Great War tourist trails on the Nord

Great War tourist trails on the Nord - Pas-de-Calais

The Nord - Pas-de-Calais has produced a pdf guide to Great War sites in the region that includes four themed trails. The first follows the front line, starting with a little cross-frontier diversion to Ypres, then Fromelles - Loos - Notre-Dame-de-Lorette - Vimy - Arras - Bullecourt - Flesquières - Hébuterne and finishing at Ayette Indian and Chinese Cemetery.

The second covers both the war of movement of the first few months of the war and the subsequent German occupation. It starts in Comines, before going through Lille, down to Cambrai, then back north, finishing at the French war cemetery at Assevent, near Maubeuge.

The third covers the rear areas and the Channel coast. It starts at the monument to the Dover Patrol at Sangatte, outside Calais, before heading southwards Wimereux - Terlincthun - Boulogne - Etaples and finishing at Haig's statue in Montreuil-sur-Mer.

The final tour covers the reconstruction of the areas devastated by the war. Unsurprisingly, it covers much of the same ground as the first, but with a larger emphasis on rebuilt towns and post-war cemeteries. Starting in Méteren, it visits, amongst other places Bailleul, Lens, Arras and Cambrai, finishing in Tourcoing.

The website version links to information (in French) about each and every site on all four tours. Unlike the shorter Artois tour, there is no time recommendations - you will obviously want to go at your own pace - but there's enough here to keep everyone amused for a good week, if not longer.

Photo: the Canadian memorial at Vimy, from wikipedia

Kings of the Air: Clément Ader

This is the first of a series of biographical sketches based on the research I am doing for my new book Kings of the Air: French aces and airmen of the Great War , to be published by Pen & Sword. Clément Ader (1841-1925) was a French inventor, whose attempt at heavier-than-air flight some years before the Wright brothers was so nearly successful. Ader had a restless mind, and his inventions covered a wide range of fields. In 1868, he began as a velocipede manufacturer. Instead of conventional iron tyres, his machines used a rubber tubular tyre of his own invention, resulting in a much lighter frame, and a much more comfortable ride. The war against German in 1870 brought an end to his work. He then began working for a railway company in the south-west of the country, the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi. In 1875, he designed an engine that laid rails, that saw service for several years. He then turned to the new telephone, commercialising the inventions

The real Rintintin

No. No!! Yes. Rintintin's on the right. Obviously. In 1913, the artist Francisque Poulbot created two characters, two typical children, named Nénette (the girl) and Rintintin (the boy). The drawings were turned into dolls, intended to replace the dolls in French shops that were 'Made in Germany'. While they had some popularity before war broke out, their production suffered because of the war. The characters were revived four years later, following the publication of Encores des gosses et des bonhommes: cent dessins et l'histoire de Nénette et Rintintin , published by Editions Ternois. 'Everyone loves and adores us. You can find us amongst the finest amulets, the hand of Fatima, four-leaved clover, golden pigs, scarabs, the number 13, and white elephants. ... We are the most fashionable good-luck charm, triumphing over back luck.Keep us round your neck, on your watch chain, on your bracelet, in your pocket, on the wind

From the Marne to Verdun: the war diary of Captain Charles Delvert, 101st Infantry, 1914-16

Charles Delvert’s diary records his career as a front-line officer in the French army fighting the Germans during the First World War. It is one of the classic accounts of the war in French or indeed in any other language, and it has not been translated into English before. In precise, graphic detail he sets down his wartime experiences and those of his men. He describes the relentless emotional and physical strain of active service and the extraordinary courage and endurance required in battle. His account is essential reading for anyone who is keen to gain a direct insight into the Great War from the French soldier's point of view, and it bears comparison with the best-known English and German memoirs and journals of the Great War. Reviews This classic account of World War One from a French officer’s perspective has not previously been translated for the original French. Highly Recommended. This book is particularly valuable because it is a translation of a diary

Ian Sumner

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