Location 2 – Ablain St Nazaire

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Directions – Continue west past the cemetery on your right and take the next left down the hill signposted to Ablain St Nazaire. Turn left at the bottom and park next to the ruined church on the left.

The village of Ablain St Nazaire as seen from Notre Dame de Lorette. The ruins of the abbey at Mont St Eloi can just be identified on the horizon to the far right. Photo: Mark Sluman. Click on image for full size (622 KB).

The battle-scarred church of Ablain St Nazaire. Photo: Mark Sluman. Click on image for full size (786 KB).

Historical Notes – As with Carency to the south-west and Souchez to the east, German engineers turned Ablain into a veritable fortress to take the force out of any French attack on the heights of Vimy or Notre Dame de Lorette. Groups of houses were turned into individual strongpoints packed with machine guns and their cellars used to shelter the garrison. The assault on Ablain began on May 12th 1915, during the Second Battle of Artois, immediately after the fall of Carency and its fate was closely linked with the fighting on the heights to the north. The struggle lasted until 29th May when the French at forced their way into the final remaining strongpoint.

Today the village stands rebuilt but the ruins of the church, constructed in the 16th Century by the Lord of Carency, remain as a reminder of the terrible 1915 fighting.