The Postcard
A carte postale that was published by M. Dupriez of Lille. One of the men appears to be looking at the ruins in utter disbelief.
The card was posted in Arras on Monday the 13th. October 1919 to:
Mrs. Street,
15, Brunswick Road,
Kingston-upon-Thames,
Surrey,
Angleterre.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"13. 10. 19.
We are having a most
interesting time.
Today we have been all
across a most desolate
part, with nothing but
trenches and masses of
barbed wire.
We found this exact spot.
I wanted & found an
anti-aircraft shell case in
one spot.
We are now waiting for
a train at Beaumetz - it is
generally an hour late and
we are half an hour too
soon!
Love from Shirley."
Reconstruction of Arras Town Hall
The Gothic Town Hall and its belfry was constructed between 1463 and 1554. The belfry is 75 metres (246 feet) high, and while it was still there, was used as an observation post during the Great War.
As is evident from the photograph, by the end of the Great War this architectural masterpiece had been virtually obliterated. It was rebuilt in a slightly less grandiose style between 1924 and 1934.
In 1930 the new lion was installed on top of the bell-tower, and in 1932 a new carillon of 37 bells was put in position.
Arras Town Hall was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
The Arras Memorial
In the western part of Arras is the Arras Memorial.
It commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the UK and elsewhere who died in the Arras sector and who have no known grave.
'For the Fallen'
Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) wrote a poem called "For The Fallen" in 1914. It contains a verse which is widely used on Remembrance Day.
Here is the whole poem:
'With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain'.
The Paris Convention
So what else happened on the day that Shirley posted the card?
Well, on the 13th. October 1919, the Paris Convention was signed by 26 nations, establishing each country's sovereignty over its airspace. The agreement took effect in 1922.
Leeds City Football Club
Also on that day, the Leeds City Club of the Football League Second Division was expelled amid financial irregularities.
Delia Garcés
The 13th. October 1919 also marked the birth in Buenos Aires of the Argentine actress Delia Garcés, noted female lead during the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema in the 1930's and 1940's. Delia died in 2001.
Jackie Ronne
Also born on that day, in Baltimore, was the American explorer Jackie Ronne. She was the first woman to be part of an expedition team to Antarctica, and was co-discoverer of the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf. Jackie died in 2009.
Karl Adolph Gjellerup
The 13th. October 1919 also marked the death of the Danish writer Karl Adolph Gjellerup. He developed the Modern Breakthrough that promoted naturalism in northern Europe. Karl, who was born in 1857, was a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Authors during the Modern Breakthrough revolted against traditional cultural themes, especially the literary period of romanticism. The writers of the Modern Breakthrough adopted a more realistic bent.
They also adopted more liberal views on such topics as sexuality and religion, and expressed openly their interest in scientific breakthroughs such as Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Female writers also gained unprecedented influence during this time.