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Le Paradis Massacre
The Le Paradis massacre was a World War II war crime committed by members of the 14th Company, SS Division Totenkopf, under the command of ''Hauptsturmführer'' Fritz Knöchlein. It took place on 27 May 1940, during the Battle of France, at a time when troops of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were attempting to retreat through the Pas-de-Calais region during the Battle of Dunkirk. Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, had become isolated from their unit. They occupied and defended a farmhouse against an attack by Waffen-SS forces in the village of Le Paradis. After running out of ammunition, the defenders surrendered to the German troops. The Germans led them across the road to a wall where they were murdered by machine guns. Ninety-seven British troops were killed. Two survived with injuries and hid until they were captured by German forces several days later. After the war, Knöchlein was convicted of his role in the massacre by a British milit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lestrem
Lestrem (; ; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A small farming and light industrial town, situated some north of Béthune and west of Lille, on the D122, D178 and D975 roads, by the banks of the Lawe River. History The town was all but destroyed during the First World War. In 1940, the small hamlet of Le Paradis, on the south side of the commune, was the scene of a massacre of British troops of the BEF, during the Battle of France. The town is twinned with Swanland in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Population Places of interest * The church of St. Amé, dating from the sixteenth century. * Two other churches at the hamlets of La Fosse and Le Paradis. * The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery. See also *Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department The following is a list of the 890 communes of the Pas-de-Calais department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting of three countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Geographically and historically, the area also includes parts of France and Germany such as the French Flanders and the German regions of East Frisia and Cleves. During the Middle Ages, the Low Countries were divided into numerous semi-independent principalities. Historically, the regions without access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those with access to form various unions of ports and hinterland, stretching inland as far as parts of the German Rhineland. Because of this, nowadays not only physically low-altitude areas, but also some hilly or elevated regi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Bassée
La Bassée () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry Personalities La Bassée was the birthplace of the painter and draftsman Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845). Another native was Ignace François Broutin (c. 1690–1751), a colonial officer, surveyor, architect and engineer in Louisiana (New France). René Féret French actor producer and director 1945-2015 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0299677/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Communes of Nord (French department) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Béthune
Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department. Geography Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated south-east of Calais, west of Lille, and north of Paris. Landmarks Béthune is a town rich in architectural heritage and history. It has, among other features, a large paved square with shops, cafés, and a (133 steps) belfry standing in the center from the top of which the Belgian border can be seen. The chime of the belfry is composed of thirty-six bells. A belfry (French:''"beffroi"'') has stood on the site since 1346. The current belfry plays melodies every 15 minutes, including the ch'ti (regional patois) children's lullaby "min p'tit quinquin" (my little darling). In 2005, the belfry was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, because of its architecture and testimony to the rise of municipal po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Arras (1940)
The Battle of Arras took place on 21 May 1940, during the Battle of France in the Second World War. Following the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May, French and British forces advanced into Belgium. The German campaign plan (Case Yellow) had evolved into a decoy operation in the Netherlands and Belgium, with the main effort through the Ardennes. German units crossed the Meuse without waiting for reinforcements at the Battle of Sedan. Instead of consolidating bridgeheads on the west bank of the Meuse, the Germans began an advance down the Somme river valley towards the English Channel. The Allies were thrown into confusion and their attempts to cut off the panzer spearheads degenerated into sporadic, un-coordinated counter-attacks which never achieved sufficient concentration to succeed as the main Allied armies were in Belgium. The offensive at Arras was planned by the British and French to relieve the pressure on the British garrison in the town of Arras and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of regions, reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a Baroque town square, Arras is in Northern France at the confluence of the rivers Scarpe (river), Scarpe and Crinchon. The Arras plain is on a large chalk plateau bordered on the north by the Marqueffles fault, on the southwest by the Artois and Ternois hills, and on the south by the slopes of Beaufort-Blavincourt. On the east it is connected to the Scarpe valley. Established during the Iron Age by the Gauls, the town of Arras was first known as ''Nemetocenna'', which is believed to have originated from the Celtic word ''nemeton'', meaning 'sacred space.' Saint Vedast (or St. Vaast) was the first Catholic bishop in the year 499 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Of Africa (France)
The Army of Africa (french: Armée d’Afrique ) was an unofficial but commonly used term for those portions of the French Army stationed in French North Africa (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) from 1830 until the end of the Algerian War in 1962, including the French units made up of indigenous recruits. Composition The Army of Africa included indigenous Arab or Berber volunteers; (spahis, Goumiers and tirailleurs); regiments largely made up of pied-noir French settlers doing their military service (zouaves and chasseurs d'Afrique); and non-French volunteers (Légion étrangère). The divisions were not absolute and (for example) volunteers or conscripts from mainland France might choose to serve with the Muslim rank and file of the spahis and tirailleurs, while Arab volunteers might appear amongst the ranks of the zouaves. Prior to World War I, one battalion of each of the four zouave regiments then in existence, was recruited in France. These battalions' bases were thereby provid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department, Cambrai is a town which had 32,501 inhabitants in 2018. It is in the heart of the urban unit of Cambrai with 46,772 inhabitants. Its functional area (France), functional area, a more extensive range, included 94,576 inhabitants in 2018.Comparateur de territoire: Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Cambra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the second commandant of the Dachau concentration camp from June 1933 to July 1934, and together with his adjutant Michael Lippert, was one of the executioners of SA Chief Ernst Röhm during the Night of the Long Knives purge of 1934. He continued to expand and develop the concentration camp system and was the first Concentration Camps Inspector. In 1939, Eicke became commander of the SS Division Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS, leading the division during the Second World War on the Western and Eastern fronts. Eicke was killed on 26 February 1943, when his plane was shot down during the Third Battle of Kharkov. Early life and World War I Theodor Eicke was born on 17 October 1892, in Hampont (renamed ''Hudingen'' in 1915) near Château-Salins, then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party (; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the Extremism, extremist German nationalism, German nationalist, racism, racist and populism, populist paramilitary culture, which fought against the communism, communist uprisings in post–World War I Germany. The party was created to draw workers away from communism and into nationalism. Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti–big business, anti-bourgeoisie, bourgeois, and anti-capitalism, anti-capitalist rhetoric. This was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders, and in the 1930s, the party's main focus shifted to Antisemitism, antisemitic and Criticism of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Scots
The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regiment existed continuously until 2006, when it amalgamated with the King's Own Scottish Borderers to become the Royal Scots Borderers, which merged with the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment), the Black Watch, the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland. History 17th century In April 1633, Sir John Hepburn was granted a warrant by Charles I to recruit 1200 Scots for service with the French army in the 1618–1648 Thirty Years War. The nucleus came from Hepburn's previous regiment, which fought with the Swedes from 1625 until August 1632, when Hepburn quarrelled with Gustavus Adolphus. It absorbed other Scottis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kanaal, "The Channel"; german: Ärmelkanal, "Sleeve Channel" ( French: ''la Manche;'' also called the British Channel or simply the Channel) is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover."English Channel". ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2004. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some . The Channel was a key factor in Britain becoming a naval superpower and has been utilised by Britain as a natural def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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