[Illustration: Map (TN).]
_Leave_ =Verdun= _by the Pont Beaurepaire, Rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville,
Rue St-Sauveur, Rue St-Victor, the Porte Nationale and R. N. 3 (See
plan of Verdun, exit III)._
_Follow R. N. 3 for two and a half kilometres and then take R. N. 64,
on the right, which follows the Meuse valley, towards Houdainville
and Dieue-sur-Meuse. At the latter village, turn left along I. C. 5
to Sommedieue. This very picturesque road climbs through Amblonville
forest towards the_ =Tranchée de Calonne,= _I. C. 3 which should be
taken on the right._
=The Tranchée de Calonne.=
It is almost straight, crossing the entire Amblonville forest. It was
formerly the haunt of poachers and hunters only.
But now the Tranchée de Calonne evokes more tragic memories. From the
word "Tranchée" it might be supposed that it was a relic of the Great
War. It is not so, however, since for more than a century this name
had been given to the road which M. de Calonne, Minister of Finance
under Louis XVI, had had laid out on the ridge of hills to approach
his château, built at the foot of the Heights of the Meuse. This
château was destroyed during the Revolution.
[Illustration: THE TRANCHÉE DE CALONNE.
_French trenches and observation posts, on the right of the road, in
the Taillis de Sauls, in front of the Éparges road (plan on opposite
page)._]
The story goes that M. de Calonne hoped one day to receive the king
in his residence, and wishing to welcome him in a worthy manner, had
planted rose trees all along the road. Anyway, during the war wild
roses could be seen blooming along this forest road which became
indeed a "trench" in the military sense of the word.
The front cut the "tranchée de Calonne" a little to the south-west
of Saint-Rémy. On both sides it was bombarded and kept busy with
never-ending attacks and counter-attacks.
In March 1915, the French brought into position there naval 140 guns
intended for firing at a 12,000 metre range over Éparges, right
behind the enemy lines. It was with difficulty that the sailors
installed their heavy guns in this clay soil.
This effective bombardment irritated the Germans, who on the 24th,
launched a mass attack which reached the third support line.
The naval officers who were isolated in their post with their
telephone wires cut and no contact with the infantry, rapidly
organised their defence and swept the ground with the fire of their
only heavy guns and a few 75s, dragged up by hand, which fired with
their sights at zero.
The Germans, however, continued to advance, and on the 25th they
were no more than one kilometre from the guns, the only protection
for the sailors now being broken down trenches and the remains of
barbed wire entanglements. On the 26th, while the sailors were
preparing to make a firm stand against the enemy's attack, two French
battalions of chasseurs, called in to reinforce, crawled through the
undergrowth and gradually got up to the position from which they
counter-attacked. On the 27th, the firing died down, but the Germans
reorganised and again attacked on May 5th. The first rush gave them
some advantages, which were quickly wrested from them by the arrival
in the field of the Moroccan brigade and six battalions of chasseurs
who recaptured, in a few hours, all the ground lost on April 24th.
[Illustration: THE TRANCHÉE DE CALONNE.
_On the left, commences the Éparges road which is impassable for
cars._]
The Tranchée de Calonne enters the forest, every part of which was
used by both sides during the war for engineers' and artillery parks,
aid posts, shelters, small-gauge railways and gun emplacements of
which trace can still be found.
_On the left the bifurcation of Mont-sous-les-Cotes is passed._
Soon the forest clears and then only blackened tree stumps are seen,
cut by shot and shell, as the old lines are crossed.
[Illustration: Map (TN).]
_Pass the road junction, to the left of the Éparges road, a road
which is broken up and impassable. Continue along the Tranchée de
Calonne which crosses, at 1,500 metres, the hill of Senoux near which
were the enemy first line trenches. Turn left along I. C. 13 in the
direction of Saint-Rémy. After 2-1/2 kilometres the road descends as
far as the stream of Longeau or Éparges._
All along this road, on the left side, the Germans had built into
the hill concrete dug outs, pillboxes, underground galleries and
headquarters posts and there are also some German tombs.
[Illustration: TRANCHÉE DE CALONNE ROAD TO SAINT-RÉMY. (_German
dug-outs_).]
[Illustration: SAINT-RÉMY CHURCH AND VILLAGE.
_On the right the horizon is bounded by Combres Ridge, on the left by
Éparges Crest._]
_On reaching the valley, near the stream, there are cross-roads,
the road on right leading to_ =Saint-Rémy,= _the ruins of which can
be seen. Continue straight on to_ =Combres,= _along an uphill road.
Beyond the crest, at a sharp turn to the right, opposite a large
blockhouse, get out of the car and proceed left along the path to
the Éparges crest, which at first runs along the south slope of the
spur in the old German positions. Notice on the right the entrances
to many huge mine galleries which, under the crest, communicate with
the openings on the north slope. The path rises to the eastern edge
of the spur, point X (on plan), whence there is a wide view over
the Woëvre. Return along the trenches on the crest. On the north
slopes were the French lines containing a series of huge mine craters
organised into defensive positions. At the highest point marked by a
sign post, an excellent general view of the position is obtained._
[Illustration: ÉPARGES SPUR.
_The path of the itinerary is shown by a dotted line._]
=Éparges Spur.=
Éparges spur, 1,400 metres in length and 346 in height, dominates
the Woëvre plain. Its sides are steep and slippery, springs break
out of the soil and small streams drain down its slopes. It is in
very truth, as it has been called, "a mountain of mud". It is a
magnificent observation post which dominates the surrounding country.
"He who holds Éparges, has all the roads under fire".
The Germans gained possession of Éparges on September 21st 1914 and
quickly organised several lines of trenches between the summit and
the valleys; at certain points five ranges of fire could be brought
to bear on a point, and the whole crest was transformed into a strong
redoubt, flanked east and west with two bastions.
The French occupied, to the North, the brow of Montgirmont and
Éparges village, about 600 metres from the German trenches.
It was at the West part of the Spur (point C) that, at the end of
October, the French commenced their attack, step by step, to the sap,
at the same time penetrating into the woods which cover the flanks of
the ravine.
[Illustration: ÉPARGES IN FEBRUARY 1915.--A TRENCH IN FRONT OF THE
POINT C.]
In February there started a series of almost daily attacks and
counter-attacks, only finishing at the beginning of April. On
February 17th, thanks to a mine explosion, the French got a footing
in the enemy first line; attacks and counter-attacks lasted five
days during which Colonel Bacquel was mortally wounded at the head
of his troops. The French held all the west bastion and they started
to advance towards the east bastion. From March 13th to 21st, they
returned to the attack and occupied the enemy front line.
On March 27th a battalion of chasseurs made a fresh push, bringing
them nearer the summit. On April 5th, started the last big attack
which the 12th Division was to carry on day and night until the 9th.
The rain and muddy ground seemed for the moment to hold them back and
render their efforts in vain.
In the evening, part of the crest was occupied but the use of
aerial torpedoes which blotted out whole ranks of men, and a massed
counter-attack, launched on the morning of the following day at 4.30
a.m., robbed them of the gains of the first advance. During the
evening of the 6th and all the night of the 6-7th, in spite of a
continuous downpour, the trenches were recaptured step by step, with
100 prisoners including several officers.
On the 8th the summit and the west ridge were firmly occupied and at
midnight, after fifteen hours of furious and uninterrupted fighting
practically the whole ridge was in French hands.
On the night of the 8-9th, it took fourteen hours to get fresh troops
into position in squalls of rain and a blinding wind. The attack was
resumed at 3 p.m. on the 9th, the ground being hollowed out into deep
pits into which men sometimes disappeared altogether. Finally the
French held the west bastion (point C), the fortified curtain and
stood their ground in front of the east part (point X).
[Illustration: ÉPARGES IN FEBRUARY 1915.--A SHELL BURSTING ON A FRONT
LINE TRENCH.]
[Illustration: ÉPARGES.--IN A CAPTURED ENEMY TRENCH; A PRISONER
BEING TAKEN BEHIND THE LINES.]
[Illustration: A MINE CRATER AT THE EXTREMITY OF THE SPUR, POINT X.
(60 METRES IN DIAMETER, 30 IN DEPTH).]
At the end of 1915 and in 1916 the struggle was rather less bitter
but still deadly enough: the story of a mine exploded by the Germans,
as told by a young Lieutenant of the 74th Infantry Regiment, brings
out vividly the tragic side.
"On the evening before, I had relieved, between the point "X"
and the point "C", a section of the 129th. My night had been
spent in visiting my posts and establishing contact. At daybreak
I returned to my hole, a mine listening gallery running down
crosswise for about 15 metres. Everything was quiet and it
appeared that the enemy had done no work for two days on their
mine chamber. Were we going to be blown up? No one dreamt it
would be so.
"About 4 p.m. we distinguished quite plainly the detonations of
several petards. "Good, the Boches are working, we are alright
for to-day!"
"At that very moment we heard a formidable rumbling, our dug-out
rocked and came to earth again as though a Hercules had lifted
it several metres high and then let it fall again with a bump.
We were turned topsy-turvy one on top of the other in the
darkness.
"Cries were heard, some one was wounded. We lighted a candle and
extricated the man who fortunately had nothing the matter. "Come
on, boys, at them with bombs".
"To get out--the exit was blocked three metres high at least.
Moreover a stream of water had been let in at the higher end of
the sap.
"Without loss of time we got down to work. To reach the piled up
debris a man had to crawl in the midst of the stream, flat on
his stomach, and only one could work at a time.
"An hour passed, then two, centuries it seemed. The water rose,
the air became less and less pure.
"I spare you the agony of a man who perceived that his end was
near, who saw it coming and knew that he could not escape it.
"It was now three hours since the mine went up. The water had
reached our feet. The candles had gone out, we could breathe
only with the greatest difficulty, and everything seemed to be
going round.
"All of a sudden a cry was heard: "Lieutenant, here is the
daylight." A man had succeeded in making a hole through the mud
with the barrel of his rifle.
[Illustration: ÉPARGES SPUR PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE AIR.
_The series of mine craters and chambers (see plan p. 115)._]
"At last! Everyone felt restored to life. Already we could
breathe again. Our candles would burn.
"After another half-hour we got out of this hell and it was time
too.
"Where were we? In the enemy's lines or our own? What had
happened during these four hours? What had become of my posts?
"I pointed out to my men the direction of our lines and I
tried to regain my bearings. But the aspect of the ground had
completely altered. For half-an-hour I probed the darkness. I
could make nothing of it, when, suddenly, I seemed to see two
shadows. I made myself known, but the two men moved off and
fired a star-shell in my direction. It was a German star-shell.
"I made my way to the rear and reached the Battalion Command
Post at Bois Joli. I had been posted "missing".
"No one had news of my section. I went back to the line and
found a corporal and two men who were in the line at the time
of the explosion. For four hours they had prevented the enemy
patrols from investigating the ground and occupying it. They
were the sole survivors."
[Illustration: ON ÉPARGES SPUR: DESTROYING THE GERMAN SYSTEM WITH
BOMBARDMENTS OF 75S. (APRIL 1915).]
[Illustration: ÉPARGES MONUMENT. (Photo Sommer)]
[Illustration: COMING INTO ÉPARGES FROM SAINT-RÉMY IN 1920.
_On the right, Montgirmont mound. On the left, Hures Hill._]
_Return to the car by the same path._
_Continue straight along and rejoin, at Combres, G. C. D. 10 that
leads to Fresnes or making a half-turn, go down to the cross-roads of
Saint-Rémy, turn to the right towards_ =Éparges,= _cross the village,
and keep on towards_ =Trésauvaux= _passing between the crest of
Montgirmont and Hures Hill, on the left (photo above), and so reach
Fresnes-en-Woëvre._
[Illustration: ÉPARGES VILLAGE IN 1915.]
[Illustration: ÉPARGES VILLAGE IN 1915.
_Barricade of boxes filled with earth barring the main street: on the
right, the church._]
_At Fresnes turn left, on leaving the village, towards Manheulles and
follow R. N. 3 straight on to Verdun._
[Illustration: ÉPARGES VILLAGE.
_A cemetery in front of the last house on the right on the road to
Trésauvaux._]
[Illustration: MORT RAVINE (1915) _(See plan p. 129)._
_Dug-outs and French mine entrances on the slope of Éparges Spur._]
[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF THE ÉPARGES RANGE, TAKEN FROM THE
CREST OF MONTGIRMONT.
A. The Woëvre.--B. The trench from which the photo was taken, on the
crest of Montgirmont.--C. The Éparges crest.--D. Mort ravine.--E.
Dug-outs on the side of Éparges Hill, F. A Trench.]
[Illustration: FRESNES-EN-WOËVRE.--THE STATUE OF GENERAL MARGUERITTE.]
[Illustration: RONVAUX VILLAGE AT THE FOOT OF THE MEUSE HEIGHTS IN
1917.]
_4th Itinerary:_
[Illustration: Map (TN).]