[Illustration: INTERIOR OF LONGPONT ABBEY CHURCH.]
[Illustration: MAP OF THE OPERATIONS FROM OULCHY-LE-CHÂTEAU TO LONGPONT.
The roads indicated by the two continuous lines are those to be followed
by the tourist.]
The entire region just passed through (from Oulchy to Longpont), was
occupied and ravaged by the Germans after May 30, 1918, and reconquered
by General Mangin’s army from July 18 onwards.
On May 30, a German army under General Winkler (1st Guards, 33rd
Infantry and 10th Reserves) attacked the two villages of Oulchy from the
east, but were stubbornly opposed. Advancing beyond them on the 31st,
the Germans (28th Reserves) took Longpont, while Corcy was captured by
the 1st Guards. After fierce fighting, Chouy, Ancienville, and
Faverolles also fell. Two days later, after furious combats, the French
recaptured Longpont and Corcy, but Faverolles, after changing hands
several times, was kept by the Germans. On June 3, the enemy made a
violent attack on Villers-Cotterets Wood, the fighting around Longpont
and Faverolles being of the fiercest. However, they failed to gain a
footing in the Wood, and the French re-took Faverolles. For more than a
month the battle continued to rage without appreciably modifying the
situation. From July 11 the Allies became increasingly active, retaking
Corcy and Longpont, and crossing the Savières on the 13th, south of that
village. On the 18th, the tanks and Franco-American troops (1st and 2nd
American Divisions) under General Mangin debouched from the forest in
the Great Counter-Offensive. The valley of the Savières was cleared of
the enemy, and on the 19th, progress made beyond Chouy. On the 20th and
21st, the outskirts of Oulchy-la-Ville and Oulchy-le-Château were
reached. Here the enemy offered a vigorous resistance, and the battle
continued to rage until the beginning of August. German prisoners
belonging to the 51st Reserves and 6th Guards (Ersatz) declared that
their orders on July 30 were to fight to the last man. On August 1 the
Germans attacked Oulchy unsuccessfully early in the morning. Finally,
the entire region was cleared of the enemy, the Americans taking part in
the recapture of Chouy and the two villages of Oulchy.
[Illustration: BROTHERS-IN-ARMS. FRENCH AND AMERICAN SOLDIERS HELPING A
WOUNDED FRENCHMAN NEAR LONGPONT.]
_After visiting Longpont and the Abbey continue along the street by
which the square was reached; cross the bridge in the direction of_
=Chaudun=, _keeping to the G. C. 17_. Below the road are the ruins of La
Grange Farm. The table-land near the top of the hill, on the right,
served as an aviation park during the War. In May, 1919, the remains of
twenty burnt aeroplanes were still to be seen there.
_At the fork take the right-hand road_ (_I. C. 30_). Here the road was
crossed by wire entanglements and trenches. Fierce fighting took place
over the whole of this tableland. On the left is =Beaurepaire Farm=, which
was little damaged.
[Illustration: GERMAN 77MM. GUN ABANDONED NEAR CHAUDUN, WITH HEAP OF
WICKER BASKETS, EACH CONTAINING THREE SHELLS.]
[Illustration: BARBED WIRE ENTANGLEMENT IN FRONT OF CHAUDUN DURING THE
BATTLE OF JULY.