#hazebrouck

Jan 20 1919 War Photographer David McLellan takes pictures of the ruins of a church in Armentieres IWM (Q 9947),  ruins of Radinghem Church  IWM (Q 9948),  IWM (Q 9950),  IWM (Q 9951)

1919-01-20

Bottom two photos are a French photographer taking a picture of ruined houses at the junction of the Rue des Pres and Rue des Hollandais (L)  IWM (Q 78652) and other ruined houses (R) IWM (Q 78650) in Hazebrouck

So… You know how in my last post I mentioned that I would be in Valenciennes by way of Arras on train? Well… I ended up in Dunkirk. The train that arrived in Arras seemed to be one of these cross-country trains with about 50 carriages to it and as a result I went oh I dunno, about 100 miles or so away from my intended destination?

My ticket said to get on coach 16 and my seat number was 64 or something like that, and as the train pulled up I walked and walked and walked and only got as far as coach number 3 (I had passed approximately 25 coaches at this point) so I caved in as the whistle was being used and I hopped on board figuring that I’d be okay. It wasn’t until the first stop when I decided to check on my phone where I was, which was North of Arras, “no biggy” I told myself, the train probably hooks round here as a lot of people got on/off and decided that this was a popular stop and thought nothing of it.

Second stop. I’m in Béthune. It was at this point that I knew something had gone wrong, as the next stop we were bound for was the Terminus - Hazebrouck. I would’ve been more worried but thankfully I’m travelling without a plan and actually held off on booking somewhere to stay in Valenciennes earlier that day due to a nagging feeling something was off, I embarked on this journey to trust my gut and I’m glad that I did just that.

I managed to steal a seat in 1st class for the remaining 45 minutes of my journey to Hazebrouck so I was at least in comfort, except for the fact that there was some funny looks headed into my direction as they knew I shouldn’t be sitting there, but once the ticket inspector came round he simply looked at me and carried on, I got to keep my seat and everyone else minded their own business.

Damaged house in Hazebrouck during the First World War, French Flanders region of France

Bridge in Hazebrouck, French Flanders region of France

Château Tersen in Hazebrouck, French Flanders region of France

Main square of Hazebrouck, French Flanders region of northern France