France – November 11, 1918 – 100 years ago , the Great War ended there : The clearing of the Armistice – 40 photos

 

 

 

 

The spot in the forest of Compiegne, France,

where the armistice with Germany was signed, nov.11, 1918 .

On the left is the train that formed the headquarters of Marshal Foch

and on the right that occupied by the German envoys .

 

 

 

100 years ago

the armistice of the first world war

was signed here ….

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the Memorial of the Armistice Clearing

 

 

 

 

The Armistice that brought to an end of the greatest war in history,

was signed on November 11, 1918,

on this exact spot in the forest of Compiègne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clearing did not exist at that time

and the full-grown trees were so thick

that aerial observation was impossible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Armistice  was signed “at the eleventh hour,

on the eleventh day of the eleventh month”

in 1918.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two railway tracks that ran across here

were part of  a gunnery rail system branching off from Rethondes station

a mile away and could be used for heavy gun platforms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The train bringing the German plenipotentiaries from Tergnier,

where they had boarded it after driving from La Capelle,

arrived at day-break on November 8 fot the encounter.

 

 

 

 

The train standing on the other track was used by Marshal Foch

as his mobile headquarters behind the front line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quiet seclusion of the forest seemed more suitable

for such an occasion than his General Headquarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clearing was laid out and inaugurated in 1922

and between 1927 and June 1940

the carriage was housed in its own museum building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the same site as in 1918 the carriage was used

by the German and French delagates

who met to sign the armistice of  June 22, 1940

which marked the end of the campaign of France.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restauration of the clearing, the monuments and the museum

was undertaken

at the end of  the  Second World War ( 1939 – 1945 )

to etablish a permanent commemoration of this significant historic site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

Trench warfare

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Armistice Monument

at la Pierre d’Haudroy, La Flamengrie ( La Capelle, Aisne )

 

 

 

It was here the German plenipotentiaries

presented themselves to the 1st Battalion,

171e Régiment d’‘Infanterie November 7 to 8:20 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here, the tenacity of the Poilu triumphed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our other posts :

 

France – The Great War remembered : They came from across the globe…. – 40 photos.

 

 

Northern France : The First World War Remembrance Trails…..- 80 Photos.

 

 

 

Their Name Liveth for Evermore : The Australian National Memorial in France – 50 photos.

 

 

 

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