Chemin des Dames
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In France, the Chemin des Dames, literally, the "Ladies' Way", runs east and west in the département of Aisne, between in the west, the road N2, (Laon to Soissons) and in the east, the N44 at Corbeny. It is some thirty kilometres long and runs along a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Aisne and Ailette. It acquired the name in the 18th century, as it was the route taken by the two daughters of Louis XV, Adélaïde and Victoire, who were known as Ladies of France. At the time it was scarcely a carriage road but it was the most direct route between Paris and the Château de La Bove, near Bouconville-Vauclair, on the far side of the Ailette. The château belonged to Françoise de Châlus, former mistress of Louis XV, Countess of Narbonne-Lara and former lady of honour to Adélaïde, whom the two ladies visited frequently. To make the way easier, the count had the road surfaced and it gained its new name.
The ridge's strategic importance first became evident in 1814 when Napoleon's young recruits beat an army of Prussians and Russians at the Battle of Craonne.
[edit] World War I
Three battles were fought in along the Chemin des Dames ridge during the First World War. All are named after the river at the ridge's foot, and they have main articles as follows:
- First Battle of the Aisne 1914) - Anglo-French counter-offensive following the First Battle of the Marne.
- Second Battle of the Aisne 1917) - main component of the Nivelle Offensive.
- Third Battle of the Aisne 1918) - third phase (Operation Blücher) of the German Spring Offensive.
During World War I, the Chemin Des Dames lay in the part of the Western Front held by French armies. Its position led to its being the scene of several bloody battles between 1914 and 1918. The German army went onto the defensive on the ridge in September 1914, stopping the advancing Allied armies after the Battle of the Marne. After intensive fights, Germans took control of the plateau in November 1914.
The front line then remained static until 1917, during which time, several thousand soldiers died in bombings or coup de main operations. On 25 January 1915 German forces won the attack of the Creute farm (today « La Caverne du Dragon » : the Dragon's Lair), capturing the remaining allied positions on the plateau.
The most noted battle, called the Second Battle of the Aisne, took place between 16 April and 25 April 1917. General Robert Nivelle, advocating the use of overwhelming force, attacked the German line along a front on the Chemin's ridge. The defenders had found shelter in caves below the ridge from which they were able to dominate the ground over which the attack was made. On the first day, the French army, with support by battalions of Senegalese soldiers, lost over 40,000 men. During the entire battle, French forces lost approximately 97,000 men. The overwheming loss of lives with insignificant strategic gain was a disaster for Nivelle, who had already been short on manpower and in danger of mutiny.
That danger developed into reality so profound that French forces found themselves needing much more support from their allies in the region than had been anticipated. This is how divisions of the British army came to be there during the following twelve months.
During Summer 1917, the Battle of the Observatories was a series of attacks and counter-offensives to gain control of strategic positions between Craonne and Laffaux. In October, after the allied victory of the Malmaison battle, the German forces left the Chemin des Dames and moved to the north of the Ailette valley.
A German offensive began on 27 May 1918. British Forces participated in the Third Battle of the Aisne on the 27 May to 6 June 1918. During the Second Battle of the Marne, the last fight on the Chemin des Dames occurred between 2 August and 10 October 1918.
[edit] Today
There are numerous war memorials and cemeteries, German, French and British, all along the chemin.
Beneath the ridge is an almost one-square-kilometre cave network called "The Dragon's Lair" (« La Caverne du Dragon »). The subterranean caverns originally were a tunnel system created from excavations of limestone for building purposes in the 17th century. The caves are some 20-40 metres below the surface. During World War I, the caves were used by both French and German forces as field hospitals and command posts, sometimes simultaneously. The artillery bombardment of the area actually cracked some of the overlaying cliffs, which can be seen today. A noteworthy visitors' centre that offers guided tours is now located at the site.
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