Exhibition "Péronne, 1918, Roo de Kanga"
      

EXHIBITIONS


3 april > 31 august : exhibition at the Historial of the Great War : "War in the Gulf - Michel Lebrun-Fanzaroli" - in patnership with the Greismar Tamer Galery
Entry free
The artist show us different views of the Gulf War
Contact : Historial of the Great War + 33 (0)3 22 83 14 18 - info@historial.org

21 April – 7 May : Peronne Exhibition, 1918, Roo de Kanga
Next April, to commemorate Anzac Day 2008, the Municipal Alfred Danicourt museum in Péronne will be staging an exhibition of photographs in honour of the Australian soldiers who died thousands of miles away from the continent to defend part of the Picardy region.  Hundreds of these men died during an epic attack of the fortified village of Mont Saint-Quentin held by the German troops. When the fort was finally taken after a bayonet charge and violent hand-to-hand fighting, the whole sector of Peronne was liberated in the summer of 1918. The Alfred Danicourt Museum, through a partnership with the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, will be showing hitherto little-known photographs of the battle and its protagonists as well as excerpts of a film shot by Australians in 1918.

Contact : Alfred Danicourt Museum - +33 (0)3 22 73 31 10 - musee.danicourt@ville-peronne.fr

 

 

06th-31th May 2008 : Exhibition "Witnesses of the Great War" realized by the Historial of the Great War from Peronne at the Tourism Office of Montdidier.
For more information:
Tourism Office of Montdidier - Tel : +33 (0)3 22 78 92 00 - ot-montdidier@orange.fr - www.ot-montdidier.fr or Cantigny Fist Division Foundation-European Branch fcastier@firstdivisionmuseum.org -
www.firstdivisionmuseum.org

24 to 1st June 2008 : Exhibition "The Great War" realized by the "Office Nationale des Anciens Combattants" (French Veterans Affairs) from the Somme associated to the drawings made by several schools from the Somme and in partnership with American schools for the competition to create the official poster of the ceremonies. This competition is on the initiative of the "Souvenir Français" from the Somme, the ONAC (French Veterans Affairs) and under the patronage of the "Education Nationale" (French Ministry of Education). This exhibition will be open to the public from 10am to 12am and from 2pm to 6pm in the Saint-Sépulcre church, Montdidier.
For more information:
Tourism Office of Montdidier - Tel : +33 (0)3 22 78 92 00 - ot-montdidier@orange.fr - www.ot-montdidier.fr or Cantigny Fist Division Foundation-European Branch fcastier@firstdivisionmuseum.org -
www.firstdivisionmuseum.org

EVENTS

11th may : Spring steam gala
The P'tit train will show all its steam engine fired! See steam engines being prepared for the day at the workshop for 9.am.

• Steam hauled passengers trains.
• Steam freight trains.
• See steam engine at the workshop from 9 a.m.
• 4 steam engines on the line.
• Trains on the 7"1/4 gauge railway.
• Industrial trains display.
• Special timetable : first train at 11 a.m., and train each 40 minutes in the afternoon from 13.40 to 17.40.
• Museum open from 10 a.m.
• Take away food.
• Model railways exhibition with the French Model Railway Society (Fédération Française de Modélisme Ferroviaire).
• Question & Answer Jazz band at Museum station.
• Railway painting from Jonathan Clay (GB).

The program could be changed at any given notice
Contact : APPEVA -  +33 (0)3 22 83 11 89 - www.appeva.org

18.19.20.25.26.27 July 2008 : Son et Lumière at Pozières organized by the Digger Cote 160 Association : homage payed to Georges Butterworth, british composer killed at Pozières the 5 August 1916.
Contact : www.digger-pozieres.org  

COMMEMORATIONS

 

25 May 2008 : American commemoration (American Day) at the American Cemetery in the Somme at Bony (Aisne)
 
27 May 2008 - 8.00pm: Free concert of jazz by the SHAPE (NATO) international military orchestra in the Saint-Sepulcre church, Montdidier.For more information:
Tourism Office of Montdidier - Tel : +33 (0)3 22 78 92 00 - ot-montdidier@orange.fr - www.ot-montdidier.fr or Cantigny Fist Division Foundation-European Branch fcastier@firstdivisionmuseum.org -
www.firstdivisionmuseum.org

28 May 2008: American Commemoration 
On  wednesday 28th of May, 2008 at 11.00am, the McCormick Tribune Foundation, the Cantigny First Division Foundation, the American Veterans of the 28th Infantry Regiment Association and the village of Cantigny in the Somme will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the first victory of an American division on the French soil : the 1st Division, thanks to the support of the French units and their tanks. At this occasion a bronze statue representing a doughboy from the 28th Infantry Regiment of the US Army will be dedicated. This ceremony will be followed at 2.30pm by laying of wreaths in the German cemetery and the French military square of Montdidier.
Should attend, civilian and military dignitaries from United States, France and other Allied Nations from this conflict, but also from Germany.
At the initiative of the "Souvenir Français" from the Somme, the "Office Nationale des Anciens Combattants" (French Veterans' Affairs) and under the patronage of the "Education Nationale" (French Ministry of Education), a drawing competition is organized between French and American schools to realize the official poster. An exhibition from the French Veterans Affairs with for theme "the Great War" during the week and a concert of jazz from the SHAPE (NATO) international military orchestra on Tuesday 27th of May will complete this international event.
For more information:
Tourism Office of Montdidier - Tel : +33 (0)3 22 78 92 00 - ot-montdidier@orange.fr - www.ot-montdidier.fr or Cantigny Fist Division Foundation-European Branch fcastier@firstdivisionmuseum.org -
www.firstdivisionmuseum.org

1 July : British commemorations
7.30 am : The Boisselle Crater
10.30 am : The memorial in Thiepval
Canadian commemoration at Beaumont-Hamel
Irish commemoration at the Ulster Tower (Thiepval)

 

REMEMBRANCE WALKS

90^th anniversary of the end of the First World War

40 remembrance walks will be organised (no charge) to allow participants to appreciate the closing months of hostilities.

09/08/2008 Walking Trail in memory of the surprise attack in Montdidier on  August 8^th 1918.

On the given day, August 8^th, the Fourth British Army launched an attack at 04-20am. No artillery was involved but tanks were used which managed to penetrate the enemy position. At the same time the First French Army prepared its artillery attack.  On August 9^th the attack recommenced along the front north of Montdidier. The British took 13,000 German prisoners during these two days of fighting. The French Army took more than 4,000.

Meet up at : 8 h30am in Montdidier on the swimming pool car park.

Start time : 9 h 00 / Lunchtime to be spent in Montdidier

Contact : Office de Tourisme de Montdidier - 03 22 78 92 00 http://20072008.free.fr

 

23/08/2008 Walking Trail in memory of the Liberation of the Town of Péronne by Australian troops.

On August 31st 1918 the 2^nd Australian Division launched an attack from the Cléry road to Péronne. Their objective was the Mont St Quentin north of Péronne.  The 3^rd Division, on the other hand, firstly failed in its attack of the Bouchavesne spur before finally gaining hold. The 2^nd Division of the Prussian Guard partially gained the Mont St Quentin summit but the Mont was finally taken by the Australians on September 1^st.

The 5^th Australian Division liberated Péronne on the 1^st and 2^nd  September.

Meet up at : 8 h 30 on the  Champ de Foire car park in Péronne (this is situated close to the disused railway station).

Start time : 9 h 00 / Lunchtime period to be spent in Péronne.

Contact : Musée Franco-Australien - 03 22 96 80 79 – museeaustralien@aol.com - Office de Tourisme de la Haute-Somme - 03 22 84 42 38 - accueil@ot-peronne.fr - http://20072008.free.fr



BATTLEFIELDS RAMBLING TRAILS

09 march - 10.00.am: Battlefields Rambling Trails
The officers' grandstand and the Ancre Valley

Dernancourt church
Contact : Paula Flanagan Kesteloot +33 (0)3 22 75 64 17

 

8 may :- 10.00am : Battlefields Rambling Trails
South Africa between 1899 and 1999
Longueval Memorial
Contact : Paula Flanagan Kesteloot +33 (0)3 22 75 64 17

16 july - 10.00am : Battlefields Rambling Trails
The 16th Irish Division in the Somme
Guillemont cemetery
Contact : Paula Flanagan Kesteloot +33 (0)3 22 75 64 17

BIBLIOGRAPHY

*La Revue de l'Histoire, 1918, La Der des Ders

N°48, january 2008
Published by JCL Communication.
On sale in bookshops, maisons de la presse and other outlets. Price : 6,50 €

* La mémoire d’une Grande Guerre (Memories of the Great War)

Pays du Nord – Special edition 14-18, Price : 5,90 €

* Lieux de mémoire de la Somme (Remembrance Sites in the Somme)

A small format photo album-type document

By Anne Roze (texts) & John Folley (photos). Co-edited with the Historial Museum in Péronne.

Bilingual version FR & ENG costs  12 €

The 90th anniversary year has led to the creation of a number of interesting quality books that may well deserve a place on your bookshelf…

* Sites de la bataille de la Somme

by Christophe Lépine (texts) and Philippe Mangot (photos) 

Discover the Somme battlefield sites via 9 different itineraries.

Punch Editions – two versions available FRENCH or ENGLISH - 33 €

*The association "Souvenir Sauvegarde Histoire Militaire Régionale" has realised a flyer "On the footsteps of the Diggers from Bapaume to Bullecourt" than you can download here