Péronne, Somme

Péronne is a commune of the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.

It is close to where the 1916, first 1918 and second 1918 Battles of the Somme took place during the First World War.

The Museum of the Great War (known in French as the Historial de la Grande Guerre) is located in the château.

Geography

Péronne is situated in the old region of Santerre, home of the early French kings.

Hidden in the Somme valley, between lakes and huge fields of crops, the town is known as a paradise for fishing and hunting.

The autoroutes A1 and A16 pass close by. The national road, the N17, traverses the town

Demography

Motto

Urbs nescia vinci (The town that ignores defeat)

History

On a hill, dominating the Somme river and its lakes, Péronne was a well-fortified place during the early Middle Ages. The ramparts were built in the 9th century. All that remains today of the ancient fortress is the Porte de Bretagne.

Few towns have been as involved in the history of France, few towns so often devastated, as Péronne. Burned and pillaged in the time of the Normans; gravely damaged during the time of the Spanish occupation; devastated by the Germans in 1870; totally destroyed in 1917; bombarded and burned in May 1940 by the German airforce. Péronne was awarded two Croix de Guerre and the Légion d'honneur.

Somme

Somme or The Somme may refer to:

See also

French ship Somme (A631)

The Somme (A631) is a Durance class command and replenishment ship (French: Bâtiment de commandement et de ravitaillement, BCR) of the French Navy.

In addition to its primary duty as a fleet tanker, the Somme is configured as a flagship. Serving as the command vessel for the French forces participating in Operation Enduring Freedom, the Somme was attacked approximately 250 nautical miles (460 kilometres) off the Somalian coast in the night of 6 to 7 October 2009 by two motorboats of Somalian pirates who mistook the Somme for a civilian ship. The Somme repelled the assault rifle attack without sustaining damage or casualties and captured five of the pirates.

External links

References

River Somme

The Somme is a river in Picardy, northern France. The name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning “tranquility”. The department Somme was named after this river.

The river is 245 km (152 mi) long, from its source in the high ground of the former Forest of Arrouaise at Fonsommes near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geological syncline which also forms the Solent. This gives it a fairly constant and gentle gradient where several fluvial terraces have been identified.

Historical events