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Neuve
Chapelle is a large village on the road from Bethune to Armentieres.
It saw fighting in 1914 as the British and French forces held an
enemy outflanking movement, during which the village was lost to
the Germans. On 10th March 1915, it was recaptured by a British attack
and remained in Allied hands until the great German attack on the
Lys in April 1918. This view is from a position known to the British
as Nameless Cotts, towards the Bois de Biez. Neuve Chapelle itself
is behind the photogrpaher and to the right. This was the ground
over which the British divisions attacked on 10th March; the German
reserves gradually filtered back into the wood and dug a second defence
line which held British attempts on the second day. |
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From
late 1914 through most of 1915, it was the Indian Corps that held
the line here for the British. A superb memorial to their memory
is located a little to the south of the village, at the La Bombe
crossroads. |
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The
memorial is circular in plan, with the names of the missing, and
the regimental crests of Indian Army units, on the interior panels.
Designed by Sir Herbert Baker, the memorial is designed with many
Indian features and motifs. |
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Carved
on the intricate panels of the circular outer walls are the signs
of the many Indian Army units that served on the Western Front. |
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This
bronze panel is located inside the temple-like building. On it are
inscribed the names of Indian soldiers and sailors who died in captivity
at Zehrensdorf, Germany. |
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Adjacent
to and dwarfed by the Indian Memorial is a private memorial to 2nd
Lt. Cyril Crichton. The inscription reads "In ever loving
memory of Cyril Alfred William Crichton 2nd Lieut 3rd Battalion London
Regiment, Royal
Fusiliers, who died here on March 10th, 1915. He whom this memorial
commemorates was numbered among those who, at the call of King and
Country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced
danger and finally passed out of the sight of men by the path of
duty and self-sacrifice, giving up their lives that others might
live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that his name
be not forgotten. Il a donné sa vie et toutes ses joies terrestres
pour ce qu'il estimait au dela de tout l'nonneur de sa poatrie et
son foyes". |
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