Arras, Vimy Ridge & La Carriere Wellington Memorial
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Arras
With its fine old centre, Arras is one of the prettiest towns in northern France. It was renowned for its tapestries in the Middle Ages, giving its name to the hangings behind which Shakespeare's Polonius was killed by Hamlet.
Vimy Ridge
Vimy Ridge ran almost 12km north-east of Arras. The Germans occupied Vimy Ridge in September 1914 and their engineers immediately began to construct a network of artillery-proof trenches and bunkers. These were protected from infantry attack by concrete Machine Gun Posts.
La Carriere Wellington Memorial
The Carrière Wellington museum has been opened in Arras, France to commemorate the astonishing work of 450 New Zealanders who built a network of tunnels between Arras and the German front lines during World War 1. The museum, Carrière Wellington, 22 metres underground, is named after the cavern where it is situated. Sound and light shows in the museum cover the discovery of the caverns, the military strategy, the work of the tunnellers in 1916 and 1917, and the battle – one of the most strategic of World War 1.
Includes return travel by coach.