commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
A small farming and light industrial town, situated some north of
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, ...
and west of
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
, 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
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In 1940, the small hamlet of
Le Paradis
Lestrem (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, 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 Lil ...
, on the south side of the commune, was the scene of a
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
of British troops of the BEF, during the Battle of France. The town is twinned with
Swanland
Swanland is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. The village is about to the west of Kingston upon Hull city centre and north of the Humber Estuary in the foothills of the Yorkshire Wolds on the B1231 road.
...
in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
, 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
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...