FFI Memorial
Erected in 1951, this monument pays tribute to the 38 victims of the fight for Liberation in September 1944.
It was inaugurated by General de Gaulle on 2 September 1951 and is situated just a few metres from where, on 5 September 1944, the resistants and hostages were shot dead.
The submission to enemy occupation and the brutality of the fight for liberation must be set against the heroic acts of the local Resistance fighters led by Jules Houcke who had been mayor of Nieppe since 1939.
This war was to arouse the passionate patriotism of the Nieppe population, making the town one of the most active centres of resistance in the region.
Nieppe was liberated, like the rest of the region, in September 1944, but the fight for Liberation ended tragically. Once the Germans had carried out their fast mission - to blow up the bridge over the Lys- they left the town on the morning of 6 September, leaving behind them the carnage of 20 resistance fighters and 18 hostages shot dead.
Nieppe was commended in the Army order, by General Koenig, and was awarded the 1939-1945 War Cross with palms.