The programme
9.00-9.30: welcome coffee or drink at the Café Le Jacquemart, opposite the Church. Parking is available nearby.
09.45: Bilingual Mass at Hotton Church led by Père Herman Kusola and Reverend Canon John Wilkinson, Royal British Legion Chaplain.
10.30: Wreath laying outside the Church, followed by a procession to the Commonwealth War Cemetery led by La Fanfare Royale des Joyeux Travailleurs.
11.15-11.45: Royal British Legion commemoration at Hotton Commonwealth War Cemetery.
13.00: Drink offered by the town followed by hot buffet lunch (€ 23 per person) at Le Royal, Rue de Ecoles 23, 6990 Hotton. Menu attached. Bookings by 27 April at the latest. Please pay FNC Hotton: BE07 0689 4241 7166, adding your name and the number of meals required. If you intend to take lunch please also inform our Joint Hon. Secretary Andrée Ferrant via andree.ferrant@gmail.com
Around 14:30: Travel to La Roche-en-Ardenne (20-minute drive).
15.00: Short commemoration at the 51st Highland Division Memorial.
Transport
Car-sharing will be organised. Please contact andree.ferrant@gmail.com for details.
Hotton and the Battle of the Bulge
More than 55,000 Commonwealth troops fought in the Battle of the Bulge and Hotton was the western limit of the German offensive in the Ardennes. The War Cemetery contains 666 burials, 21 of them unidentified. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has published an excellent article about the battle and the units that took part in it: https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/legacy-of-liberation-commonwealth-troops-at-the-battleof-the-bulge/
La Roche-en-Ardennes
The memorial above the town commemorates 54 men of the 51st (Highland) Division who lost their lives during the Ardennes Offensive. The 1st Black Watch, supported by the Derbyshire Yeomanry, liberated the town on 11 January 1945.
