Arras

The town of Arras has an interesting display in the centre - boards with photos and information about people from all over the world who made a difference in Arras during WW1. It added a completeness missing elsewhere (the Palingbeek guide book talked of "nature removing the signs of the war", with no mention of Chinese and African labourers and the work of German POW's after the war ended).

All the boards say "merci!" at the bottom -  thank you to those who fought for, protected, liberated and rebuilt the area. Except for one - the board showing  German soldiers.

I ask then - was it misplaced to put "merci" on any? Or to have a board with Germans on? Or is it right that even 100 years on we point a finger of blame in one place?

The origins of WW1 are many and various. For me, to remember in ways that reduce the march to war in future, would be to remember the ways in which many nations were part of the march in the years up to 1914 - including France, and Britain, and Russia, and Germany, and Austria-Hungary, and Turkey, and Belgium and more.