Battle of Cambrai.

One of the most dramatic World War I battles saw the use of massed Mark IV tanks by the British, in an attempt to liberate the town of Cambrai just behind the Hindenburg LIne. Though unsuccessful, it paved the way for the Hundred Days offensives. So important was this battle that Cambrai Day is commemorated on the 20th November by the Royal Tank Regiment.

 

The centenary of the Battle of Cambrai will be marked by the opening of the Cambrai Tank 1917 Museum. Its centrepiece is ‘Deborah’, a British tank uncovered by hotelier Philippe Gorczynski in the grounds of the Château de Flesquières in 1998. The venue will also tell the story of many of the 44,000 British troops wounded, lost or killed in the attack, some of whom are buried in British Hill Cemetery beside the museum.

 

 

From Cambrai you’re an easy drive from other key WW1 sites, including Thiepval British Memorial, Bullecourt Australian Memorial and the Carrière de Wellington underground tunnels in Arras. Thirty minutes from Cambrai, in Ors, lies La Maison Forestière Wilfred Owen – a modern memorial to the famous British poet who died in the war in November 1918. The Maison recreates the forester's house in which Owen penned his last letter to his mother.

 

The area is rich in cultural attractions. Challenge your perspective with a visit to the Cambrai Musée des Beaux-Arts, with works by Ingres and Rodin; the Matisse Museum, with France’s largest collection by the painter; and Musée de la Dentelle in Caudry, the town where the lace on Kate Middleton’s wedding dress was made.

 

Less than an hour’s drive away (and on the road back to the UK) is the Louvre Lens, with meticulously chosen works from its big sister in Paris. 

Dining options are aplenty. Do try the Château de la Motte Fénelon’s restaurant Le 109, with dishes that include veal caramelised in Belval Abbey honey, with sand-grown carrots and white-onion sauce. Let yourself be tempted by boulangeries, farmshops and markets, and bring a piece of France home with you from the Halles Cambrésiennes or Bétises de Cambrai Afchain (boiled sweets).

 

If you fancy a slower pace, Mormal Forest, damaged in the war, is a peaceful walking spot, with roe and red deer and boar. Pretty Maroilles, home to one of France’s most pungent cheeses, hosts a fleamarket in June and a Fête Flamiche in August (flamiche is a tart, sometimes made with Maroilles cheese). 

 

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