[Illustration]
Starting-point: Place de la Cathédrale.
_The following itinerary includes the defensive works of
Saint-Crépin-en-Chaye and Le Mail, the first French and German lines
from Pasly to Saint-Paul, and the bridge-head on the right bank of the
Aisne, in front of the Faubourg Saint-Waast._
* * * * *
Starting from the =Cathedral=, follow the streets indicated by
=continuous lines= in the direction of the arrows.
The =numbers= indicate the =pages= where the corresponding
=photographs= will be found.
[Illustration: _Follow the Rue de la Buerie to the Rue
Saint-Christophe, which take to the left as far as the place
Saint-Christophe. To the north of this square take the Boulevard
Pasteur, follow its continuation (a narrow road) which leads direct to
the_ =Château de Saint-Crépin-en-Chaye= (_see outline map, p. _52).]
Numerous defensive works surrounded this chateau and the farm belonging
to it. These buildings, now entirely in ruins, occupied the site of an
abbey founded in the 12th century.
[Illustration: CHATEAU OF ST-CRÉPIN-EN-CHAYE.
_January 1919._
_On the left: ruins of farm and bomb-proof shelter; on the right:
trench leading to the Château seen in the background through the
trees._]
[Illustration: THE MAIL BEFORE THE WAR.]
_After visiting Saint-Crépin, take the road (_V.O._ 15), along which
ran strong defence-works and which leads to the Promenade du Mail.
Follow the promenade towards the town as far as Pont-Neuf._
The Promenade du Mail, extending from the Hôtel-de-Ville to Vauxrot,
contained a trench throughout its entire length which led to the front
lines in the northern sector.
The Mail, bordered by the river Aisne and planted with century-old
trees, dates from the 17th and 18th centuries, and before the War was
one of the finest public gardens in France.
It was completely spoilt by formidable defence-works. A series of
trenches, strengthened by defence-works of every kind and by strong
points such as the Brasserie du Mail on the Bank of the Aisne, began in
the middle of the Mail. They branched out at the end of the Promenade
into a great number of outposts, blockhouses and observation posts,
from which the naked eye could discern the entrenchments of the
camouflaged German outposts on the right bank of the Aisne.
Communication with the Allies’ bridge-head on both banks was ensured by
foot-bridges, constantly under fire, and temporary ways over the two
partially destroyed bridges.
[Illustration: THE MAIL DURING THE WAR.
_In the background: the band-stand near which General de Grandmaison
was killed._]
[Illustration: THE PONT-NEUF, BLOWN UP BY THE BRITISH.]
_Cross the Aisne at the_ =Pont-Neuf=.
The Pont-Neuf or Pont-du-Mail, over which passes the National Road (N^o
2) from Paris to Maubeuge, was built in 1903 of reinforced concrete.
On September 1, 1914, the British blew up the middle arch. It was
subsequently found possible to contrive a crossing over the broken
arch, hidden from the view of the enemy by the gaily coloured tents
of a travelling show which happened to be in Soissons when war was
declared (_photo below_).
[Illustration: THE PONT-NEUF CAMOUFLAGED.]
[Illustration: THE DISTILLERY IN 1917.
_The French First Line in the Distillery._]
_From the Pont-Neuf, take the Avenue de Laon to the Place de Laon, then
take the Avenue de Vauxrot on the left to Vauxrot and Pasly._ (_See
map, p. _53 _and Itinerary, p. _52)
_About half-a-mile from the Place de Laon_ are the ruins of a large
=distillery= which formed the first French position and was strongly
fortified.
[Illustration: THE DISTILLERY IN 1918.]
[Illustration: THE GLASS-WORKS AT VAUXROT.
_In the foreground: A German grave._
_The German First Line in the Glass-Works._]
On the north of the distillery, beyond “No man’s land” with its
barbed-wire entanglements, a very important =glass-works= formed the
first German line. Before the war, these glass-works turned out several
millions of champagne bottles every year. _A heap of these bottles is
visible in the photo below._
Between the buildings of these works, now completely ruined by
the incessant bombardments, are countless passages and trenches
of reinforced concrete, observation posts, blockhouses, concrete
machine-gun positions and deep dug-outs.
[Illustration: THE GLASS-WORKS OF VAUXROT.
_In the background: Hill 136._]
[Illustration: THE BANKS OF THE AISNE.
_In the background: Chapel of the Glass-Works. To the left of the
Chapel, a German Machine-Gun was posted, below a crane._]
From Vauxrot to Pasly, the lines were separated by the Aisne. On
both banks of the river were outposts and advanced trenches with
machine-guns (_photo below_).
_From Vauxrot, proceed to Pasly_ (_see map, p. _53).
From the church at Pasly there is an interesting walk to the caves
seen in the photograph on p. 59 shutting in the horizon to the north
of the village. _Follow the road for nearly half-a-mile, then turn to
the right into the road which goes up the side of the hill and skirts
the caves. The latter were fortified by the Germans, and afterwards
inhabited by the population of Pasly._
[Illustration: THE DAM AT VAUXROT.
_A nest of Machine-Guns was posted near the pile._]
[Illustration: PASLY.
_On the horizon Hill containing caves._]
A =monument= to the school-teachers shot by the Germans in 1870, was
destroyed by the enemy in 1914 (_photo below_).
[Illustration: SCHOOL-TEACHERS’ MONUMENT DESTROYED BY THE GERMANS AT
PASLY.
(_see above_)]
_The road leads back to the village. Return via Vauxrot to the Place de
Laon, then follow on the left the Avenue de Laon to Saint-Paul._
The defence-works visited between Pasly, the glass-works and the
distillery, extended from there in an almost straight and formidable
entrenched line to the National Road from Paris to Maubeuge (N. 2).
[Illustration: ORGANIZED CAVE AT PASLY.]
After crossing this road, about half-way between Soissons and Crouy,
they encircle the =hamlet of St-Paul= on the north and east. This
fortified hamlet formed the =Saint-Paul salient= and protected the
faubourg of Saint-Waast.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CAVE AT PASLY.]
From Saint-Paul the trenches, sloping towards the south, extended in
front of the strongly fortified Faubourg of Saint-Médard and rejoined
the Aisne at the point where the river forms a great loop above
Soissons. It was the eastern sector of the defences, covering alike the
Faubourg of Saint-Waast and the bridge-head on the right bank.
_To go from Saint-Paul to Saint-Médard, return to the Place de Laon.
Take on the left the Boulevard de Laon, then the Boulevard de Metz
which continues it, to the Place d’Alsace-Lorraine. Take the Rue de
Bouvines on the left to the_ =Abbey of Saint-Médard=.
The Faubourg of Saint-Médard is as old as the town itself. In fact,
it existed in the Roman era, and later became one of the favorite
residences of the Merovingian Kings, who owned a large “villa” there.
[Illustration: DESTROYED BRIDGE OVER THE AISNE.
_This bridge connected Pasly with Soissons._]
[Illustration: IN THE ST-PAUL SALIENT.]
About 556, Clotaire I had the greatly revered Bishop of Noyon,
Saint-Médard, buried in this villa, and erected over his grave a
basilica, round which a monastery was built.
After playing an important part in the history of the early
Middle-Ages, this monastery attracted 300 000 pilgrims as late as 1530.
The buildings were devastated during the many sieges to which Soissons
was subjected. Rebuilt in the 17th, they were converted in the 19th
century into a school for deaf-mutes and the blind.
Of the ancient buildings, there remains only a =crypt=, one of the
oldest in France and of great archæological interest.
Built in the 9th century and measuring about 80 feet in length, 8 feet
in width and 13 feet in height, this crypt (_photo below_) includes a
central gallery with groined vault, off which open chapels.
The vaulting rests on very thick walls, in which small niches have been
hollowed out as seats for the pilgrims.
[Illustration: THE CRYPT OF ST-MÉDARD.
_One of the oldest crypts in France._]
[Illustration: CHURCH OF ST-WAAST IN 1917.]
_Return to the Place d’Alsace-Lorraine, take the Rue du Champ-Bouillant
as far as the first street on the right_ (_Rue Messire-P.-Leroy_)
_which leads to the_ =Church of Saint-Waast=.
[Illustration: FAUBOURG ST-WAAST.
_Defence-Works in the Rue des Graviers, near the Church_ (_see
Itinerary_).]
The church of Saint-Waast, built in the 19th century, consists of a
large central pile with aisles on each side of the nave. A graceful
belfry, ending in a spire, rises over the portal. The interior of the
building is not vaulted, but has a timber-work roof. The arches are
supported by square pillars and the walls ornamented with pictures.
The bombardments did great damage. Everywhere the roof was broken in
and a large part completely destroyed. In the walls are numerous gaps,
while the façade is pitted by shell-splinters. The belfry, very badly
damaged on the first story, had two of its sides in the upper story
completely demolished. The spire fell down in 1918. The interior of the
main building suffered less, but the timber-work roof was badly damaged.
The Faubourg Saint-Waast led to the first lines of the north-east
sector of Soissons, which passed north of the hamlet of Saint-Paul.
Because of its situation, it had been put in a complete state of
defence and was continually bombarded. The railway station, gas-works
and most of the factories were destroyed. In places, it is nothing more
than a heap of ruins with, here and there, vestiges of the old military
works.
_Return to the Rue du Champ-Bouillant, follow same as far as the Aisne,
crossing the latter at the Pont Saint-Waast._
[Illustration: THE PONT ST-WAAST OR PONT DES ANGLAIS.
_In the background, the Pont-Neuf, Sep^t. 1914._]
The pont Saint-Waast, also called the Pont des Anglais (since the war)
dates from the Middle-Ages (_photo above_). Of the original structure
there remain the arches on the Saint-Waast side (restored). The rest of
the bridge consists of an iron platform which the Germans destroyed on
September 13, 1914, when they evacuated the town.
Rebuilt by the British in 1914, together with a foot-bridge, it
ensured communication between the centre of the town and the Faubourg
Saint-Waast, in spite of incessant bombardments.
_Return to the Cathedral by the Rue la Bannière, Rue de Montrevers, and
Rue de l’Hôtel-Dieu._