The best road cycling routes around Vaudricourt

The source of the Leie (French: la source de la Lys) is located in the small French village of Lisbourg, situated in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region. The river originates here at an altitude of approximately 115 meters and flows via Aire-sur-la-Lys towards Belgium, eventually flowing into the Scheldt in Ghent after approximately 202 kilometers.

The battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916 was a bloody initiation for Australian soldiers to warfare on the Western Front. Soldiers of the newly arrived 5th Australian Division, together with the British 61st Division, were ordered to attack strongly fortified German front line positions near the Aubers Ridge in French Flanders. The attack was intended as a feint to hold German reserves from moving south to the Somme where a large Allied offensive had begun on 1 July. The feint was a disastrous failure. Australian and British soldiers assaulted over open ground in broad daylight and under direct observation and heavy fire from the German lines. Over 5,500 Australians became casualties. Almost 2,000 of them were killed in action or died of wounds and some 400 were captured. This is believed to be the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during the entire First World War. Some consider Fromelles the most tragic event in Australia’s history. https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/fromelles

Very beautiful ruin

Near the front line in 1916, a fierce battle was fought between the British (Australians) and the Germans. To commemorate 'la bataille' and the wounded who were brought back from the battlefield, a monument/statue was erected here.

Anecdote: During the battle, Sergeant Simon Fraser heard a wounded soldier cry out, "Don't forget me, cobber!" Despite the danger, Fraser returned to the battlefield to save the man, an act of bravery that was later immortalized in the statue. This event emphasizes the sacrifice and strong bond between soldiers during the horrors of war.

The Cobbers Australian Memorial is located in the Australian Memorial Park near Fromelles. This memorial commemorates the Australian soldiers who died during the Battle of Fromelles on 19-20 July 1916. The statue, designed by Peter Corlett, shows Sergeant Simon Fraser carrying a wounded comrade out of no man's land. The name "Cobbers" comes from a letter Fraser wrote, describing the bravery and camaraderie of the soldiers.

The church dedicated to the Mother of God under the title "Notre-Dame de Lorette" rises in brilliant white and is visible from far away. But the brilliant impression is deceptive, at the latest when the visitor to the site realizes that they are in a huge military cemetery. Around 20,000 individual graves and a further 23,000 victims of war and tyranny buried in ossuaries are deeply disturbing.

The Bornes Vauthier are a series of sculptures created in the 1920s by the artist Paul Moreau-Vauthier to mark the front line of the First World War. They are located in Belgium and France and are one of the routes set up to keep the memory of the war alive. The Bornes Vauthier consist of a series of granite monoliths marking the front line as it was in July 1918, during one of the last Allied offensives. A total of 240 Bornes Vauthier are planned, from the North Sea to the Swiss border, between Nieuwpoort in Belgium and Mooslargue near Altkirch/Belfort on the Franco-Swiss border.