Reginald A Mines

My grandfather, on my mother's side, served in France during WW1. His brother also served and died in the war. (My aunt said he was shot by a sniper). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists information about all war graves. A few years back I found his entry on the web site.

This year I rented a car so I could drive from Brussels while de-jetlagging for FOSDEM. Beuvry is about a 2 hour drive from Brussels. Since my plane was late I made it to a larger town nearby called Bethune and stayed in a hotel near the center of town. I found a french looking restaurant on the "Grand Place" and had dinner and went to bed. The next morning I took a look around town and stopped by the tourist office for things to do. There were some interesting looking tunnels near Arras and a blockhouse used for V1 and V2 production.

I quickly found the cemetery and the grave.


Then I headed toward Arras. I stopped at the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge. I poked around the area where they had some restored trenches and a small museum. Parts of the area are closed off due to un-exploded ordinance. Even after all these years you can see the outlines of the trenches and craters left from the war.

Finally, I made it to Arras. Since it was not obvious where the tunnels were and it was late I found a sandwhich and headed back to Brussels.