Wellington Quarry in Arras _ Photo Cituation et Ensemble

Wellington Quarry in Arras : wartime memories

An underground site filled with memories and emotion: visit the Wellington Quarry and share the experience of thousands of soldiers who were stationed below ground before the terrible 9^th April 1917 offensive.

"Arras, a ghost town...20m below ground discover how the soldiers lived in the quarries during the week before the 1917 spring offensive. Then, like them, come out of this shelter and via a film, discover the shock that was the
9^th April Battle of Arras." The first words that you will hear during your audio-guided and accompanied tour of the Wellington Quarry invite you to begin an amazing seventy-five minute visitor experience. Just a few hundred metres from Arras Railway Station, the famous surprise offensive of 9^th April 1917 against the German positions was prepared, and then launched at 5.30am. Thousands of soldiers were stationed in the former chalk quarries that date back to the Middle Ages, and which were linked up by New Zealand tunnelers.