The 20th Regiment attacked Le Casque, under machine-gun fire from the woods, on the western slopes of Mont Perthois. [34], The French attack between Mont Cornillet and the north of Le Téton on 20 May, failed on the north slope of Mont Blond and the north-west slopes of Mont Haut but succeeded to the north-east, north of Le Casque and Le Téton, where 985 prisoners were taken. German resistance in the Konstanzlager to the south-east of Mont Blond, prevented its right from being supported by the 45th division. French casualties were so high that Vandenbergh postponed operations against Mont Cornillet and Flensburg trench. The entrance of the tunnel was discovered in 1933. On 12 September, east of the St Hilaire–St Souplet road and north-east of Aubérive, more skirmishing took place. Few German defences remained intact, except for those in Bois de la Grille and around Aubérive. [26] c. 1,100 prisoners, 22 guns, sixty mortars and 47 machine-guns were captured by the Foreign Legion. The French division now here (the 169th) was in the first attack at Mont Cornillet. An advance down the right bank of the Suippes, towards Dontrien and St Martin-l'Heureux and the Bazancourt to Somme-Py and Apremont railway, was obstructed by a trench system east of Aubérive and Bois de la Côte 152. Sie trennen die Ebene von Chalons vom Moronvilliers-Massiv ab. The preparatory artillery strikes targeted the forts of Brimont, Witry-lès-Reims, and Berru, as well as tunnels and shelters under Mount Cornillet and Mont-sans-nom. [10] The objectives of the 16th Division were on a slight incline, which in the conditions of 1917, was more dangerous to the attacking force than a steep one, because of the lack of dead ground. More German dead were found in the tunnels, having been killed by the special gas shells fired by the French artillery. On 22 October, the day before the Battle of La Malmaison, the French broke into the German lines south-east of St Quentin and in the Tahure region; on the morning of 23 October, German troops raided west of Hennericourt. By 3 June, Army Group German Crown Prince had recovered hardly any ground lost from 16 April to 20 May on the Aisne front and on the Moronvilliers Heights. Jean-François indique 7 postes sur son profil. [36], After the defeats of 20 May, the Germans counter-attacked the next day and were repulsed. On April 18 and 19, and May 4 and 5, the fighting was spasmodic and finally ceased. New railways had been built by the Germans but cutting the line would make it difficult for the Germans to supply the forces east of the Suippes and west of the upper Aisne. Lobit, the 34th division commander, sent the reserve battalions of the two regiments, to guard the open western flank of the division, between Erfurt trench and Mont Cornillet and to close the gap between the 83rd and 59th regiments. Mont-Cornillet-Tunnel. vendredi 23 novembre 2007, par JFW. [9], The Fourth Army plan was to capture Bois de la Grille, Leopoldshöhe Trench and all of the south face of the Moronvilliers hills, push the Germans back from Le Golfe and encircle Aubérive from the flanks. In the centre, Posnanie and Beyrouth trenches and the Labyrinth redoubt were still occupied by German troops, in front of the Main Boyau trench, the last defensive position running down from the Moronvilliers Hills to the Suippes south of Vaudesincourt. Your Cart is Empty ... Sign in; 0; Home; Collections; Catalog; Back Room; FAQ On the right, the French had reached the summit of Le Téton and were just below the crest of Le Casque. Besides this poste (Saint-Thomas) our only other one is at La Narazée, in one of the ravines to the right of here. [24] The 11th Regiment of the 33rd Division, attacked again and was caught in cross-fire, from machine-guns at the mouth of the western entrances of the Mont Perthois tunnel. See more ideas about World war, War, World war one. The eastern slope declines close to the bank of the Suippes, between St Martin-l'Heureux and Aubérive and the southern slope declines south of the road from Reims to St Hilaire le Grand, St Ménéhould and Verdun as it descends into the Plain of Châlons. Poor weather interfered with air-observation but by the night of 16 April, reconnaissance photographs taken from the air, reports from ground observers and prisoner reports, showed that wide lanes had been cut through the barbed wire entanglements in front of the German first line, where they had not been obliterated and that German trench lines and field fortifications, particularly south of Mont Sans Nom had been destroyed. La particularité du Mont Cornillet se trouve dans son système défensif. On the western flank, the French had been repulsed west of the Thuizy–Nauroy road. On the left flank of the division, Aubérive east of the river was rapidly captured. The attack on Fosse Froide Trench was held up just short, which left the Germans with a foothold on Mont Haut. Having gained its objectives, the division was to face west and north, to guard the rear of the 34th Division to the east, as it attacked Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond. In 1918, the number of German prisoners taken since 17 April, was given as 6,120, with 52 guns, 42 mortars and 103 machine-guns. [17] The infantry advanced behind a creeping barrage, in cold rain alternating with snow showers but the training of the French infantry and careful planning, meant that the unexpected darkness during the advance favoured the French, even though aeroplanes and observation balloons were grounded by high, gusting winds. [9] The fortified village of Vaudesincourt to the north, on the banks of the Suippes and the maze of trenches on the right bank, had been badly damaged but much of the wire was uncut and blockhouses and pill-boxes had not been destroyed. We made some prisoners, including an officer. The attacks on 20 May were the final stage of the Nivelle Offensive, in which most of the Chemin des Dames plateau, Bois des Buttes, Ville-aux-Bois, Bois des Boches and the German first and second lines, from the heights to the Aisne had been captured. On 28 September, German raids were repulsed west of Navarin Farm, north-west of Tahure and at the Four-de-Paris in the Argonne. On the left of XII Corps to the east of the Suippes, the 24th Division established a flank guard by attacking through Bois des Abattis towards Germains and Baden-Baden trenches. [23] The 83rd Regiment managed a costly advance to the summit of Mont Cornillet but German machine-guns on the ridge between Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, slowed the advance. [24] The 2nd Battalion of the 83rd Regiment, held on to the north end of the trench until 5:30 p.m., when it ran out of ammunition and withdrew behind the crest, where the survivors repulsed a German attack at midnight. The front line at various stages in the battle, with the Battle of the Hills on the right of the image. The 83rd Regiment resumed the advance on Mont Cornillet and the 59th Regiment attacked Mont Blond the 34th Division took nearly all of its objectives on Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, at the west end of the Moronvilliers massif. galeries du tunnel et que le gouvernement ouest-allemand, en accord avec les autorités françaises, A road ran east from Beine to Nauroy, Moronvilliers and St Martin l'Heureux on the Suippes, north of the Moronvilliers massif. The advance towards Bois-en-Escalier in the centre began well and several field-gun batteries stood by to follow the advance, after a short delay at the German first line in Bois-en-Escalier, where the Germans were outflanked from the north and killed or captured. 206 likes. Der Mont Cornillet gehört zu einer Kette von fünf Bergen nordöstlich von Reims. [3], On the right flank, the XII Corps contributed the 24th Division to the attack and the XVII Corps (General J. The two regiments in the centre and on the right were stopped by the German machine-gun fire from Wahn Trench, which ran from the Thuizy–Nauroy road, through the south end of Bois de la Grille. [29] Among the German casualties, 6,120 prisoners were taken. The crests of the hills had been fortified on the south and north sides; on the northern slope of Mont Cornillet and the north-east side of Mont Perthois, were the defensive tunnels. SOURCE:The Sphere. German counter-attacks from Moronvilliers were dispersed by French artillery, directed over the heights from observation posts on Mont Haut and next day German columns, trying to reach the summits through ravines south-west of Moronvilliers, were also repulsed by French artillery-fire. French preparations could not be disguised from the German observers on the hills above the Châlons Plain but as similar activity was occurring at many places, from the North Sea to Switzerland, it was not until the arrival of large number of guns had been detected by the Germans, that the possibility of a French offensive became known. DATE:Sept 1917. Toute la collection des 670 vidéos Histoires 14-18. A French reserve battalion was committed and soon French units dissolved into a mass of individuals, who fought on their own initiative. An attack from the south on Mont Blond and Mont Haut, could be subjected to enfilade fire by the Germans on Mont Cornillet and Mont Perthois. Ludendorff called the loss of the heights a "severe blow" and sixteen counter-attacks were made against the French positions along the heights in the next ten days, with little success. After a gas bombardment on Mont Blond and the French lines north-west of Aubérive, German infantry attacked again at 2:00 a.m. on 31 May, at Mont Haut, Le Casque and Le Téton. An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. Plusieurs galeries de 150 mètres chacune à plus de … In front of Nauroy was another trench, which linked the defences on top of Mont Cornillet. [4], The French Fourth Army comprised the XII, XVII, VIII corps and tank Groupement III (Captain H. Lefebvre), with two Schneider CA1 groups, Artillerie Spéciale 1 (AS 1) and AS 10 of eight tanks each, reinforced by some Saint-Chamond tanks. At 6:00 p.m., the French attacked the two summits of Mont Haut and Fosse Froide Trench, which ran from Mont Haut, across the northern slopes of Mont Perthois. After a lull, the French attacked again on 30 April and ended the offensive on 20 May. [c] There is an outlying peak known as Mont Sans Nom, 210 m (700 ft) high, with a hollow then a ridge to the north-west, the highest part of which is the western summit of Mont Haut at 260 m (840 ft). m. L'entrée du tunnel après la guerre. [19] On 25 April, the 34th Division was relieved by the 19th Division. [18], At 4:00 p.m., two German battalions attacked the summit, which was recaptured and lost twice. ... Galeries allemandes du mont Cornillet et du mont Perthois, tunnels du camp de (...) > Lieux > Champagne Où l’on parle à nouveau du tunnel du fort de la Malmaison ... mardi 12 février 2008, par Eric L. On 14 September, the French raided west of Navarin Farm and next day attacked in the area of Mt Haut. The number of communication trenches in the defensive zones had been increased, trenches and dugouts deepened and huge amounts of concrete used, to reinforce the fortifications against French artillery-fire.