[Illustration: Map (TN).]
_Leave Verdun by the_ =Porte de France.= _Beyond the railway bridge,
keep straight along the valley of the Meuse which is dominated on the
right by Belleville Hill._
_Pass through_ =Thierville= _village._
_Opposite is seen_ =Marre fort.= _At the foot of the hill on which
the fort stands, turn to the right._ _Leaving on the left the farm of
Villers-les-Moines, the road then climbs a small eminence, Hill 243,
below which is the_ =Charny redoubt.= _The road branching off to the
right crosses the railway and leads to_ =Charny.=
It was at Charny that the Germans crossed the Meuse in 1870. Here
they shot the retired notary, M. Violard, on the pretext that he had
aided the francs-tireurs in a surprise attack.
_The road skirts the north slopes of the hills on which stand the
modern forts of_ =Vacherauville=, =Marre= _and_ =Bois-Bourrus.=
[Illustration: CHARNY.
_The Church and the main street in January 1916._]
[Illustration: CHARNY.
_The village in January 1917._]
[Illustration: _The church and the main street in May 1919._]
=Marre= _will be found almost entirely destroyed. After passing the
ruins of the church, take the right-hand road and keep straight on
to_ =Cumières.= _Half-way the station is passed on the right and on
the left is the road to_ =Chattancourt.=
Attacked on March 14th, and destroyed by shell fire on April 25th,
=Cumières= was only captured by the enemy during the night of May
23rd-24th. On May 26th, in the evening, after a desperate struggle
the French retook the eastern portion.
[Illustration: THE RUINS OF MARRE. _After passing the church, the car
turns right, towards Cumières. On the left, the road to Bourrus woods
is impassable._]
On May 29th and 30th, after two days of continuous bombardment,
they were momentarily driven back by superior numbers towards
Chattancourt, but a vigorous counter-attack brought the French again
to the southern outskirts of the village. Caurettes wood, however, to
the south-west of Cumières remained in the enemy's hands.
On August 20th 1917, Cumières village and wood were recaptured by a
regiment of the Foreign Legion who attacked singing _La Madelon_.
_From_ =Cumières= _the road goes straight on to_ =Oie Hill.=
[Illustration: CUMIÈRES VILLAGE IN AUGUST 1917.]
[Illustration: CHATTANCOURT IN 1921.--THE EXIT FROM THE VILLAGE TO
MORT-HOMME.]
_From_ =Cumières,= _return to Chattancourt station and keep right
along the road to_ =Chattancourt.= _About 800 metres further on
the village of Chattancourt, completely levelled to the ground, is
reached._
From Chattancourt the positions of =Mort-Homme= can be visited _by
the road going to Bethincourt_. _Motor-cars can go as far as the top
of Hill 295 or Mort-Homme, where it is necessary to turn the car
round and return to Chattancourt, as the road is cut near Bethincourt
by the Forges stream, which has entirely flooded the lower part of
the village._
[Illustration: THE "PLACE" OF CHATTANCOURT IN JUNE 1916.]
[Illustration: CHATTANCOURT ON MAY 16TH, 1916.--_On the horizon,_ THE
SLOPES OF MORT-HOMME.]
[Illustration: CHATTANCOURT IN JUNE 1916.--THE ENTRANCE TO THE
VILLAGE.]
[Illustration: Map (TN).]
=Mort-Homme.=
Like Hill 304, Mort-Homme was one of the most fiercely disputed
positions on the left bank. It consists of twin hills: No. 265 (of
which the Bethincourt-Cumières road skirts the summit) and No. 295
(the Morte-Homme proper, round which the road winds on the N. E.),
and formed an excellent observation post and artillery position in
front of the real line of resistance.
On March 5th, 1916, the German offensive, which, until then, had
been confined to the right bank of the river, developed with great
violence on the left flank, progressing in six days to the slopes of
Mort-Homme.
On the 14th, after a bombardment lasting five hours, sometimes at the
rate of 120 shells to the minute, consisting of shells of all kinds,
time-fuse, percussion, poison gas and tear gas, the enemy's infantry
attack on Mort-Homme began.
The 25th Division (Debeney), under orders not to fall back, was half
buried and asphyxiated. Four colonels, including Colonel Garçon
commanding the brigade, and their staffs fell, rifles in hand.
Hill 265 was taken but the infantry and zouaves, by a magnificent
defence, held their ground on Hill 295, the key to the entire
position. A counter-attack by the 15th Regiment further drove back
the attackers to the North-West counter-slopes.
[Illustration: MORT-HOMME IN APRIL 1916.]
On April 9th, the enemy crept up the ravine of Corbeaux wood and
attacked the line between the summits of Hills 265 and 295. During
a struggle of unprecedented fury lasting over four hours and foiled
four times in succession, the enemy reorganised and made fresh
attacks until evening. The 8th and 16th battalions of chasseurs and
the 2nd battalion of the 151st Line Regiment repulsed the Germans in
terrific hand-to-hand fighting. The 8th battalion of chasseurs, "the
battalion of Sidi Brahim" was outflanked on the wings and fought with
three fronts, determined to hold on till the last man fell.
[Illustration: MORT-HOMME.--IN THE CAPTURED TRENCHES (AUGUST 1917).]
On the 20th, the 32nd French Corps (Berthelot), in their turn,
took the offensive. After a careful artillery preparation,
three battalions of the 40th Infantry Division passed Hill
295 and established their line on the north slopes. The enemy
counter-attacked with an effort to outflank Mort-Homme by Hayette
ravine but suffered terrible losses.
On the summit of Mort-Homme, the 150th Infantry Regiment repulsed all
the attacks of a determined enemy and held Hill 295.
In order to ensure a greater measure of security, orders were given
to protect, by means of wire entanglements, the small defensive post
at the top of the hill. As soon as night fell, a man volunteered to
put the first entanglement in place and was immediately shot dead.
A second man immediately took his dead comrade's place and carried
on with the work. He too, was killed. The same fate befell a third
man, who after seeing his two fellow-soldiers killed, volunteered to
continue with the task. A fourth man brought in the three bodies of
the men who had just been killed in trying to put the entanglements
in position, and then volunteered to fix a fourth entanglement
alongside the others. Eventually the small outpost was entirely
protected, and thanks to the sacrifice of these four brave men of the
150th Regiment, the enemy's efforts failed to pierce the defences.
Finally on May 23rd, a fresh German Corps was hurled against the
summit of Mort-Homme, and succeeded in gaining possession of it.
From June 9th to 24th, the enemy were unable to debouch from
Mort-Homme owing to the firm stand taken up by the 15th Corps
(Maud'huy).
On June 15th, more than a kilometre of trenches was actually
recaptured from the enemy.
[Illustration: ON THE SUMMIT OF MORT-HOMME, THE MONUMENT TO THE 69TH
DIVISION.]
In 1917, the sector was often the scene of violent combats, the
Germans ending by occupying Hills 265 and 295. In these they
organised formidable defences, according to their usual practice,
especially as regards deep shell-proof tunnels. During the offensive
of August 20th 1917 the 31st Infantry Division recaptured Mort-Homme
and its tunnels.
_Follow the clearly marked path which ascends the slopes of
Mort-Homme as far as the monuments to the 40th and 69th Divisions.
By following the trench a little beyond the monument to the 40th
Infantry Division and to the right, one reaches the mouth of and
steps down to the Bismarck tunnel. Continue along the ridge towards
Corbeaux wood, from whence there is a panorama view of the valley
of the Forges stream and the heights north of this valley (the old
French line of March 1916). On the right can be seen Caurettes ravine
with its denuded wood._
_About 200 yards in front of the edge of Corbeaux wood, a stairway
with a hundred steps gives access to an enormous German tunnel,
joining Forges ravine and Caurettes ravine._
This tunnel, called Corbeaux tunnel by the French and Gallwitz tunnel
by the Germans was captured by the 7th tirailleurs of the famous
Morocco division.
On August 20th 1917, this tunnel was passed over but the enemy still
held out in it.
Zouaves and tirailleurs kept careful watch at all the exits and
ventilating shafts of this immense underground cavern, and it was
not until the following day that the garrison of eleven hundred men
including a colonel, three battalion commanders, and all their staff
gave themselves up.
_Continue as far as the northern edges of_ =Corbeaux wood.=
[Illustration: Map (TN).]
[Illustration: ON THE SUMMIT OF MORT-HOMME, THE MONUMENT TO THE 40TH
DIVISION. (Photo Martin Collardelle.)]
=Corbeaux Wood.=
The table-lands dominated by the two Mort-Homme hills are cut on the
north by a ravine bounded at the bottom by Corbeaux wood. This was
a favourable spot for the massing and launching of attacking troops
to reach Hill 295. On March 6th, the French line was brought back to
the northern edges of the wood. On the 7th, the enemy succeeded in
getting a footing there, wild hand-to-hand fighting being accompanied
with so much bloodshed that in many places the snow became red.
On the 8th, the 92nd Infantry Regiment retook the wood in twenty
minutes; on the 10th, at nightfall, the 92nd, deprived of its colonel
and receiving no support from the French artillery who failed to see
their rocket signals on account of the intervening wood, had to give
ground inch by inch under the assault of an entire German division.
[Illustration: CORBEAUX TUNNEL AFTER ITS CAPTURE (AUGUST 22ND 1917).]
[Illustration: THE ROAD FROM CHATTANCOURT TO ESNES, _at the foot of
Hill 275._
_In the background where the roads meet (Montzéville to the left,
Esnes to the right), take the one on the right to Esnes._]
_Return to the car by the same path. From Mort-Homme go back to_
=Chattancourt= _and take the road on the right to_ =Esnes.= _This
rather steep road climbs the northern slopes of Hill 275, bringing
one to a pass from which Hill 304 may be seen opposite. Continue
as far as the cross-roads where turn right to go into Esnes. After
passing the ruins of Esnes church, keep straight on, taking the
second turn on the right not the first which leads to Bethincourt._
[Illustration: ESNES VILLAGE, SEPTEMBER 25TH 1916.]
[Illustration: ESNES.--THE ROAD TO BETHINCOURT IN MAY 1921.]
_Do not take the left-hand road which ends in a very steep rough
track in a bad state of repair (plan p. 118). The second road to the
right twists and turns, leading to the Calvary of Esnes, from which
there is a magnificent view of the battlefields on the left bank from
Mort-Homme to Bois-Bourrus. At the Calvary, take the right-hand of
the two roads._
This road passes between Hill 287 and the famous Hill 304.
[Illustration: ESNES.--THE ROAD SHOWN ABOVE, BEFORE THE WAR.]
[Illustration: Map (TN).]
=Hill 304.=
Hill 304, with Hills 287 and 310 South of Esnes, forms a line of
natural fortresses which kept under their cross fire not only the
roads of approach but also the bare glacis or the steep escarpments
immediately bordering them.
The nearest sheltered approaches to Hill 304 are Avocourt and
Malancourt woods. From these woods started the first attack conducted
by the 11th Bavarian Division against the hill on March 20th 1916.
The Bavarians were checked, however, by the French cross fire, on
the long barren slopes leading to the ridge. From March 20th to 22nd
their three regiments lost, to no purpose, from fifty to sixty per
cent of their effective strength. On April 9th, before Hill 287, the
first German attacking wave succeeded in gaining the support trench,
but the French survivors in the advance trench crawled out from among
the dead and debris of their trench and annihilated the attackers.
On May 3rd, 80 German batteries concentrated their fire on Hill 304
and its approaches.
Clouds of black, green and yellow smoke rose from the hill-top
as from a volcano, obscuring the sky to a height of 2,500 feet,
according to the reports of aviators. As a British war correspondent
put it: "The sky was like a dome of invisible rails on which fast
trains ran madly". On May 4th and 5th, a fresh German division
attempted to occupy the position, believing it and its defenders to
have been annihilated. On the 4th, they gained a footing on the North
slopes of Hill 304, from which they were dislodged during the night
by the 68th, who then had to withdraw. On the 5th the same German
division attacked the Camard Wood and Hill 287 on the left. In this
wood, entirely levelled by an eleven-hour bombardment, the 66th Line
Regiment first held up, then charged the assailants at the point
of the bayonet. At Hill 287 a battalion of the 32nd Line Regiment
likewise brilliantly repulsed two attacks. On May 7th, after a
tremendous shelling, the enemy attacked Hill 304 simultaneously from
three sides with troops from five different divisions. It was their
greatest effort against this position. Thanks to two French regiments
of picked troops (125th and 114th), one company of which charged,
to the strains of _La Marseillaise_, the Germans were thrown into
disorder and driven back to the N. slopes. During the rest of the
month the enemy counter-attacked but without success.
On June 29th and 30th, the enemy endeavoured to outflank Hill 304
East and West, by means of liquid fire.
During December, fresh efforts came to nothing.
[Illustration: RECAPTURED TRENCH ON HILL 304, AUGUST 24TH, 1917.]
During 1917, the Germans continued stubbornly with their attacks on
Hill 304.
On June 28th and 29th, a powerful attack carried Hill 304 and an
advance was made between the hill and the south-east corner of
Avocourt wood, in a slight hollow, known as =Col de Pommerieux=. This
hollow was, however, reconquered on July 17th by the French 51st and
87th Infantry Regiments, supported by two battalions of the 97th
Infantry Division (335th and 346th Regiments) and one battalion of
the 73rd Infantry Division. After a remarkable artillery preparation,
the French infantrymen, in half-an-hour, reached the fortified crest,
and regained a kilometre of ground. The 87th Line Regiment, went 300
yards beyond their allotted objective and captured an observation
post, in front of the crest, which they promptly christened "Le
créneau de Gretchen". The attack caught the enemy off their guard at
the very moment a relief was being carried out, and 520 prisoners
belonging to three different divisions were taken.
[Illustration: THE TOP OF HILL 304 SEEN FROM POMMERIEUX PLATEAU.]
On August 24th, Hill 304 was wrested from the Germans by the 272nd
and 128th Infantry Regiments of the 5th Brigade (Nérel). This brigade
which attacked in front of Hill 304, on the Pommerieux plateau and at
Camard wood, captured prisoners belonging to five German divisions.
On the same evening, after capturing Hill 304 this brigade stormed
several redoubts and carried the first line to the Forges stream,
i.e. more than two kilometres from the starting point.
[Illustration: AVOCOURT VILLAGE IN MARCH 1916.]
From Hill 304, return to =the Esnes Calvary= _and from there take the
road on the right to_ =Avocourt.=
=Avocourt, Avocourt and Malancourt Woods.=
One of the finest feats of arms in the battle of Verdun was performed
at Avocourt.
[Illustration: THE CENTRE OF AVOCOURT, IN APRIL 1916.]
On March 20th, 1916, the Germans who had never been able to take the
village, attacked the wood with a fresh division, the 11th Bavarian
Division. The attack succeeded, with the help of liquid fire. A
French counter-attack on the 29th by the 210th Infantry Regiment,
and a battalion of the 157th, recaptured the wood and the redoubt
known as the "Réduit d'Avocourt". The attacking troops which had not
been revictualled for four days, had finished their reserve rations
twelve hours previously. So fatigued were they that they slept
standing despite the bombardment. To rouse them, their chiefs, at 3
a.m. next morning, ordered the buglers and drummers to play. As the
day was breaking the music suddenly stopped, a shell having buried
all save one drummer. Furious at this, the men, with the drummer at
their head, rushed forward, and by 8 a.m. the wood had been entirely
reconquered.
[Illustration: A TRENCH IN THE RUINS OF AVOCOURT IN APRIL, 1917.]
[Illustration: SITE OF AVOCOURT VILLAGE IN NOVEMBER 1918.]
[Illustration: MALANCOURT WOOD IN 1916.
_Photographed from the French line. The sandbags mark the German
line._]
[Illustration: A GERMAN DUMP IN AVOCOURT WOOD (AUGUST 1919).]
[Illustration: A SAUSAGE (OBSERVATION BALLOON) IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
OF REGRET.]
_From Avocourt, return to Esnes. Again take the Chattancourt road
but about 1,500 metres from Esnes, take the road on the right to_
=Montzéville,= _G. C. 18, as far as_ =Dombasle-en-Argonne,= _where
take R. N. 3 to_ =Verdun.=
Dombasle was one of the points where the Sainte-Menehould-Verdun
railway was bombarded.
[Illustration: BROCOURT (4 KM. SOUTH OF DOMBASLE): AEROPLANE HANGARS
HIT BY SHELL FIRE (AUGUST 1916).]
[Illustration: IN THE CIRCUIT DE NIXÉVILLE (_the loop which bounds
the "Sacred Way" on the north_), A REGIMENT ENTERING LORRIES TO BE
TAKEN TO REST BILLETS.]
_Going through_ =Blercourt,= _there are two level crossings to pass:
after the second, the_ ="Sacred Way"= _branches off on the right to
Bar-le-Duc, via Souilly._
The fate of Verdun, even of France, depended on this road.
Disintegrated by frost and thaw, and subjected to the wild rush
of transport which in the space of five days raised the fighting
strength of the Verdun army from 150,000 to 800,000, this road
visibly sank. When General Pétain took command of the battle on
February 25th, his first care was to ensure that this road was firm
and sound. All along the road 16,000 men divided into gangs were
engaged upon the task of repairing it. Quarries were opened in the
vicinity, and without interrupting the convoys of lorries which ran
at regular intervals, thousands of roadmen threw tons of stones on
the road. The road stood up to the strain and carried all necessary
supplies up to the vast battle.
[Illustration: _Refugees from the Verdun District passing through_
SOUILLY _along the_ "SACRED WAY" _worn into furrows by motor
convoys._]
_Re-enter_ =Verdun= _by the_ =Porte de France.=
_3rd. Itinerary:_