Bapaume, whose population numbered about 3,000 inhabitants before the
war, was systematically and totally destroyed in 1917. Not a house was
spared. Those which were not hit by the shells, were either mined or
burnt. All the works, factories, sugar-refineries, tanneries and public
buildings were ruined. When the British entered the town, the streets
were blocked with rubbish of all kinds. Traces of the tar, by means
of which the fires had been lit, were still visible on the partially
burnt timber-work. Here, as everywhere else, the destructions had been
preceded by methodical pillaging.
The bombardments and fighting of 1918 completed the destruction of the
town, which, to-day, is entirely in ruins.
[Illustration: ST. NICOLAS CHURCH, BEFORE THE WAR.]
[Illustration: BAPAUME. RUINS OF ST. NICOLAS CHURCH AND BARRACKS.]