Somme Battlefield Local Events

26th European Heritage Days

18-19 September 2010

Historial de la Grande Guerre, Château de Péronne, Péronne

Free admission to the museum for individual visitors and special activities will be taking place.

Armistice Day at Historial de la Grande Guerre

11 November 2010

Historial de la Grande Guerre, Château de Péronne, Péronne

Special activities and inauguration of a new exhibition of work by Picardy school children, ‘De la terre à la guerre’ — ‘From the fields to the front’.

Gas! Gas! Gas! Chemical Warfare, 1914-1918

to 14 November 2010

Historial de la Grande Guerre, Château de Péronne, Péronne

The history of chemical weapons during the First World War is marked by a paradox. If poison gases are inevitably associated with this conflict, we have to admit that very little is known about this ‘war within the war’. The unprecedented sufferings endured by the combatants on both sides are constantly emphasised, as are the ravages provoked by the gases. At the same time, however, a careful examination of the French losses caused by poison gas on the entire front between February and October 1916 brings out the fact that they represented only 0.2 percent of the total casualties. Beyond the myth or the stereotype, it thus seems legitimate to question the military reality of these weapons and their impact on the battlefields of the Great War. Not the least of the controversies which continue to this day is the identity of the real initiator of chemical warfare. Obviously, the appearance of chemical weapons on the battlefield of the First World War cannot be considered a simple technical innovation. But does this permit us to conclude that its use marks the advent of the total war? Were chemical weapons the first ones conceived not to conquer enemy territory but to annihilate the adversary physically? The objective here is thus to bring out the impact of chemical weapons on the course of the hostilities, in human, industrial, tactical and strategic terms alike.

The exhibition includes 80 objects and original documents on show.

Outreach tools: Trilingual exhibition (French, English, German) + trilingual visitor’s guide + exhibition catalogue (in French only).

Curator: Olivier Lepick

Exhibition catalogue — IN FRENCH ONLY: Gaz! Gaz! Gaz!: La Guerre chimique, 1914-1918. Essays by Olivier Lepick, Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, Sophie Delaporte, Annette Becker and others. 112 pages, 55 colour illustrations, Euros 25

Annual Lochnagar Crater Remembrance Ceremony

1^st July 2011— 07:28

Lochnagar Crater Memorial, La Boisselle, France

An annual remembrance ceremony will take place at the Lochnagar Crater Memorial starting at 7:28am, marking the time when the mine was blown on 1^st July 1916.

For details of the 2011 event see 'The Friends of Lochnagar' web site.

For the location of the Lochnagar Crater on the Somme battlefields go to:

Service of Remembrance at Thiepval Memorial to the Missing

1^st July 2011

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, Thiepval

A ceremony will take place attended by Royal British Legion Standards.

For information about the Thiepval Memorial and its location on the Somme battlefields go to:

Ceremony of Remembrance at Ulster Tower Memorial

1^st July 2011

Ulster Tower Memorial

A ceremony will take place attended by Royal British Legion Standards.

For the location of the Ulster Tower memorial on the Somme battlefields go to: