These marks take many different forms, some very impressive – like the insignia of the Royal Highlanders of Canada, intricately carved by one member of the regiment who was a stonecutter by trade (estimated to have taken at least 40 hours to complete), or the beautiful sculpture of Demeter or Ceres created by an opera singer from Paris, most likely modelled on the goddess pictured at the time on the French ten franc note. The ‘caves’, as the British called them, provided refuge from the fighting above, with spaces transformed into field hospitals, kitchens, chapels, and even theatres, and their walls are adorned with the marks of many of the soldiers who visited them. During the First World War, hundreds of these underground labyrinths were discovered and inhabited by armies on both sides of the conflict. Almost every village in the Hauts-de-France region is home to a quarry, dug centuries ago as a source of limestone for their houses and churches, and often used as hiding places in times of trouble over the years.
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