The Hindenburg Line

The Hindenburg Line was a vast system of defences in Northern France constructed by the Germans during the winter of 1916-17. It ran from the area around Arras all the way to beyond St Quentin, and consisted of deep and wide trenches, thick belts of barbed wire, concrete machine-gun positions, concrete bunkers, tunnels and command posts. It was considered virtually impregnable by the Germans. The British offensives of 1917-1918 were to prove otherwise.

Eighty years later the Hindenburg Line battlefields are among the most forgotten along the entire Western Front. Most visitors gravitate towards the Somme and Ypres. But there are more than 200 British Military Cemeteries and Memorials in this area, and some of the most important battles of the Great War were fought here.

See the new Arras section of the website for the 90th Anniversary in 2007.

My book Walking Arras also came out in May 2007 - click here for more details.

Researching someone who fought on the Hindenburg Line? Visit my WW1 Research Page.

Email: Paul Reed