La Targette Czechoslovakian Cemetery and Memorial to the Czechoslovakian who died fighting for France in the Great War
La Targette Czechoslovakian Cemetery and Memorial was opened on the site of the original hamlet of La Targette near Neuville Saint-Vaast to commemorate the offensive of the 10th French Army in Artois on May 9, 1915. The soldiers buried in La Targette were volunteers who lived in France & abroad & served in the French Foreign Legion The Association of the Czechoslovakian Volunteers of France was created after the war. Ten years after the battle, the association decided to erect a monument to all the Czechs and Slovaks killed during WWI. The Memorial was created by Jaroslav Hruska and unveiled on May 31, 1925. The front of the Memorial is engraved with the following epitaph: “Ils ont choisi de mourir pour la Liberté – They chose to die for Liberty” The rear is engraved with “Ici le 9 Mai 1915 les Volontaires Tchécoslovaques ont combattu pour leur patrie et pour la France – Here on 9 may 1915 Czechoslovakian Volunteers fought for their fatherland and for France.” The same inscription in Czech is placed above the list of the names of the soldiers without a known grave. In 1938 the president of the Association proposed the creation of La Targette Czechoslovakian Cemetery, a project that was approved by the mayor of Neuville Saint-Vaast (who was then the president of the French Federation of Veterans Affairs) and had the support of the Head of the French Mission in Czechoslovakia from 1919 to 1938. Twenty-four lime trees brought from Czechoslovakia were planted the same year, but sadly WWII halted the development of the cemetery. It was not until 1958 that the Association of Czechoslovakian Volunteers was able to create the cemetery to provide a dignified burial to their Dead. 206 graves (70 from WWI and 136 from WWII including 19 airmen) from 73 municipal and military cemeteries scattered in 38 departments were successively brought to La Targette. The official opening of the cemetery took place on 19 May 1963 and the last burials were transferred in 1970
Size: 5252px × 3751px
Location: La Targette Neuville-St. Vaaste, France
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1915, artois, association, battle, bohemian, cemetery, cross, czechoslovakian, foreign, france, french, great, hruska, jaroslav, la, legion, memorial, military, neuville, remembrance, sacrifice, saint-vaast, targette, tchécoslovaques, volunteers, war
