Gazetteer of the Western Front: Quinconce

An unusual place name: a quinconce is a geometric arrangement of five points, with four forming a square or rectangle and the fifth in the centre, like the 5 on a die. These days, the French term appears to be used for any similar geometric arrangement of dots. The Quinconce of this article is now a part of the enlarged Somme town of Péronne, but at the time of the Great War lay outside it.

This is from a map from February 1917. It illustrate the location of Le Quinconce, north of Péronne. It lay on ground that rose gently north-eastwards from Péronne, up towards a height at Mont St. Quentin.

The area shown above was a wooded pleasure park, laid out in the 1890s including tennis courts and gardens. The Albert-Ham metre-gauge railway line, part of the Réseau Albert which was itself part of the Chemins de fer départementaux de la Somme, opened in 1899 and ran near the rear of the park. There was a small station (arrêt) called Le Quinconce, and a spur ran of the main line some 0.7km to the sugar beet works at Saint-Denis.

Postcard view thanks to Delcampe. The park was a short walk from the town centre and not far from the communal cemetery.

Postcard view thanks to Cartorum. The kiosk (shelter) in the park.

The area fell into German hands on 24 September 1914 and for some time was in the rear of the front line of the Somme sector. The Franco-British advance in the 1916 Battle of the Somme edged the front closer to Quinconce. It was French forces that reached the area, and the British took over this part of the line after the battle had died down. The line shown on this map marks the front line position on 31 December 1916. The Quinconce area became close enough behind the German front to be within British artillery range.

I have not traced what happened to Quinconce during German occupation 1914-1917. If you have information about this, please let me know. Maps show trenches running northeastwards from the park towards Mont St. Quentin. They were called (by the British) “Uber Alles Trench” and “Gott Mit Uns Trench”.

British forces reached Quinconce when they pursued the German withdrawal from the Somme to the Hindenburg Line in the spring of 1917. At this time, it was the British III Corps that was on this front.

The staff at III Corps headquarters noted at 12.40pm on 18 March 1917 that a patrol from 48th (South Midland) Division had entered Quinconce and found the enemy gone. The division reported it as a clear, fine day and that the patrols reached Péronne at 7.15am. The advance continued and within a short time Quinconce was in the rear behind the British front.

Among other developments while it was in British hands, the army began to use cemetery.

Map of Quinqonce — Among many other works in this region, the British converted portions of the Albert-Ham line to standard gauge and built new spurs and narrow-gauge tracks. This map clearly shows a loop running through the woods of the Quinconce, past the communal cemetery.

On 13 February 1918, 7th Canadian Railway Troops left Flanders for the first time, and moved to this area. This was to work on a 3.4 mile double light track stretch from Quinconce to Clery and 4.1 miles of single light track from Quinconce to Tincourt. Work was also undertaken on 2 miles of Haute Allaines to Quinconce line.

At some point, part of the wooded area acqired the name of Anvil Wood.

The Quinconce area was recaptured by the Germans on 23 March 1918 as their advance quickly progressed during the Operation “Michael” offensive (First Battles of the Somme, 1918). By the end of that day, the British 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division had fallen back through the area and taken up a line on the far side of the Somme at Biaches. Quinconce then remained behind the German lines once again.

British official history. The British Armies began to strike back in the “Hundred Days Offensive” which began with the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918. By late August, 2nd Australian Division had reached the Somme facing Péronne. It prepared to continue operations with a river crossing and advance to secure the key high ground of Mont St. Quentin.

AWM photograph E03210 is captioned “A general view of Mont St Quentin from the south. A corner of Quinconce Cemetery is seen on the left. The country beyond the railway, running across the centre of the picture, was that advanced over during the renewed attack of 21st, 23rd and 24th Battalions, at 1.30 pm on 1 September 1918”. The Quinconce park lies off the left hand edge of this image.

A postcard image with thanks to Archives de la Somme. The cross on the left can be traced to be Pte 2631 Frederick James Chappell, 56th Australian Infantry, who died on 1 September 1918 and lies in what is now known as Péronne Communal Cemetery Extension. The tall cross being studied by the soldier is to the officers, NCOs and men of that battalion and was erected by their comrades. On 21 September 1918 the 53rd Battalion held a memorial parade at Quinconce.

The sequence from around 01:47 in this AWM film clip is of the ceremony.

As the allied advance continued until it was halted by the Armistice of 11 November 1918, Quinconce fell further and further behind the front and once again became something of a backwater.

A post-war image with thanks to Delcampe. The village of temporary housing that was developed; the start of much expansion of Péronne into the town that we see today. La rue de la Liberté was given to the lane that ran along the southwestern side of Quinconce and is still known by that name today.

Present day map of Quinconce — A present-day map of Péronne. The word Quinconce appears but other than for the cemetery and the layout of the main roads, it bears little resemblance to the way it was before war reached this area in September 1914. The Albert-Ham railway line was closed in 1949 and there is no trace of it today.

Links

Other places in the Gazetteer of the Western Front

More in the Gazetteer of the Western Front: Biaches