Place:Béthune, Béthune, Pas-de-Calais, France

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NameBéthune
Alt namesBéthunesource: Getty Vocabulary Program
TypeCommune
Coordinates50.533°N 2.633°E
Located inBéthune, Pas-de-Calais, France     (1100 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Béthune ( ; archaic and Bethwyn historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Hugh Hastings (died 1347), King Edward III of England's captain and lieutenant in Flanders, mounted an attack and laid siege to Béthune, with a combined English and Flemish force, during a diversionary raid as part of Chevauchée of Edward III of 1346. After religious persecution, the of Bethune's inhabitants moved to Scotland, where some still live today. They then went to North Carolina, USA to hope for a better life in farming. The Flemish component proved undisciplined and the siege was abandoned in failure before the end of August.

During the War of the Spanish Succession in July–August 1710, Béthune was besieged by forces of the Grand Alliance. The town eventually surrendered after a vigorous defence conducted by Antoine de Vauban (1654-1731), a relative of the famous military engineer Vauban.


In World War I, Béthune was an important railway junction and command centre for the British Canadian Corps and Indian Expeditionary Force, as well as the 33rd Casualty Station until December 1917. It initially suffered little damage until the second phase of the Ludendorff Offensive in April 1918, when German forces reached Locon, away. On 21 May, a bombardment destroyed large parts of the town, killing more than 100 civilians. Over 3,200 casualties are buried in Béthune Town Cemetery, the Commonwealth section of which was designed by Edwin Lutyens; the majority are British (2,933) or Canadian (55), the remainder German.

Rebuilt after the war, Béthune was badly damaged once more by air attacks and house to house fighting on 24–26 May 1940 when it was captured by the SS Panzer Division Totenkopf. The Totenkopf suffered heavy casualties and anger at their losses allegedly played a role in the Le Paradis massacre on 27 May, when 97 members of the Royal Norfolk Regiment were shot after surrendering. During the war, many townspeople were deported to work in Germany; the town was officially liberated on 4 September 1944.

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