AMES AND PLACES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 50, 7 June 1940, Page 2

AMES AND PLACES

"Diggers" Will Remember Etaples, midway between Abbeville and Boulogne on the French coast, is now in German hands. Possibly every New Zealand soldier who fought in France during the last war passed through the camp there at one time or another. It was the centre of a vast British encampment. Soldiers going to and from leave nearly always passed through the camp, and reinforcements waited there for instructions before going up to join units in the line. Huge army stores were stationed there, as well as base hospitals. The famous "bull Ting," scene of many weary hours of physical training and bayonet-fighting drill, will be long remembered by the New Zealanders who trained at Etaples. The town is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the River Canche. Beyond it, on the sandhills, were scattered the tents and equipment of this huge wartime base. Arras Arras, from which fierce fighting is reported, was the scene of great battles in the last war. The New Zealand Pioneer Battalion and the New Zealand Tunnellers, these last commanded by Major-General _Duigan (then Major Duigan) did magnificent work at Arras, digging subterranean caves and earth works in the fighting area. Like numerous other French towns, Arras was left in ruins after the last war, but it has since been rebuilt, consisting of the old town on hills of the River Scarpe and a new town on the plain. The cathedral, dating from 1755, was destroyed, but

the beautiful Gothic Town Hall, with its famous belfry, has been rebuilt in recent years. For centuries Arras was famous for its tapestries. The principal manufactures are lace, hosiery, sugar beet and agricultural implements. From 1915 until 1917, Arras was the central point of a salient held by the Allies, consequently there was little left of the town. One of its most famous citizens was Robespierre, Important Rheims Rheims, which was still held by the Allies at the time of writing, is one of the most important towns of northern France, and a great railway junction. Since the Franco-German war it has been strongly fortified, and is the headquarters of a considerable part of the French Army. Rheims is famous for its cathedral and its domestic architecture. During the last war the Germans held the town for a month. When they were driven out they poured high explosive shells into it, causing irreparable destruction. The cathedral, built from 1212 to 1430, is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the world, its grandest feature being the magnificent doorway in the West facade. Two magnificent tapestries and the stained glass of the windows were other notable features of Rheims Cathedral. The Romanesque Church of St. Remy, dating from 1160, was ruined by German shell-fire; the Town Hall, dating from 1627 and not completed until over 200 years later, was left a shell; the Archbishop’s Palace was also ruined completely.