En 1919, il n'a cessé de parcourir les villages dévastés, fouillant les décombres des églises ; chaque jour son musée s'enrichissait de quelque statue, pierre tombale, cloche ou bénitier, rescapé au milieu des ruines." It is worth mentioning Lieutenant of (Administrative) Engineering, Sabatté, Chief of the Monuments and Arts Service in the war zone. During the war this brave officer proved his zeal, courage and above all (deserves our) praise. Admirably assisted by a team of soldiers who specialised in this service, he proceeded to rescue our artworks even under enemy attack, (even) in the midst of shells and fires. And the truly remarkable Museum, established by him in Arras, in a large store, formerly a gymnasium, demonstrates the success of his intervention. In 1919, he continued to visit the devastated towns, searching the rubble of churches; and so every day the museum was enriched by some statue, stone tombstone, bell or font, survivors from the ruins. The bombardment of Arras, and the destruction of its medieval belfry, caused consternation in France and was utilised for propaganda purposes as an example of German "Frightfulness" or Schrecklichkeit. Approximately a dozen French and Belgian towns received bombardment by German artillery during World War One, including the Cathedral of Rheims, Library of Leuven, Soissons, Ypres, Mauberge and Arras, and these towns were referred to in contemporary press reports as the martyred towns (or "Les villages détruits"). The identity of Sabatté in this unit is established in a photograph listing his name during a ministerial visit to the depot at Abbeville on 26 July 1918. Sabatté's work continued into 1919. From photographs held at the "Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine," it can be seen that his unit in Arras utilised German Prisoners of War, and this project is an outcome of the French government's determination to publicise German war guilt and to give evidence to its reparation payments. In 1916 he painted "Intérieur de la cathédrale d’Arras en ruines, en 1916" (Collection Musée d’Orsay, Paris). In this painting he wrote an inscription at the lower right hand corner of the canvas, that his painting session was "interrupted by the explosion of an artillery shell of huge calibre, 20th May 1916".