Foncquevillers Explained

Foncquevillers
Commune Status:Commune
Image Coat Of Arms:Blason Foncquevillers.svg
Arrondissement:Arras
Canton:Avesnes-le-Comte
Insee:62341
Postal Code:62111
Mayor:Christophe Lagniez[1]
Term:2020 - 2026
Intercommunality:CC Sud-Artois
Coordinates:50.1486°N 2.6317°W
Elevation M:150
Elevation Min M:138
Elevation Max M:162
Area Km2:9.3

Foncquevillers (in French pronounced as /fɔ̃kvile/) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.[2]

Geography

A farming village situated 12miles south of Arras, at the junction of the D3, D6 and the D28 roads.

World War I

Foncquevillers was on the Allied front line during almost all of the period of hostilities between 1914 and 1918 and was almost destroyed as a result. The neighbouring village of Gommecourt to the east, in German hands, was the subject of an assault starting from Foncquevillers on 1 July 1916 which formed the northernmost part of what is known in Britain as the Battle of the Somme.

British troops taking part in that attack came from the 46th (North Midland) Division, and many are buried in the Foncquevillers Military Cemetery. After the war Foncquevillers established a friendship with the English East Midlands cities of Derby and Nottingham which continues today. The Hotel de Ville in Foncquevillers has a plaque dedicated to "Derby, notre marraine" - "to Derby, our Godmother".

Places of interest

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Répertoire national des élus: les maires. data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 9 August 2021. fr.
  2. https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/cog/commune/COM62341-foncquevillers INSEE commune file
  3. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/20200 Foncquevillers Military Cemetery (CWGC)
  4. http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4402215.pdf Waters, D., "The Chinese Labour Corps in the First World War: Labourers Buried in France", in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Vol. 35, 1995, pp. 199-203