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 south-eastern 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 Tuesday, 9th April 2024.
This year is the 107th Anniversary of the start of the Battle of Arras. The ceremony will be followed by the inauguration of an exhibition of the work of author and illustrator of the Battle of Arras in comic strip form, Frédéric Logez and breakfast will be available in the Thompson Room on completion.
Please arrive before 6am.