Sallaumines


Sallaumines is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France.
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Administration

Sallaumines belongs to the Lens – Liévin|Lens-Liévin] intercommunality which consists of 36 communes, with a total population of 250,000 inhabitants.

History

The history of the area remains marked by the Courrières mine disaster which caused 1099 deaths on 10 March 1906 on the territories of Billy-Montigny, Méricourt and Sallaumines.
On 18 June 1916 Max Immelmann, the first German World War I flying ace, was killed by the British 25 Squadron Royal Flying Corps while flying over the area.
It was in the town of Montigny-en-Gohelle, in the Pas-de-Calais region, at pit number 7 of the Dourges Mining Company, that the strike began, led by Émilienne Mopty and Michel Brulé, depriving the Germans of 93,000 tons of coal for nearly two weeks. This was one of the first acts of collective resistance to the Nazi occupation in France and the largest in terms of numbers, resulting in 414 arrests in three waves, the deportation of 270 people, and the execution of 130 miners at the Citadel of Arras. After the war, the town was also at the center of three national events: the Battle for Coal, followed by the miners' strikes of 1947 and 1948.

Geography

Its nearby communes are Méricourt to the southeast, Avion to the southwest, Lens to the west, Loison-sous-Lens to the north, Harnes to the northeast and Montigny-en-Gohelle to the east.

Transportation

The A21 motorway passes north of the town. Sallaumines has a train station on the line from Lens to Lille, and another one on the line from Lens to Valenciennes.

Twin towns - sister cities

Sallaumines is twinned with: