a thirty-nine-km front at Arras, Vimy Ridge and at Bullecourt on the Hindenburg Line.

Prior to the Nivelle Offensive, the Germany Army, weakened by the great battles of 1916 at Verdun and on the Somme, executed Operation Alberich between 9 February and 20 March 1917, a strategic withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. The retirement eliminated the two salient that had been formed during the Battle of the Somme in 1916, between Arras and Saint-Quentin and from Saint-Quentin to Noyon. In this manoeuver, the German front retreated thirty-two kilometres with the result of concentrating German defences over a shorter area. During their evacuation the Germans destroyed roads and bridges, poisoned water sources and left numerous booby traps.

The British offensive of April 1917 (the Battle of Arras 9 April- 4 May 1917) 

This offensive was primarily a diversionary attack meant to assist the French Army prosecuting the their attack in the Aisne.  The attack was preceded by five days of preliminary shelling (2-8 April) involving 2,800 pieces of artillery. On Easter Monday,9 April, the German batteries were showered with poison gas shells thirty minutes before the infantry poured out of the quarries at 5.30 a.m. In an innovation, prior to the attack British tunnellers had dug a network of tunnels from the reserve trenches right up to the demarcation lines, enabling the British to move men forward rapidly and to surprise the German defenders.  Other preparations put in place were extensive air reconnaissance, adequate air support to neutralize German aircraft, trench raids ahead of the attack that allowed the Commonwealth troops to gain valuable intelligence regarding enemy supplies and tactics, and extensive training in following a creeping barrage efficiently.

The first days of the attack were a remarkable success. Four Canadian Divisions had claimed Vimy Ridge Map by April 12th. The Canadian’s success was made possible by effective preparatory bombardment and a well-executed use of creeping barrage to support advancing infantry. The capture of the hill at Vimy Ridge placed the villages of Givenchy-en-Gohelle, Vimy, Willerval and Bailleul-Sire-Berthoult in the line of fire of the English artillery, which lead to the Germans abandoning them.  [A map of the Canadian advance on Vimy can be found here: vimy-ridge map ]

Further to the south, from 9-14 April, the British sent troops forward toward Monchy-le-Preux.in attempt to drive eastward between the Cambrai Road and the Scarpe Valley (the First Battle of the Scarpe).  British soldiers took the village of Feuchy and penetrated well into the German second and third trench lines.  The British soon reached the village and hill of Monchy-le-Preux. There, on 10 April, British cavalry regiments saw action for the first time in two years. Unfortunately, , the cavalry took heavy casualties, including the loss of some one thousand horses.[A trench map of this area can be found here: Trench Map Monchy]

The success at Vimy Ridge was dampened by the heavy British losses at Monchy, a subsequent mauling of the Australians at the First Battle of Bullecourt (10-11 April 1917) and the Newfoundland and Essex battalions being almost wiped out on 14 April. 

First Battle of Bullecourt (10-11 April 1917)

The Australians attempted the first attack of the Great War substituting an artillery bombardment with a tank assault. The objective of the attack on Bullecourt Map was to trap German forces supposedly retreating to the Hindenburg Line. Unfortunately for the Australians, the Germans were not in retreat and parts of the Hindenburg Line had actually been built into the village’s western, southern, and eastern parts. The 62nd (West Riding) Division was ordered to attack the western side of the village. The 4th Australian Division, part of 1 Anzac Corps, was tasked with attacking the village’s eastern side. Tanks would support both attacks. The Australians had little faith in the plan of attack and sought to postpone it up until the last minute. Despite these reservations, the attack began on April 11. It was a disaster. Many tanks did not arrive in time for the attack and as a result the infantry advanced without support and suffered high losses. While the Australians managed to take many objectives, they had insufficient ammunition and a lack of artillery support. When the Germans counter-attacked the Australians were forced to withdraw and many were cut down by German machine-gun fire as they retreated. The attack cost the Australians three thousand men, including 1,142 captured. Of the tanks that took part, only one reached Bullecourt and fifty-two men were killed or wounded out of a total of 103 men in the tank crews.

On April 14, the Newfoundland and Essex battalions attempted to seize the enemy’s front line, Shrapnel Trench, and capture Infantry Hill, one thousand metres east of Monchy-le-Preux. The pre-attack barrage was “thin” and failed to neutralize enemy machine-gun positions. Advancing troops were machine gunned and subjected to heavy shelling. While some forward German positions were occupied, an intense German counter-attack enveloped the Newfoundland and Essex and a large number of troops had to surrender. The Germans recovered the ground captured by the Essex and the Newfoundlanders and cut those two battalions to pieces.

On April 15, the Germans staged a counter-attack in the area of Lagnicourt (the Battle of Lagnicourt). The Germans deployed twenty-three battalions at Lagnicourt Map with the objective to capture and destroy equipment rather than to permanently recapture territory. They rapidly occupied Lagnicourt and captured several batteries of the 1st Australian Division's artillery. A vigorous counter-attack by four Australian battalions recaptured the village and most of the guns and forced a premature German withdrawal.

On 23-24 April 1917, the British fought the Second Battle of the Scarpe. The objective of the Second Battle of the Scarpe was to capture part of the Hindenburg Line and push the Germans to the Drocourt-Quéant Line south of the River Scarpe. The British and Newfoundlanders advanced along a front of eleven thousand metres and captured the villages of Gavrelle and Guémappe.

The Battle of Arleux (28–29 April 1917)

The aim of this attack was to engage German reserves to prevent them from assisting in the defence of the French offensive against the plateau north of the Aisne traversed by the Chemin des Dames. British and Canadian troops launched the main attack on a front of about thirteen kilometres north of Monchy-le-Preux. The battle followed the familiar pattern of Allied attack followed by determined counter-attacks. Some small advances were made, particularly by the Canadians who captured the village of Arleux-en-Gohelle. Map

Third Battle of the Scarpe (3-4 May, 1917)

The British were once more in action in the Third Battle of the Scarpe. This was a general offensive by all three armies astride the Scarpe River to secure better defensive positions. The British attacked in the centre, the Australians resumed their desperate attack on Bullecourt and the Canadians were directed to the village of Fresnoy about nine hundred metres east of Arleux. Positions were taken, but the Allies then endured heavy German shelling and counter-attacks. No significant advances were made, and the Allies called off the attack the following day after incurring heavy casualties.

The Australians continued to absorb heavy casualties at Bullecourt (the Second Battle of Bullecourt). From May 3-17, soldiers from the 2nd Australian Division again attacked east of Bullecourt village, intending to pierce the Hindenburg Line and capture Hendecourt-lès-Cagmicourt. At the same time, British troops from 2nd West Riding Division attacked Bullecourt, which they finally took. German defence was fierce, and when the offensive was called off on 17 May, the Australians were in possession of much of the German trench system between Bullecourt and Riencourt-lès-Cagnicourt, However, they failed to capture Hendecourt and both Australia and Britain suffered high casualties. The Second Battle of Bullecourt should therefore also be considered an Allied failure.

The end of the Second Battle of Bullecourt coincided with the end of the French offensive in the Aisne on May 16, which had turned out to be a costly failure, particularly at Chemin-des-Dames Ridge (see the Second Battle of the Aisne).  The British offensives around Arras in the spring of 1917 were strategic failures characterized by, on average, the loss of four thousand men per day during a period of a little under two months (130,000 casualties).  Expectations for the Nivelle Offensive were high, and its failure to cause the desired break through led to Nivelle being sacked as commander-in-chief on 15 May and replaced by Philippe Pétain.

The Battles of the Lys/Lyse Offensive (9-29 April 1918)

With thousands of American troops arriving in France to join the fight, German commander Ludendorff realized that the window to win the war was closing. In March and April 1918 the Germans therefore initiated two offensives (Operations Michael and Georgette) in hopes of breaking the impasse on the Western Front. The first of these, Michael, failed in March. In April, Georgette, also known as the Lyse Offensive, was launched.

The Lyse Offensive involved attacks on both the north and south sides of the River Lyse with the southern attack preceding the larger northern assault. The attack to the north is discussed in the Battle of Passchendaele as it was not concentrated in the Artois. The German plan was to break through the British First Army, push the Second Army aside to the north, and drive west to the English Channel, cutting off British forces in France from their supply line that ran through the Channel ports.

The German attacking forces were the Sixth in the south (under Ferdinand von Quast), and the Fourth Army in the north (under Sixt von Armin). Both armies included substantial numbers of the new stosstruppen, trained to lead attacks with new storm-troop tactics.

Stosstruppen were elite, light weight units specially trained in infiltration tactics and the use of grenades and specially adapted weapons. Stormtrooper tactics called for a short artillery bombardment with heavy shells and poison gas, followed by a creeping barrage which the stosstruppen would follow. Their goal was to avoid immediate combat and infiltrate into the enemy lines. They would then seek to identify weak points and destroy command posts and artillery emplacements. Next, troops would attack on narrow fronts with light machine guns, flamethrowers, grenades, and mortars. The goal was to achieve breaks through the enemy line and exploit these to attack rear sections.

The British First Army was a relatively weak force; it included several worn-out formations that had been posted to a "quiet sector". This included two divisions of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps, which were undermanned, lacked almost half of their officers, had very low morale and were set to be replaced the day of the German attack.

The Battle of Estaires (9–11 April 1918)

The Germans opened their attack with a bombardment from April 7-9 along the southern part of the Allied line between Armentières and Festubert. The Sixth Army then attacked with eight divisions. The German assault struck the Portuguese Second Division, which held a front of about eleven kilomtress. The Portuguese division was overrun and withdrew towards Estaires after hours of heavy fighting. The British to the south of the Portuguese were in a more defensible position and held its ground for the rest of the battle, despite attacks from two German reserve divisions. The British to the north of the Portuguese collapsed under the German attack and fell back to the north. The Germans broke through fifteen kilometres of front and advanced up to eight kilometres the most advanced probe reaching Estaires on the Lys. There they were finally halted by British reserve divisions, although the Germans did take Armentières.

On April 10, the Germans launched their attack north of the River Lys, and from April 10 to 29 the main thrust of their attack was to the north and advanced eight kilometres on a front forty-eight kilometres wide. However, lacking reserves and supplies, the German attack eventually fizzled out, particularly once French reinforcements arrived to strengthen the defence. On 29 April, the German high command called off the offensive.

Following the failure of the Lyse Offensive, with the inflow of thousands of Americans onto the battlefields, Germany’s ultimate defeat was a foregone conclusion. However, the end of the war was not to come without the shedding of much more blood.

Along the Western Front, the Allies began in the Spring and Summer to push the Germans back. The first Allied success occurred in the Battle of Amiens 8-20 August. After the victory at Amiens, Allied commanders agreed on a multi-army offensive along the Western Front against German forces that, for the first time in the war, appeared vulnerable. The ensuing campaign, known as the Hundred Days (August – November 1918), ended in the defeat of German forces in the West.

In the Artois, the main thrust occurred in the Second Battle of Arras (29 Aug-3 Sept 1918). The Canadians spearheaded the British First Army’s attack on the Arras front, through the Drocourt-Quéant Line and across the Canal du Nord to capture the town of Cambrai. Joining the Canadians were the Scot Highlanders and 4th British Division. German defensive positions were strong in this sector and it was a brutal fight. In the a week-long battle the Canadians suffered more than eleven thousand casualties. Canadian troops finally crashed through the heavily-fortified Drocourt-Quéant Line on 2 September.

In the second phase of this offensive, the Canadian Corps attacked across the Canal du Nord on 27 September. Behind a complicated fire plan and the work of engineers, the Corps crossed the canal and pushed through the enemy defences, eventually capturing strong points like Bourlon Wood and Cambrai on 9 October.

After Allied troops crossed the Canal du Nord, the German forces were in full retreat. The end of the war was near.

Visiting the Artois

When you visit the Artois, we suggest you pick a hotel in or around Arras. Arras is a very pleasant city to visit with many military related attractions and makes a logical start and end point for visiting the Artois military related sites. There are a number of battle-related sites in the area, but few non-military attractions outside of Arras. To make your visit easy and efficient, we have prepared the following itinerary:

Mont-Saint Éloi

Leaving Arras, take the D341 toward Mont-Saint Éloi  Map. The main attraction at Mont-Saint Éloi  is the remains of two towers of the former Mont-Saint Éloi  Abbey which was destroyed during the French Revolution. From these towers, French troops observed German positions on the Lorette Spur and Vimy Ridge. The French originally thought spies were reporting to the Germans about the use of these towers as they were fired on every time they occupied them However, the French eventually realized that the Germans were aware of their movements in the towers not by spies but by the flight of birds disturbed by the French observers. Heavy shelling further reduced these towers from their pre-war size. Tthe Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Map which contains the remains of French, British and Canadian soldiers, is nearby. Ecoivres was the location of an Allied tramway terminus, and as a result many Allied dead and wounded were brought here from the battlefields to the north and east.  Allow thirty minutes to visit. mont-saint-eloi Rank 8

From Mont-Saint Éloi   your next stop is the Musée Militaire de La Targette Map. This museum is associated with the museum located on the hill of Notre Dame de Lorette and contains a large number of artifacts. Allow forty minutes to visit. Rank 6

Your next stop is the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. Map Occupation and control of this hill was the focus of both Germany and France. Today there is a huge French military cemetery atop the hill, that surrounds a basilica. The interior of the church is beautiful, and the stained-glass windows depict several kings, including Charlemagne, and a window for Joan of Arc. The ossuary contains the bones of thousands of unknown soldiers, and there is a small museum on the first floor. Built into the tower is a lantern which pays homage by sweeping the Artois plain every night. Inside the tower is a small but interesting museum and  a very serious memorial to unknown soldiers. Also on site is the 1914-1918 Living Museum (Musée Vivant 14-18 Notre Dame de Lorette) and the Ring of Remembrance, which is architecturally interesting and which lists the names of the 580,000 soldiers who died in the region, regardless of their nationality.   Map Rank 10

The Musée Vivant 14-18 Notre Dame de Lorette is located adjacent to the cemetery and in addition to indoor displays also includes an outdoor realistic recreation of trenches.  Map   Allow thirty minutes to visit. musee1418 Rank 6

A short distance away at the foot of the hill is the Lens' 14-18 - War and Peace History Centre, Map which chronicles the First World War in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais areas. In the black concrete cube, photographs, period films and a few artefacts are exhibited thematically.  lens14-18 Rank 6

From the Lens’ 14-18 Museum, we suggest you make a short detour to the ruins of the Ablain Saint Nazare Church. The French destroyed this building to prevent it from being used as an observation post, and shell-pocked ruins have been preserved as a memorial. The ruins are extremely photogenic. Map

From the church ruins, go to the Souchez Memorial Map and from there, a bit farther along the D937, the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery. Map

If you want to drop one of the preceding sites from your itinerary, I suggest that you eliminate the Musée Militaire de La Targette and/or the Lens' 14-18 - War and Peace History Centre.

By this time, you are probably ready for a break. There are a number of dining options around the Marie in Souchez, as well as easy parking. Map

Now that you are refreshed, move on to the next destination: Nueve Chapelle Map. At Neuve Chapelle stop at the Neuve Chapelle  Memorial and Neuve Chapelle Portuguese Cemetery. There are no museums in Neuve Chapelle, but the forty-minute drive there from Souchez (on whichever route your navigation system sends you) takes you through the contested areas of the Artois.

The next stop is Fromelles, where you can visit the Australian Memorial Park Map, the V.C. Corner Australian Cemetery Map and a short way away, the remains of the Abbiette Bunker. The Battle of Fromelles marked the first action on French soil by Australian troops and has the dubious honour of being described as the worst twenty-four hours in the military history of Australia. An article about archeological excavations at Fromelles is here” archaeology fromelles Numerous  German blockhouses and concrete batteries remain visible in the countryside around Fromelles, and one of these was l’Abbiette Bunker, Map where, between March 1915 and September 1916, a Corporal Adolf Hitler, dispatch rider for the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, carried messages between the bunker and the German command at nearby Wavrin. Here is more information about the Australian sites near here: awm

Now set your navigation system to Hill 70 Memorial. Map This park commemorates the Battle of Hill 70 which took place I August 1917. The centrepiece of the memorial is an obelisk dedicated to the Canadian Corps victory. There is also a series of memorials to six Victoria Cross recipients. There is a downloadable audio-visual tour: hill70

Not far from Hill 70 is the Monchy-le-Preux Newfoundland Memorial, Map one of the five memorials erected by Newfoundland in France and Belgium after the war. This memorial commemorates the April 14 attack by the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and 1st Essex Battalion. Monchy The memorial features a sculpture of an elk, the symbol of the Newfoundlanders. If you are planning to visit the larger Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont-Hamel, you can see a copy of this elk sculpture and may want to give the Monchy-le-Preux Memorial a pass if you are pressed for time.

For those not freaked out by enclosed spaces, it may be possible to book a tour of the underground tunnels dug by the British 173rd Tunneling Company Royal Engineers that were partially restored (and made safe to enter) by volunteers near Loos-en-Gohelle. durandgroup

While in the area of Loo s-en-Gohelle, you also can’t help but notice the five conical hills - slag heaps, the residue of 130 years of mining in the rich coal seam underneath Loos-en-Gohelle that extends west to east just below the Belgian border. The two local twin peaks, locally known as terrils and commonly dubbed the "11-19" (referring to the number of the mine pits) are the highest slag heaps in Europe and can been seen from miles around. The 11-19, are now on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Also nearby is the Loos British Cemetery  Map

About cemeteries.

The Artois (and all of the World War One battle sites) are studded with cemeteries large and small. The reason for this is that France and the Commonwealth adopted different approaches to dealing with war dead. The French approach was to consolidate the dead in large communal cemeteries. The Commonwealth approach was to intern soldiers in cemeteries close to where they died. As a result, Commonwealth cemeteries are spread out and where there are concentrations of these small cemeteries, we can identify historic battlefields. Because there are so many cemeteries and because they can become overwhelming, I tend not to send you to many of these. However, I encourage you to visit as many of these memorials as you wish and to contemplate the loss of so many young lives.

Vimy Memorial

For the last major stop of the day, make your way to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial at Vimy Ridge. Map  the memorial towers over the scene of Canada’s most recognizable First World War engagement, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, fought from 9 to 12 April 1917. This is an amazing memorial and should not be missed. Vimy-memorial Notre Dame de Lorette is visible on the ridge to the west of the Vimy Memorial.

Also nearby is the Vimy Ridge Visitor Education Centre. Map The Education Centre provides a good overview of the 1917 battle for Vimy Ridge. There is a not very realistic recreation of a trench system on the grounds adjacent to the Education Centre.

Also on the grounds of the Vimy Memorial are several cemeteries and the remnants of the battlefield terrain including at least one large crater. Map

This concludes your tour of the Arto is battle fields area. On your return to Arras though, you may consider stopping at one or both of the Zivy Crater Memorial Map or Litchfield Crater Memorial Map . During and after the 1917 battle for Vimy Ridge, the Canadians  used two mine craters to inter one hundred fallen soldiers. Initially called CB1 and CB2A, the burial grounds were renamed Zivy Crater and Lichfield Crater. They are the only Commonwealth war cemeteries on the Western Front to be circular in shape. Zivy Crater is the final resting place of fifty-three soldiers of whom five were unidentified; Lichfield Crater holds fifty-seven graves including fifteen unknowns.

Arras.

Arras is a pleasant city and the central squares are a joy to stroll. In the twelve century the city gained prominence as a centre for banking and trade. Today, Arras is famous for its two spectacular squares, the Grand’ Place and smaller Place des Héros, lined with Spanish and Flemish style houses dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (but most of which had to be rebuilt after WWI). In summer, the city installs a large beach in the Grand’ Place, with table tennis, volleyball, trampolines and soft play areas for smaller kids.

There are quite a few attractions in Arras, all of which can be seen over a two day stay. The main attractions in the city are:

• The Belfry, a UNESCO World Heritage site which can be ascended by lift (and some stairs). The Belfry is in the gothic style and has been rebuilt twice since it was completed in 1554, first to correct structural faults in 1840 and then after damage in the First World War. The view from the Belfry is terrific.

• Town Hall (Place des Héros) The arcaded square next to the belfry and city hall reflect the city’s Flemish roots. The rectangular space is laid with cobblestones and enclosed on three sides by regal gabled houses with arcades on the ground floor. Over fifty of the building facades are in France’s inventory of historic monuments. Place des Héros was known as La Petite Place until after the Second World War when it was renamed in recognition of the Resistance fighters who had been shot at Arras Citadel. Both the Town Hall and Belfry were rebuilt after the Great War.

• From the Town Hall you can also descend below ground into the boves, tiers of cellars once used as warehouses. The oldest of these cellars here date back to the tenth century. Consider taking a guided tour of the underground caves. The guided visit of the Boves is a tourist circuit laid out in the underground levels of the town, offering an insight into Arras’s "subterranean history". Initially a chalk mine, these underground galleries became cellars, storage places for the merchants of the town’s squares, and later bomb shelters for the townspeople during both World Wars. You can obtain a combined day-ticket for the Boves and Carrière Wellington and the Belfry.

• The Musée des Beaux-arts is housed in the  eighteenth-century Abbaye de Saint-Vaast is a huge classical style building. A former Benedictine abbey, Saint-Vaast abbey was founded in the seventh century on the hill of La Madeleine. In the seventeenth century it served as a college. In 1825 was converted to an art gallery. It is filled with precious art seized from the aristocracy during the French Revolution. The main features are pieces from Flemish and Dutch artists from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, including works by Rubens, Nicolas Maes and Breughel the Younger. Also featured are works by Charles Le Brun, Camille Corot, Théodore Rousseau, and Eugène Delacroix. There are also significant medieval pieces like the Anges d’Humbert, wonderful naturalistic wooden angels from the 1200s.

• The Art District -The Place du Théâtre is surrounded by cultural, heritage and tourist establishments that combine to create a delightful district. At one end of the Place du Théâtre is an Italian-style concert hall constructed in 1785 and fully restored in 2004. At the back of the square, in the Rue des Jongleurs, the Hôtel de Guînes is a fine example of a private eighteenth-century town house, now a hub for artists and designers. Nearby is the Hôtel de Guînes on Rue des Jongleurs. This is another beautiful eighteenth-century mansion that has been converted into a cultural centre and intimate performance venue.

There is a handy bus service between the Arras centre and the Vauban Fortress. A small bus, Ma Citadine, allows easy access to downtown Arras. The vehicle runs from Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 19:30 every 10 minutes. bus-artis

• The Vauban Citadel, just to the western edge of the town was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. The citadel is a fine example of seventeenth century military architecture. A defensive system designed to protect the towns of Louis XIV and built between 1667 and 1672, it was last used as a military installation in the 1990’s.  Inside the fort, two hundred eighteen members of the French Resistance lost their lives by execution by the Nazis.. A stroll around the grounds of the fortress is somewhat interesting, but most of the buildings are empty and there is little to engage those not interested in the history of the building. The fortress is used as the venue for the Main Square Festival in July – a three-day music festival featuring rock, metal, indie, pop, rap, and dance music. festivals- main-square

• Across the street from the Citadel is the British Memorial, a World War I British Cemetery which has the names of 35,942 soldiers missing after the battles of Artois engraved on the walls, and a memorial to Allied Airmen.

•  The Wellington Tunnels are a series of tunnels more than twenty kilometres long dug during the Great War by New Zealand tunnellers that stretch from Arras to the front lines. From these tunnels, twenty thousand Allied soldiers attacked German positions on April 9, 2017. The tunnel galleries were equipped with living quarters and could accommodate twenty thousand soldiers. carrierewellington.

• There is a leisure center at the northern entrance of Arras which includes  the Cité Nature, a science museum housed in a former industrial site. Next door is the Aquarena aquatic centre which contains swimming pools, slides, hammams, saunas and a fitness center.

• Markets take place at Arras on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday morning, as well as on Thursday afternoons. A big flea market is held on the last Sunday of June.

• Between January and March, the university hosts a festival of current music: MusiKampus.

• In March, the University of Artois offers an international and academic festival of the performing arts.

• The book fair of popular expression and social criticism is held every year on May 1st.

• The International Film Festival of Arras is held in November.

• A Christmas market is organized in December.

• The regional gastronomic feature are Andouillettes -  thick, coarse sausage made with pork, chitterlings, onion, pepper, and wine. They are such a big deal in Arras that the city puts on a party for them, La Fête de l’Andouillette, which happens on the last weekend of August and includes an outdoor feast in Place des Héros, processions and marching bands.

More information about Arras and guided tours are offered through the Arras Tourism Office. explore arras

Other Attractions in The Artois

Musée du Louvre-Lens is a minimalist glass and aluminum building set in twenty hectares of parkland. It is an ancillary museum to of the Louvre in Paris. The Louvre-Lens stages mostly temporary exhibitions with works from the massive archives of the parent museum. The Galerie du Temps showcases the history of art from all over the world in chronological order by different civilizations. In the basement, huge bay windows reveal the museum's holdings and restoration rooms louvrelens  Rank 8

La Place du Théâtre (Lille ) is located off the Grand'Place and is named after a former theatre that was destroyed by fire in 1903. In 1907, a Louis XVI-style opera house was built in its place, followed by the imposing chamber of commerce and industry and its 76m-high belfry, built in a neo-Flemish style, inspired by the Rang du Beauregard, the superb row of buildings just opposite. Lille also provides a number of pleasant, pedestrian-friendly shopping streets. Rank 8

The Chartreuse Museum and Bell Tower, Douai is housed in the former charterhouse, a  group of sixteenth to eighteenth-century buildings. Among the pieces exhibited, are sixteenth century altar pieces from three abbeys: Abbaye de Marchiennes, Abbaye d'Anchin and Abbaye de Flines. Significant works also include La Flagellation du Christ by Lodovico Carracci, works by Rubens and Jordaens, paintings of the French School from the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries and a collection of sculptures, presented in the chapel. musee de la chartreuse The Douai bell tower dates from 1380 and is one of the most beautiful in the region.  It features a cavalcade of  conical turrets, each capped with a blue slate roof and gold weathervane. The carillon has sixty-two bells across five octaves, and some of these bells were cast as long ago as the fourteenth century. You can climb to the top of this bell tower to a forty metre-high platform and cast your eyes over Douai and its industrial suburb. Rank 8

Château d'Olhain, Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen was built in 1200 by Hugues d'Olhain, after whom it is named, the and castle's medieval structure remains largely intact today. A drawbridge gives access to a watchtower, guardroom, cellars and a chapel. There is a pleasant walk around the moat. chateau-olhain Rank 8

La Coupole - History Centre and 3D Planetarium, Helfaut is a former Nazi V2 rocket launch pad that has been turned into a history centre and planetarium. The tour starts in a railway tunnel and continues along underground galleries intended to store rockets, leading into a huge dome weighing fifty-five thousand tons. Two exhibitions present German secret weapons and the life of the local population in northern France from 1940 to 1944. A genuine V2 rocket is on display. planetarium Rank 8