Original French Photographic Booklet – British Military Cemeteries of the Artois Front – Arras Memorial – WW1

Original French Photographic Booklet – British Military Cemeteries of the Artois Front – Arras Memorial – WW1

A superb original photographic booklet entitled “Front d’Artois – Cimetières Militaires – British Cemeteries”, published by Éditions Fauchois of Béthune, France.

This attractive bilingual French and English publication features a fascinating collection of original black-and-white photographs documenting British military cemeteries and memorials across the former First World War battlefields of the Artois region in northern France.

The booklet contains a number of large photographic views showing beautifully maintained British war cemeteries, with their distinctive Commonwealth headstones, landscaped grounds and memorial architecture.

Of particular interest is the photograph captioned “ARRAS – Le Mémorial Anglais”, showing the impressive British memorial at Arras, situated within Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery.

The Arras Memorial

The Arras Memorial was designed by the renowned British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and was unveiled on 31st July 1932 by Lord Trenchard.

It commemorates almost 36,000 British, South African and New Zealand servicemen who died in the Arras sector during the First World War and have no known grave. The adjacent Flying Services Memorial also commemorates airmen of the Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force who were lost on the Western Front.

The photographs in this booklet provide a wonderful historical record of these cemeteries and memorials as they appeared during the interwar years, offering a fascinating glimpse of the early development of the permanent Commonwealth war graves.

Publication Details

Title: Front d’Artois – Cimetières Militaires / British Cemeteries

Publisher: Éditions Fauchois, Béthune, France

Edition: Édition de Luxe au Bromure glacé

Series: No. 1

Language: French and English

Illustrations: Original black-and-white photographic views

Subject: British military cemeteries and memorials of the Artois Front

Dating: Interwar period; the completed Arras Memorial shown in the booklet establishes a date no earlier than 1932.

Condition: Original condition, with age-related wear and marks. Please see photographs.

An evocative and increasingly interesting piece of First World War remembrance history, particularly appealing to collectors of Western Front memorabilia, original battlefield photography, military cemetery publications and British war memorial history.

A lovely original photographic record of the British cemeteries of northern France, produced close to the battlefields where so many British servicemen lost their lives.