Armistice Day Arriving

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The 94th anniversary of the end of World War One is coming up on November 11th, a national holiday here in France. A fitting time to post a few photos from a couple of sites I had the good fortune to visit recently, thanks to a chance meeting at a stone quarry in the middle of nowhere with two gentlemen also interested the history of what was called "la Grande Guerre"... the Great War. Near the town of Noyon the ruins of a chapel destroyed during the war still remain, with a cast iron Christ within which fell during the shelling. As he suffered some 2000 years ago, so too did his replica suffer nearly 100 years ago in this chapel which stood immediately adjacent to the trenches of the front lines. It is surprising the sculpture was not more heavily damaged, as artillery shells fell like rain in that area.
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More cast iron work in the chapel, with autumn colors, and the iron Crucifixion figure at upper left.
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In the cemetery at Thiescourt, also near the front lines, a memorial to those dreadful years... 1914 to 1918.
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The gate to the German cemetery at Thiescourt.
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During the first world war the German army allowed soldiers of Jewish faith to serve. Things would change not long thereafter.
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"To the memory of Henri Bruge. Born the 1st of February 1882 at Ergues in the Pas de Calais, Adjutant Chef in the 4th Regiment of Cuirassiers, died for France, reported missing in action at Plémont on 9 June1918, awarded the War Cross with silver star and the Military Medal posthumously"
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At the entrance to the old stone quarries near Dreslincourt, occupied by the Germans for three years during the war. They left Gothic inscriptions carved on the outside stone walls, later shattered when they tried to blow up a nearby entrance to the quarry. The words carved here were part of a poem, saying :
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"The world might be torn apart
Every oath like straw
I know a word like iron
It's called soldiers loyalty"
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In German "soldiers loyalty" was one word : Soldatentreu
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Another German sign carved above an entrance to the stone quarries, a labyrinthine series of tunnels that go on for kilometers underground... it would be very easy to get lost in there. I was lucky to have a good guide who knew the place well.
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Graffiti from the war years... they didn't have spray paint cans back then, so they carved instead.
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In the woods outside unexploded artillery shells can still be found lying about. Chilling reminders of the not so distant past here.
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An imperial eagle carved on an exterior quarry wall.
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More German, to the effect that the German soldiers feared only God.
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Inside the miles of tunnels there were signposts, here indicating the way to the Command Post Calypso.
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Boots from the war still remain undisturbed deep in the tunnels.
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A wonderful French rooster carved on a wall to honor the 324th Infantry Regiment.
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Near one of the entrances to the quarry tunnels.
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German barbed wire from the war, rusting but still ready to unroll and use apparently. Maybe a bit fragile now, but still looking nasty.
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More artillery shells found in farm fields nearby, waiting to be collected by the munitions disposal service which still remains busy nearly 100 years later.
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Return to the Future Past . . .

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Here are a few more photos from the same site that the photo currently entered in a contest was taken at (see below post, and please vote), out in a stretch of woods in northern France that not many people ever visit, where there are dozens of large sculptures carved in the stone of an old quarry, which date from the First World War. You can also see more pictures of this site here. Sadly, this little known site is out in a remote forest, exposed to the weather, and the magnificent artwork here is slowly but surely disappearing. I'm going back there tomorrow to make another series of photos to help document what's left. Wish you could come...
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World War One Sculpted Graffiti !

Another book I had the very good fortune to serendipitously find recently is shown here. It was produced principally by two gentlemen, Michel Boittiaux and Hervé Vatel, along with supporting work by members of an association named "Soissonais 14 - 18". The region from Soissons to Compiegne was heavily quarried for limestone over the centuries preceeding the first World War, leaving a swiss cheese terrain of caverns underground many of which are kilometres long, containing winding tunnels and chambers. Both German and French troops took advantage of such shelters to find refuge from the infernal artillery bombardments which were the trademark of that conflict. While sheltering from the storm in these places many artistically inclined soldiers took advantage of their long hours of dreadful boredom to carve graffiti in a wide variety of forms in the easily sculpted sandstone. Many such efforts were true works of art of surprising complexity, sensitivity, and sheer beauty.

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This book is a work of art in itself, containing excellent photographs of large numbers of poignant examples of the graffiti sculptures, as well as meticulously researched anecdotes about incidents occurring during the war in the places where the graffiti was located. The authors and their association have performed a monumental and astonishing amount of work already documenting many sites for posterity, racing against vandals, thieves, and the ravages of tiem. But chatting with Michel Boittiaux this evening on the telephone, he assures me there remains much work to be done, and many sites containing graffiti carved there by troops have yet to be explored. The Germans had the unfriendly habit of blowing up the entrances to shelters to prevent them from being used again, so some have not been entered since 1918. With a little luck I may be able to participate in some upcoming expeditions... and will keep you informed. Some of the earlier posts below in this blog contain photographs taken inside the only cavern of this nature that I have visited so far, which I found purely by chance. Anyway, if you are interested in bas relief sculpture and war graffiti, don't miss this book, it is a "must".

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Musical Echoes

While still thinking about that stone quarry cave complex where that fleet of dream cars is parked, there was another piece of graffiti there dating from the 1914 to 1918 conflict, carved to immortalize the 262nd musical group... I wonder if the band played in the quarry halls, and if so, how the acoustics were? And whether the skeleton crew mentioned below can hear the echoes all these years later...
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