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La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial

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Coordinates:48°56′36″N3°7′25″E/ 48.94333°N 3.12361°E/48.94333; 3.12361
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La Ferté-sous-Jouarre
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The memorial viewed from the north-east, approaching from along the south bank of the river
ForBritish Expeditionary Force
Unveiled1928
Location48°56′36″N3°7′25″E/ 48.94333°N 3.12361°E/48.94333; 3.12361
Designed byGeorge H. Goldsmith
Commemorated3739
To the glory of God and the lasting memory of 3888 British officers and men whose graves are not known who landed in France in the month of August 1914 and between then and October fought at Mons and Le Cateau and on the Marne and the Aisne
Statistics source:Cemetery details.Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

TheLa Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorialis aWorld War ImemorialinFrance,located on the south bank of the riverMarne,on the outskirts of thecommuneofLa Ferté-sous-Jouarre,66 kilometres east ofParis,in thedepartmentofSeine-et-Marne.Also known as the Memorial to the Missing of the Marne, it commemorates over 3,700[1]British and Irish soldiers with no known grave, who fell in battle in this area in August, September and early October 1914. The soldiers were part of theBritish Expeditionary Force,and are listed on the memorial by regiment, rank and then Alpha betically.

Memorial

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The memorial itself is a rectangular block of white stone, 62 feet by 30 feet and 24 feet high, surmounted by a large stone sarcophagus. On top of the sarcophagus are carved representations of trophies of war, including a flag, bayonets, and a helmet. The year 1914 is carved below the sarcophagus, while the names of the dead are carved in panels on all four sides of the memorial. The two shorter sides of the memorial are decorated with a carved, downwards pointing sword, while the front and back of the memorial are carved with inscription panels surmounted by a carved wreath and a carved stone crown. The inscription on the river-facing side is in French, while the inscription on the other side is in English. The memorial is mounted on a stepped stone pavement, at the four corners of which are stone pillars, carved with the coats of arms of theBritish Empire(the coats of arms are labelledEngland,Scotland,WalesandIreland), and topped by stone urns. One of the stone pillars was designed to hold a memorial register, which is now kept at the local town hall. At the front of the memorial's pavement is a stone of remembrance inscribed with the words: "Their name liveth for evermore."

Inscriptions

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The memorial's French inscription says:

A la gloire de Dieu et en souvenir durable des 3888 officiers et soldats dont les tombes ne sont pas connues appartenant au Corps Expéditionnaire Britannique qui, mobilisé le 5 Août 1914, débarqua en France en Août 1914 et combattit à Mons, au Cateau, sur la Marne, sur l'Aisne, jusqu'en Octobre 1914.

The memorial's English inscription says:

To the glory of God and the lasting memory of 3888 British officers and men whose graves are not known who landed in France in the month of August 1914 and between then and October fought at Mons and Le Cateau and on the Marne and the Aisne.

History

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The memorial was built on land given by Adrien Fizeau, former mayor of Jouarre, in memory of his fatherHippolyte Fizeau(1819–1896), a member of both theInstitut de Franceand of theRoyal Society.The Fizeau connection is commemorated by bilingual inscriptions either side of the steps leading up to the river-facing side of the memorial. This memorial was one of only four free-standing (outside proposed permanent war cemeteries) British World War I memorials to the missing eventually built on French soil. There had originally been proposals by the Imperial War Graves Commission to build 13 free-standing memorials to the missing in France, but this was eventually reduced to four: theThiepval Memorialto the Missing of the Somme, theNeuve-Chapelle Indian Memorialto the Missing of the Army of India, theSoissons Memorialto the Missing that fell in the German offensives in 1918, and this memorial at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre to the Missing of the Marne.[2]This memorial was the only one of the four where the design was opened to competition. The winning design was by the minor war cemetery architect Major George Hartley Goldsmith MC, who had studied under SirEdwin Lutyens.[3]

The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial was unveiled on 4 November 1928. The British and French military officers present at the dedication ceremony includedFerdinand Foch,Maxime Weygand,George MilneandWilliam Pulteney Pulteney.The ceremony also commemorated the contributions ofJoseph Joffre,John French,andMichel-Joseph Maunoury,the commanders of the armies who had fought in the area.[4]French in particular was the first commander of the British Expeditionary Force in World War I. Maunoury and French had died in 1923 and 1925, while Foch would die in 1929 and Joffre in 1931. The memorial is maintained by theCommonwealth War Graves Commission(as the Imperial War Graves Commission was renamed), and the site includes flower beds and a small park with an avenue of trees. On 27 July 2004, the memorial was rededicated during the 90th anniversary commemorations of the battles, in a ceremony attended bySir John Holmes,the British ambassador to France.[5]

Royal Engineers memorials

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Near the main memorial, on each bank of the river, either side of the nearby bridge, are two identical memorials commemorating theRoyal Engineerswho built, under fire, a floating bridge at this location in 1914. They were the 7th Field Company and9th Field Company RE.[6]The English inscription says:

At this point was built under fire by the Royal Engineers of the 4th Division a floating bridge for the passage of the left wing of the British Expeditionary Force after the Battle of the Marne. Portions of the division had already crossed by boat at the weir near Luzancy and below the destroyed bridges.

Communal Cemetery burials

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The nearby La Ferté-sous-Jouarre Communal Cemetery contains the graves of fiveBritish Empiresoldiers (including one unidentified) who died in September 1914.[7]

Battles

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Troop movements in this area duringWorld War Iinclude the 1st Division crossing the riverMarnehere on 3 September on their way south toRozoyduring theRetreat from Mons.The 4th Division crossed here a week later on 9 September on their advance northwards to the riverAisne,during theBattle of the Marne.[8]One of those commemorated on the memorial is theRoyal Artillerydriver Cobey, who is featured in a painting byTerence Cuneo.[9]

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  • One of the memorial's four corner pillars, with coats of arms for Wales and England.
    One of the memorial's four corner pillars, with coats of arms for Wales and England.
  • The memorial's sarcophagus, crown and wreath carvings, and the English inscription.
    The memorial's sarcophagus, crown and wreath carvings, and the English inscription.
  • Panels of names on one side of the memorial, with one of the two sword carvings.
    Panels of names on one side of the memorial, with one of the two sword carvings.
  • Flower bed and steps in front of the memorial, with two of the four pillars.
    Flower bed and steps in front of the memorial, with two of the four pillars.
  • Inscription explaining the Fizeau donation of the land for the memorial.
    Inscription explaining the Fizeau donation of the land for the memorial.
  • The Royal Engineers memorial on the north bank of the river Marne.
    The Royal Engineers memorial on the north bank of the river Marne.
  • The Royal Engineers memorial on the south bank, with the bridge in the background.
    The Royal Engineers memorial on the south bank, with the bridge in the background.
  • The inscription on one of the Royal Engineers memorials.
    The inscription on one of the Royal Engineers memorials.

See also

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Footnotes and references

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  1. ^The exact number varies depending on the source. The number of identified casualties according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is 3740, though their database lists 3761 records, and the memorial inscription gives a number of 3888.
  2. ^"Winner of the 2002 WFA Undergraduate Essay Award".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-01-18.Retrieved2007-03-12.
  3. ^"Cemetery".Cwgc.org.Retrieved10 June2018.
  4. ^"La Ferté pendant les deux guerres mondiales".La-ferte-sous-jouarre.fr.Retrieved10 June2018.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^"Les commÈmorations du 27 juillet"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 23 November 2006.Retrieved10 June2018.
  6. ^9th Field Company, Officer Commanding (1919).9th Field Company Royal Engineers War Diary.Vol. August 1914 to February 1919 WO 95/1469/2.London:MOD & National Archives.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^"Cemetery".Cwgc.org.Retrieved10 June2018.
  8. ^"The Retreat from Mons 1914".Royal Artillery Historical Society. June 2003. Archived fromthe original(MS Word doc)on 2007-01-09.Retrieved2007-03-18.
  9. ^"Battle of Le Cateau".Cranston Fine Arts.Retrieved2007-03-18.
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