F W Woodhouse, The interior of Valenciennes Gateway, Le Quesnoy, 1922

This is the scene of the successful storming attack on the Northern Gate by the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd New Zealand Rifle Brigade during the Liberation of Le Quesnoy on the 4th of November 1918.

Arguably it was the 2nd Battalion who entered the town first not the 4th Battalion as accepted by popular history and myth. It was 4th Battalions ability to mount a signal team on the ramparts and facing the NZRB HQ which probably decided who got the honour of first entering the town.

The Official History of the NZRB states that the stiffest tasks confronted the troops of the 2nd Battalion and when the battle concluded they made up 44% of the NZRB casualties at Le Quesnoy compared to only 19% from the 4th Battalion who entered the town slowly over the ramparts using only one fragile ladder.