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So let's dive in and see what this wonderful story is all about...
It's the 4th of November 1918 and the residents of Le Quesnoy have been suffering under German occupation for four years. The New Zealand troops are determined to capture the town.
It's an old fortress town occupying a strategic position in northeastern France. Settlement dates back to the 12th century and its fortifications to 1536, constructed to defend what was then the Spanish Netherlands.
After
the region is captured by France in 1654 under King Louis XIV, he
orders his famous military engineer Vauban to build a
series of forts to protect the new north-east borders. One of these results in the town's ramparts.
After four years of occupation during WW1 there are still around 1,600 civilians in the town out of a previous population of 3000.
Instead of bombarding the town ramparts which are protecting the Germans from assault, the NZers decide to risk their lives in order to preserve the lives of the villagers and also their homes. This would mean scaling the ramparts to get at the Germans. However, this would be very dangerous as the only way to do this would be by ladders which are too short to get to the top, leaving the kiwis sitting ducks on those ladders, where they are held back by machine-gun fire.
Many kiwis died trying but eventually the only access is discovered; the riflemen could position a ladder on a single, narrow ledge. It is a medieval-like assault only achievable with persistent courage.
Led by Lieutenant Leslie Averill,
the battalion's intelligence officer, this small group of men quickly
climbs up the wall. After exchanging shots with fleeing Germans, the
New Zealander riflemen enter Le Quesnoy and the German garrison soon surrenders. 711 Germans surrendered in Le Quesnoy.
This was the last major action by NZers in the Great War, just a week before the armistice on 11 November. About 80 soldiers from the NZ Rifle Brigade died in the assault.
At Le Quesnoy, in the park, a monument commemorating the town's liberation by the New Zealand Division is set into the rampart walls, near where Averill scaled them.
Le Quesnoy is twinned with Cambridge in the North Island and St. Andrew's Church there has a memorial window depicting New Zealand soldiers scaling Le Quesnoy's ramparts.
The town really appreciates its liberation even to this day and school children learn the haka and the story, streets have Kiwi names. ANZAC day is observed every year.
In 2023 the New Zealand Liberation Museum-Te Arawhata
was opened in Le Quesnoy to commemorate and share the stories of New
Zealand's role in the liberation of Le Quesnoy and New Zealand's wider
involvement in the First World War. It contains an excellent portrayal
of issues the Kiwis faced in their assault and the ongoing links with NZ
to this day. However, I did notice a glaring omission in their
chronology of contacts between the two countries; that of the visit of
General Paul to Akaroa in 1919, to say thank you to NZers for their help
during the war. He then went on to visit Australia. The museum was
unaware of this but I doubt this important connection will be added to
their displays.
Weta Workshop were involved in part of the displays with an over-sized Kiwi soldier, much like what is in the Gallipoli display at Te Papa, Wellington. I'd like to have seen more of those.
Visits to the museum cost 15 euros, or 12 euros for a senior.
It takes 8 hours to scroll through all the names of kiwis killed in the first World War.
The museum closes Mondays and Tuesdays. Check summer and winter hours.
https://nzliberationmuseum.com/ 03 74 58 01 85
18 Rue Achille Carlier, 59530 Le Quesnoy, France.
Please check out the following links for more technical, military and human details relating to the town liberation.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/le-quesnoy/new-zealand-and-le-quesnoy
There is a lovely children's book that tells this story. It's available online, at the museum at Le Quesnoy (English and French versions) or from the Wigram Air base Museum in Christchurch, NZ. I have a copy of it and can thoroughly recommend it.
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