War memorials

France: Nécropole nationale La Crouée

Location: Marne, France

Several French military cemeteries surround Souain-Perthes-lès-Hurlus. The Nécropole nationale La Crouée is the largest military cemetery in the départment de la Marne. This cemetery was created in 1919 and completed in 1924. It contains 30,734 burials, of whom only 9,050 are identified. 21,688 bodies were placed in eight mass graves or ossuaries.

Beyond the French cemetery is the DEUTSCHER SOLDATENFRIEDHOF SOUAIN. This German military cemetery contains the bodies of 13,786 men, of whom 10,720 are unidentified. The cemetery was created by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge in 1928 but only in 1972 were the temporary wooden crosses replaced in stone. The principal monument in the cemetery is a large free-standing sandstone cross.

Gavin Stamp