Image: Lt John Brooke - This is photograph is Q 5113 from the collections of the IWM - Troops of the 10th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers waiting in Arras for the order to move up, 9 April 1917.
In the early hours of the morning of 9th April 1917, the Battle of Arras commenced with 24,000 British soldiers emerging from the protection of underground chalk quarries under the southeastern part of the city, painstakingly and intricately connected by tunnellers from New Zealand in the months preceding the attack.
In what has become a noted annual event, all are welcome to commemorate those killed in the battle and the sacrifice of Commonwealth soldiers who came to fight in Artois during the Great War. It will take place at La Carrière Wellington Memorial at 6.30am local time on Easter Sunday, 9th April 2023.
This year is not only the 106th Anniversary of the start of the Battle of Arras, but also the 15th Anniversary of the opening of the Wellington Tunnels Museum. The ceremony will be followed by the inauguration of the 'Faces of War' exhibition by Belgian artist Jan Fieuw and breakfast will be available in the Thompson Room on completion.
If you are in the Arras area over the Easter weekend this year, this is not to be missed, but it will also be broadcast on the “Carrière Wellington” Facebook page on the 9th April.