A Service of Re-Dedication for the Memorials to the 46th (North Midlands) Division at Bellenglise on the Hindenburg Line 12-13 March 2011

The Memorials to the 46th (North Midlands) Division: at Vermelles to commemorate the Division's attack on the Hohenzollern Reboubt in October 1915; and the small plaque on the wall of Gommecourt New British Cemetery to commemorate the attack on 1st July 1916 are well known.

Students of "the Last 100 Hundred Days" and readers of Bill Mitchinson's Pen & Sword BGE book on the Hindenburg Line - Riqueval may also know of the Division's' memorial on the high ground above Bellenglise to commemorate the Breaking of the Hindenburg Line in September 1918, and be aware of the iconic photograph of Brigadier JV Campbell VC addressing 137 (Staffordshire) Brigade standing on the bank of the St Quentin Canal. On a visit in July last year, a group of the Staffordshire Regiment Association noted the neglected state of that memorial, and thanks to a generous benefactor, the memorial has now been refurbished under the supervision of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

A Service of Re-Dedication, led by the Bishop of Stafford will take place on Sunday 13th March, at which representatives and Standards of the South and North Staffordshire Regiments (137 Brigade) will attend, and it is hoped of 138 (Lincoln and Leicesters) and 139 (Foresters) Brigades.

The obelisk is on the N 44 St Quentin - Cambrai road, about 10 km north of St Quentin.

On Saturday 12 March Guild member John Cotterill will be guiding a free battlefield tour of the breaking of the Hindenburg Line between 10.30am and 1.30 pm. The RV is the Bridge at Riqueval. The tour will be by coach and car convoy which anyone is welcome to join.