17/10/2026
🇫🇷 Le 17 octobre 1918, le Pas-de-Calais est libéré.
L’Offensive des Cent Jours repousse de plus en plus les troupes allemandes vers le Nord et la Belgique. Après 4 années d’occupation allemande, tout le Pas-de-Calais est libéré.
Malheureusement, le retour à la vie des villes et villages n’est pas encore possible. Les communes situées sur l’ancienne ligne de front et dont les ruines avaient été fortifiées et aménagées pour le repos des soldats sont complétement dévastées.
Plusieurs compagnies de travailleurs étrangers, en grande partie venues de Chine, sont engagées par les armées française et britannique dès 1915 pour aider à la reconstruction des voies ferrées, des quais maritimes et des routes de communication. 🇨🇳
Le nettoyage du front et des tranchées n’est pas encore possible. La reconstruction des villes par les habitants se fera après la guerre car tous les moyens logistiques et humains sont utilisés pour les derniers combats.
La guerre est bientôt terminée mais le retour à la vie normale est encore bien loin.
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🇬🇧 On 17th October 1918, the Pas-de-Calais department was liberated.
During the Hundred Days Offensive, the German troops were driven back towards Belgium and the North of France. After 4 years under German occupation, the whole Pas-de-Calais department was finally liberated.
However, this did not mean that the inhabitants could come back to their villages just yet. Cities which were previously on the front line were completely destroyed, and their ruins had been fortified and modified to accommodate the troops during their rest.
Several companies of foreign workers, most of whom were Chinese, were recruited by the French and British armies from 1915 onwards to help rebuild railways, quays and the main roads. 🇨🇳
Cleaning the front line and the trenches was not yet possible, and neither was the reconstruction of cities by their inhabitants. This would take place after the war, as people and resources were still being used for the last battles.
The war was nearly over, but the return to a normal life was still a long way off.
©IWM