Somme airport plan scrapped - UK
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More than one million soldiers on both sides died at the Somme.
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LONDON, England -- The French government has scrapped a controversial plan to build an airport on the World War I battlefield of the Somme, according to a British minister.
Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy, while visiting a heritage center on Thursday commemorating one of the most bloody battles of the war at Conlig, County Down, said the proposed third airport for Paris at Chaulnes had been abandoned in the face of intense lobbying.
War veterans, environmentalists and residents near the six French war cemeteries were outraged by the $4.2 billion project that would have disturbed the graves of thousands of French, German and British soldiers.
"It is good news ... that the final resting place of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the Somme battlefields will remain undisturbed," said Murphy, who was briefed on the latest developments by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which maintains war cemeteries.
"The threat to the war graves caused outrage and distress among many who lobbied hard against the proposed development," Murphy said, according to the Press Assocation.
The French government had argued that Chaulnes was needed because Paris's two existing airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly -- both operating near capacity -- were expecting passenger numbers to double in the next two decades.
The French National Assembly is currently debating alternative sites for the third Paris airport and a decision is expected to be announced next month.
Murphy, who plans to visit the Somme next month, said he felt "safe in the knowledge that the honor and memory of those men who gave their lives for freedom on the Western Front has been preserved."
German officials had said they were prepared to move 10,000 individual German graves and a further 12,000 soldiers buried in mass graves if the plans were to go ahead.
The offensive by British and French forces, which started on July 1, 1916, met fierce German resistance from strong defensive positions unbroken by a seven-day bombardment.
With a few exceptions, the attack was a failure, and the offensive developed into a series of battles which ended with the onset of winter and exhaustion of the troops.
Between 1st July and November, the attack managed to advance no further than 12 kilometres at the most. During that period, British casualties were 420,000, while the French lost nearly 200,000 and it is estimated that German casualties were in the region of 500,000.
