The Sir John Monash Centre, named after one of the most respected Australian generals of the First World War, was built on the site of the battle of Villers-Bretonneux (1918), a significant battle in which Australian soldiers played an important role. The Centre is located behind the Australian National Memorial and is adjacent the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, in which over 2,000 Commonwealth soldiers are buried. The Memorial, inaugurated in 1938, commemorates close to 11,000 Australian soldiers who died on the Western Front in France and have no known grave.

Upon arrival to the site, visitors are invited to connect to the SJMC Wi-Fi, download the SJMC App on their smartphones and connect their earphones. The App (available in French, English and German) acts as a ‘virtual and personal tour guide’ through the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, the Australian National Memorial and the Sir John Monash Centre.

This technology allows visitors to discover the stories of Australian soldiers buried in the cemetery or commemorated on the Memorial. The app also offers a 360° panorama from the Memorial’s tower to explore the Somme Valley and learn more about its history during the war.

Inside the Sir John Monash Centre, visitors are invited to follow the journey taken by Australians during the War - from Australia before the war, to the harsh introduction to the Somme in 1916, and finally to their finest achievements in 1918. It culminates with their return to Australia, a country irrevocably changed by the War despite its distance from the actual battlefield. Visitors learn about the Australians’ experiences in their own words through letters, diaries, life-size images and the use of new and archival footage, animation, maps and soundscapes.

At the centre of the experience is an immersive gallery, which takes visitors on an emotional and educational journey to the heart of the battles of Villers-Bretonneux and Le Hamel.

A visit to the Sir John Monash Centre provides an enhanced understanding of the Australian experience on the Western Front, and the impact and loss suffered by a young nation.

Commemorative service: Alongside British and French troops, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April. That fateful day marked the beginning of an eight-month campaign that claimed tens of thousands of lives, including over 8,000 Australians.

A year later, 25 April was officially named "Anzac Day" when Australia, New Zealand and troops in Egypt celebrated the anniversary of the landing.

In remembrance of those who served during the Great War and more recent wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations, Anzac Day ceremonies are held around the world each year. An Anzac Day Dawn service is held at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, near Amiens. It takes place on the site of an intense battle in 1918 where, from early April, Australian units helped defend Villers-Bretonneux during the German spring offensive.

Education program : To make the most of their visit to the Sir John Monash Centre, teachers are encouraged to book a hands-on activities workshop for their students. The Centre offers a wide range of activities for all ages as well as tailored hands-on activities to suit students’ interests and meet curriculum objectives.

As they uncover the true story of Valentine Rochfort through objects he would have been familiar with, students immerse themselves in the Australian experience of the Western Front.

For more information : https://sjmc.gov.au/education/experience/

Sources : Centre Sir John Monash - Crédits photos : ©SJMC

https://www.facebook.com/sirjohnmonashcentre

https://instagram.com/sirjohnmonashcentre

https://twitter.com/sirjohnmonash

Sources : ©Musée de la guerre de 1870 – Loigny-la-Bataille

facebook.com/Museeguerre1870

twitter.com/Museeguerre1870

Press pack

►Click on the picture to zoom in

Housed in the 11th-century Boissezon fort, this outstanding collection of authentic objects and documents concerned with the history of armed conflict in the 20th century is an educational and remembrance resource. Its eight exhibition rooms display weaponry, equipment, photographs, documents and literature from the First and Second World Wars, as well as more recent conflicts like Korea, Indochina and Algeria. Armed, uniformed mannequins of our brave soldiers add a remarkable layer of realism. These conflicts left scars which should help prevent new wars and serve as a reminder for future generations.

Created by the now deceased Dr Christian Bourdel, the museum is regularly enhanced through donations and new acquisitions. The museum’s considerable reserve collection means it is able to put on regular temporary exhibitions, as well as lending items to other organisations for events.

►Click on the picture of your choice to zoom in

Families, friends, school parties and work groups are all welcome to visit this unique museum in the Occitanie region.

Sources : ©Musée Mémorial pour la Paix – Le Militarial - Boissezon

Located in a pine forest on the edge of Lake Biscarrosse and Parentis, in a place known as "Latécoère", the 1200 m² museum gives an account of the history of sea aviation from 1910 to today.

Since World War I, the presence of vast, almost deserted expanses of water has encouraged the creation of sea place bases on the lakes in the Landes region. In 1929, regional industrialist Pierre Latécoère, the founder of airlines that connected Toulouse to Barcelona (1918), Dakar (1925) and South America (1930) built an important sea plane base for the testing of its prototypes in Biscarosse. This site was chosen due to the sheer size of the area of water (3000 ha) and its protection from winds given by the dunes. Tests have played an important role in the life of the village. After the failures of the Laté prototype between 1945 and 1949 and the abandonment of commercial sea aviation, however, the site was abandoned.

The Musée de l'Hydraviation is thus built on this site and recounts the epic of the pioneers of aviation. The story of the museum is told according to two lines of force. An area dedicated to history (850m²) contains documents from archives, photos, tables, scale models (more than one hundred), engines, propellers, uniforms, detached pieces, etc. The second is made up of an exhibition hall with five sea planes and a glider.

The tour begins with a 25-minute video on the history of sea aviation and a short film on the sea plane collection. Successive visits to the four pavilions and the galleries, followed by a visit to the hall where the large sea planes and "winch 631" shelter are on display.

The main source of funding is donations. Three BMW engines with their propellers, the rear containing the turret of the DO 24 queue gunner and German equipment scuttled in 1944 have also been given to the museum by the association for the protection of wrecks found in Lac de Biscarrosse.

Musée de l'hydraviation

332, avenue Louis Breguet 40600 Biscarosse

Tél. : 05.58.78.00.65 - Fax : 05.58.78.81.97

e-mail : musee.hydraviation@ville-biscarrosse.fr

hydravions-biscarrosse.com

Visites

Le musée est ouvert de janvier à décembre, du mercredi au lundi, de 14h00 à 18h00.

Horaires d'été : du 1 juillet au 31 août, tous les jours de 10h00 à 19h00.

L'établissement est fermé les jours fériés. La visite est libre ou guidée (sur réservation).

Sa durée est d'environ 1h30. Les locaux sont accessibles aux handicapés. Les animaux ne sont pas acceptés.

Autres activités Boutique dans le quatrième pavillon. Vente de cartes postales, affiches, livres, T-shirts, etc...

Le musée possède une bibliothèque et une vidéothèque fournies ainsi qu'une documentation pratiquement exhaustive concernant les hydravions.

Le musée dispose d'un laboratoire d'électrolyse, monté par EDF/Valectra qui a servi notamment à arrêter la corrosion sur des pièces d'hydravions récupérées dans les lacs ainsi que des canons de marine anciens récupérés sur la plage de Biscarrosse.

L'association des amis du musée de l'hydraviation, créée en 1979 s'est fixé pour objectif de réunir des documents et des pièces de collection et de conserver ce patrimoine aéronautique.

Tarifs

Adulte : 4,10 € Enfants de 6 à 12 ans : 0,80 € Famille (2 adultes et à partir de 3 enfants) : 8,55 € Groupe : 2,50 €

Association des amis du musée de l'hydraviation

The May-June 1940 Museum in Margut in the Ardennes is located on highway RN 43 some twenty kilometres from Sedan on the road to Metz and 2 kilometres from the Fort of La Ferté.

It is located between the Town Hall and the Church in the old town of Margut.

This museum presents a private collection of objects in a single room:

uniforms, arms, munitions, soldier’s equipment, posters, period documents, vestiges found on the battlefield of May-June 1940, souvenirs of the exodus, flags, etc.

Margut Town Hall

Tel.: +33 (0)3 24 29 04 71 or +33 (0)3 24 22 61 00

Fax: +33 (0)3 24 26 75 14

Opening hours

15 May to 30 June:

Saturdays and Sundays from 1.30 pm to 5.30 pm

1 July to 15 September:

Daily from 1.30 pm to 5.30 pm, except Mondays

15 September to 30 October:

Saturdays and Sundays from 1.30 pm to 5.30 pm

Ardennes Departmental Council

Mont-Mouchet can be found in grandiose and stunning countryside, at the heart of the Margeride forest, 1335 metres above sea level, between the départements of Cantal, Haute-loire and Lozère. It was here, from 20th May 1944, that one of the five major Maquis in France was established, under Colonel Gaspard, Regional Commander of the F.F.I for zone R6. On 2nd June 1944, it was attacked for the first time by a German battalion. Then, on 10th and 11th June, 2,200 Wehrmacht soldiers, unleashed fierce fighting here against the Maquis fighters. Forced back to the "La Truyère Reduit", the maquisards suffered an even heavier assault on 20th June, forcing them to lose contact. After the fighting at Mont-Mouchet, the reconstituted F.F.I. companies, split into 20 guerrilla warfare zones, harried the Nazi troops almost everywhere throughout the four Auvergne départements until the Liberation of France. Throughout the sector, losses were severe on both the F.F.I and German sides. Several villages were destroyed. With the approval and support of General de Gaulle, the National Monument to the French Resistance and Maquis was erected here and inaugurated on 9th June 1946, the work of Parisian sculptor Raymond Coulon. Each year at the end of June, a major Remembrance Gathering is held at the foot of the monument.

The first museum was established in the Forestry Centre, rebuilt after the Liberation on the site of the one destroyed in the fighting, which had housed the General Staff of the F.F.I. This was replaced by a new building, financed by National and Regional Government and opened on 8th May 1989. This museum to the Resistance houses a fascinating collection of material and documents recalling the situation in which France found itself in 1939, the four years of German occupation, Pétain's doctrine, the Gestapo, Deportation, the Resistance, etc. A video details the fighting at Mont-Mouchet, Saugues and La Truyère. Tour duration approx. 1 hour.

Musée de la Résistance du Mont-Mouchet 43300 Auvers Tel.: +33 (0) 471 74 11 28 / 11 91 Fax: +33 (0) 471 74 11 91 p.koller@haut-allier.com

Opening times From April 1 to September 30: daily except Monday in May, June and September from 10:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:00.

Group visits welcome during the week by appointment

Prices children under 10 : free Children aged 10 and over, school groups: €2 Age 15 and over: €5 Groups (minimum 20 people): €4

The part of the blockhouse that you can see is only 10% of its surface area. Almost entirely underground, the command post of the Graf Spee battery is one of the largest bunkers in the region. 

Set over five floors and with 500 sqm of exhibitions, the one-way circuit begins beneath the reception, in the quarters of the 25 soldiers who defended the position.  In rooms restored to exactly how they were then, discover what everyday life was like on the Atlantic Wall, through captivatingly realistic decors.

The subsequent levels immerse you in the atmosphere of the war years in Brittany: blitzkrieg, Stalags, occupation, Free France, collaboration, Resistance, fighting for Brest, liberation, and so on. Numerous anecdotes make this a moving encounter with the men and women who experienced the war, right here.

Return to the daylight on the level of the observation stations and panoramic viewpoint, offering unique views of the entrance to Brest harbour, from the Presqu’île de Crozon to Ouessant.

The tour ends with a walk around the site, where visitors can see the other short-range defence blockhouses, together with a variety of impressive equipment.

Sources: ©Musée Mémoires 39-45

Tourist office: Boulevard de la Mer, Plougonvelin - Tel.: +33 (0)2 98 48 25 94

The new visitor circuit presents the important strategic issues for the department of the Ain in the Second World War, situating them within the regional, national and European context.

Interspersed with personal accounts, the exhibition also reflects on the engagement of local men and women, charting their struggle against the German occupiers and Vichy regime to restore the Republic and freedom. It also sheds new light on the repression and persecution of civilians, Resistance members and Jews in the Ain.

Imbued with the spirits of its Resistance and deportee founders, the museum questions the construction of remembrance post-1945 and its contemporary uses. Through the history of the Ain, it is the France of the years 1939-45 that is revealed.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Ain - ©Agathe GAUBERT

Office de Tourisme Haut-Bugey, Nantua - Tel.: +33 (0)4 74 12 11 57

 Founded in 1992 by former members of the Resistance, eager to pass on the memory of all those who fought for liberation and for victory over Nazi barbarity, the museum takes visitors on a journey through the history of the Second World War in the department. Drawing on rich archives, the exhibition sheds light on specific features of the Ardèche Resistance: underground presses, pamphlet distribution, parachute drops and acts of sabotage. The museum’s founding organisation defines its purpose as follows: “Our museum is not dedicated to any unit, movement or leader in particular, but to the Resistance, which was a collective effort.”

 Located in the commune of Le Teil, the museum tells the story of the Resistance across the department. It is therefore not a local history museum, although the local Resistance is mentioned. Similarly, although references are made to links with other departments, the museum is devoted above all to the particularities of the Ardèche Resistance, and its role in the liberation of the department.

The archive put together by the museum’s founding organisation was registered with the departmental archives, then, in 1996, donated to the department. Catalogued under number 70J, it can be consulted by anyone wishing to research the history of the Second World War in the Ardèche. The archive continues to grow as a result of regular donations and collections.   

The museum has been run since 2010 by the Rhône-Helvie community of communes which, in 2017, became the Ardèche Rhône Coiron community of communes. It is maintained by the Ardèche departmental authority and the commune of Le Teil. It offers a varied cultural programme and a learning programme for schools.

2017 programmation

- Learning programme: workshops, self-guided tours with a specially designed questionnaire, help with preparing for the Concours national de la Résistance et de la Déportation (a competition for middle- and high-school students) and the loan of touring exhibitions. All activities for school students are free (regardless of age group or the geographical location of the educational establishment concerned).

Sources : © Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation en Ardèche

Office de tourisme - Place Pierre Semard, 07400 Le Teil - Tél.: 04 75 49 10 46

Set at the foot of the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Lens’ 14-18 presents the First World War on Nord-Pas-de-Calais soil.

The contemporary building, designed by architect Pierre-Louis Faloci, is comprised of black concrete cubes called ‘chapels’.

Using innovative museological techniques, this international interpretation centre has an outstanding collection of iconographic documents (maps, archives photographs, film footage from the period) and emblematic objects from around the world, which reflect the viewpoints of all the protagonists (French, Germans, British, etc.). There are nearly 400 large-format photos on display. Dynamic maps illustrate the different offensives, and some 20 archive films immerse visitors in the Great War.

The permanent exhibition, designed by an international scientific committee chaired by French historian Yves Le Maner, offers the keys to interpreting and appropriating the themes and chronology of the First World War. It establishes a coherent account of the events that took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region between 1914 and 1918. The major stages of the conflict presented are: the mobile war and the trench system; the bloody offensives and the occupation of the Nord; the 1918 offensives and death on the front; and ruins and reconstruction.

The display at Lens’ 14-18 makes the history of the First World War in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments accessible to the general public. The events are presented in summarised form, and visits take approximately two hours. The high-quality photos, objects from the collection and dynamic maps are exclusive to the centre, and help give visitors a rapid overview of the conflict.

Nearly 580 000 soldiers of 40 nationalities died along the 60 miles of front line spanning French Flanders and Artois. Their names are remembered at the Ring of Remembrance, the International Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, 1500 metres above sea level, and their army data sheets can be consulted free of charge on digital tablets in the remembrance area of the Lens’ 14-18 museum.

Set at the foot of the hill of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Lens’ 14-18 presents the First World War on Nord-Pas-de-Calais soil.

The contemporary building, designed by architect Pierre-Louis Faloci, is comprised of black concrete cubes called “chapels”.

Using innovative museological techniques, this international interpretation centre has an outstanding collection of iconographic documents (maps, archives photographs, film footage from the period) and emblematic objects from around the world, which reflect the viewpoints of all the protagonists (French, Germans, British, etc.). There are nearly 400 large-format photos on display. Dynamic maps illustrate the different offensives, and some 20 archive films immerse visitors in the Great War.

The permanent exhibition, designed by an international scientific committee chaired by French historian Yves Le Maner, offers the keys to interpreting and appropriating the themes and chronology of the First World War. It establishes a coherent account of the events that took place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region between 1914 and 1918. The major stages of the conflict presented are: the mobile war and the trench system; the bloody offensives and the occupation of the Nord; the 1918 offensives and death on the front; and ruins and reconstruction.

The display at Lens’ 14-18 makes the history of the First World War in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments accessible to the general public. The events are presented in summarised form, and visits take approximately two hours. The high-quality photos, objects from the collection and dynamic maps are exclusive to the centre, and help give visitors a rapid overview of the conflict.

Nearly 580 000 soldiers of 40 nationalities died along the 60 miles of front line spanning French Flanders and Artois. Their names are remembered at the Ring of Remembrance, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette International Memorial, 1500 metres above sea level, and their army data sheets can be consulted free of charge on digital tablets in the remembrance area of the Lens’ 14-18 museum.

Sources: © Lens’ 14-18 - Centre d’Histoire Guerre et Paix

Local tourist office: Office de Tourisme et du Patrimoine de Lens-Liévin, 58, rue de la Gare - 62300 Lens

Tel.: +33 (0)3 21 67 66 66

 info@tourisme-lenslievin.fr

www.tourisme-lenslievin.fr