Bois de Wallieux: A Somber Reminder of the Great War

The Bois de Wallieux, situated in the commune of Soyécourt, stands as a stark reminder of the brutal fighting that occurred during World War I. This area was on the front lines since 1914, with Soyécourt held by the Germans and the neighboring village of Foucaucourt-en-Santerre under French control. The French army recaptured the woods on July 4, 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, and the village itself on September 4 after fierce combat. In 1998, the Conseil Général de la Somme developed the Bois de Wallieux to allow visitors to explore the remains of the 1916 battles. Here, one can still see the remnants of trenches, shell craters, dugouts and wells. At the heart of the woods is a sculpture by Ernest Pignon-Ernest titled "L'autre côté des arbres" (The Other Side of the Trees), featuring a series of severed, shredded tree trunks symbolizing destruction and death. Pignon-Ernest explained that he was struck by the impossibility of representing the human body, as if the scale of violence inflicted upon it was beyond depiction. Today, marked and secured paths guide visitors through the site, allowing them to reflect on the events that transpired here. Explanatory panels provide context and information about the battles that took place. The site is part of the Circuit of Remembrance of the First World War.