Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, "strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
A farming village located 3 miles (5 km) southwest of
Arras
Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of ...
, at the D3 and D60 road junction.
History
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
1914–1918. War broke out in August 1914 and in September troops were massed on the territory. Agny quickly found itself on the front line. As it was also on a railway line, it was easy to approach the theatre of operations.
In October 1914, violent fighting allowed the German army to advance.
A bloody battle took place on 25 September 1915. The French 135th Infantry Regiment lost 38 officers and 1162 men killed, wounded or missing.
Despite the fierce fighting during the conflict, the town hall, built in 1860, was not destroyed.
The
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. When this conflict broke out, the invading Germans soon occupied the commune. Networks of resistance were quickly set in place. The mayor, Philibert Cleret carried out some particularly dangerous actions but was eventually captured. He was arrested, interned, and then deported. He died at
Buchenwald
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...
on March 10, 1945.
Population
Sights
* The church of St.Laurent, rebuilt in the 20th century.
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 (as of 2020):twinned with
Betley
Betley is a village and civil parish in the Newcastle district of Staffordshire, England, about halfway between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Nantwich. Betley forms a continual linear settlement with Wrinehill.
SchoolBetley School Transport
Betley ...