Why here

In November 1918 the Engineer in charge of the North Region Railways: Arthur-Pierre Toubeau, was instructed to find a suitably discreet place which would accommodate two trains. By coincidence on the outskirts of Compiègne in the forest of Rethondes lay an artillery railway emplacement. Set deep within the wood and out of the view of the masses the location was ideal.

The Armistice Negotiations

Early in the morning of 7 November a train carrying Marshal Foch, his staff and British officers arrived on the right hand siding. The train formed a mobile headquarters for the marshal, complete with a restaurant car and office.

At 05:30 hours another train arrived on the left hand track. One of the carriages had been built for Napoleon III and still bore his coat of arms. Inside was a delegation from the German government seeking an armistice.

There were only a hundred metres between the two trains and the entire area was policed by gendarmes placed every 20 metres.

For three days the two parties discussed the terms of an armistice until at 05:05 hours on 11 November 1918 Matthias Erzberger the leader of the German delegation signed The Armistice document. Within 6 hours the war would be over.

The Memorial Site

Initially the carriage (Wagon Lits Company car No. 2419D) used by Marshal Foch returned to its former duty as a restaurant car, but it eventually made its way to the Invalides in Paris. An American: Arthur Fleming paid for its restoration, and the wagon was brought back to Rethondes on 8 April 1927.

The Clairière was in fact inaugurated on 11 November 1922 by President Millerand.

The two tracks are marked as to which was which. In the photo the French one is closest. Between them is an enormous granite block recalling the Allied Victory.

Here on 11 November 1918 the criminal pride of the German Empire was brought low, vanquished by the free peoples whom it had sought to enslave.

The block was removed by the Germans during the Second World War and was discovered in Berlin at the end of that war. The monument to those from Alsace and Lorraine who had lost their lives was also packed up and taken back to Germany.

Only the statue to Marshal Foch was left in place, now looking over an area that had been ripped up and ploughed over. Hitler was determined to remove the stain of 1918 from the face of France.

Following the liberation of the area in 1944, work began at the behest of the local people of Compiègne to repair the memorial glade.

The centre block was replaced in its original position and the monument to Alsace-Lorraine returned. The bronze sculpture of a sword striking down the Imperial Eagle of Germany is framed by Alsatian sandstone and inscribed

To the heroic soldiers of France - Defenders of Country and of Right - Glorious liberators of Alsace and Lorraine

On 11 November 1950 the Clairière was re-dedicated.

The Carriage

Housed in a museum building is a carriage similar to that used by the negotiators.

Following the German invasion in 1940 Hitler decided to wipe out history by having the French surrender in the same wagon on 22 June 1940. The carriage was then taken back to Berlin and put on display until 1943. With the advance on Berlin in 1945 the Waffen SS initially moved it into Thuringia and then finally destroyed it by fire.

Fortunately a replacement (car No.2439 D) whichh had also been built in 1913 was found and it is this that you can visit today. The exhibits inside the carriage though are the originals, having been removed at the beginning of WW2.

The museum is open every day except Tuesday, and closes for lunch between 12 and 14:00 hours.

The Road to Armistice