French Flanders & Artois WW1 Events

Chapel and graves at Ablain St-Nazaire French Military Cemetery (Notre Dame de Lorette)

This page provides information about events related to the First World War taking place on and around the French Flanders and Artois battlefields. Index to the listings:

Remembrance Ceremony
Exhibition Exposition 1914-1917: Bailleul à l'arrière du front; Toys go to War; “Earth & Steel”: Archaeology of the Great War
Air Show: Lens - Battle of Loos-en-Gohelle

Do you have any Great War related events?

Send us an email to webmaster@greatwar.co.uk giving us the date, location, contact details and description of your event.

Remembrance Ceremony

Weekly Act of Remembrance: Souvenir Flame

Lantern Tower at Notre Dame de Lorette French cemetery

Sundays (Palm Sunday to 11 November inclusive) at 11.45 hours

Ablain St-Nazaire French Military Cemetery (Notre Dame de Lorette), Souchez

Each Sunday from Palm Sunday to 11 November at 11.45 hours the “Souvenir Flame” in the centre of the cemetery is rekindled by the leader of the Honour Guards on duty that day.

Ablain St-Nazaire French Military Cemetery (Notre Dame de Lorette), Souchez

Anniversary Ceremony: the Battle of Arras, 1917

Memorial Wall at Wellington Quarry, Arras

9 April 2015 at 06:30 hours

Wellington Quarry - la Carrière Wellington, Rue Arthur Delétoille, 62000 Arras (Telephone +33 (0)3 21 51 26 95)

On 9 April 1917, at 05:30 (British time) 24,000 British soldiers emerged from the Wellington Quarry in the south of Arras to start the Battle of Arras, an operation of diversion before the Aisne offensive by the French Army at the Chemin des Dames. They lived in the underground tunnels during the weeks which preceded the Arras offensive.

On 9 April 2015 in the early hours of the morning, at 06:30 hours (French time), in front of the Memorial Wall of the Wellington Quarry, a ceremony of remembrance will take place. This annual ceremony is a tribute to the British soldiers who took part in the Battle of Arras.

This ceremony is open to the public to attend and there will be official representatives attending.

For details of the location of the museum see our page:

Wellington Quarry - la Carrière Wellington, Arras

Anniversary Ceremony: the Battle of Vimy Ridge

Wednesday 9 April, 2015 at 15.00 hours

Location: Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Please note that the Visitor Centre will be closed from 14.15-16.15 during the ceremony. Details of the ceremony can be requested from the Veterans Affairs Canada website:

Website: www.veterans.gc.ca Vimy Visitor Information

Canadian National Vimy Memorial

ANZAC Day Wreath Laying Ceremony, Bullecourt

Saturday 25 April 2015, at 14.00 hours and 14.45 hours

Location: Bullecourt

Event One: 14.00 hours ANZAC Day Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Commonwealth and the French monuments in Bullecourt village centre, the Square du Souvenir Français
Event Two: 14:45 hours ANZAC Day Commemorative Service at the Australian “Digger” Memorial on the outskirts of the village.

For information about these and other ANZAC Day Services in France and Belgium you can visit the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs:

Website: www.dva.gov.au Anzac Day Services in France 1915

Or make an enquiry at the Musée Jean et Denise Letaille - Bullecourt 1917

Email (Musée Bullecourt 1917): musee-bullecourt1917@cc-sudartois.fr

Telephone: +33 3 21 55 33 20

For information about the Australian Memorial Park Bullecourt see our page:

Australian Memorial Park Bullecourt

Official Ceremony of Remembrance

Sunday 8 November, 2015 at 11.00 hours

Location: Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Please note that the Visitor Centre will be closed from 10.15-12.15 during the ceremony. Details of the ceremony can be requested from the Veterans Affairs Canada website:

Website: www.veterans.gc.ca Vimy Visitor Information

Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Informal Ceremony of Remembrance

11 November 2015 at 11.00 hours

Location: Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Please note that the Visitor Centre will be closed from 10.15-12.15 during the ceremony. Details of the ceremony can be requested from the Veterans Affairs Canada website:

Website: www.veterans.gc.ca Vimy Visitor Information

Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Exhibition

Exposition 1914-1917: Bailleul à l'arrière du front

To 30 September 2015

Musée Benoît-De-Puydt, 24 rue du Musée, 59270 Bailleul

Charges: Adults Euros 4,10; concessions Euros 3,20

With extracts from the correspondence of a mother to her son on the front, the exhibition takes you into the privacy of a family from Bailleul during the German occupation (8-14 October 1914) and the presence of the British Army (October 1914 – April 1918). The exhibition focuses on the cohabitation between the inhabitants of Bailleul and the British, and more particularly on the necessary adaptation to this situation. By using multimedia means and by presenting paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures and archives, the museum recreates the everyday life in Bailleul during the Great War. The texts and the videos presented in the exhibition are translated into English.

The museum is open every day except Tuesday from 14.00 to 17.30 hours. The museum is closed on Whit Monday, Ascension Thursday, 15 August and 11 November. Group visits daily from 09.00-12.00 and 14.00-18.00 are welcome by reservation at Euros 3,20 per person + Euros 45 for the visit with a guide.

Website: www.ville-bailleul.fr Musée Benoît de Puydt

Email: musee@ville-bailleul.fr

Telephone: +33 3 28 49 12 70

Toys go to War - Le jouet s'en va-t-en-guerre

to 31 December 2018

Musée de la Poupée et du Jouet ancien, Château de Robersart, 59110 WAMBRECHIES

Free

This exhibition is held at the museum of toys on the north-west side of Lille. Old toys depict major events of the First World War on land, air and sea, taking the visitor through key events of the world war in fascinating displays of toys from the beginning of the 20th century.

Opening hours: