main description

Ethe is a village among the most ravaged by the Battles of the 22nd of August 1914.

additional description

Ethe is a village among the most ravaged by the Battles of the 22nd of August 1914. The 7th French Division was surprized by a thick fog at 5 AM, and they lost agreat number of men. 5200 officers, NCOs, or soldiers died, were injured or missing. The infantrymen from the 103rd and 104th infantry divisions, the horse riders from the 14th hussards, the artillerymen from the 26th artillery regiment suffered very much. It was then normal to establish a cemetery near the battle fields. The French military cemetery is located near the estate and the castle of LACLAIREAU down the ancient railway. There are 325 graves of French soldiers from the 103rd and 104th I.R., some hussards and some artillerymen from the 26th regiment inside it. After the war, towards 1920, the French Government organized the rapatriation of the soldiers who died in Belgium. A great number of soldiers who died in ETHE now lye in their native villages. A fact that is unique in this area is that every 22nd of August, flowers are put on every grave of Laclaireau. Every family of ETHE puts flowers on a grave. Mrs BRUON, chairwoman of the sponsorship of the French graves and her husband Camille take great care about this flower-hommage. The entry of the cemetery is impressive with a rotunda where the officers are burried. An altar made of stone was used to celebrate the mass on anniversary days