Beautiful and informative photo essay on the clearing in a French woods where the Armistice was signed ending the First World War (aka “The Great War” and, sadly, ironically, “The War to End All Wars”).
100 years ago
the armistice of the first world war
was signed here
The Armistice that brought to an end of the greatest war in history,
was signed on November 11, 1918,
on this exact spot in the forest of Compiègne.
The clearing did not exist at that time
and the full-grown trees were so thick
that aerial observation was impossible.
The two railway tracks that ran across here
were part of a gunnery rail system branching off from Rethondes station
a mile away and could be used for heavy gun platforms.
The train bringing the German plenipotentiaries from Tergnier,
where they had boarded it after driving from La Capelle,
arrived at day-break on November 8…
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Katherine Wikoff 