Airaines is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Somme

Somme

Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....

 department in Picardie

Picardie

Picardy is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.-History:The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department...

 in northern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Geography

The commune is situated 18 miles (29 km) south of Amiens, at the junction of the D901 and D936 roads.

Hamlets and neighbourhoods

• Dourier : Originally a hamlet to the northeast of the town, now a suburb.
• Dreuil-Hamel : Stretching out to the west, sprinkled with orchards and meadows, this commune was once separate. By decree of 26 September 1972 it was joined with Airaines in a simple merger.

Demography

History

• In earlier times, the town flourished, due mainly to the importance of the castle of the dukes of Luynes.
• During World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  , the town was subject to much destruction in June 1940. The Market hall was destroyed.
• The years 1985-2000 saw the closure of several important economical activities, resulting in high unemployment

Places and monuments

• Saint-Denis church
• The Priory (Notre Dame church)
• Dreuil-Hamel church, abandoned and in danger of collapsing
• The towers of the dukes of Luynes
• The memorial to Charles N'Tchoréré
  Charles N'Tchoréré
  Charles N'Tchoréré was a French military commander who was shot by Germans in World War II....
  
  
• A monument aux morts with sculptural work by Albert Dominique Roze

People

Charles N'Tchoréré

Charles N'Tchoréré

Charles N'Tchoréré was a French military commander who was shot by Germans in World War II....

 (15 November 1896 - 1940) was a Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

ese military commander who was shot by the Germans in World War II during the battle for France.

External links

(All French language)

• The Priory website
• Airaines on the website of Quid
• Position of Airaines on a French map
• Map of Airaines on Mapquest
• Official municipal website

(In the English language)

• Monument aux Morts (Western Somme)
  Monument aux Morts (Western Somme)
  -Introduction:After the end of the 1914–1918 war there was a frenzy to build memorials to commemorate those who had been killed and it has been calculated that in this period well over 36,000 individual memorials where erected throughout France with the majority of these being built between 1919...