This morning we visited the Town Hall in the centre of Bapaume. To our amazement they let us in to the main council chamber, which was in session, to see a famous painting by Armand Dumarescq, dated 1883. This depicts General Faidherbe in the town square of Biefvilliers de Bapaume welcoming his troops. On the 2nd and 3rd January 1871 the village was the scene of fighting in temperetaures of -18C!
At the beginning of 1919 when people started to return to their houses in Bapaume they found everything had been destroyed. An appeal for funds was raised and the UK responded. The people of Sheffield paid for and erected a number of houses, some of which still stand today and which are known locally as the Sheffield Houses!
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