Subsequent History of the Thiepval Memorial and the Legacy of Lutyens in Northern France

Subsequent History of the Thiepval Memorial and the Legacy of Lutyens in Northern France , Thiepval was occupied again by the Germans between 1940 and 1944. But the Memorial survived without damage. Over 80 years the Memorial has evolved, carefully maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (whose name was changed from Imperial in 1960). The construction of a staircase in the 1960s leading down to the Franco-British cemeteries was in the true spirit of Lutyens. The pink bricks originally favoured by Lutyens did not fare well in the Somme climate. They had to be refaced, first in 1952-5, then again from 1973, with harder but more practical red bricks. The walls enclosing the greensward were lowered and those forming the rond-point removed completely. The concealed rain-water drains designed by Lutyens proved to be faulty in conception and required constant attention from the CWGC. Today the Memorial is enclosed by trees that have once again grown tall. It continues to provide a profoundly moving setting for the annual service of remembrance to the Battle of the Somme on 1 July., Among the many superb memorials and innumerable cemeteries of astonishing variety created by the Principal Architects and their assistants. Lutyens, the supreme genius of the era, was responsible for some of the most important in France, Ireland, India, throughout England and elsewhere. Apart from his monumental memorials as illustrated his key cemeteries in Northern France which should be visited include Monchy, La Neuville, Croisilles and Daours. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission in conjunction with Michelin provides a useful map for exploration., Captions , Thiepal Memorial at Sundown, Memorial cleaning ,