The first shot fired by the British in the First World War occurred at this monument along the roadway northeast of Mons. German cavalry reconnaissance was advancing on the road from the right and was fired upon after cresting the hill.

The rail bridge over the Canal du Centre was stoutly defended by a machine gun detachment of Royal Fusiliers. The Germans advanced from the right

The memorial plaque under the rail bridge commemorates the sandbagged machine-gun position of Lt. Maurice Dease, VC whose detachment denied the Germans the use of the bridge for their advance against Mons.

The cow pasture near Le Masure outside of Mons where the Royal Irish Rifles fought against the advance German Army during the Battle of Mons.

The St-Symphorien War Cemetery near Mons is one of the most attractive of the military cemeteries of the First World War. Started by the Germans after the Battle of Mons, the cemetery contains the graves of German and British Commonwealth soldiers and even a memorial to a British regiment erected by the Germans.

The white stone block monument erected to commemorate the defense of this hill by the Suffolk, Manchester, Argyll and Sutherland Highlander, and Royal Artillery Regiments during the Battle of Le Cateau in 1914.

A section of the military cemetery at Le Cateau; the cemetery contains British and German dead from area battles in 1914 and 1918.

A horse trough, now used for flowers rather than water, commemorates the British 66th Division which liberated the town in 1918.

The German Cemetery near Vladslo holds two sculptures known as ‘The Mourning Parents” by the German artist Käthe Kollwitz, who lost her son in the Flanders battle of 1914.

The Dodengang or ‘Trench of Death’ stands along the IJzer River outside Diksmuide where Belgian and German forces faced each other in close proximity.

Concrete ‘sandbags’ now line a preserved segment of the ‘Trench of Death’ outside Diksmuide.

In the medieval town square of Diksmuide stands a statue to Colonel Jacques who led the Belgian resistance to the German attack on the city in 1914.

The IJzertoren, or Peace Tower, contains a multi-floor museum to the history of Flanders with special emphasis on the First World War. The ‘Pax’ memorial is to Flemish independence leaders who died protesting French dominance of Flanders.

The Belgian Demarcation Stone placed at the end of the ‘Trench of Death’ marks the furthest German advance in the Diksmuide sector.

The distinctive gravestones are arrayed in the Ramskapelle Belgian Cemetery

The waterway gates separating the Belgian canal system from the North Sea were opened in 1914 to flood lowlands and provide a barrier to the German advance.

The Nieuwpoort British Memorial to the Missing, guarded by three stone lions, records the names of 566 servicemen who died in actions along the seacoast and have no known grave.

Original British trench line in Sanctuary Wood.

The reconstructed Gothic style Cloth Hall in Ypres houses the In Flanders Fields Museum. The attached Renaissance Nieuwerck on the right serves as the town hall.

The always busy Grote Markt in central Ypres is filled with stalls and vehicles during its weekly market day. The Cloth Hall is in the rear.

Ypres’ Menin Gate is reflected in the city’s medieval moat. This is the eastern exit from the city through which many British fighting men passed on their way to the Ypres battlefields. The structure bears stone panels recording the names of almost 55,000 names of British dead who have no known grave.

The German Cemetery at Langemark contains 44,034 German dead from the Ypres battles. Gravestones mark burial plots which frequently contain several bodies; the upright panels in the rear record the names of those buried in the mass grave, which they edge.

Four figures at the edge of Langemark Cemetery were sculpted by Emil Kieger and continue the decades-long watch over the graves of their comrades.

The rebuilt Geluveld Château is now peaceful and shows nothing of the violent engagement that took place here in the early days of the fight for control for Ypres.

The Hooge Château was completed destroyed in the fighting in the Ypres Salient. The bunker and adjacent water-filled shell crater create a peaceful alternative to the mayhem that occurred here.

One of several British cemeteries within the area of Polygon Wood show testimony to the fierce fighting which occurred in the forested area. This smaller, battlefield cemetery holds predominantly New Zealand servicemen.

A mine crater atop Hill 60 in the Ypres Salient implies the force of these massive underground explosions.

This German bunker atop Hill 60 in the Ypres Salient was captured and modified by the British during the struggle to control this vital observation point.

Located across the rail line from Hill 60, Caterpillar Crater was formed by a mine explosion in June 1917, part of the attack upon Messines Ridge.

The Canadian Memorial at St-Juliaan commemorates those Canadian soldiers killed in the German gas attack in 1915.

The top of the Canadian Memorial depicts a soldier with his hands on the hilt on his inverted rifle. The pose has resulted in the monument’s nickname ‘Brooding Canadian’.

Dugouts along the Ieperlee Canal were Lt. Col. John McCrae, Royal Medical Corp, sheltered and wrote his famous poet In Flanders Fields after the death of a close friend.

A group of French and Belgian memorials commemorate the Second Battle of Ypres gas attack.

Sheltered in the ditch between the walls of the ancient Arras Citadel is a grim reminder of the Second World War. The Mur des Fusillés commemorates those executed by the Nazis. The single modern post in the center of the walkway marks the execution spot. The name, occupation, and village of each of the 218 dead are on plaques covering the walls.

Fifteenth century arcaded buildings remain in the Grand Place of Arras.

The ruins of the church at Ablain-St-Nazaire remain as a testimonial to the harsh fighting that occurred on the slopes of Notre-Dame de Lorette.

Only the façade of the church at St-Éloi stands to overlook the plain below. The church towers, excellent observation points, were mercilessly shelled.

The statue of Général Maistre, commander of the French XXI Corps, stands on the shoulder of the entrance road to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.

General Ernest Barbot, whose Alpine troops halted the German advance on Arras in 1914, is commemorated by a statue on the outskirts of Souchez near the place where he was killed less than one year later.

The major French memorial to the dead of the battles in the Arras region stands upon the heights of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. Surrounded by graves and ossuaries, the Byzantine Basilica faces the Lantern of the Dead, whose light can be seen 70 km away. The base of the lantern tower holds a crypt containing ceremonial coffins of dead from later French conflicts.

At the rear of the French Military Cemetery on Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is the section of Muslim graves, as identified by their distinctive headstones. Many of the troops engaged in the First World War fighting in this area were of North African descent and their fatalities comprised an appreciable portion of French Army losses. These headstones can be seen in many French Military Cemeteries, either singly among the Latin Crosses or in special sections such as this one.

The pillbox located near the south end of the Haute Chevauchée was dedicated to the scion of a aristocratic French family who was killed in September 1914.

This shelter, in the Forêt d’Argonne, was one of several constructed for the Bavarian Crown Prince who commanded the armies in this sector.

Several of the numerous craters atop the Butte de Vauquois resulting from the mine warfare of 1915 and which obliterated the village of Vauquois. The white stele in the crater marks the location of the village church; the memorial of the crater lip is the Vauquois Lanterne des Morts.

The Lanterne des Morts atop the Butte de Vauquois depicts a French poilu standing guard in the trenches with grenade in hand and a dead comrade at his feet.

The Lanterne des Morts atop the Butte de Vauquois commemorates the soldiers killed fighting on the hill.

A Bavarian Command Post in the region of the Forêt d'Apremont known as Tranchée des Bavarois bears the slogan of the Bavarian regiments 'In Treuefest'. Firing steps on the right were used by riflemen to shoot over the lip of the trench. This area of the forest displays numerous trench lines, dugouts, saps, and firing pits that remain in remarkably good condition.

In the Bois d'Ailly of the Forêt d'Apremont the Tranchée de la Soif winds for several hundred meters through the re-grown forest.

Stained glass window in the village church in Marbotte depicts a gruesome scene of trench warfare. The Germans, in their field gray uniforms, attack the few survivors of adjutant Péricard while their ashen faced dead fill the trenches.

Stained glass window in the village church in Marbotte shows the French heroine, Jeanne-d'Arc, inspiring French First World soldiers as they face the attacking Germans in Le Tranchée de la Soif. The attackers are barely visible on the horizon in their field gray uniforms and their pickelhaube helmets.

Monument to the Fallen of the Éparges battles situated on Point X on Butte des Éparges. Its value as an observation point over the Woëvre Plain to the east is evident from this photograph.

The Necropolis Nationale Les Éparges (also known as the French National Cemetery du Trottoir) sits peacefully below the slopes of the Éparges ridge. The cemetery holds 2,960 burials from area fighting.

One of several shelters along the Western Front built to accommodate the Crown Prince of Bavaria and his entourage. Its several rooms were used as command posts and for storage. This one is below the Butte des Éparges and sited beside a hairpin turn in the roadway.

British Cemetery at Dud Corner and the Loos Memorial to the Missing on the Loos Battlefield. The names of the missing are inscribed on the panels along the rear colonnade and side walls of the cemetery. The flat terrain behind the cemetery was the axis of the British attack going from left to right.

View to the west over Bois Carré British Cemetery. The irregular spacing of tombstones is indicative of a true battlefield cemetery where bodies were buried when and where events permitted. The locations of many such graves were later lost due to shellfire. The stones along the rear wall present special memorials to those soldiers known to be buried here but whose graves were lost.

The British Ninth Avenue Cemetery, which holds only 46 headstones, stands in the midst of the Loos battlefield. Access across the cultivated fields is provided by the neatly trimmed grass path.

The tortured city’s war memorial stands in the place de la Nation near the historic Porte Chaussée. The five carved figures represent the branches of the French Army.

The colossal Monument de la Victoire stands above the city’s commercial district. In the base of the obelisk is a chapel containing three books which record the names of the soldiers who participated in the defense of the city. On the top is a mustached Gallic warrior.

A revitalize esplanade along Verdun’s riverfront offer shopping and dining. The twin towers of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame are seen on the right rear.

The command post of famous author and politician Lt. Col. Emile Driant, who was killed during the early days of the German assault upon Verdun, stands in the Bois des Caures.

French 75-mm artillery pieces stand outside the French Military Cemetery in the suburbs of Verdun. The ridgeline visible in the distance was the last defense against the German assault. It was not breeched.

The military and now tourist entrance to the battered Fort de Douaumont. Considered the strong fortification in the Verdun defenses, is fell quickly and easily in the early days of the Battle of Verdun.

All that remains of the village of Fleury. The shell-cratered landscape is typical of the entire Verdun Battlefield where the effects of the battle have remained unaltered. Each of the village détruit contain a rebuilt chapel of remembrance.

A single soldier’s grave sits on the slope down from the Douaumont Ossuary near the underground site of Abri 320.

Now a double track tunnel with the post-war addition of another rail line, the Tunnel de Tavannes was the site of a horrendous explosion and fire which killed hundreds of French soldiers who were sheltering in the tunnel.

The ruins of the church in the destroyed village of Ornes are all that remain of the once prosperous village.

A memorial shows the wounded André Maginot being assisted from field during the Battle of Verdun. After the war, as a French government minister, he argued forcefully for construction of the defensive line which bore his name.

A remaining segment of the Londres (London) Trench as it winds along the supply line to Fort de Douaumont.

The Mort Homme (Dead Man) Hill was attacked by the German in March 1916. The position changed hands and became a graveyard for German and French alike. The dramatic skeleton statue crowns the summit. The inscription ‘Ils n’ont pas passe’ (They did not pass) refers to the Verdun battle cry ‘They shall not pass!’

The soldier entrance to Fort de Souville. On the right is a bathing station used by troop in lulls in the fighting.

Captured by the Germans only a fierce defense and recaptured by the French later in the Battle of Verdun, Fort de Vaux shows the effect of repeated bombardments.

The elevating machine-gun turret and armored observation bell atop Fort de Douaumont.

A room in Fort de Douaumont that was used as a chapel and as a bakery. Note the oven in the wall to the right.

The tomb of Sous-Lt. André Thome of the French 6th Dragoons , known as the ‘Soldier of the Right’, is located near the Douaumont Ossuary.

Sited of the slope below the great Douaumont Ossuary, this French National Cemetery holds 15,000 indentified French soldiers.

The dramatic ossuary building at Douaumont holds the unidentified remains of 130,000 French and German soldiers. The 50m tower can be climbed for views over much of the Verdun battlefield.

Located near the Fort de Tavannes, this machine-gun blockhouse is one of the numerous varieties of defensive installations still to be found on the Verdun battlefield.

Nothing remains of the village détruit Bezonvaux. The area of the far side of the small stream is still considered dangerous and entry is prohibited.

These bollards, or roadside markers, are placed every kilometer along the Voie Sacrée, the lifeline that supplied the French during the Battle of Verdun.

The Caribou symbol of the Newfoundland Regiment stands upon the Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.

Trench lines wind across the grounds of the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial directing towards Y-Ravine in the distance.

The preserved remains of the ‘danger tree’ stand beside the walkway leading the Y-Ravine Cemetery in the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial.

The circular Hunter’s Cemetery in the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is located in a shell crater. It holds the remains of 46 dead from the November 1916 assault on the village of Beaumont-Hamel.

A section of Y-Ravine at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial was a warren of German dugouts and tunnels. Time has softened the edges of the shell craters, but the area is still considered dangerous due to unmarked underground excavations.

The silhouetted statue of a kilted bagpiper commemorates the eventual capture of Beaumont-Hamel by the 51st Highland Division in November 1916.

Redan Ridge outside Beaumont-Hamel was the scene of horrific fighting during the Somme Offensive as the numerous British cemeteries pay testimony.

The triumphal arch of the South African Memorial in Delville Wood near Longueval provides access to the museum beyond.

An obelisk marking the location of the South African Brigade’s command post stands beside a shallow trench in Delville Wood.

The British 41st Division Monument in Flers stands at the road junction in the village.

The Australian 3rd Division is commemorated by this stone obelisk near Corbie. The rising sun emblem of the Australian Expeditionary Force in prominent in its center.

One of several plaques on the stone cairn monument in Contalmaison commemorates the capture of the village from the Germans by Lt. Col Sir George McCrae’s 16th Royal Scots Battalion.

The statue of Marshal Ferdinand Foch located outside the village of Bouchavesnes along the main Bapaume – Péronne Road.

The clenched fist shows the anguish of a woman huddled over a dead French soldier on the Péronne War Memorial.

A plaque attached to the front of the Péronne War Memorial depicts French soldiers enduring the rigors of trench warfare. Three soldiers in the foreground seem to be looking for guidance from the soldier of the right.

Two French Brigades moving to defend Péronne in August 1914 were intercepted here by a German Army Corps. The resulting casualties numbered over 3,000 and many are buried in this cemetery.

The flaming red dragon emblem of the British 38th Welsh Division stands near the southern edge of Mametz Wood.

A figure of Victory stands upon a memorial plinth commemorating the British 34th Division’s attack on 1 July 1916.

Obelisk commemorates the Australian 1st Division’s attack upon Pozières and Mouquet Ferme.

Detail plaque on the Australian 1st Division monument near Pozières.

Grass covered ruins are all the remain of a German fortified windmill attacked and taken by Australian troops in August 1916 during the Battle of the Somme.

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing holds stone plaques inscribed with the names of over 73,000 British soldiers killed on the Somme battlefield and who have no known grave. The Thiepval Anglo – French Cemetery in the foreground symbolically holds equal numbers of French and British burials.

Constructed as a memorial to the Irish troops that fought in the Battle of the Somme, this replica of a castle tower near Belfast sits upon the German front line of 1 July 1916.

The cemetery sits upon the German front lines of 1 July 1916. Many of the gravestones are laid flat because subsistence from the many German dug underground tunnels has made the ground unstable. Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is in the right distance.

A funeral procession passes through Serre Cemetery #2 during the burial of a British soldier who was killed during the first day of the Battle of the Somme and whose body was recently recovered.

The British Commonwealth Cemetery near Fromelles holds the Australian troops killed during the abortive attack on the German line. Since the bodies were not recovered until well after the battle, most could not be identified and they are buried in two mass graves. The Wall of Remembrance in the rear is inscribed with their names.

The ‘Cobbers’ Statue stands upon one of the German pillboxes in the Australian Memorial Park near Fromelles.

The towering limestone pylons of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial stand upon Hill 145, the highest point of the ridge, overlooking the Douai plain below. Carved on its walls are the names of 11,285 dead whose burial places are unknown. The photograph was taken before recent renovations removed the flagpoles.

Figures representing Peace, Justice, Truth and Knowledge on the upper portion of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

Stairs approach the twin pylons of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. On the right is one of two Mourners; the Spirit of Sacrifice is partially visible at the base of the pylons.

First World War trench lines, which have been preserved using concrete ‘sandbags,’ twist through the Vimy Ridge battlefield. Shell holes and mine craters overlap in what was then a devastated landscape only partially softened by the passage of 90 years.

Concrete ‘sandbags’ now preserve the trenches on Vimy Ridge. The foreground structure is a German pillbox; a mine crater is in the center; the Canadian front lines were at the signboard on the left.

Zivy Cemetery was a mine crater used by the Canadians as a mass grave for 53 dead from the April 1917 fighting. The names of the 50 identified dead are inscribed on the wall below the Cross of Sacrifice.

Ruins of German pillbox near Héninel south of Arras; part of the Hindenburg Line captured during the British advance in 1917.

A memorial statue to the Australians who fought at Bullecourt stands in Bullecourt Memorial Park. The German trench lines in this area ran nearby. ‘Digger’ was a nickname applied to the Australian troops.

The lower portion of the Basques Monument near Craonnelle along the Chemin des Dames. The 36th Division of Infantry was composed largely of men from the Pyrenees region of France. The unit spent considerable time during the First World War on the Aisne front.

The top portion of the French National Monument aux Crapouillots (trench artillery) at the site of Moulin de Laffaux at the western end of the Chemin des Dames. The monument is in the shape of a trench mortar bomb. The mill was a heavily fortified German position that provided strong opposition to the French North African troops that attacked in April 1917.

The statue represents the 1814 troops of Napoleon (nicknamed ‘Marie-Louise’ after Napoleon’s wife) who fought at Craonne and the Poilu of the First World War who fought along the Chemin des Dames. It stands upon the narrowest segment of the ridgeline near Hurtebise Ferme and therefore was tactically important. Colonel Charles de Gaulle’s tank regiment fought the Germans here in 1940.

A grim trio of British soldiers stands above a symbolic grave on the British Memorial to the Missing in Soissons. The 3,987 names inscribed on the rear of the memorial are of those lost in the battles of the Marne and Aisne and who have no known grave.

The village of Wulvergem as seen from the Spanbroekmolen or the ‘Lone Tree Crater’ formed by one of the mine explosions during the attack on Messines.

The central square in the village of Messines holds numerous memorials to the fighting for control of Messines Ridge.

Detail of the Ross Bastiaan plaque located in the central square of Messines showing the battle lines of the 1917 fighting along the Ypres Salient.

View down Messines Ridge from the New Zealand Memorial in the direction of the British attack. A German bunker stands at the far end of the memorial.

Entrance walkway to the circular New Zealand Memorial to the Missing at Messines. The Cross of Sacrifice stands atop the memorial.

A remains of a German bunker stands near the edge of the new Zealand Memorial in Messines. The bunker defended against the attack coming up the ridge from the distance.

The Irish style tower erected and dedicated to peace between factions in Northern Ireland stands where the combined Irish force fought in the Battle of Messines.

A German-held forested area, which became known as the Bayernwald, holds numerous stone block bunkers dating from the German occupation of the sector.

The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing stands in the Berks Cemetery Extension and lists the names of over 11,000 dead from the area who have no known grave.

Seven British dugouts remain surrounded by the moat of the destroyed château now occupied by Langhof Farm.

The Memorial of the Missing curves around the rear of Tyne Cot Cemetery and holds the names of missing soldiers whose names did not fit on the Menin Gate Memorial.

Tyne Cot Cemetery stands upon a slope that looks over the direction of attack of British forces during the Third Battle of Ypres.

First World War shells are routine uncovered by farmers in the Ypres Salient. Known as the ‘Iron Harvest,’ the sometimes still viable munitions are collected by Belgian Army disposal experts for disposition.

The Canadian Crest Farm Memorial stands a few hundred yards from the Passchendaele village church. Over 16,000 Canadians died capturing Passchendaele and it took almost two weeks of fighting to get from Crest Farm to the church.

The rebuilt church in Ribécourt-la-Tour; during the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, the church tower held a German machine gun position. The church and the village were completely destroyed during the battle. Medieval tunnels under the village were used for shelter, weapons storage, and even contained a telephone exchange.

The remains of a German reinforced concrete pillbox in Ribécourt-la-Tour. The village was in the heart of the section of the Hindenburg Line before Cambrai. The area still holds numerous such structures because it remains too expensive for local farmers to remove them.

The new Canadian Cavalry Brigade Memorial near the Masnières canal locks 9in the distance) that were used by the Fort Garry Horse to cross the Canal de l’Escaut during the Battle of Cambrai in 1917.

On the crest of the hill north of Villers-Bretonneux is the Australian National Memorial commemorating all Australian servicemen who fought in France or Belgium during the First World War. On its wall are inscribed the names of 10,749 Australian soldiers lost during the battles of Somme and Arras who have no known grave.

North of Villers-Bretonneux the Fouilly Military Cemetery is viewed from the tower of the Australian National Memorial. Amiens is to the west and is barely visible in the distance across the flat Somme terrain.

The village center and church in Lucy le Bocage, near the starting point of the American attack of Belleau Wood. Behind the highway signs is one of several US 2nd Infantry Division commemorative boulders placed where the division fought on the Western Front.

The black granite stele in front of the flagpole commemorates the US 4th Marine Brigade’s capture of Belleau Wood, now officially known as Bois de la Brigade de Marine. Captured enemy ordinance is placed around the periphery of the memorial.

The French Romanesque Chapel of the Aisne – Marne American Cemetery sits below the ridge of Belleau Wood. The cemetery holds the graves of 2,288 men and the walls of the chapel list the names of 1,060 who disappeared in the area.

The slightly displaced demarcation stone marks the furthest advance of the German Army in 1918. It sits near the entrance to the American Cemetery when, if fact, the German occupied the woods beyond the cemetery. Numerous stones of this style were erected after the First World War to mark the limits of German advances at various stages of the conflict.

The famous bulldog fountain located within the grounds of the Belleau Château offered water to the thirsty marines after the battle. The bulldog emblem was added after the war as a legend of increased longevity to any marine who drinks its waters arose.

A huge double colonnade standing atop Hill 204 overlooking the Marne River and Château Thierry commemorates the sacrifices of French and American soldiers who fought in several battles in this sector.

Figures representing America and France joined in the defense of freedom are central to the west face of the Château Thierry Monument.

The Oise – Aisne American Cemetery is north of Château Thierry where American forces repelled the German advance of 1918. The memorial consists of a semi-circular peristyle encircles a raised terrace where a polished golden Rocheret Jaune marble altar is placed.

Still a working farm, Meurcy Ferme was the site of intense fighting during the American advance through the area in 1918. In woods near the farm, the famous American poet Joyce Kilmer was killed by a German sniper while conducting reconnaissance.

The Moselle River town of Pont à Mousson was a target of the American Sat-Mihiel Offensive of 1918. The Renaissance place looks much the same today as it did then. The arcaded building was known as ‘House of the Seven Capital Sins’ because of the design of the caryatids on the middle floor.

The imposing American eagle stands at the center of the St-Mihiel American Cemetery where over 4,000 American dead are buried.

The stone circular colonnade atop Butte de Montsec commemorates the American victory during the Battle of the St-Mihiel Salient.

French National Ossuary commemorates the French dead of battles in Champagne. The crypt holds the remains of 10,000 soldiers. The high point was the site of a strong German defensive line from 1915 to 1918.

The yellow limestone tower of the American Monument on Blanc Mont is dedicated to the Franco-American offensive of 1918. The surrounding ground still bears the marks of the engagement such as the shell crater on the left. An observation platform on the parapet allows views over the countryside where the battle occurred.

The St-Quentin Canal enters a 5.6 km tunnel near Riqueval north of St-Quentin. The canal and tunnel system was a major component of the German Hindenburg Line in this sector.

The American Memorial at Bellicourt sits upon the underground St-Quentin Canal and its western terrace looks out upon the Hindenburg Line battlefield.

The bridge over the St-Quentin Canal at Riqueval was captured intact by the British 46th Division during the assault on the Hindenburg Line. It appears almost unchanged from period photographs.

The Meuse – Argonne American Cemetery now occupies a section of the German Kriemhilde defensive line. It is the largest American military cemetery in Europe holding 14,246 burials.

The ruins of the medieval church of the village of Montfaucon stand upon the butte of the same name. Captured by the Americans during the opening stages of the Meuse – Argonne Offensive in 1918, it was a major German observation post.

This view of the ruin of the village church atop Butte de Montfaucon shows the German concrete observation post that had been built in the church.

A closer view of the ruins of the village church atop the Butte de Montfaucon.

The Pennsylvania Memorial in Varennes was erected by the people of Pennsylvania to commemorate the men of the US 28th Division who participated in the Meuse – Argonne Offensive. The site looks over the Aire River Valley.

The village of Varennes-en-Argonne is sited along the Aire River. Here the rivers below the Tour Louis XVI.

The roadside marker in the Forêt d’Argonne indicating the location of the Lost Battalion battleground. The American troops were trapped and surrounded on the steep hillside below the roadway.

The railway siding at Rethondes near Compiègne where the First World War Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918. Visible in the center rear is a statue of General Foch. The French railway cars housing the Allied and German delegations were positioned at the two areas marked by bollards.

The monument near the armistice site which commemorates the return of Alsace to France at the end of the First World War. Depicted is the sword of France piercing the underbelly of the German Imperial Eagle. The monument was destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World War, and then reconstructed by France after that war.

A museum was eventually built to house the railway car in which the First World War Armistice was signed. After the fall of France in 1940, the car was transported to Berlin to be placed in a German victory museum that was never built. The original car was destroyed during Second World War bombing. The museum now houses a similar rail car and other original artifacts of the armistice.

The French National Monument to the Second Battle of the Marne includes eight 8m high granite statues of ghosts known as the Fantômes. Representing eight functions such as machine gunner or aviator, the Phantoms surround and protect a ninth, naked figure of a young martyr escaping his burial shroud.

The holes driven through the cemetery wall at Chambry were made by German soldiers during the First Battle of the Marne to fire on the advancing French.

Sited where the German invasion of 1914 was stopped, the unusual stone block statue north of Meuax was created by the American Friends of France to commemorate the French victory in the First Battle of the Marne.

The horror of the Champagne fighting is depicted in this ceramic plaque affixed to a memorial west of Reims dedicated to the heroes of April 1917. Design by André Lagrange.

Almost every French community contains memorial to the local soldiers killed in the First World War. This example depicts a French machine gunner and is located in the village of Sauvillers - Mongival near the limit of the German advance in April 1918.

The tomb of French First World War hero and Supreme Allied Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch is located in St-Ambrose Chapel near the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte in the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris.

The Haig Memorial, an equestrian statue of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, commander of British Expeditionary Force in the First World War, stands in Whitehall in London.

The Cenotaph, located in Whitehall, London near the entrance to Number 10, commemorates the British dead of the First World War

Located in a small park-like setting just south of the village of Dury, this Canadian Memorial commemorates the Canadian Corps’ actions during the Second Battle of Arras, 1918. It is one of seven identical granite blocks along the Western Front where the Canadian Expeditionary Force is remembered.

The stained glass window in the Hôtel de Ville of Doullens commemorates the selection of General Ferdinand Foch as the first Supreme Allied Commander.

The white stone stele in the center of Cantigny commemorates the first offensive operation of the American Expeditionary Force in the First World War.