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 ...
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The ...
region 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 ar ...
Monchy-le-Preux is situated southeast of Arras, at the junction of the D33 and the D339 roads. Junction 15 of the
A1 autoroute
The A1 Autoroute, also known as l'autoroute du Nord (the Northern Motorway), is the busiest of France's autoroutes. With a length of , it connects Paris with the northern city of Lille. It is managed by the Société des Autoroutes du Nord et ...
is just a mile away.
History
Monchy was an important strategic position near to
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 the ...
during the 1914-18 war and bloody fighting ensued around the village. During the Battle of Arras it was from here that the Germans bombarded Arras and destroyed the belltower. Just outside Monchy, on the D939, a carved Vauthier Stone marks the boundary of the advancing German army 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 fig ...
.
Population
Places of interest
* 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 mi ...
cemetery.
* The church of St.Martin, rebuilt along with much of the village, after
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, ...
.
*
Monchy-le-Preux (Newfoundland) Memorial
The Monchy-le-Preux Memorial is a Dominion of Newfoundland war memorial that commemorates the actions of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during the Battle of Arras of World War I.
The battle
The memorial commemorates an encounter that took p ...
commemorating the sacrifice of the soldiers of the
Newfoundland Regiment
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (R NFLD R) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group.
Predecessor units trace their origins to 1795, and since 1949 Royal New ...
on 14 April 1917.
* Two chapels.
* Remains of an old chateau.
* Windmill British Cemetery
Image:monchy01.JPG, The caribou
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
to the
Newfoundland Regiment
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (R NFLD R) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group.
Predecessor units trace their origins to 1795, and since 1949 Royal New ...