The best traffic-free bike rides around Merris

The battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916 was a bloody initiation for Australian soldiers to warfare on the Western Front. Soldiers of the newly arrived 5th Australian Division, together with the British 61st Division, were ordered to attack strongly fortified German front line positions near the Aubers Ridge in French Flanders. The attack was intended as a feint to hold German reserves from moving south to the Somme where a large Allied offensive had begun on 1 July. The feint was a disastrous failure. Australian and British soldiers assaulted over open ground in broad daylight and under direct observation and heavy fire from the German lines. Over 5,500 Australians became casualties. Almost 2,000 of them were killed in action or died of wounds and some 400 were captured. This is believed to be the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during the entire First World War. Some consider Fromelles the most tragic event in Australia’s history. https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/fromelles

This is a regional centre for Dutch in northern France.

food

The Bailleul fountain dates back to the 19th century. It was inaugurated on June 23, 1844. Destroyed in 1918, it was rebuilt identically in 1932 and placed behind the new Saint-Vaast church, near Rue du Musée. It was dismantled in 1997 and reinstalled in 2006 along Rue des Royarts. (c) https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/1214950/article/2022-08-09/bailleul-pourquoi-l-eau-de-la-fontaine-de-la-place-lienart-ne-coule-plus

Nice and spicy climb!

good physical condition

Church from 1932, by Louis-Marie and Louis-Stanislas Cordonnier. The church has features of the neo-Romanesque, neo-Byzantine and art-deco styles.

This British cemetery and memorial were built in memory of the Australian soldiers who died during the Battle of Fromelles on 19-20 July 1916. There are 410 Australian soldiers buried here, none of whom have been identified. Although the graves are individual, they are not marked with individual headstones, but the names of some 1,200 missing are recorded on the Memorial, a memorial wall at the rear of the cemetery. Two large concrete crosses have been placed on the grassed area. In front of the memorial wall is the Cross of Sacrifice.