Le Mur des Fusillés

Visitors to the Arras Memorial should make the effort to visit this stark monument to 218 patriots from various towns and Resistance Groups who were shot in the ditches of the citadel by the German occupiers between 1941 and 1944.

Coming out of Arras centre, follow the signs for the Citadelle onto the Bd Charles de Gaulle. This section of road is a dual carriageway.

You will see the Citadelle (Home of the 601st Circulation Regiment) on you left and immediately afterwards a set of traffic lights just before the British Memorial.

Turn left into the Rue des Fusillés.

This area is undergoing renovations in readiness for the 90th Anniversary of the Battle of Arras in April 2007.

If you wish to visit the memorial you can park your car on its left.

If you miss the turn continue up the road past the lights and to the top of the hill where you will find a roundabout.

Looking down on the firing post

To reach the monument you could walk to it from the British Memorial, which will take you about ten minutes, or you can drive round. Follow the road round to the left between the Memorial and the Citadelle and along the back wall.

Be careful of children from what I presume to be the Married Quarters on your right and also for pot holes and soldiers out running.

Plaques with the names of the martyrs cover the walls

The names of the various resistance groups are listed on the entrance gate. You will notice that the Communist Party lost a lot of their men: PCF

The firing post

A single post marks the actual execution point, whilst there are over 200 plaques along the walls of the citadel, showing the name, age, occupation and organisation of the victims.

The inscriptions use a V for a U so that many of the words look a little bizarre. MINEVR is thus a MINER (Not a minor).

This area is close to the mining fields and you will notice a number of Polish names amongst the victims. They serve as a reminder of the Polish mining families who came to France and then joined resistance groups to fight the invaders. They could thus deal a blow as much for their own homeland as for their adopted country

The town of Arras
CWGC Cemetery and Memorials
The Citadel
601e Régiment de Circulation Routière