Introduction Area: The Battles of the Somme (1914-1918)
At the entrance a large animated map, enriched with period photographs and film, shows the impact that the battles of the First World War had on the Somme.
This vast projection shows the fluctuating front line between 1914 and 1918. It also reveals the scale of destruction and the loss of human life, commemorated still today at the sites of remembrance, cemeteries and memorials of the region.
The Battle of the Somme: The Offensive of Summer 1916
The Battle of the Somme was the deadliest battle of the First World War; to the British it has become symbolical of the whole conflict.
The British suffered their worst day in military history on the first day alone: 20,000 soldiers were killed in the space of just a few hours on 1 July 1916, decimated by German machine-gun fire.
The gallery devoted to the Battle of the Somme opens onto a panoramic mural by illustrator Joe Sacco; it depicts the harrowing day of 1 July 1916, hour after hour. Reproduced onto 60 metres of back-lit glass, it provides a panoramic view of the battlefield, a graphic narrative of military operations.
In the centre of the hall, a vast display pit covered by glass presents collection pieces and archaeological remains of the war. Short videos provide complementary information about the mural: commentary on the scenes presented, historical information, archive footage, and educational animations. At the end of the hall, a Maxim machine gun captured by a British regiment at Thiepval reminds visitors of how heavily the Germans defended this location: Thiepval ridge was an Allied objective of the 1 July 1916; it was not taken until the end of September.
The Germans on the Somme
An audiovisual installation, with a selection of German images and films, describes how the soldiers from “the other side of wire” experienced the Somme, where they had been firmly established since 1914. Several themes are touched upon: their arrival in the Somme, daily life during the occupation, the defence of this war-time border, preparations for battle, withdrawal and remembrance.
The French in the Battles of the Somme
The front line, stabilised from 1915 and 1916, crossed the east of the Somme from north to south. Its civilian population then experienced a long period of German occupation, while the western side of the Somme was take over by the Allied armies. Houses were ravaged by the artillery on either side of the lines by both Ally and enemy; French soldiers often found themselves destroying their own villages. When the war ended, everything had to be rebuilt. The French perspective, both civilian and military, is presented on a large map of the region showing the destruction and the lasting impact the war had on the Somme.
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The Multitude of Missing
The Thiepval Memorial is dedicated to the 72,194 British and South-African soldiers who went missing on the battlefields of the Somme from July 1915 to March 1918. A symbol of the brutality of the fighting, the Missing are numbered amongst every nation that fought during the war.
Like a “chapel to the Missing”, an intimate hall is dedicated to these men who were caught in the grinder of war. In an interactive manner, innovative multimedia enables the individual stories of these lost soldiers to be “captured”. On the walls, showcases present symbolic artefacts: keepsakes conserved by families, letters, official documents and personal objects, which each tell the story of loss, and of a grief shared by a family and nation.
Heroic Figures: The Aces of Aviation
Opposing the multitude of Missing, the exhibition examines the creation of great heroic figures. This large hall presents a life-size replica of the aeroplane belonging to Georges Guynemer and portraits of First World War aviators.
From 1916, the role of aviation in war had affirmed itself, encouraging the advent of great heroic figures. Individual heroes, like the “Knights of the Sky”, emerged in the face of the continuing death of the masses. The cult-like devotion shown towards these aces lasted in collective memory even once the war had ended.
European Remembrance
The exhibition closes with an emphasis on how the Somme stands at the junction of nations and European history. Aerial footage reveals the scars still present on the land and the diversity and importance of the sites of remembrance, cemeteries, memorials and monuments that have been erected upon the former battlefields.
A. Introduction Area: The Battles of the Somme (1914-1918)
At the entrance a large animated map, enriched with period photographs and film, shows the impact that the battles of the First World War had on the Somme.
This vast projection shows the fluctuating front line between 1914 and 1918. It also reveals the scale of destruction and the loss of human life, commemorated still today at the sites of remembrance, cemeteries and memorials of the region.
B. The Battle of the Somme: The Offensive of Summer 1916
The Battle of the Somme was the deadliest battle of the First World War; to the British it has become symbolical of the whole conflict.
The British suffered their worst day in military history on the first day alone: 20,000 soldiers were killed in the space of just a few hours on 1 July 1916, decimated by German machine-gun fire.
The gallery devoted to the Battle of the Somme opens onto a panoramic mural by illustrator Joe Sacco; it depicts the harrowing day of 1 July 1916, hour after hour. Reproduced onto 60 metres of back-lit glass, it provides a panoramic view of the battlefield, a graphic narrative of military operations.
In the centre of the hall, a vast display pit covered by glass presents collection pieces and archaeological remains of the war. Short videos provide complementary information about the mural: commentary on the scenes presented, historical information, archive footage, and educational animations. At the end of the hall, a Maxim machine gun captured by a British regiment at Thiepval reminds visitors of how heavily the Germans defended this location: Thiepval ridge was an Allied objective of the 1 July 1916; it was not taken until the end of September.
C. The Germans on the Somme
An audiovisual installation, with a selection of German images and films, describes how the soldiers from “the other side of wire” experienced the Somme, where they had been firmly established since 1914. Several themes are touched upon: their arrival in the Somme, daily life during the occupation, the defence of this war-time border, preparations for battle, withdrawal and remembrance.
D. The French in the Battles of the Somme
The front line, stabilised from 1915 and 1916, crossed the east of the Somme from north to south. Its civilian population then experienced a long period of German occupation, while the western side of the Somme was take over by the Allied armies. Houses were ravaged by the artillery on either side of the lines by both Ally and enemy; French soldiers often found themselves destroying their own villages. When the war ended, everything had to be rebuilt. The French perspective, both civilian and military, is presented on a large map of the region showing the destruction and the lasting impact the war had on the Somme.
E. The Multitude of Missing
The Thiepval Memorial is dedicated to the 72,194 British and South-African soldiers who went missing on the battlefields of the Somme from July 1915 to March 1918. A symbol of the brutality of the fighting, the Missing are numbered amongst every nation that fought during the war.
Like a “chapel to the Missing”, an intimate hall is dedicated to these men who were caught in the grinder of war. In an interactive manner, innovative multimedia enables the individual stories of these lost soldiers to be “captured”. On the walls, showcases present symbolic artefacts: keepsakes conserved by families, letters, official documents and personal objects, which each tell the story of loss, and of a grief shared by a family and nation.
F. Heroic Figures: The Aces of Aviation
Opposing the multitude of Missing, the exhibition examines the creation of great heroic figures. This large hall presents a life-size replica of the aeroplane belonging to Georges Guynemer and portraits of First World War aviators.
From 1916, the role of aviation in war had affirmed itself, encouraging the advent of great heroic figures. Individual heroes, like the “Knights of the Sky”, emerged in the face of the continuing death of the masses. The cult-like devotion shown towards these aces lasted in collective memory even once the war had ended.
G. European Remembrance
The exhibition closes with an emphasis on how the Somme stands at the junction of nations and European history. Aerial footage reveals the scars still present on the land and the diversity and importance of the sites of remembrance, cemeteries, memorials and monuments that have been erected upon the former battlefields.
