Editing Lille (section)

===First World War===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S30293, Frankreich, Lille, Militärparade.jpg|thumb|German military parade in Lille, 1915]]
Lille's occupation by the Germans began on 13 October 1914 after a ten-day siege and heavy shelling, which destroyed 882 apartment and office blocks and 1,500 houses, mostly around the railway station and in the centre. By the end of October, the city was being run by German authorities. Because Lille was only 20&nbsp;km from the battlefield, German troops passed through the city regularly on their way to and from the front. As a result, occupied Lille became a place for the hospitalisation and the treatment of wounded soldiers as well as a place for soldiers' relaxation and entertainment. Many buildings, homes and businesses were requisitioned to those ends.<ref>Wallart, Claudine. [http://www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com/history/the-department-of-nord-and-the-coal-basin-under-german-occupation/lille-under-german-rule.html ''Lille under German Rule.''] Remembrance Trails of the Great War. Retrieved 1 January 2016.</ref>

Lille was liberated by the Allies on 17 October 1918, when General Sir [[William Birdwood]] and his troops were welcomed by joyous crowds. The general was made an honorary citizen of the city of Lille on 28 October.

The only{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} audio recording known to have been made during World War I was recorded near Lille in October 1918. The two-minute recording captured the Royal Garrison Artillery conducting a gas shell bombardment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://soundstudiesblog.com/2014/07/07/listening-to-traces-of-war-gas-shell-bombardment-1918/|title = Reproducing Traces of War: Listening to Gas Shell Bombardment, 1918|date = 7 July 2014}}</ref>

Lille was also the hunting ground of the German World War I flying ace [[Max Immelmann]], who was nicknamed "the Eagle of Lille".