Footsteps of WWII · Dunkirk & the Channel coast
La Plaine au Bois massacre memorial, Esquelbecq (Wormhout)
Memorial · 28 May 1940
The story
On 28 May 1940 British units held Wormhout to cover the retreat to Dunkirk: the 2nd Royal Warwickshire Regiment, the 4th Cheshire Regiment and 210 Battery of the 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment. After they were overrun by the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, about 95 prisoners were herded into a cowshed at La Plaine au Bois and killed with grenades and gunfire. A handful survived, among them Privates Bert Evans and Arthur Johnson and Gunner Brian Fahey. Post-war testimony blamed Wilhelm Mohnke, who denied it and was never tried; he died in 2001.
What to look for
A replica of the barn stands in the fields, reached by a path lined with 80 beech trees. Nearby are a stele inaugurated on 28 May 2010 to the Allied and civilian dead of Wormhout, Ledringhem and Esquelbecq, and an orientation table explaining the fighting. A separate memorial stands on the D17.
Plan your visit
Free, open access. Address: Rue des Dunkirk Veterans, Esquelbecq. A €2 trail leaflet covering Esquelbecq, Ledringhem and Wormhout is sold by Terre de Flandre Tourisme; group guided tours in English on request.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Dunkirk Memorial and Town Cemetery (CWGC) · 17 km
- Blockhaus d'Éperlecques · 19 km
- Dunkirk 1940 Museum (Bastion 32) · 19 km
- Malo-les-Bains evacuation beach, Dunkirk · 19 km
- Fort des Dunes, Leffrinckoucke · 19 km
- East Mole (Jetée de l'Est), Dunkirk · 20 km
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