Improvised British sign, 'TEA ROOM' : Strazeele, France

Place Europe: France, Nord Pas de Calais, Nord, Strazeele
Accession Number RELAWM00777
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Heraldry
Physical description Cardboard, Wood
Maker Unknown
Place made Western Front
Date made c 1914-1918
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Improvised sign constructed from a wooden plank. The front is painted black with off white stencilled letters 'TEA ROOM'. There is a single large nail hole located centrally on the sign and one small nail hole located on the left and right hand edges of the sign. The edges are slightly bevelled and there are some small chips in the paint.

The reverse of the sign is untreated and has an inscription, hand written in black ink. 'BOARD FROM MAIN STREET IN STRAZEELE TAKEN FROM WALL OF TEA ROOM AFTER BOMBARDMENT April 17 1918. C.E.W. Bean'. 'AWM 777' is hand written in pencil on the reverse. There is also a sticker with the original Australian War Records Section accession number '1283' written in graphite pencil with two lines drawn through it with 'AWM 777' written on the sticker.

History / Summary

This notice board was collected from the wall of a building in the main street of Strazeele, France by Official War Correspondent CEW Bean after the German bombardments of 17 April 1918.

At 3 am a short but intense bombardment fell on Strazeele and 6 hours later a tremendous barrage came down on the sector held by the 1st Brigade. The barrage missed the front lines but farms and villages in the area suffered severely. The crossroads at Strazeele were reduced to a crater field while the village and railway to the south were destroyed.

At 10 am, using the barrage as cover, the Germans attacked but were repulsed with heavy losses. Soon after midday the German artillery fire died down and the front became quiet until 3.30 pm when the shelling recommenced. Two hours later the Germans again attacked the 1st Division's position but suffered heavy losses at the hands of Australian artillery, trench mortars, rifles and machine gun fire.