Monchy-le-Preux

Monchy-le-Preux
Stone marking the limit of the German advance in World War I
Monchy-le-Preux
Location within Hauts-de-France region  Monchy-le-Preux
Coordinates: 50°16′14″N 2°53′39″E / 50.2706°N 2.8942°E / 50.2706; 2.8942Coordinates: 50°16′14″N 2°53′39″E / 50.2706°N 2.8942°E / 50.2706; 2.8942
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Arras
Canton	Vitry-en-Artois
Intercommunality	Communauté urbaine d'Arras
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Michel Zéchel
Area1	9.26 km2 (3.58 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	518
• Density	56/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	62582 / 62118
Elevation	52–113 m (171–371 ft) (avg. 107 m or 351 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Monchy-le-Preux is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Geography

Monchy-le-Preux is situated 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Arras, at the junction of the D33 and the D339 roads. Junction 15 of the A1 autoroute is just a mile away.

History

Monchy was an important strategic position near to Arras during the 1914-18 war and bloody fighting ensued around the village. It was from here that the Germans bombarded Arras and destroyed the belltower. Just outside Monchy, on the D939, a carved Vauthier Stone marks the boundary of the advancing German army during the First World War.

Population

Places of interest

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery.
• The church of St.Martin, rebuilt along with much of the village, after World War I.
• Monchy-le-Preux (Newfoundland) Memorial commemorating the sacrifice of the soldiers of the Newfoundland Regiment on 14 April 1917.
• Two chapels.
• Remains of an old chateau.

• 

  The caribou monument to the Newfoundland Regiment

• 

  The commemorative plaque

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

• INSEE commune file

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monchy-le-Preux.

• The CWGC cemetery
• Monchy-le-Preux on the Quid website (French)