Musée Jean et Denise Letaille, Bullecourt 1917: Not High-Techy but Top-of-the-Line

Bullecourt 1917  is a French museum located in Bullecourt about 12 miles southeast of Arras. Two major attacks by British and Australian forces were mounted nearby as part of the broader Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917. At the end of the battle, the Allies retained a small part of the Hindenburg Line, but it was of no tactical significance. Seventeen thousand Allied soldiers perished in the two Battles of Bullecourt. The British Army subsequently focused its attention on the battles in Flanders for the remainder of 1917.

For more than 30 years, the former mayor of Bullecourt, M. Jean Letaille OAM, and his wife Denise collected weapons, machinery, and other war relics left behind in nearby fields by Australian, British, and German soldiers during the war. While he was mayor, Jean created a small museum in the town hall to display many of these items, before relocating them to his barn and stable in 1995.

For many years, Jean and Denise warmly welcomed thousands of visitors, particularly Australians, whose ancestors fought at Bullecourt during the war. Sadly, Jean passed away in March 2012 and Denise a few years earlier. Before his death, Jean donated his unique collection and part of his property to the local community to allow for the major redevelopment of the museum in 2011–2012. The project was jointly funded by both the French authority, the Conseil Régional Nord-Pas de Calais, and the Australian Government. The updated museum officially opened on Anzac Day 2012.

The refurbished museum retains the structural features of the original barn and stable. However, the interior has been converted to accommodate modernized displays. The current "look," however, is much in the spirit of those old-fashioned types of military museums that prioritized presenting a lot of interesting stuff. Bullecourt 1917 does provide audio guides in French and English but generally eschews the interactive stations, multimedia technology, and immersive gadgets embraced by other military museums.

About the Surrounding Battlefields:

Over the years, we have published a number of articles touching on the fighting around Bullecourt.  Click HERE to access those articles.  If you visit Bullecourt, plan on spending the better part of a day visiting the museum, the battlefield sites, the memorials on the battlefield and in-town, and the cemeteries at nearby Écoust-Saint-Mein.

Finding Musée Jean et Denise Letaille, Bullecourt 1917:

Located via rue d’Arras, Bullecourt

Open from Tuesday to Sunday, 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.

October to March and 10.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and

1.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. April to September.

Sources:  The Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs; Arras & Artois; Google Maps