Graves to be removed for canal

Kyt · Oct 14, 2008

I'm lost for words!

Daily Express | UK News :: Outrage as French dig up British war graves to make way for new canal

THE GRAVES of hundreds of British war heroes are to be dug up to build a new canal in northern France.

The desecration has caused anger and distress to the troops’ surviving relatives.

Half-a-dozen British and Commonwealth war cemeteries on the Somme face being bulldozed to make way for the
massive Seine-Nord canal.

The cemeteries are between the ancient towns of Compiegne and Cambrai, the scenes of fierce fighting during the First World War.

Officials last month published details of their “preferred route” which will cut great swathes through numerous burial grounds.

Relatives of the fallen heroes and veterans groups have called for a halt to the plans.

Among those killed in the Battle of Canal du Nord in 1918, was Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson who was awarded the Victoria Cross and is buried at Sanders Keep, a cemetery which is on the route of the proposed canal.

Mark Foran, from Eltham, south-east London, who has just visited the cemetery, said: “It would be terrible if graves had to be moved.

“The headstone on Jackson’s grave says ‘Forgive them Father, they know not what they do.’

“But you could not forgive the desecration of the graves of a hero like this man and of all the othersoldiers buried there.”

Peter Raine, whose grandfather, Private Charles Ferguson, is also buried there, told of his anger. He said: “The war is a long time ago but seems recent to us because my grandfather has reached me through his diaries.”
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John · Oct 14, 2008

To put it mildly it is a bloody disgrace.

liverpool annie · Oct 14, 2008

John said: ↑

To put it mildly it is a bloody disgrace.
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They were talking about this in 2003 !! :mad2:

I believe CWGC and other groups have been working on it for years

Proposal for a Seine - Nord Canal

The French papers are carrying reports that the Voies Navigables de France wants to substantially upgrade the canal network in Northern France by improving links between the Dunkirk - Escaut Canal and the waterways between Noyon and Compiegne. The proposals involve some combination of the following:

1. An upgrading and substantial realignment of the Canal du Nord (CdN)
2. The construction of a new relief canal from the CdN from round about Flesquieres and rejoining the CdN west of Roye
3. A new canal from the Dunkirk - Escaut canal north of Cambrai to the CdN at Noyon.

A glance at a map showing the proposed changes show the new canal network bisecting the battlefields of Arras, Cambrai, the Somme, St. Quentin and Compiègne. Given this, and the proximity of many CWGC cemeteries and memorials to the canals, then there is the possibility of a bigger threat than that posed by the Somme Airport. There is a map of the proposed developments on page 2 of La Voix Du Nord for Friday 9 May.

It is estimated that the work will take 5 years, cost 2.7 milliards of Euros and provide employment for 8000 people. It could be finished by 2014. The proposal is still on the drawing board and the economics of the project are not clear. But perhaps it is not too early to start making representations?
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spidge · Oct 14, 2008

Commerce before all else.

Let's see where it heads and what the reactions are to the plan.

Antipodean Andy · Oct 19, 2008

Unbelievable. Am amazed the French would let this happen as they do seem very respectful of the sacrifices made. Besides the graves, imagine the missing soldiers and variety of equipment and historic sites that will probably be lost.

martinww2 · Oct 21, 2008

A litlebit respect i think. War graves should never be disrubted.

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Graves to be removed for canal

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