Ruins of Bethune France World War I cc Smouldering Bethune ignited by German guns for the defeat at Festubert The Battle of Festubert was part of the wider Artois Offensive carried out by the British and Empire armies in May It succeeded in making a small advance through the German lines of about kilometre but cost casualties In April German artillery bombardment virtually destroyed the town of Bethune during the Ludendorff Offensive From a box set of stereoscopic cards titled The Great War