Achiet-le-Grand

Achiet-le-Grand (French pronunciation: [aʃjɛ lə ɡʁɑ̃]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.

Geography

A farming village located 12 miles (19 km) south of Arras, at the D7 and D9 road junction. The SNCF railway has a station here.

History

Achiet-le-Grand is on the Paris–Lille railway. In 1871 it got a secondary rail connection to Bapaume, later extended to form the Achiet–Marcoing railway.

The commune was involved in the theatre of operations of the Battle of Bapaume (1871), during the Franco-Prussian War.

The village was twinned with Kings Langley in Hertfordshire, England in November 2009, in honour of Christopher Cox VC from that village who won a Victoria Cross in fighting near Achiet-le-Grand in World War I.

Population

Sights

• The church of St.John, dating from the twentieth century.
• A World War I cemetery.

See also

Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

External links

• The World War I cemetery
• South Africans buried in Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension
• A personal website about Achiet-le-Grand
• Achiet-le-Grand during WW1
• Official communal website (fr)