This text was translated automatically from French.

Great War1046–1916 (memorial unveiled in 2011)Verified

Frégicourt, the lost village

A former commune destroyed and never rebuilt

Frégicourt is one of the most unusual chapters in local history. It was once a separate commune and parish, right next to Combles. Its existence is recorded as early as 1046, making it one of the oldest settlements in the area. In 1834, Frégicourt was officially merged into Combles. During the First World War the village was completely destroyed. Unlike Combles, it was not rebuilt after the war: its name lives on in the landscape, in local memory and in historical documents. A memorial unveiled in 2011 now commemorates the lost village. Local tradition and secondary sources also suggest that a statue of Saint Brice from the old church of Frégicourt was kept in Saint-Vaast Church in Combles; this would be worth confirming through a heritage or parish inventory.

Sources

Wikipédia — Frégicourt ; tradition locale à recouper.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9gicourt

Further reading

Today

Combles today

The population of Combles never returned to its 19th-century level. Today the commune has around 750 inhabitants.

Great War / memory today

Did you know? The parish register saved from the ruins

A Combles parish register from 1784 is said to have been recovered from the ruins of the town hall during the war, before being returned to the Somme archives in 2004.

Second World War

Combles in the Second World War

The history of Combles does not end with the reconstruction: the village was once again under German occupation from 1940 to 1945.

Reconstruction

Reconstruction and remembrance

After the Armistice, Combles was among the hardest-hit villages of the Upper Somme. The reconstruction of the 1920s reshaped the village, including Saint-Vaast Church and the war memorial.

First World War remembrance sites around Combles

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