The best MTB trails around Mont-Saint-Éloi

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The ruins of the old church of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire are an impressive and symbolic remnant of the First World War. This church, built in the 16th century in flamboyant Gothic style by Jacques Le Caron, was heavily damaged during the fighting in 1915. The ruins have been preserved as a monument to commemorate the horrors of war.

The Maroeuil Marsh natural area offers a pleasant walk along the Scarpe River, with interesting flora and fauna. The signposting is illustrated by the small Vertigo de Des Moulins snail, which you can try to spot on the marsh plants.

A remarkable story about the ruins concerns the decision not to rebuild the church after the war. Although the church had been classified as a historical monument in 1908, the Commission for Historical Monuments decided that the ruins should remain as a testimony to the German destruction. Ironically, it was the French guns that had destroyed the church, but the ruins became a symbol of the war and the reconstruction.

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mountain bike outing in hiking mode

Within the 107 hectares of the Vimy Ridge National Historic Site of Canada, near the grandiose memorial erected in honor of the 66,000 Canadian soldiers who died in the Great War, a more modest building is dedicated "to the memory (...) of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of the Moroccan Division who fell gloriously here on May 9, 10, and 11, 1915." Before the Canadians captured Vimy Ridge from the Germans in April 1917, other soldiers had already set foot there but were unable to hold their ground due to a lack of reinforcements and sufficient artillery support. These "forerunners" were the Moroccan Zouaves and riflemen, wearing red chechias and baggy trousers, accompanied in the Moroccan Division by Foreign Legion volunteers from 52 countries. To the men of the Moroccan Division who set out to assault Vimy Ridge On the morning of May 9, 1915, they broke through the German lines, crossed Folie Wood, and approached Vimy Ridge. To monitor their advance and adjust artillery fire, squares of white cloth were sewn to their backs, making them prime targets for the Germans on their flank. Furthermore, the artillery was running low on ammunition, and reinforcements were not forthcoming: the order to withdraw came with the evening. The Moroccan soldiers were forced to abandon the conquered ground at the cost of heavy losses. The riflemen of the Moroccan Division were among the approximately 820,000 men mobilized in the French colonies or protectorates during the First World War, including 636,000 sent to France as soldiers or laborers. Among the 449,000 engaged in the fighting, the majority came from Algeria (150,000) and the others from sub-Saharan Africa (135,000), Indochina (43,000), Tunisia (39,000), Morocco (34,000). 70,000 of them died on French soil.