I found this photo yesterday and thought I'd share it with the hope that the message will get through that WW1 sites can be demolished if nobody protests or is aware of any impending clearance.

Gunner Bailey

Gunner absolutely agree, I remember driving past the barn once and happy to recognise it frim Rosie Coombes BEF. Shocked to hear later as one of the very few archaelogical sites and signs still in situ it had been flattened.
An even gretaer act of vandalism i felt was the sudden demolition of the remains of the Red Chateau at Villers Brettoneux. true it had been a shell since 24th April 1918 when it burnt through the night illuminating the Australiian ( and British see below) night attack to retake the town . So it stood there for another 80 years until it was suddenly declared unsafe and demolished virtually over night, Surprisingly the site was wanted for a supermarket!!
I know we cannot preserve in aspic, whatevet that might be, the entire remaining 1914-18 area and battlefields but these sudden demoltions reek of insensitivity , ofetn driven by a glaring profit motive! SG

Thanks for the response on this one. It should have been possible to preserve the appropriate area of brickwork. In various museums I've seen original walls moved to safety. There's certainly one in the Caen musuem.

Obviously nobody locally cared and those that cared were kept in the dark.

Gunner Bailey

I remeber reading an article at the time which reported some attempt to persuade those responsible not to demolish it (was it in Stand To?) - can anyone remeber where the article was published?
Fusilier 11

I can remember a picnic my wife and I had in front of the Red Chateau and how after the picnic we gave apples to three very fine looking horses who ambled around from in back. So very sad indeed to hear that it is gone. Cheers, Bill

Thank you for sharing the foto. I suppose like many others I assumed that such an iconic building was beyond consideration for demolition. Rose Coomb's foto of it in her 'Before Endeavors Fade' is one of the book's most moving images. And now it is gone? It's too much to take in! I remember some years back, on the eve of the 50th anniversay of the D-Day Landings, the French replaced with a new concrete roadway the original WW2 vintage Bailey bridge at Pegasus Bridge. It upset many who had assumed that, like International Corner, it was sacrosant. Your point is taken; nothing is sacred unless we voice our concerns. Thanks and cheers, Bill

Thanks for your comments Bill. Sadly we always seem to be wise after the event. This seems to affect so many interests be it historic sites or objects. The moral must be if you want to keep it - fight for it.

Gunner Bailey

After a bit of googling for a pic of the Red Chateau I came across this very informative website about its rise and fall.
Click here...

Roel

Thanks Roel for the link to the Red Chateau website. Cheers, Bill