maintained a terrific fight against the German batteries at Étavigny,
Vincy, and Trocy. Colonel Nivelle, future generalissimo, commanded the
Fifth Artillery Regiment which had just done great deeds in Alsace, and
whose daring and enthusiasm shone forth anew on the plateau of Multien.
[Illustration: CHURCH OF ACY]
=Nogeon Farm= was one of the principal centres of battle during the
days of September 6 to 9. Taken by the French after a hand-to-hand
fight, it was subjected to several counter-attacks which, supported by
violent bombardments, completely destroyed it. But labour soon claims
its rights, and the view above shows the rebuilding in progress.
From Nogeon, and the trenches around it, the troops of the Seventh
Corps gained Acy and attempted to reach Vincy. The progression towards
this last position, over open ground swept by an intense cannonade,
was particularly difficult. Many actions took place at night. It was
during one of these, in a bayonet charge on September 7, that the
soldier Guillemard, having transfixed with his bayonet the officer
standard-bearer, captured a flag belonging to the 36th Magdebourg
Fusiliers, decorated with the Iron Cross in 1870. Guillemard received
the Military Medal from the hands of General Gallieni.
The young fellow shook with emotion during the ceremony, and the
general said good-humouredly: "Now then, embrace me and imagine I'm a
pretty girl."
[Illustration: ACY CHURCH]
_From Nogeon the road descends to_ =Acy-en-Multien= (14½ km.) of which
the slender steeple can be seen.
_We cross the Gergogne and go through the village, following the
High Street_ up to the twelfth and thirteenth century church, which
is classed as an historical monument. This church came practically
unscathed through the struggle which drenched the village with blood.
[Illustration: SAFE DYNAMITED BY THE GERMANS]
Acy's situation in the hollow of a valley robbed its steeple of all
value as an observatory; it was therefore respected by the artillery on
both sides.
After glancing around the interior of the old church, with its squat
pillars, shown in the above view, _we go on along the High Street_,
passing the town-hall.
Opposite is a photograph of the town-hall safe, which was blown up by
the Germans during their occupation of the place.
_A little further on is the cemetery_, in front of which is a big
military grave.
Acy's churchyard was much too small to hold all the heroes who fell on
the territory belonging to that parish.
In front of the cemetery, on the other side of the road, stands the
castle where the Germans quartered themselves.
The view opposite gives but a slight idea of the state in which it was
found by its owners.
[Illustration: ROOM IN THE CASTLE WHERE THE GERMANS SLEPT]
The park was placed in a state of defence and the Germans made a
tenacious resistance there.
_The tourist will now take the road in front of the cemetery which
skirts the castle railings. Then turning to the left he will follow the
zig-zag road which climbs the Étavigny Plateau._
[Illustration: ACY SEEN FROM THE HEIGHTS OF ÉTAVIGNY]
The above panorama was taken from the last turn of the climbing path
and gives a good view of the valley in which Acy is built.
Here we can follow the course of the battle: the French held the Nogeon
Plateau, the Germans the valley and the heights where the tourist
stands. Troops belonging to the Seventh Corps descended on Acy from
Nogeon and came up in front of the village, others slipped along the
Gergogne and made a flank attack.
[Illustration: ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH]
After furious fighting in the streets, in the castle grounds and in the
little woods on the hillsides, the Germans were flung back from Acy to
the heights of Étavigny. They returned to the charge, and in their turn
drove the French back to the Nogeon Plateau.
The village thus changed hands several times, and this terrible beating
backwards and forwards caused great losses on both sides.
_Continuing his road to Étavigny_, the tourist will go over the
position that the Germans established on the plateau.
The infantry and the machine-guns were entrenched along the road
itself; the light and heavy artillery were in the hollow on the right.
They showered shells on the French positions at Nogeon, and in return
received the fire of the batteries placed, as before mentioned, between
Fosse-Martin and Bouillancy.
Arriving at =Étavigny= (18 km.) our attention is at once drawn to the
church, which suffered terribly.
[Illustration: ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH]
The part played in the battle by the church of Étavigny was very
different from the passive one assigned to the church of Acy. Its
dominating position afforded priceless views of the French lines to the
observer installed in its steeple. It was therefore by shells from the
75's that the church was damaged (_see pp. 100 and 101_).
Étavigny was taken and retaken in the course of the Battle of
the Ourcq. The struggle was hard, the Germans making a desperate
resistance, as a serious French advance in this locality would have
meant the outflanking of their whole line. They succeeded in forcing
the troops of the Seventh Corps off the plateau.
* * * * *
_Taking the road to the right, beside the church, and continuing about
200 yards we come to the_ cemetery, which is in a state of upheaval
from the bombardment. The photograph below was taken through one of the
gaps.
The windmill pump, on the left of the view, was riddled with bullets.
_From Étavigny the tourist can either return to Acy by the same road,
or follow the itinerary that we now give, which forms a loop around the
northern part of the battlefield. In the first case, the distance to
Acy is 3½ km., in the second 14 km._
_Starting again from the church along the road which crosses the
village, continue straight on towards +Boullare+. Here keep turning
to the left and take the road to Betz._ In the hollow on the left
were placed the German batteries which joined in action with those of
Étavigny.
[Illustration: ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH SEEN FROM THE CEMETERY]
_The road descends into a rather picturesque valley. Through it runs
a small river, the Grivelle, which we must cross, then go through
Antilly, turning to the right on entering, and to the left at the fork
in the road just after leaving the village._
_We arrive at =Betz= (26 km.). Turn to the left near the church._
Betz did not suffer much from the guns, but some of its houses were
burnt by the Germans, notably the Hôtel du Cheval Blanc (_see p. 102_),
which can still be recognised by its signboard.
[Illustration: HÔTEL DU CHEVAL BLANC AFTER THE FIRE]
The castle was occupied by a German headquarters-staff, who left it in
a deplorable state.
During the pursuit the French officers had to abandon the idea of
lodging there: one of them records in his notebook: "The German
officers have left disgusting traces of their passage; we see slices of
melon, bearing the marks of their teeth, in the wash-hand-basins, and
enormous heaps of empty and broken wine bottles."
* * * * *
_The tourist will cross Betz by the main street, which is seen
in the above illustration, and at the further end of the village
he will go straight on under the railway, leaving the road to
+Nanteuil-le-Haudouin+ on the right._
* * * * *
This last-named town has not been included in the itinerary, although
it played an important part in the ultimate manœuvre attempted by Von
Kluck--that of outflanking the French left wing. The paved road which
leads to it is bad, and the other roads by which one could rejoin the
planned route are extremely rough. Below we give a view of a corner of
this battlefield. It gives some idea of the great plain which extends
from Betz to Nanteuil, where the 7th and 61st French Divisions resisted
with desperate energy the furious attacks of the Fourth German Corps.
The dead horses seen in the photograph belonged to a French battery.
The 75's, fully exposed, supported the foot-soldiers in their efforts
until they came almost into actual contact with the enemy.
* * * * *
_After passing under the railway the road rises to the plateau_ and
soon brings us near a commemorative monument, on the right (_view on
following page_).
_Thence it passes through the Woods of Montrolles_, where the 61st
Division particularly distinguished itself on the evening of September
8. Worn out with fatigue, its reserve supplies exhausted two days
before, it yet, by a supreme effort, succeeded in driving back the
Germans.
[Illustration: THE PLAIN OF NANTEUIL-LE-HAUDOUIN]
[Illustration: MONUMENT AT BETZ]
_Having passed through the Woods of Montrolles, we soon come to a fork.
Here take the road on the left._
To the right are the Heights of Bouillancy, where the French artillery
was placed; on the left the Plateau of Étavigny on which were the
German batteries.
A hollow, where runs a river, separates the two positions, between
which the artillery duel was intense, preparing and accompanying
infantry assaults which succeeded one another from September 6 to 9,
with alternate advances and retirements.
_The road then returns to Acy, skirting the wall of the Castle park. We
again pass the church and, on leaving the village, cross the Gergogne.
Immediately after the bridge turn to the left towards_ =Vincy= (35½
km.). The photograph below shows that this village also suffered from
incendiarism and bombardment.
_After passing through Vincy, bear to the left in order to pass in
front of the Manœuvre distillery, leaving the hamlet of that name on
the left. =Étrépilly= (41 km.) will be reached by the middle road of
the crossways, which are about 1 km. further on past the distillery_.
This Vincy-Étrépilly line formed part of the defensive front
established by the Germans west of the Ourcq, marked out further north
by the localities of Betz, Étavigny, and Acy, which have just been
visited, and more to the south, by the position seen on panorama B
(_pp. 90-91_). The Germans had made trenches and machine-gun shelters
over the whole plateau, which stretches on the right of the road
towards the farms of Poligny and Champfleury. On the right slope of
the road one can still see the dug-outs where the snipers sheltered
themselves.
The position was attacked from September 6 to 9 by the 63rd Division
of the Seventh Corps and the 56th of the Lamaze Group which carried
the advance positions constituted by the farms of Nogeon, Poligny, and
Champfleury. They were stopped, however, on the line itself until the
general withdrawal of the German troops.
[Illustration: BURNT FARM AT VINCY]
_To reach the spot where the view below was taken, follow the track
which branches off the road from Vincy to Étrépilly, between the
memorial and the burnt hangar. This is the road we see across the
middle of the panorama._ The tourist finds himself at the southern
extremity of the Vincy-Étrépilly position, on the site of a German
battery which was severely treated by the French 75's.
[Illustration:
Road from Vincy to Étrépilly
Trocy
Memorial
Burnt Shed
Church of Étrépilly
Valley of the Thérouanne
Heights of Penchard
C. +PANORAMA OF TROCY, ÉTRÉPILLY, LA THÉROUANNE.+]
In the background is seen the Trocy Plateau, separated from the road by
a hollow, in which flows a tributary of the Thérouanne. On the Trocy
Plateau, where this itinerary will in due course lead the reader, the
Germans had established their powerful artillery, composed of heavy and
light batteries, which swept the whole battlefield from Nogeon Farm
to Barcy, taking in Puisieux and Marcilly. Beyond the valley of the
Thérouanne, south of Étrépilly, stretches the position of which the
details appear in panorama B (_pp. 90-91_). The view extends to the
wooded Heights of Penchard, which are outlined against the horizon.
On the brow of the hill where stands the observer, fierce battles were
fought at the time of the attacks on Étrépilly. The 350th Infantry
did once, on the morning of the 7th, make their way into the village,
following the valley of the Thérouanne, but violent counter-attacks
forced them back. They returned to the charge at night and climbed
from the river's edge to the plateau. They were greeted by the fire
of a machine-gun section upon which two companies flung themselves
with fixed bayonets. Two field-pieces were taken. The French troops
maintained their position until ten o'clock in the evening, but
finally, as the German reinforcements poured in, were obliged to
descend the slope and cross back to the right bank of the Thérouanne.
_Returning to the Étrépilly_ road we pass in front of the memorial
raised by the engineers in front of the cemetery, at the place where
the battles of Étrépilly reached their climax. A military grave has
been made behind the memorial.
[Illustration: MEMORIAL AT ÉTRÉPILLY]
The Germans had entrenched themselves in the cemetery, where they
succeeded in checking the night attack of the Zouaves on September 7.
The Second Regiment, coming from Barcy, reached the village and carried
it at the point of the bayonet.
Without stopping, the Zouaves began to climb the height at the foot of
which Étavigny is built.
Their rush carried them as far as the cemetery, and here, met by a
terrific fire from the machine-guns, they tried to keep the position,
but German reinforcements having come up, they were forced to abandon
the plateau, evacuate the village, and return to their trenches at
Barcy. Lieutenant-Colonel Dubujadoux, commanding the regiment, was
killed; three-fourths of the officers and half the effective force fell
in the course of this heroic charge.
In front of the memorial the twisted metal framework of a burnt shed
is to be seen. According to certain accounts, the Germans, before
evacuating the position on September 9, used this shed to burn the
bodies of those of their soldiers who fell in the battles of Étrépilly.
Some of the inhabitants say that to these were added the badly wounded,
whose hurts were such that they could not be removed.
[Illustration: BURNT SHED]
We believe, as a matter of fact, that a large pyre of corpses was set
alight here by the Germans, who generally burn their dead when they
cannot carry them away. But the hangar was destroyed by the French
artillery which fired repeatedly on that side of the plateau at the
battery of 77's installed there, at the cemetery, and at the German
trenches.
In the cemetery lie the heroes who were killed in attempting to regain
it.
_From the cemetery the road descends towards Étrépilly._
_Turn to the right at the foot of the slope into Étrépilly and on
leaving the village take the road on the left; cross the river, turn
again to the left and follow the track which climbs the plateau. After
a few hundred yards the right slope disappears._ It was at this point
that panorama D was taken, showing, from the German side, the same
battlefield seen from the French side in panorama B (_pp. 90-91_).
[Illustration:
Heights of Penchard
Montheon
Barcy
Heights of Cuisy
Factory at Marcilly
Road from Marcilly to Étrépilly
Farm of Nongloire
Farm of Champfleury
D. +PANORAMA OF THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE FRENCH RIGHT+]
The road on which the tourist now stands goes on to the heights of
Varreddes. Bordered with trenches and machine guns, it constituted the
principal line of the German defence south of Étrépilly, the advance
lines resting thus: the first on Penchard--Monthyon--Heights of Cuisy;
the second on Chambry--Barcy--Marcilly. In this theatre of operations
fought, south of the Marcilly-en-Étrépilly road, the 55th (Reserve)
Division, the 45th Division and the Moroccan Brigade; at Marcilly and
on the plateau north of Étrépilly, which is outlined on the extreme
right of the panorama and crowned by the Champfleury Farm the 56th
(Reserve) Division.
[Illustration: A CORNER OF THE BATTLEFIELD]
Leaving the trenches hastily dug on the Chambry--Barcy--factory of
Marcilly line, the troops of the Lamaze group, before getting up to the
German trenches, had to cross two kilometres of uncovered ground, under
terrible fire. It was in one of these attacks, starting from Barcy,
that Major d'Urbal (brother of the general) fell at the head of his
Zouaves as, waving his cane, he drew them along. He was brought back to
the French lines, thanks to the devotion of one of the few officers who
survived the attack, helped by two Chasseurs d'Afrique. Because of his
great height the commander's body could not be carried back, and they
were obliged to place it on a horse. The group returned thus to Barcy
under a hailstorm of bullets, where a shell-hole in the cemetery served
for a grave.
[Illustration: A CORNER OF THE BATTLEFIELD]
In the counter-attacks, the Germans as they left their trenches
also suffered serious losses, as one can judge from the preceding
photograph, which was taken in front of the position.
_The tourist will return to Étrépilly by the road he came, leaving the
church (the roof of which was hit by several shells) on the right, and
taking the Trocy Road on the left._
=ÉTRÉPILLY TO MEAUX= (19 km.)
via +Trocy+, +Gué-à-Tresmes+, +Varreddes+.
[Illustration: FARM THAT WAS SHELLED]
_The beautiful shady road that leads from, Étrépilly to Trocy first
crosses a hollow, then winds up the hillside to the plateau on which
=Trocy= is built (3 km.). On arriving, turn to the left and so enter
the heart of the village._
Trocy did not actually suffer from the German attacks, but it was
bombarded by the French artillery. In front of the horse-pond, on the
left of the little church, stands a farm (_view opposite_) which in
1917 still showed traces of the "75" shell which damaged its roof.
Other houses were completely destroyed.
The Germans had concentrated their chief artillery forces on the
Trocy Plateau. Heavy and light batteries were in position north and
south of the village, the greater part being north, between Manœuvre,
Plessy-Placy, and Trocy.
The intense cannonade poured from this dominating platform very much
hampered the progress of the French centre.
The position was evacuated by the Germans on the 9th, not without
serious losses of light artillery, as shown by the photograph below and
that at the top of the following page.
[Illustration: GERMAN GUN DESTROYED ON TROCY PLATEAU]
[Illustration: GERMAN GUNS DESTROYED ON TROCY PLATEAU]
The limber (_shown below_), abandoned at the side of the road, is an
infantry limber which contained rifle and machine-gun cartridges.
The French artillery which swept the plateau hit it in the course of
the retreat.
[Illustration: GERMAN LIMBER ON TROCY PLATEAU]
[Illustration: GATE OF TROCY]
_Rounding the horse-pond, we take the road which runs under the
monumental gateway, a view of which is given above._
This gate is one of the chief remains of the fortifications which
guarded Trocy in the Middle Ages.
It will be seen that the strategic importance of the position has at
all times been appreciated at its full value.
_Having passed through the gate, we take, 100 yards further on to the
left, the road that dips into a hollow, on the opposite slope of which
stands out the fine farm of Beauvoir._
_We reach this farm by a zig-zag ascent which comes out on the Route
Nationale (N. 36). We then turn to the right and go down towards
=Gué-à-Tresmes=._
This little place played the part, in relation to the extreme German
left, that Trocy played in the centre. It was a heavy artillery
position supporting the advanced line of defence.
[Illustration: THE BILLIARD-TABLE OF THE CHÂTEAU]
At the entrance to the village, on the left side of the road, is a
large residence surrounded by a park. It was occupied by the Germans
and converted into a field hospital. In order to make room rapidly,
the furniture was flung outside. It was thus that the billiard-table
was found in the park. A soldier who was evidently a lover of fresh
air used it as a shelter. On the opposite photograph can be seen
a fish-kettle which did duty as a basin: frequent washing being
indispensable during those hot September days.
The façade shown in the view is the one which faces the road.
[Illustration: PERSONAL BELONGINGS LEFT AT GUÉ-À-TRESMES BY THE GERMANS]
A certain number of German wounded died in the hospital and were buried
in the garden; their belongings were left behind at the time of the
retreat, as shown in the opposite photograph.
This retreat must have taken the occupants unawares, for a meal was on
the officers' table when the French troops entered the château.
_At the cross-roads, about 300 yards beyond the château, go to the
left along the Thérouanne. 200 yards further along this road_ is
seen (on the right) the place where a group of German artillery was
hidden. Well-screened in the hollow shown in the view below, several
heavy batteries, for a long time out of reach of the 75's, made
extremely difficult the advance of the French right on the Plateau of
Chambry-Barcy. They also hampered the left, of the British army and the
8th French Division on the left bank of the Marne. In the course of
this tour, we have already seen several examples of the German battery
positions. Wherever the ground allowed of it, the guns were placed in
a hollow, visible only to aerial observers. Telephones linked them up
with the posts established on the ridges whence the firing was directed.
_Returning to the Route Nationale, turn to the left towards Varreddes._
On both sides of the road, which was their main way of retreat, the
Germans had made lines of defence: trenches were dug and furnished with
machine-guns, and light batteries were established as supports.
The whole, which joined up with the defence works of Trocy, constituted
a position of withdrawal for the Étrépilly-Varreddes line, seen in
panorama B (_pp. 90-91_). This was the first stage of the retreat on
September 9.
[Illustration: HOLLOW WHERE THE GERMAN ARTILLERY WAS PLACED.]
This panorama was taken at the intersection of the Meaux-Soissons road
(N 36) and a track which leads to Étrépilly, in the field bordering the
road and where German machine-guns were established in order to sweep
with their fire the Route Nationale and the bottom of the hollow.
[Illustration:
Varreddes
Road from Meaux to Soissons
The Ourcq Canal
Road to Étrépilly
E. +PANORAMA OF THE VARREDDES HOLLOW+]
It is easy to understand why the Germans attached so much importance to
the Varreddes position.
The slopes west of the hollow (they form the background on the left of
the panorama) were protected from the blows of the French artillery,
and by availing themselves of this protection the Germans could easily
bring up supplies or relieve the defenders on the crests, facing
Chambry-Barcy. This ensured their resistance until the moment when the
general trend of the action forced them to fall back.
After having examined panorama E, _continue the descent towards
=Varreddes= (12 km.). Before crossing the canal_ one can see, on the
right, a '75' shell which has remained fixed in the wall of an inn, of
which the sign has now become: "A l'obus."
_We now enter the High Street of Varreddes._
At the entrance of the village is a certain number of houses that were
damaged by the bombardment.
[Illustration: GERMAN WOUNDED IN FRONT OF VARREDDES TOWN-HALL]
The German wounded, forsaken during the hasty retreat of September
9, were sheltered and nursed at the town-hall. They are seen in the
opposite view. When leaving the village the Germans took twenty
hostages with them, all very old, among them being the vicar. Three
succeeded in escaping, but, for the others, the retreat proved (as will
be seen) a veritable torture. Seven of them were murdered.
On the first day they were forced to march seventeen miles. M.
Jourdain, aged 77, and M. Milliardet, aged 78, taken away with only
slippers on their feet, were the first to fail from exhaustion: they
were shot point-blank. Soon after, M. Vapaillé suffered the same fate.
The next day M. Terré, an invalid, fell, and was killed with
revolver-shots; M. Croix and M. Llévin stumbled in their turn and were
also shot.
[Illustration: TREE PIERCED BY A 75 SHELL]
All three were from 58 to 64 years of age. Finally, M. Mesnil, aged 67,
utterly exhausted, gave in: his skull was smashed in with blows from
the butt end of a rifle.
The other hostages, better able to endure, held on as far as Chauny and
were sent to Germany by rail. They were repatriated five months later.