At the top of Rue du Rietz, La Couture, is the village church of St. Pierre rebuilt along with the rest of the village after World War 1.

La Couture remained in the British hands at the beginning of WW1, but was captured by German troops in April 1917, following the surrender of British and Portuguese soldiers who had fiercely resisted the German attack.

The Portuguese National memorial is located near the village church of St. Pierre.

The site given to them by the local council in September 1923. On the 11th November that year, the first stone was placed and five years later the sculpture was inaugurated in the presence of numerous dignitaries from Portugal, France and Belgium including Mar�chal Joseph Joffre. 

At the time of the monument's inauguration the church had yet to be rebuilt and was still a pile of ruins. 

The sculptor Antonio Texeira Lopes has depicted a Portuguese soldier (Note his British helmet) fighting amidst the ruins of a Gothic cathedral. The enemy is depicted as death himself replete with his scythe.

 On the evening of 8 May 1915, the 2nd battalion Munster Fusiliers passed through La Couture on their way to the trenches at the Cinder Track. 

 
Credits: Photo top Google Earth street view.
            Portuguese memorial photos webmatters.net/monuments/ww1_port_lacouture.htm