Cimetière Militaire - Saint Etienne au mont - France
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member pmaupin
N 50° 40.162 E 001° 38.117
31U E 403561 N 5613946
[EN] Communal and Chinese military cemetery (14-18) located on the heights of Mount Saint-Etienne. [FR] Cimetière communal et militaire Chinois (14-18)situé sur les hauteurs de Saint-Etienne au mont.
Waymark Code: WMT5N8
Location: Hauts-de-France, France
Date Posted: 09/30/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member bluesnote
Views: 4

[EN] From 1916, the British army recruits of Chinese farmers for logistics tasks in its camps in France. At the end of the conflict, the men of the Chinese Labour Corps will participate in demining soil and bury the dead soldiers on the battlefield.

In the cemetery of Saint-Étienne-au-Mont, there is a square containing 168 people belonging to the quotas of foreign workers, headstones marking the graves of Chinese were engraved in Chinese characters by their compatriots.

Chineese a Labour Corps monument whose style reminds Chinese architecture is among the tombs. (An agreement was signed in December 1916 between the governments of the United Kingdom and China on the recruitment of labor from the north of the country to work in France The first companies arrived in April 1917. In the end of this month about 54,000 workers were available. this figure rose to 96,000 at the time of the Armistice of November 11, 1918. about 2,000 of them died and among the hospitals created in the war zone for the various contingents labor, one was installed in Saint-Étienne-au-Mont - the No. 2 Native Labour General Hospital.

Epitaph of the monument to Chinese workers (the same inscription is written in Chinese and English):
"In memory of Chinese workers
buried in this cemetery, Fallen
in France during the Great War
This monument was erected by their colleagues
December 1919 »

[FR] A partir de 1916, l’armée britannique recrute des paysans chinois pour les tâches logistiques dans ses camps en France. A la fin du conflit, les hommes du Chinese Labour Corps participeront au déminage des sols et à l’ensevelissement des soldats morts sur le champ de bataille.

Dans le cimetière communal de Saint-Étienne-au-Mont, on trouve un carré renfermant 168 morts qui appartenaient aux contingents d’ouvriers étrangers, les stèles marquant les tombes des Chinois furent gravées en caractère chinois par leur compatriotes.

Un monument du Chineese Labour Corps dont le style rappelle l’architecture chinoise se trouve au milieu des tombes. (Un accord fut signé en décembre 1916 entre les gouvernements du Royaume-Uni et de la Chine portant sur le recrutement de la main-d’œuvre provenant du nord de ce pays pour travailler en France. Les premières compagnies arrivèrent en avril 1917 : à la fin de ce mois environ 54.000 ouvriers furent disponibles. Ce chiffre monta à 96.000 au moment de l’Armistice du 11 novembre 1918. Environ 2.000 d’entre eux sont morts et parmi les hôpitaux créés dans la zone des armées pour les différents contingents de main-d’œuvre, un fut installé à Saint-Étienne-au-Mont – le n° 2 Native Labour General Hospital.

Épitaphe du monument aux travailleurs chinois (la même inscription est inscrite en chinois et en anglais) :
« À la mémoire des travailleurs chinois
enterrés dans ce cimetière, morts en service
en France pendant la Grande Guerre
Ce monument a été érigé par leurs confrères
décembre 1919 »
Date cemetery was established: 1/1/1919

Visiting hours:
Cimetière communal Rue Edmond Madaré 62360 SAINT-ETIENNE-AU-MONT 1 April to 30 September 8am - 7pm 1 October to March 31 8am - 6pm 1 avril au 30 septembre 8h - 19h 1 octobre au 31 mars 8h - 18h


Website pertaining to the cemetery: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Please submit a photo(s) taken by you of your visit to the location (non-copyrighted photos only). GPS photos are also accepted with the location in the background, and old vacation photos are accepted. If you are not able to provide a photo, then please describe your visit or give a story about the visit.

We would also like to hear about any of your deceased family members who may be laid to rest in the cemetery.
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pmaupin visited Cimetière Militaire - Saint Etienne au mont - France 09/29/2016 pmaupin visited it