Noeux-Les-Mines City Map Poster

About Noeux-Les-Mines

Nœux-les-Mines is a mining town, now largely abandoned. The coal mines are closed and the population has dwindled to less than 2,000. It is located some 10 km (6 mi) south of Lens on the D943 road. The commune was created in 1854 by joining Nœux and Les Mines together.[1] During World War I it was occupied by German forces from 1914 to 1918; during this time many houses were destroyed or damaged.[2] In 1917 there were two air raids on Nœux-les-Mines: one in May which killed four people,[3][4] another in October which killed six people[5][6]. On 1 July 1940 at 11:00 am Nazi Germany invaded France with its army Group B under General von Küchler who had crossed into Luxembourg three days earlier after an ultimatum demanding free passage through that country had been refused by Prime Minister Paul Reynaud of France's Third Republic government at 5 pm on June 30th 1940 [7].