Crucifix returned from England to France after 107 years

A group of people have travelled more than 300 miles from England to France to return a crucifix retrieved from the rubble of a church in World War One.

The cross originated from the church of Doingt-Flamicourt, which was destroyed during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

It is believed to have been salvaged by a British Army chaplain and placed in All Saints' Church in Tinwell, Rutland.

The idea to return it came from a 16-year-old boy in the congregation, who discovered the church had been rebuilt.

His father Chas McDevitt accompanied the crucifix to France, and played the Last Post on a bugle during a ceremony held in the church cemetery.

"It was powerful," said Mr McDevitt.

"It was nice because every year I play the Last Post at Tinwell. So to be here and play it again is absolutely fabulous. It's deeply significant."

Explaining where the idea to return the crucifix came from, he said: "My son and my wife were discussing the fact we had an artefact from a French church, destroyed in the war.

"He looked online and saw it had been rebuilt and said, 'Why don't we take it back?' Suddenly we have a day like today and it feels like the right thing to do.

"It's so much more important for this community to have their cross back, it's a continuity of their history."

The crucifix was returned on Saturday, which was the 107th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme.

The church is in Doingt, one of many settlements wiped from the map as the French and British armies fought Germany.

It was later rebuilt, and the community of Doingt still tends several hundreds of graves of British soldiers.

Priest-in-charge Jean-Louis Brunel, whose parish includes the church in Doingt, said the crucifix was "very precious" and "a sign of Christ giving his life for us, like the soldiers".

"This cross is a sign of people today and friendship with England. So we are very impressed with the idea of Tinwell parish to give back the cross," he said.

"I hope there will be friendships between the two communities for some time."

Special permission to return the crucifix was granted by the Diocese of Peterborough.

Rev Olwen Woolcock, priest-in-charge at Tinwell, formally handed it over.

"It was a wonderful feeling doing that service," she said.

"I was very conscious it was the right place for it to be. It feels great to bring the crucifix back to where it belongs.

"This village looks after more than 400 war graves, it tends the graves, they have their own acts of remembrance.

"It felt like the last piece of the jigsaw as the village was rebuilt."

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