AISNE - Chemin des Dames
- by Pierre Grande Guerre
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- 29 Nov, 2019
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Year of visit: 2005
We follow the D 18CD, on the Ridge of the Chemin des Dames, overseeing the valley of the Aisne river. The Germans had fortified this natural fortress on the ridge after the First Battle of the Marne. It is also the infamous battlefield of the bloody Nivelle Offensive of 1917.
Starting from the area of the Fort de Malmaison we follow the road from west to east. We will visit La Royère, the Cerny-en-Laonnois Franco-German war cemetery, the Braye-en-Laonnois Chasseurs Alpins Monument, the Caverne du Dragon, Vauclair Abby,the
Plateau de Californie, and Craonnelle. We will finish at the Cholera Farm memorial north of Berry-au Bac. In between you will find frames explaining the historical events of these sites.
The valley of the Aisne river, from which the French troops had to attack to reach here the German lines on the northern bank.
During the Nivelles-offensive of 16 April 1917 the French deployed many of their Colonial Troops, like the Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale du Maroc.
After many combats starting on 16 April, but also in May and June, finally the French troops of the 11e, 14e et 21e Corps d'Armée captured on 25 October 1917 with support of tanks the Fort de Malmaison. In contrary to the tank attack of 16 April, this time the tanks contributed successfully to the French victory. On 25 October the Germans counted 8,000 soldiers killed, 30,000 wounded and 11,500 prisoners.
This small wood is hiding the ruins of Fort de Malmaison, occupied by the Germans since October 1914.
The R.I.C.M. and other colonial troops had to attack the well defended Fort de Malmaison.
"Le 23 octobre 1917 la 38ème Division comprenant le 4ème Régiment Zouaves, le R.I.C.M., le 4ème Régiment mixte Zouaves-Tirailleurs, le 8ème Régiment Tirailleurs Tunisiens, le 32ème Régiment d'Artillerie de campagne, part à l'attaque.
D'un seul élan, le 4ème Zouaves s'empare du Fort de la Malmaison et de tous ses objectifs, faisant les 23-24-25 octobre 600 prisonniers, capturant 17 canons et de nombreuses mitrailleuses, obtenant sa 6ème citation à l'Ordre de l'Armée."
Translation: see below the next image.
The Nivelle Offensive - 16 - 23 April 1917
From January 1917 the French army licked its wounds from the exhausting battles in 1916 at Verdun and on the Somme. The Battle of Verdun in particular was hardly a success, and the commander-in-chief, Général Joffre, lost his job.
Nivelle was at the head of operations. On the battlefield fought the Reserve Army Group under the command of Général Micheler, which was composed of the Fifth Army under Général Mazel, of the Sixth Army under Général Mangin and of the Xth Army under Général Duchêne.
Many regiments of the colonial troops, Senegalese soldiers, Moroccans, and Algerien Zouave riflemen, were deployed as "shock troops".
African troops had to attack the most strategic sector of the plateau, the Hurtebise isthmus and the Dragon's Cave. Of the 15,000 Africans attacking the German lines, 6,000 will die on the first day of the offensive, on 16 April!
The Fourth Army of General Anthoine, also in reserve, had 5 divisions of infantry and the 2nd Colonial Army Corps under the orders of General Blondlat.
In total the attack French force existed of 850,000 men, 200 tanks, 2,700 75 mm artillery guns and 2,300 heavy mortars, including 790 modern cannons.
The German Defenders of the Chemin des Dames
This force counted about 340,000 men.
The front sector in the east, between Berry-au Bac and Reims was defended by 19 divisions of the 1. Armeekorps under General der Infanterie Fritz von Below. This force counted also about 340,000 men. The front sector of the 1. Armeekorps lies outside the topographic range of this photo impression.
In seven days, Nivelles gained only 500 m. of terrain and wasted, almost carelessly and unnecessarily , the blood of 187,000 French soldiers, including many colonial soldiers.On 23 April, after only 7 days of the offensive, all further operations were immediately forbidden by Président Poincaré personally. Poincaré forced Nivelle to resign at once. After 7 days of battle there were 187,000 French casualties and 167,000 German casualties.
Mutinies
On 23 April even President Poincaré has had enough of Nivelle's needless slaughter with no visible result and he fired him immediately. On 25 March Poincaré also dismissed General Lyautey from his position as Minister of War.
After the battle the hostilities were not over. In the end of May, the end of June, and the end of July, the artillery bombardments and combats will resume in the Hurtebise front sector of the Chemin des Dames. Later on this page I will explain these 1917 summer events around the Caverne du Dagon.
The Dutch-born Joost van Vollenhoven, ...
(Dutch readers! Read also my article: Kapitein Joost van Vollenhoven)
We leave la Royère and Fort de Malmaison to continue westward in the direction of to Cerny-en-Laonnois.
Near and before passing Braye-en-Laonnois we turn right on the D 883 and from there we take a small, sandy side road, to reach a high point, ...
... overlooking the Aisne valley in the direction of the Oise-Aisne Channel.
From this valley the 27e Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins, special mountain troops, attacked succesfully this steep hill during the Nivelle Offensive.
This monument commemorates this event and all soldiers of the 27th Battalion and its Reserve Battalion, the 67th, killed in both World Wars.
Source: fr.geneawiki.com
This soldier has been a member of 51e Bataillon Tirailleurs Sénégalais (from Senegal).
Private Moinvoisin died already somewhere here during the First Battle of the Marne in 1914.
A view over the battlefield from the edge of the German war cemetery.
In the years 1924/1925 the German cemetery was significantly extended with more graves from the combat area at the Chemin des Dames. Most of the victims lost their lives in the defensive battles from the fall of 1914 to the spring of 1915, the French offensive in April / May 1917, the German attack in May 1918, and the September / October 1918 withdrawal battles. These soldiers came from garrisons in Westphalia, Brandenburg, Saxony, Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein and West Prussia. Particularly high losses suffered the Rhineland, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg regiments.
Of the 7,546 dead, 3,553 rest in individual graves. Of these, 66 remain unknown. There are 3,993 victims buried in the communal grave. Only from 964 is the name known.
Source: Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge
We find graves of soldiers fallen during all four years of the war.
Just a reminder: 167,000 German casualties during only 7 days in April 1917!
The Chapel of Cerny-en-Laonnois commemorates the soldiers without a known grave. In spring: please, leave the door open for the new life of the young birds, living in their nest in the Chapel.
This panorama from the entrance of the Dragon's Cave gives an impression of the German view point from the plateau of Hurtebise.
Near the entrance of the Dragon's Cave stand along the road some memorials to commemorate the heroic acts of the 57e Brigade Chasseurs à Pied, ....
... and the 4e Régiment des Zouaves, reminding us of some fallen soldiers of the First Battle of the Marne.
The Caverne du Dragon - Drachenhöhle
These quarries, or "creutes", found in the Somme as in the Aisne, were used as underground barracks, shelters, fire stations, to accommodate staffs or, as it is the case here, as an advanced defensive post.
The Dragon's Cave is located near the height of Hurtebise, west of Hurtebise Farm, where the plateau is the narrowest. In addition, as we have seen above, its position on the edge offers a wide panorama of the Aisne Valley.
16 April 1917
The 1919 "Historique" of the 152e R.I. also blames the failure to the tanks, which apparently were unable to progress enough over the steep and muddy terrain. After several attacks in April and May, the French, held some trenches at the level of the isthmus of the Hurtebise. The Dragon's Cave was still occupied by the Germans.
The capture of the cave was in France then celebrated as a great military victory .
The front line crossed the quarry and it divided the quarry in a German sector and a French sector. At the end of this tunnel starts No Man's land.
We change now to the German sector looking to the French lines, some few meters away.
... which killed 12 French soldiers, who are still buried in the heap of debris.
Just before we leave the Caverne du Dragon, we read this expressive graffiti of a French Soldier: "No more 16 April 1917".
We leave the quarry to catch some fresh air to continue our trip along the Chemin des Dames.
Out of the cave we continue eastward, passing the monument to commemorate...
... the 36e Bataillon Basque, a batallion of soldiers from the Pyrenéees, fighting here.
These are the ruins of an old Cistercienzer convent complex of the 12th century, founded by St. Bernhard.
... to install an extensive observation post and a base for artillery- guns.
Around 1965 some archeology students tried to restore some of the relics.
... but if you look with some more attention, you will notice everywhere traces of man-made destruction.
The cemetery was created in 1920 and it contains 3,936 graves of combatants fallen at the Chemin des Dames from 1914 to 1918 in particular from the Plateau de Californie, from the Craonnelle relief posts, Vassogne, Jumigny, Craonne, and the Moulin de Vauclair.
There are buried 3,910 French soldiers. 1,884 of them are buried in ossuaries. There are also 24 graves of British soldiers, mixed here and there with the French tombs, of which only 7 soldiers could be identified, as well as 2 Belgian soldiers.
We go south via the D 89 to Pontavert and from there westward on the D 925.
With this French Tank Memorial at Cholera Farm we arrive at the finish of this photo impression of the Chemin des Dames.
Inleiding: Franz Von Papen & Werner Horn; schaker en pion
Onlangs stuitte ik in een oud boek (1) van 1919 op een opmerkelijk verhaal over een Duitse Luitenant, die in begin februari 1915 een half geslaagde bomaanslag pleegt op een spoorbrug over een grensrivier tussen de Verenigde Staten en Canada. Ook al staat de bekentenis van de dader, Werner Horn, deels in het boek te lezen, de naam van zijn opdrachtgever zal Horn blijven verzwijgen. Na wat verder zoeken vond ik ook de naam van Horn’s opdrachtgever, Franz von Papen, een van de aangeklaagden van het latere Neurenberg Proces in 1946.
In een Grote Oorlog als de Eerste Wereldoorlog is Horn’s aanslag op de brug uiteraard slechts een bescheiden wapenfeit. Toch vermoed ik dat dit relatief onbekende verhaal, dat de geschiedenis is ingegaan als de “ Vanceboro International Bridge Bombing ”, nog interessante kanten kent. Het is onder andere een spionageverhaal over hoe in een groter plan een sluwe schaker zijn naïeve pion offert.
Beknopte situatieschets Canada en de Verenigde Staten in 1915
This trip we start at the Léomont near Vitrimont and we will with some exceptions concentrate on the Battle of Lorraine of August-September 1914 in the area, called, the “Trouée de Charmes”, the Gap of Charmes.
After the Léomont battlefield we continue our explorations to Friscati hill and its Nécropole Nationale. Next we pay a visit to the battlefield of la Tombe to go on to the Château de Lunéville. There we cross the Vezouze to move on southward to the Bayon Nécropole Nationale. At Bayon we cross the Moselle to pass Charmes for the panorama over the battlefield from the Haut du Mont. North-west of Charmes we will visit the British Military Cemetery containing 1918 war victims. From Charmes we go northward to the battlefield of the First French Victory of the Great War, the Battle of Rozelieures of 25 August 1914. North of Rozelieures we will visit the village of Gerbéviller. From there we make a jump northward to visit the ruins of Fort de Manonviller to finish with an interesting French Dressing Station bunker, west of Domjevin.
During this visit, we try to focus on the day that the momentum of the battle switched from the French side to the advantage of the Bavarian side: the day of 20 August 1914, when the Bavarians rapidly re-conquered the territory around Morhange , being also the day of the start of their rather successful “Schlacht in Lothringen”.
We will visit beautiful landscapes of the "Parc Naturel Régional de Lorraine", memorials, ossuaries, and cemeteries. Sometimes we will divert to other periods of the Great War, honouring Russian and Romanian soldiers, who died in this sector. We start our route at the border village of Manhoué, and via Frémery, Oron, Chicourt, Morhange, Riche, Conthil, Lidrezing, Dieuze, Vergaville, Bidestroff, Cutting, Bisping we will finish in Nomeny and Mailly-sur-Seille, where the Germans halted their advance on 20 August 1914, and where they constructed from 1915 some interesting bunkers.
