A circular tour beginning at: the Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle
Coordinates: 50°34 30.67” N – 2°46 29.44” E
Distance; 37.6km/23.3 miles
Suitable for:
Maps: IGN Top 100 – 102 Lille/Maubeuge
General description and context: This is essentially a car tour which covers the 1914 and 1915 battlefronts and should be seen as a framework on which you can base your personal requirements. Experienced cyclists will, however, have little difficulty in managing the route, which begins at the Port Arthur crossroads, sometimes referred to as la Bombe crossroads. We begin with a tour of the Neuve Chapelle battlefield before continuing along the Rue du Bois to Festubert before taking in the actions in Givenchy during the April 1918 German offensive and a visit to the 55th Division Memorial. The tour concludes with the 1914 action at Violaines. We visit twelve other sites and locations as well as eleven CWGC cemeteries and six memorials that bear testament to the huge cost of the fighting. The international composition of the Allied armies which fought in this sector over the course of the war is not only brought home by the Indian Memorial at Port Arthur but also by the Portuguese Cemetery, close by, both of which stand as a fitting tribute to the fragility of man, an enduring element of warfare we are reminded of by the numerous May 1940 casualties which we pass en route.
Directions to start: The Port Arthur crossroads are approximately 5km north of La Bassée on the D947 and can be found southwest of the village of Neuve Chapelle. The junction is marked by the serenity of the mature trees and the spectacular, circular Indian Memorial.
Route description: Park outside the memorial, the site of which was just behind the British front line at the southern end of the Neuve Chapelle attack by the Indian Corps on 10 March 1915. The attack here swung to the right towards the Portuguese Cemetery and faltered against uncut German wire. The memorial – designed by Sir Herbert Baker – is an imposing circular structure with a tall column flanked by two Bengal tigers on its northeastern side. The names of over 4,700 dead who have no known grave are carved into the walls; names which include two Victoria Cross recipients, Rifleman Gobar Sing Negi of 2/39 Garhwal Rifles (for actions at Neuve Chapelle on 10 March 1915) and Lieutenant William McCrae Bruce of 59/Scinde Rifles, whose award was not officially recognized until September 1919 for the leadership and bravery he displayed near Givenchy almost five years earlier, on the night of 19 December 1914.