who fell during the who fell during the Great War in Nord-Pas deCalais. All are listed alphabetically withoutdistinction by rank or nationality, thus creatinga powerful symbol of international peace.Standing on the plateau of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette – a strategic positioned occupied bythe Germans – it is one of three sites makingup the 14-18 Memorial. Complete the visitwith the French Necropolis and the excellenthistory centre at Souchez that tells the story ofthe conflict in Nord-Pas de Calais.memorial1418.comVimyRidge ©Paul Jonesvia CanvaWellington Quarry, Arras © Gillian ThorntonWestern Front. Some 24,000 British soldierslived in these tunnels for a week beforeemerging into daylight on 9 April 1917 at 0530right in front of the German front line. Sharetheir experiences on an unforgettable guidedtour to this extraordinarily poignant site.arraspaysdartois.comRing of Remembrance,Pas de CalaisInaugurated on 11 November 2014, thisenormous ellipsis is engraved with the namesof nearly 580,000 soldiers of 40 nationalitiesCanadian Memorial, VimyRidge, Pas-de-CalaisOccupied by the Germans from the startof World War I, the strategic hill at Vimyoverlooked the mining basin to the north andwas captured by Canadian forces in April1917. The two pylons of the towering 27-metremonument represent Canada and France,and show a mother weeping for fallen soldiers.Experience reconstructed trenches, visit thecemetery, and tour the Interpretation Centrein a park that honours all Canadian soldierswho lost their lives during World War I.arraspaysdartois.comLochnagar Crater, SommeYes, it’s a hole in the ground, but a holesupercharged with atmosphere. Close to thevillage of La Boisselle, the Lochnagar Craterwas created on 1 July 1916 by an undergroundexplosive detonated by British tunnellers.The explosion was, at the time, the loudestmanmade sound in history, launching waveafter wave of infantrymen towards the Germanfront line on what was to be the bloodiest dayin British military history. Measuring 330 feetacross and 21 metres deep, this grassy crateron privately owned land is open to visitors freeof charge. lochnagarcrater.orgThiepval © Gillian ThorntonLutyens and inaugurated in 1932. HistorianSophie Shrubsole of Sophie’s Great War Tourssays “The photos just don’t do it justice. Thescale is difficult to capture, so one really muststand in its shadow and look upon the tens ofthousands of names of those British and SouthAfrican troops that have no known grave. Ifthat weren’t enough to comprehend the scaleof human loss, open up the two metal doorsto reveal the CWGC registers that containthe names of those on the memorial. They arenumerous and thick, but they have to be inorder to list more than 72,000 souls.”Visit the interpretation centre and also thenearby Ulster Tower, a replica of one nearBelfast. visit-somme.comRing of RemembranceThiepval Memorial,Somme, Hauts de FranceVisible for miles around, the Thiepval Memorialtowers over the rolling countryside of theSomme Valley to honour 72,000 officersand men from the United Kingdom and SouthAfrica who died in the Somme between July1916 and March 1918 and have no known grave.Built of red brick and stone, the 45-metrehighmonument was designed by Sir EdwinOmaha Beach, CalvadosStroll the broad sands today at Vierville-sur-Mer and it is hard to believe the horror thattook place here on 6 June 1944 when UStroops stormed the stretch of Normandycoastline codenamed Omaha Beach. Theirmission, to disable German guns on the cliffat Pointe du Hoc that threatened the Alliedinvasion on D-Day. The Normandy American64 | The Good Life France The Good Life France | 65
