The monument stands opposite the town hall of this commune near Pontavert, not far from the famous Bois des Buttes where Guillaume Apollinaire was wounded, and commemorates the stubborn resistance of the 2nd British Devonshire Battalion on May 27, 1918, the day the Germans chose to launch their counter-offensive and attempt to break the front line. These British soldiers held off the Germans at the cost of heavy casualties, and were awarded the French Croix de Guerre in recognition of their efforts.