Noreuil

Noreuil
Noreuil
Commune
	The town hall of Noreuil
	Location of Noreuil
	Noreuil Noreuil
	Coordinates: 50°10′17″N 2°56′07″E / 50.1714°N 2.9353°E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Arras
Canton	Bapaume
Intercommunality	CC Sud-Artois
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Jean-Paul Boussemard
Area 1	4.79 km2 (1.85 sq mi)
Population (2021)	137
• Density	29/km2 (74/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	62619 /62128
Elevation	72–110 m (236–361 ft) ; (avg. 80 m or 260 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Noreuil is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Geography

Noreuil is situated 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Arras, on the D5 road.

Population

Population history
1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
136	143	128	135	117	114	126
Census count starting from 1962: Population without duplicates

History

World War One

In 1917 it was the location of fighting during World War I. In early 1917, General John Gellibrand, acting commander of the 2nd Division, advanced as he suspected that the Germans were withdrawing. Gellibrand's advance began well but ended with a disastrous, ill-planned and ill-executed "unauthorised" attack on Noreuil.

On the morning of 2 April 1917, the village was attacked by the 50th and 51st Battalions, with the 49th and 52nd in support. Danish-born Australian Private Jørgen Christian Jensen of the 50th Battalion was awarded the Victoria Cross for the part he played. A Distinguished Service Order (and his first of two) was awarded to then-Major Noel Medway LOUTIT, an original ANZAC, who 'relieved the pressure' during these operations by working his way partly around the enemy flank and inflicting significant effective opposition. He continued in assisting and re-organising the front line under considerable hostile machine gun fire.

On 15 April 1917 the Germans launched a major counter-attack against the Australians at Lagnicourt-Marcel. Robert Smith, at his headquarters in a ruined house in Noreuil, about 1500 metres from Lagnicourt, directed the defeat of the German counter-attack. For his efforts in that engagement Smith was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Order (DSO).^[2]

Noreuil is close to Bullecourt, the southern end of the battlefront for the Battle of Arras.

Noreuil Park in Albury, New South Wales, Australia, is named in dedication to the men of the 13th battery, 5th field artillery brigade.

Places of interest

The twentieth century church of St.Brice, rebuilt after World War I
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Australian cemetery.

References

INSEE commune file

^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ Mallett, Ross (2001). "Brigadier General Robert Smith". Australian Defence Force Academy. Archived from the original on 2007-06-02. Retrieved 2007-01-19.

External links

The Australian CWGC cemetery

This Arras arrondissement, Pas-de-Calais geographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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[popleg2021-1] "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.

[2] Mallett, Ross (2001). "Brigadier General Robert Smith". Australian Defence Force Academy. Archived from the original on 2007-06-02. Retrieved 2007-01-19.

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