LA FERTE SOUS JOUARRE MEMORIAL

UK - 3470

HISTORY

This memorial commemorates soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) who fell at Mons, Le Cateau, on the Marne and the Aisne between August and October 1914 and have no known grave. It is located roughly at the furthest distance the BEF retreated from Mons and at the point where the fortunes of war turned during the Battle of the Marne and the Germans were prevented from reaching Paris.

LOCATION

La Ferte-sous-Jouarre is a small town 66 kilometres to the east of Paris, located on the main road (N3) running east from Paris. The Memorial is situated in a small park on the south-western edge of the town, on the south bank of the River Marne, just off the main road to Paris. The Memorial Register, listing those commemorated here, is kept at the nearby Town Hall and can be inspected on request. The La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial commemorates nearly 3,500 officers and men of the British Expeditionary Force who died in August, September and the early part of October 1914 and who have no known grave. The monument consists of a rectangular block of stone, 62 feet by 30 feet and 24 feet high, with the names of the dead engraved on stone panels on all sides of the monument. The monument is surmounted by a sarcophagus and a trophy carved in stone. At the four corners of the pavement are stone piers with urns, carved with the coats of arms of the Empire.