"Albert Cathedral" [ASE Label]
Photographic Image
Identifier:
2016.3.1.2-66
Description
[Photograph of the Basilica Notre-Dame de Brebrières at the end of the war. Also known as the Albert Cathedral, it became an important landmark during the Great War. The tower of the basilica was crowned with a golden figure of the Virgin Mary. As a result of German shell fire in 1916, the statue was struck and was leaning past the horizontal. The leaning Virgin became a familiar landmark for soldiers who fought in the Battle of Somme in 1916. A popular legend amongst soldiers held that whichever side was responsible for the falling of the statue would lose the war. In 1918, the golden statue fell to British fire when the Allies tried to recapture the town in March, 1918.]