List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in Champagne-Ardennes
This is the list of World War I memorials and cemeteries in Champagne-Ardennes.
The modern-day Champagne-Ardenne covers four departments: Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne. Its rivers, most of which flow west, include the Seine, the Marne, and the Aisne. The Meuse flows north. This region was to see much fighting in the 1914–1918 war and many battles of which arguably the most important were the First Battle of the Marne and the Second Battle of the Marne. The First Battle of the Marne, also known as the Miracle of the Marne, was fought between 5 and 12 September 1914. The battle effectively ended the month-long German offensive that had opened the war and the counterattack of six French field armies and one British army along the Marne River forced the German Imperial Army to abandon its push on Paris and retreat northeast to the Aisne, setting the stage for four years of trench warfare on the Western Front
The Second Battle of the Marne or the Battle of Reims, fought from 15 July to 6 August 1918, was the last major German attack of their five phase Spring Offensive, the German attack failing when an Allied counterattack led by French forces and including several hundred tanks overwhelmed the Germans on their right flank, inflicting severe casualties. The German defeat marked the start of the relentless Allied advance which culminated in the Armistice about 100 days later. Thus the Second Battle of the Marne can be considered as the beginning of the end of the Great War whereas the First Battle of the Marne really marked the beginning of what was to be a static war dominated by the trenches rather than the planned war of movement and manoeuvre.
Ironically the German attack in 1918 had been intended as a large diversionary attack to draw the Allies' attention away from Flanders as the "Spring Offensive" had not been the success the Germans had hoped for and Erich Ludendorff believed that an attack through Flanders would give Germany a decisive victory over the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the most experienced Allied force on the Western Front at that time. It was to shield his intentions then and draw Allied troops away from Belgium,that the attack was launched in the Marne area but because of the way the battle on the Marne developed the attack in Flanders was never to happen.
Battles of the Marne
Memorial to the First Battle of the Marne at Mondemont
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Memorial to the First Battle of the Marne at Mondemont |
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The memorial at Mondemont commemorates the First Battle of the Marne fought from 5 to 12 September 1914.
Its location on the site of the Château de Mondement, south of the marshes of St Gond, was considered an appropriate one and the first indication that this would be the site chosen for the memorial came on 6 September 1917, when the ceremony presided over by the President of the Republic Raymond Poincaré to commemorate the third anniversary of the battle, was held at Mondemont and subsequently the French parliament voted Mondemont as the preferred site for the memorial. In 1929 the Beaux-Arts administration organised a competition to enable them to select a suitable design for the memorial and eventually the commission went to the architect Paul Bigot who proposed to use Henri Bouchard for the main sculptural work involved. The monument was to take the form of a huge column to symbolise the significance of the German advance being halted and at the top there would be a sculpture in relief of an "Angel of Victory" which would be assigned to Bouchard whilst bas-reliefs at the base would be worked on by Alfred Bottiau, Albert Patrisse and René André Duparc, all top rank sculptors. In December 1933 the monument itself was completed, but not the sculpture, as there had been difficulties in raising funds to complete the work and for sometime the monument remained covered in scaffolding. Only in 1938 was the complete monument ready, with sculptural work done and the inauguration was fixed for 19 September 1939. However the outbreak of the Second World War meant that this was delayed until 23 September 1951. When completed the monument's height was 35.5 metres and the concrete was pink in colour. The whole monument with its metal base and deep foundations weighed 2000 tonnes! The monument was certainly unusual, but its size did evoke both power and defiance as the designer had intended. At the base, the bas-reliefs featured depictions of all the main Generals involved in the battle, with Joffre in the centre, his arm around a French soldier. Around him are Joffre’s generals placed in the geographical order from Verdun to Senlis that they took for the battle itself. From left to right they are Generals Sarrail (Third Army), Langle de Cary (Fourth Army), Foch (Ninth Army), Franchet d'Espèrey (Fifth Army), Field Marshal French (BEF), Manoury (Sixth Army) and Gallieni (The Army of Paris). There are two main inscriptions on the column "A la voix de Joffre, l'armée française en pleine retraite s'arrêta et fit face à l'ennemi. alors se déchaîna la bataille de la Marne sur un front de soixante dix lieues de Verdun aux portes de Paris. Après plusieurs jours de luttes héroïques, l'ennemi de toutes parts battait en retraite et sur toute l'étendue du front, la VICTOIRE PASSAIT" and the second features Joffre's "Order of the Day" of 6 September 1914 "Au moment où s'engage une bataille dont dépend le salut du pays, il importe de rappeler à tous que le moment n'est plus de regarder en arrière. Tous les efforts doivent être employés à attaquer et repousser l'ennemi. Toute troupe qui ne peut plus avancer devra coûte que coûte garder le terrain conquis et se faire tuer sur place plutôt que de reculer. Dans les circonstances actuelles, aucune défaillance ne peut être tolérée" Other inscriptions cover the make-up of the different armies that were involved in the Allied formation and each face to the point where they were positioned at the start of the offensive. These were-
Below each of these are listed the different Corps involved. There is one final inscription which strikes a philosophical note "A tous ceux qui sur notre terre du plus lointain des âges dressèrent la borne contre l'envahisseur" Incidentally during their occupation from 1940 to 1944 the Germans left the monument untouched. The local people call it the "Carrot". At the top of the monument a Celtic harp faces east and the winged statue of Victory flies from east to west through thunder, lightning and battle trumpets with the words resounding "The VICTORY of the MARNE” |
Some images from Mondemont
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The head of Joffre carved into the Mondement column.
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Top of the column with Bouchard's "Victory Angel"
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Joffre with French soldier surrounded by his Generals as carved at the base of the Mondemont memorial.
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The column at Mondemont.
Memorial to the Battles of the Marne at Dormans
Memorial to the Battles of the Marne at Dormans |
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At Dormans we find a memorial commemorating both Battles of the Marne. The memorial lies in the wooded park belonging to the Chateau of Dormans a site favoured by Foch himself. We find here a chapel, a crypt and an ossuary. The stained glass windows in the chapel are the work of the famous Chartres firm of Lorin and the sculptures are by Firmin Michelet.
Next to the chapel is a covered area and on the walls the names of the various regiments that were involved in both battles are recorded as are the achievements of Joffre who led the Army at the time of the First Battle of the Marne and of Foch, the Army leader at the time of the 1918 battle. In the covered area there are relief carvings of both Joffre and Foch and as part of the carving of Foch we read that the French Army, fighting side by side with the British, the Americans and the Italians, reconquered the Tardenois, took 25,000 prisoners and captured 610 Guns, 220 mine throwers, and 3,000 machine guns. It also records how they were able to take the initiative and throw the enemy back to the frontiers, all of which was a prelude to total liberation and the final victory of the Allies.(Ferdinand Foch was given command of the 9th French Army at the beginning of the war and led the French counter-attack at the 1st Battle of the Marne. His success secured him command of the Northern Army on the Western Front in October 1914, and in this capacity he led the French Armies who fought on the Somme in 1916. He was made Chief of General Staff in 1918 and given overall control of Allied forces in March 1918 serving as Allied Supreme Commander. At the 2nd Battle of the Marne, Foch halted the advance of the German forces in their Spring Offensive in 1918 and his counter-attack saw the tide of the war turn and in November 1918 it was Foch who accepted the German surrender. In July 1918 he was made a Marshal of France). [2] ![]() Memorial Chapel and Lantern at Dormans |
Memorial to the Second Battle of the Marne at the Butte de Chalmont
Memorial to the Second Battle of the Marne at the Butte de Chalmont |
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Dedicated to the victory at the Second Battle of the Marne we find at the Butte de Chalmont one of the most striking monuments on the Western Front. The Second Battle of the Marne had commenced on 15 July 1918 and after three weeks of heavy fighting involving French, American, British and Italian divisions the Germans were defeated and the initiative passed into the hands of the Allies. This National Memorial at Chalmont which celebrates this victory is the work of the sculptor Paul Landowski and was inaugurated on 21 July 1935 by President Lebrun.
The memorial at the Butte de Chalmont should be looked at as having three parts. Firstly, and on the lower slope of the hill, is the sculpture of a woman dressed in a simple cloak and carrying a shield on her left arm. She represents France and is walking forward slowly and looking to the east. Secondly and behind her, are four long steps, each representing the four years of the 1914–1918 war. These take one some 150 yards up the slopes of the hill (butte) to the third part of the composition, a group of eight figures called the "les fantômes", seven figures representing a young recruit, an engineer, a machine-gunner, a grenadier, a colonial soldier, an infantryman and a pilot surround an eighth figure which represents death leaving his shroud. The figures have their eyes closed; they are seeking their missing comrades. The Butte at Chalmont is part of the plateau from which the Allies launched their attack. To the left and right of the memorial are two carved stone tablets. That on the left records the events of the battle and that on the right lists the Allied Generals who took part in the battle: Fayolle, Mangin, Lacapelle, Berdoulat, Penet, Niesse, Prax, Robillot, Degoutte, Philipot, Massenet, Liggett, de Mondesir, Maistre, de Mitry, Lebrun, Berthelot, Pelle, Albricci, Mazillier, Feraud, Godley, Marjoulet, Gouraud, Pont, Hely d’Oissel, Naulin, Pétain, head of the French Army and Foch, the Commander in Chief of the Allied Armies. The stone tablet on the left reads "Le 15 juillet 1918, l’ennemi engage la bataille en Champagne contre les IVème, Vème et VIème armées – Le 17, ses efforts sont brisés de Château-Thierry à l’Argonne. A l’aube du 18 juillet, entre Nouvron et la Marne, les Xème et Vème armées s’élancent à l’assaut sur le flanc de l’ennemi, atteignent le soir le front Pernant-Torcy, progressent sans arrêt les jours suivants et enlèvent la butte de Chalmont (25 et 26 juillet), succès décisif qui repousse l’ennemi sur les plateaux du tardenois. Il tente en vain de résister au nord de l’Ourcq – combats du Grand-Rozoy – il est rejeté sur la Vesle. Soissons est délivré, 30.000 prisonniers et un matériel considérable sont capturés. Le front est raccourci de 50 km, la voie Paris-Chalons rétablie, la menace contre Paris levée. Après trois semaines de durs combats, auxquels participèrent des divisions américaines, britanniques et italiennes, la seconde bataille de la Marne se terminait victorieusement. L’initiative des opérations passait aux mains des alliés" ![]() Memorial to the Second Battle of the Marne at the Butte de Chalmont-"les fantômes" |
Memorials to the Missing
These Battles of the Marne did of course involve the deaths of many men and there are two major British "Memorials to the Missing" which cover the men lost in the two battles whose remains could not be identified. These are the memorials at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre which links to the First Battle of the Marne and that at Soissons which links to the 1918 battle.
La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial
La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial |
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The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial is located on the south bank of the River Marne, on the outskirts of the commune of La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, 66 kilometres east of Paris, in the department of Seine-et-Marne. Also known as the Memorial to the Missing of the Marne, it commemorates over 3,700 British and Irish soldiers who have no known grave and who fell in battle in this area in August, September and early October of 1914. These soldiers were part of the British Expeditionary Force, and are listed on the memorial by regiment, rank and then alphabetically. The memorial itself is a rectangular block of white stone, 62 feet by 30 feet and 24 feet high, surmounted by a large stone sarcophagus. On top of the sarcophagus the sculpture includes a flag, bayonets, and a helmet. The year “1914” is carved below the sarcophagus. The two shorter sides of the memorial are decorated with a carved, downwards pointing sword, while the front and back of the memorial are carved with inscriptions on panels surmounted by a carved wreath and a carved stone crown. The inscription on the river-facing side is in French, while the inscription on the other side is in English. The memorial is mounted on a stepped stone pavement, at the four corners of which are stone pillars, carved with the coats of arms of the British Empire (the coats of arms are labelled England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland), and topped by stone urns. One of the stone pillars was designed to hold a memorial register, which is now kept at the local town hall. At the front of the memorial's pavement is a stone of remembrance inscribed with the words: "Their name liveth for evermore.". The memorials inscription in French reads A la gloire de Dieu et en souvenir durable des 3888 officiers et soldats dont les tombes ne sont pas connues appartenant au Corps Expéditionnaire Britannique qui, mobilisé le 5 Août 1914, débarqua en France en Août 1914 et combattit à Mons, au Cateau, sur la Marne, sur l'Aisne, jusqu'en Octobre 1914" and that in English "To the glory of God and the lasting memory of 3888 British officers and men whose graves are not known who landed in France in the month of August 1914 and between then and October fought at Mons and Le Cateau and on the Marne and the Aisne." The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial was unveiled on 4 November 1928. The English and French military officers present at the dedication ceremony included Ferdinand Foch, Maxime Weygand, George Milne and William Pulteney Pulteney. The ceremony also commemorated the contributions of Joseph Joffre, John French, and Michel-Joseph Maunoury, the commanders of the armies who had fought in the area.[4] Near the main memorial at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre and on each bank of the river and on either side of the nearby bridge, are two identical memorials commemorating the efforts of Royal Engineers who built, whilst under fire from the Germans, a floating bridge at this location in 1914. The English inscription reads At this point was built under fire by the Royal Engineers of the 4th Division a floating bridge for the passage of the left wing of the British Expeditionary Force after the Battle of the Marne. Portions of the division had already crossed by boat at the weir near Luzancy and below the destroyed bridges" [5] The memorial was designed by George H. Goldsmith, a decorated veteran of the Western Front. Have been unable identify the sculptor but much has been written about the fact that a tin helmet was wrongly included in the sculpture given that the tin helmet was not worn in 1914 and was not then standard issue.[6] ![]() La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial |
Memorial to the Missing at Soissons
Memorial to the Missing at Soissons |
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Whilst the memorial at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre remembered those who laid down their lives in 1914 and whose bodies were never properly identified, a second such memorial is located at Soissons, this honouring those who died in the area four years later.
The original British Expeditionary Force had crossed the Aisne in August 1914, a few kilometres west of Soissons, and re-crossed it in September a few kilometres east. For the next three and a half years, this part of the front was held by French forces although the city remained within the range of German artillery. At the end of April 1918, five divisions of Commonwealth forces (IX Corps) were attached to the French 6th Army in this sector to give them time to rest and refit following the German offensives on the Somme and Lys but, at the end of May, they found themselves facing an overwhelming German attack which, despite fierce opposition, pushed the Allies back across the Aisne and down to the Marne. Having suffered 15,000 fatal casualties, IX Corps was withdrawn in early July and was replaced by XXII Corps, who took part in the Allied counterattack that had driven back the Germans by early August and recovered the lost ground. These encounters resulted in much loss of live and the Memorial to the Missing at Soissons commemorates almost 4,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom forces who died during the Battles of the Aisne and the Marne in 1918 and who have no known grave. The memorial was designed by G H Holt and V O Rees and has sculptural work by Eric Kennington. The memorial was unveiled by Lt. Gen. Hamilton-Gordon in July 1928. The names of those lost but whose bodies could not be identified are recorded on the panels at the rear of the memorial. The memorial bears the following inscription "When the French Armies held and drove back the enemy from the Aisne and the Marne between May and July 1918 the 8th, 15th, 19th, 21st, 25th, 34th, 50th, 51st and 62nd divisions of the British Armies served in the line with them and shared the common sacrifice. Here are recorded the names of 3,987 officers and men of those divisions to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death" The three servicemen who are the central feature of Eric Kennington's composition |
Monuments in Reims and the surrounding area
Reims itself was a front line city throughout the four years of the war and suffered constant bombardment from German Artillery. The cathedral was bombed and damaged on many occasions and images of it became a rallying icon in the non-German world. 60% of Reims was destroyed during the 1914–1918 war and 4,567 Reims men were killed in the conflict and a further 740 civilian lives were lost.
The monument aux morts in Reims
The monument aux morts in Reims | |
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Reims War Memorial in the Place de la République |
Reims has a fine war memorial which is located in the Place de la République. The architect was Henri Royer with sculptural work by Paul Lefèbvre. It was inaugurated in 1930 by Philippe Pétain and the Minister of War André Maginot. The central statue in bronze shows a youth deep in thought. "Pensée accomplissant son effort de résurrection" There are reliefs on either side of this central figure. The relief on the left is entitled "1914 le sacrifice" and is dedicated to the families of the dead ("Aux familles des morts pour exalter la grandeur de leur sacrifice.") whilst that on the right bears the legend "1918 la leçon du passé" and speaks to future generations reminding them not to forget the sacrifices of their parents.("Aux generations nouvelles pour qu’elles sachent et se souviennent"). A list of the names of the dead was sealed up with one of the memorial's bricks and there is a book in the Reims town hall which also contains this information Along the top is the inscription “Enfants de Reims tombes au champ d’honneur que ce monument edifie par votre ville meurtrie exprime à jamais son deuil et sa fierte" . The statue at the centre of the Reims monument aux morts. A youth is deep in thought. |
The Monument aux infirmières de Reims
The Monument aux infirmières de Reims |
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Reims is also the location of a monument dedicated to all those nurses both French and from overseas who served in the Great War and lost their lives. The monument "à la gloire des infirmières françaises et alliées victimes de leur dévouement" was erected in Reims after the war and was financed by international subscriptions organised by a committee founded and run by Juliette Adam. The architect used was Charles Girault and the sculptural work is by Denys Puech. There is a list of all those who gave up their lives in Reims' town hall. The inauguration took place on 11 November 1924, and amongst those assembled for the ceremony were Cardinal Luçon, the Archbishop of Reims, Pastor Gonin, Rabbi Hermann and General Pau.[9]
![]() Monument in Reims dedicated to the nurses both French and from overseas who served in the Great War and lost their lives whilst nursing |
Monument to the 132nd and 332nd French Infantry Regiments plus the 46th Territorials
Monument to the 132nd and 332nd French Infantry Regiments plus the 46th Territorials |
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The monument to the 132nd and 332nd French Infantry Regiment plus the 46th Territorials features a sculpture of a French soldier (poilu) and it was part of the scheme to reconstruct Reims after the war initiated by the architects Hippolyte Portevin and Max Sainsaulieu. The actual monument was the design of the architect Émile Fanjat and was funded by subscriptions raised by the veterans of the 132nd in particular to honour the men who were killed fighting in the Éparges between 23 October 1914 and 12 April 1915. The inscription on the monument reads "Aux morts des 132e et 332e Régiments d'infanterie et du 46e Régiment territorial d'infanterie" The soldier on the top of the monument is the work of Paul Lefèbvre who worked on the Reims monument aux morts. Monument to the 132nd French Infantry Regiment in Reims. |
Monuments to the 24th, 28th, 133rd and 363th French Infantry Regiments at Loivre
Monuments to the 24th, 28th, 133rd and 363th French Infantry Regiments at Loivre | |
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Monument to the 363rd French Infantry Regiment |
At Loivre, to the north of Reims, there are several regimental monuments. That shown here was dedicated to the 363rd and was unveiled on 24 August 1930. The sculptor was Antoine Sartorio who had served with the 363rd himself. The monument lists the 363rd's battle honours- Vosges/Somme/Aisne/Alsace/Argonne and Champagne.
The monument to the 24th, 28th and 133rd was inaugurated on 14 October 1923. Sadly this monument has deteriorated over the years and a number of the inscriptions are now no longer legible. [11] ![]() A column of German soldiers marching near Loivre in 1918 |
The German Cemetery at Loivre
The German cemetery at Loivre contains the remains of 4,149 men of whom 1,913 could not be identified and their remains are in an ossuary. [12]
The Monument to the 119th and 319th French Infantry Regiments and the 20th Territorials at Cauroy-lès-Hermonville
This monument is located at Cauroy-lès-Hermonville near Reims. Many men of the 119th had fallen fighting at Charleroi on 22 August 1914, one of the battles fought at the beginning of the war and known as the "Battles of the Frontiers". One inscription is from Belgium and pays homage to the men of the 119th ( “aux frères”/ their brothers in arms) [13]
British cemetery at Hermonville
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Chemin des Dames
Chemin des Dames |
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The "Chemin des Dames" runs east and west in the département of Aisne, between in the west, the Route Nationale 2, (Laon to Soissons) and in the east, the D1044 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 the "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 Boves, near 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 journey 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. After their retreat from the Marne it was a logical place for the German Army to choose to turn and attempt to check the Allied advances. For most of the 1914–1918 war the German army held the ridge but the French made numerous attempts to remove them from it and this resulted in an enormous loss of life.
Beneath the ridge is an almost one-square-kilometre cave network called "The Dragon's Lair" (La Caverne du Dragon). The subterranean caverns were originally 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 and during the war they were used by both French and German forces as field hospitals and command posts. The Chemin des Dames has along its length many visible reminders of the war. The Fort of Malmaison held a strategic position and at La Royere the part which colonial troops played in the war is recorded. At Cerny-en-Laonnais we find the little chapel, which is the official remembrance site for the Chemin des Dames and the Caverne du Dragon Museum on the spot where the Germans used the old quarry there as underground barracks. We find the Monument to the Basques in memory of the 36th Division most of whom hailed from the south-west of France. We find the Plateau de Californie which affords magnificent views over the Aisne valley, which was the scene of the offensive launched by General Nivelle on 16 April 1917. We find the rebuilt village of Craonne with its arboretum of Remembrance and the National Tank Monument, all these memorials interspersed with cemeteries and smaller monuments to the dead. It is calculated that over 130,000 men lost their lives in this area and in the French, German, British and Italian cemeteries only half of the men who died could be identified and many were laid to rest in ossuaries. Whilst there were always almost daily skirmishes along the Chemin des Dames during the war there were three major battles fought. These were-
The First Battle of the Aisne was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) & Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914. The Aisne battle began on the evening of 13 September but it was inconclusive and the two armies concluded that a head-on breakthrough was not possible and started the "Race to the Sea" with one attempt after another to take the opposition's flank, which, when no one managed this, saw the race finish on the North Sea Coast. Thereafter a "war of movement" ended and trench warfare and a static war took its place. ![]() The Race to the Sea after the First Battle of the Aisne After the First Battle of the Aisne no major battles were fought in the area until March 1917 but during this time several thousand soldiers died in local attacks or coup de main operations and on 25 January 1915, German forces captured the Creute farm (today La Caverne du Dragon or the Dragon's Lair), the last remaining French position on the plateau. This was what is known as the "Battle of the Creute". The Germans now dominated the ridge. The Second Battle of the Aisne took place between 16 and 25 April 1917. This was to become known as the "Nivelle Offensive". General Robert Nivelle was an artilleryman by training and started the battle with a six-day-long artillery bombardment involving some 5,300 guns but this arguably did no more than alert the Germans to the fact that an attack was coming. On 16 April, seven French army corps attacked the German line along the Chemin des Dames ridge but Nivelle had underestimated the enemy's defensive preparations (the Germans had created a network of deep shelters in old underground stone quarries below the ridge, where their troops had been able to take shelter during the French barrage) and the well prepared German positions dominated the southerly slope over which the French attackers were attacking, the Germans making maximum use of their new MG08/15 machine guns. The French took 40,000 casualties on the first day alone and during the following 12 days of the battle, French losses continued to rise to 120,000 casualties (dead, wounded, and missing). The final count, when the offensive was over, was 271,000 French casualties and 163,000 Germans casualties and although the German defenders suffered less, they lost some 20,000 prisoners, 40 cannons, and 200 machine guns. The high French casualty count and in such a small space of time and with such minimal gains, was perceived at headquarters and by the French public as a disaster. There was also much criticism of the agonizingly slow evacuation of the French wounded which it was thought demonstrated a lack of logistical preparations. Nivelle had to resign, and the French Army now suffered from instances were soldiers refused to accept orders: Mutiny was in the air. This situation developed into a threat of complete disintegration and General Pétain, who had opposed Nivelle's offensive, was called in to take over from Nivelle and to reestablish order. This he did without harsh collective punishments and he also instituted positive changes, such as longer home leaves and better food and medical/surgical assistance for the troops. By the autumn of 1917 everything began to settle down and the British army took over the defenses at the western end of the ridge during the following twelve months. During the summer of 1917 the area saw the Battle of the Observatories which was a series of local attacks and counterattacks to gain control of high positions commanding the views between Craonne and Laffaux and in October, after the allied victory at the Battle of Malmaison the German forces left the Chemin des Dames and moved to the north of the Ailette River valley. The Third Battle of the Aisne was part of the German "Spring Offensive" and the Germans wanted to recapture the Chemin des Dames ridge before the American Expeditionary Force arrived in France in any great numbers. It was one of a series of offensives, known as the Kaiserschlacht, launched by the Germans in the spring and summer of 1918. The American Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division (United States) and the 93rd Infantry Division (United States) were the first Americans to fight in France, albeit detached from the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) and under French command. The 92nd & 93rd would continue to fight under French command for the duration of the war. The massive surprise attack (named Blücher-Yorck after two Prussian generals of the Napoleonic Wars) lasted from 27 May until 6 June 1918. ![]() The five phases of the "Spring Offensive" Operation Blücher-Yorck was planned primarily by Erich Ludendorff, who was certain that success at the Aisne would lead the German armies to within striking distance of Paris. Ludendorff, who saw the BEF as the main threat, believed that this, in turn, would cause the Allies to move forces from Flanders to help defend the French capital, allowing the Germans to continue their Flanders offensive with greater ease. Thus, the Aisne drive was essentially planned as a large diversionary attack. The defence of the Aisne area was in the hands of General Denis Auguste Duchêne, commander of the French Sixth Army. In addition, four divisions of the British IX Corps, led by Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, held the Chemin des Dames Ridge; they had been posted there to rest and refit after surviving the "Michael" battle. On the morning of 27 May 1918, the Germans began a 4,000 gun bombardment of the Allied front lines and the British suffered heavy losses, because Duchêne (reluctant to abandon the Chemin des Dames Ridge after it had been captured at such cost the previous year had ordered them to mass together in the front trenches, in defiance of instructions from the French Commander-in-Chief Henri-Philippe Pétain. Huddled together they were to make for easy artillery targets. The bombardment was followed by a poison gas drop and once the gas had lifted the main infantry assault by 17 German Sturmtruppen divisions commenced. Taken completely by surprise and with their defences spread thin, the Allies were unable to stop the attack and the German army advanced through a 40 km gap in the Allied lines and reached the Aisne in under six hours. In fact the Germans were to smash through eight Allied divisions on a line between Reims and Soissons, pushing the Allies back to the river Vesle and gaining an extra 15 km of territory by nightfall. Victory seemed near for the Germans, who had captured just over 50,000 Allied soldiers and well over 800 guns by 30 May 1918 but, after having advanced within 56 km of Paris on 3 June, the German armies were beset by numerous problems, including supply shortages, fatigue, lack of reserves and many casualties along with counter-attacks by and stiff resistance from newly arrived American divisions, who engaged them in the Battles of Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood and on 6 June 1918, the German advance halted on the Marne. The French had suffered over 98,000 casualties and the British around 29,000. German losses were nearly as great if not slightly heavier. Duchêne was sacked by French Commander-in-Chief Philippe Pétain for his poor handling of the British and French troops but on a positive note the Americans had arrived and proven themselves in combat for the first time in the war. During the Second Battle of the Marne, the last fight on the Chemin des Dames occurred between 2 August and 10 October 1918 and the Germans finally abandoned the ridge and were pushed back northwards. Peace now returned to the Chemin des Dames but it had witnessed unimaginable scenes of horror! [14] ![]() The final Allied offensive |
Cemeteries in the Chemin des Dames area
Cemeteries in the Chemin des Dames area |
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Given the huge loss of life which the area was to see over the four years of war it comes as no surprise that it holds many military cemeteries. During the 1920s, French graves which were scattered throughout the area were moved into 14 central cemeteries. In some cases these cemeteries have also absorbed British or Russian casualties and although they are in the Chemin des Dames area some of the cemeteries hold the bodies of men killed at Soissons or in the Battle of the Marne. Conversely the French military cemetery of Maison Bleue (in Cornicy) and situated in the department of the Marne, shelters combatants who had fallen on the Chemin des Dames and in particular in the area of Berry-au-Bac.
These 14 French Military cemeteries located in the Chemin des Dames area are-
There are 9 German cemeteries in the area. Some of these cemeteries were laid out by the German Army during the war (Veslud, Laon-Bousson and Montaigu in particular) and the others were built by the French authorities in the beginning of the 1920s in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles which had stated that the victorious countries had the exclusive right to organise the German graves. Again in the 1920s bodies in individual graves scattered around the area were concentrated into these 9 cemeteries. In 1966 management and care of the cemeteries was passed to the "Service d’Entretien des Sépultures militaries", the French subsidiary of the German Volksbund Deutsche Krieggräberfürsorge. These cemeteries are:-
The Chemin des Dames area contains 5 British military cemeteries although many British graves still remain within Chemin des Dames communal cemeteries and some of the British dead from the Chemin des Dames are buried in Grand-Seraucourt British military cemetery, near St-Quentin, and in Montcornet British cemetery, both of which are located outside the Chemin des Dames area. The graves of many British soldiers can also be found in French military cemeteries, in particular in Vauxbuin French military cemetery, Berry-au-Bac military cemetery and in Crouy French military cemetery, The British Cemeteries are:-
The area also holds the Oise-Aisne American cemetery at Seringes-Nesles. In this cemetery are buried 6,012 soldiers most of them casualties of the fighting in the area north of the river (Aisne) and beyond. The names of 241 soldiers whose remains were never found are written on the walls of the cemetery's chapel. The Oise-Aisne military cemetery was created on the very spot where the 42nd American Division, the so-called “Rainbow Division” fought. Among the 6,012 graves is that of the poet Joyce Kilmer, a sergeant in the 165th Regiment (42nd Division), who was killed on 30 July 1918. ![]() Seringes-et-Nesles Oise-Aisne American Cemetery entrance There is also a Danish cemetery at Braine which contains the graves of 79 Danish soldiers. The Danish cemetery at Braine is situated nearby the N31-E46 at around ten kilometres from Soissons and more precisely on the side of the D14 in direction of Reims, near the French military cemetery. This holds the graves of 79 Danish soldiers. They came from Schleswig, a territory annexed by Prussia in 1886 and they had no choice but to serve in the German ranks and sacrifice themselves for a cause that wasn’t theirs. To commemorate their tragic fate on French soil, a Committee (in Denmark with a section in Paris) was charged with the task of gathering the bodies together to be re-buried at Braine. There is a monument designed by the Danish architect Gundlach-Petersen in the cemetery which was unveiled on 7 May 1934. Representatives from the Danish and French Government attended to the ceremony. [43] |
The "Guardian Angel" Calvary /"Le Calvaire de l'Ange Gardien"
The "Guardian Angel" Calvary /"Le Calvaire de l'Ange Gardien"=== |
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At the crossroads of the N2 and the D18 between Laon and Soissons and in the direction of Chavignon there is a calvary dedicated to all those soldiers who fought on the Chemin des Dames and in the fighting for Malmaison.
The inscription on the calvary reads "Calvaire érigé le 14 septembre 1924 par souscription nationale pour perpétuer la mémoire de nos vaillants soldats tombés au Chemin des Dames et dans les combats de la Malmaison" There is also a plaque on the calvary dedicated to those who served in the 165th and 365th French Infantry as well as plaques remembering Claudius Champromis and Lieutenant René de Wismes. [44] |
The Monument to the Missing on the California Plateau
The Monument to the Missing on the California Plateau |
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This monument is located at Craonne and pays tribute to all who fell in the Chemin des Dames between 1914 and 1918 but have no known graves. The bronze sculpture is nearly 4 meters high and was designed by Haim Kern. It was unveiled on 5 November 1998 by the French First Minister Lionel Jospin accompanied by the Minister of Culture and Communication and the State Secretary to War Veterans. This work is entitled "Ils n’ont pas choisi leur sépulture" (they didn’t choose their grave). Kern's composition is enigmatic and presents what appears to be metal netting in which the faces of soldiers appear at intervals. They appear trapped in the meshing and unable to escape. They are, as it were, caught in a situation that has resulted in their death but they are lost, as their remains were lost, and could not be found. |
Monument for the R.I.C.M- The Moroccan Colonial Infantry
Monument for the R.I.C.M- The Moroccan Colonial Infantry |
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This monument stands in the Chemin des Dames area between the Malmaison farm and the Malmaison Fort and was inaugurated on 8 July 1934.
The inscription tells us of the efforts made by the R.I.C.M on 23 October 1917, when they took the quarries at La Bohéry on the southern slope of the ridge. Under the command of Lt Colonel Debailleul they successfully fought the Prussian Guard, taking 950 prisoners and capturing 10 of the German's guns. "Regiment d'élite sous l'énergique commandement du lieutenant-colonel Debailleul a, le 23 octobre 1917, par une manoeuvre audacieuse difficile et remarquablement exécutée, encerclé et enlevé de haute lutte les carrières de la Bohéry, s'est emparé ensuite des lignes de tranchées du Chemin des Dames que la garde prussienne avait l'ordre de défendre à tout prix, puis progressant encore sous un feu violent d'artillerie et de mitrailleuses sur une profondeur de plus de deux kilomètres et demi malgré des pertes sensibles, a atteint avec un entrain admirable tous les objectifs, infligeant à l'ennemi de lourdes pertes, capturant 950 prisonniers dont 14 officiers, 10 canons, de 8 de gros calibre, et un nombreux matériel de guerre" |
Monument commemorating Captain Joost van Vollenhoven of the Régiment d'infanterie coloniale du Maroc (RICM)
Monument commemorating Captain Joost van Vollenhoven of the Régiment d'infanterie coloniale du Maroc (RICM) |
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This monument celebrates one of the officers of the R.I.C.M, Captain Joost van Vollenhoven, a former Governor of French West Africa, who was killed in the nearby village of Pharmacy in 1918.
The monument shows the Captain leading his men for the last time, as well as scenes from his previous service in the colonies of Africa and Indochina. Citations to both the Regiment and van Vollenhoven adorn the sides of the monument. Like some of the other monuments in the area it was badly damaged by the German occupiers during the 2nd World War but restored after the war. Joost van Vollenhoven, as his name would suggest, was Dutch by birth. His parents had commercial interests in Algeria and this is where he grew up, eventually taking French citizenship in 1899 at the age of 22. He joined the French Foreign Office and in 1912 he was in Indochina serving as Governor. At the outbreak of war he was promoted to Governor General in Hanoi but he was anxious to serve in the army and in April 1915 he joined the R.I.C.M. After being wounded numerous times and having received several citations for valour, he was asked in May 1917 to return to his Civil Service duties and take up a post as Governor General of French West Africa - this at the age of 40 but this posting did not last long and he soon rejoined his old regiment, this time as a Captain. It was in July 1918 that the R.I.C.M. attacked the Germans from the Forest of Retz and it was during this action that Vollenhoven was fatally wounded. On 22 July 1918 the French 38th Division (of which the RICM were a part) was relieved by the British 34th Division. [47] |
"Constellation de la Douleur"- Dedicated to the Tirailleurs "Sénégalais"
"Constellation de la Douleur"- Dedicated to the Tirailleurs "Sénégalais"=== |
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Near to the "Caverne du Dragon" is this tribute to the soldiers of Sénégal who served on the Chemin des Dames. It is a relatively new commemoration and was commissioned as part of the celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the end of the 1914–1918 war. It is the work of Christian Lapie and comprises nine wooden figures. The inauguration took place on 22 September 2007. |
Monument to the 31st French Infantry Regiment
Monument to the 31st French Infantry Regiment |
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This monument is located in the Pontavert National Cemetery and is dedicated to the 31st Infantry and in particular to those who fell in the assault of the "Bois des Buttes" and Ville-aux-Bois on the 16, 17 and 18 April 1917 during the Nivelle Offensive.
The inscription reads "Le 31ème R.I. a enlevé très brillamment les 16, 17 et 18 avril 1917 tous les objectifs qui lui avaient été assignés, et, par un combat opiniâtre, est parvenu à réaliser un gain de terrain de 3 kilomètres en profondeur faisant à lui seul 1.500 prisonniers dont 34 officiers et 170 sous-officiers, et capturant 6 canons, plusieurs minenwerfer, 50 mitrailleuses et un important matériel de toute nature. Régiment d'élite de la plus haute valeur offensive. Ordre général n°172du 1er mai 1917 du général commandant la Vè Armée" |
The Basque Memorial
The Basque Memorial | |
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![]() The Basque Memorial |
One of the memorials on the Chemin des Dames is that to the people of the Basque Country who lost their lives on the Chemin des Dames. The memorial was erected in 1928.
The 36th Infantry Division, notably the Infantry Regiment of Pau, the 34th Infantry Regiment of Mont-de-Marsan and the 14th Artillery Regiment of Tarbes, was composed mostly of recruits from the southwest region of France: The Landes, Hautes Pyrenees and Basses Pyrenees. It was involved in fighting on the Chemin des Dames on many occasions and suffered very heavy losses whilst attacking or defending difficult positions in particular between Hurtebrise and Craonne and on the Californie Plateau. In September 1914, the 36th Infantry Division attempted in vain to hold French positions on the crest of the Chemin des Dames. From 4 to 6 May 1917 it attacked Californie Plateau and managed to occupy it. Losses were extremely high but the 36th Division returned to the front on 3 and 4 June 1917 and was on the receiving end of a fierce German counterattack. The 36th Division returned again to the Chemin des Dames on 15 September 1918 when it went into the attack in the Allemant sector and fighting continued until the German retreat beyond the Aisne in October 1918. The Basque Monument was unveiled on 30 September 1928, the ceremony being attended by many war veterans, widows and orphans who had made the journey for the occasion. Both the architect Forest and the sculptor Claude Grange were veterans themselves and had been wounded in the war. The stone used is from Souppes near Melun, the stone used for the Arc de Triomphe and the basilica of Sacre-Coeur at Montmartre.[50] At the base of a 14 metre high obelisk laurel wreaths bear the names of the administrative areas from which soldiers of the 36th Infantry Division came and the sides bear the division’s monogram. A Basque stands at the foot of the obelisk in traditional, civilian costume and looks towards the Aisne Valley. He wears the "béret basque". See images below. [51] |
Images of Basque Memorial
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A Basque complete with béret basque
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"Landes" mention on Basque Memorial.
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"Hautes Pyrenees" mention on Basque Memorial
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"Basses Pyrenees" mention on Basque Memorial
Memorial to the 2nd Colonial Corps
Memorial to the 2nd Colonial Corps |
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The area of the Chemin des Dames between Cerny and the Ferme d'Hurtebise was the sector attacked on 16 April 1917 by the 2nd Colonial Corps of General Mangin's 6th Army as part of Nivelle's offensive. The Ferme d'Hurtebise was a known strong point but Nivelle decided that it would be there in the centre of his battle plan that he would place the dividing line between the 6th and the 5th Armies. Military strategists would say that this was a strange choice. The seam of a garment is not perhaps its strongest point.
The 2nd Colonial Corps were under instructions to advance at 05:45 hours and take the farm. They would then take the plateau in front of them, the Vauclerc Wood, the valley of the Ailette, the valley of the Bièvres beyond that and then the hill in front of them so that they would at that stage be able to see the town of Laon right in front of them. They had been given just seven hours of fighting to advance over many kilometres of terrain and two valleys. Mangin had insisted that the troops would advance 100 metres every three minutes which was a minute faster than Haig's calculations up at Arras where the British were attacking hopefully to divert the German's attention from the Nivelle attack. The Senegalese soldiers who were part of the 2nd Colonial Corps were already suffering from the cold and although they went forward with great spirit and the first German positions were taken with ease, gaining many prisoners, this could not be sustained as there were German machine gun posts everywhere - even behind them. What the planners do not appear to have taken into account was the depth of the "creutes" (called "boves" in Arras), the underground chalk quarries that riddled the ridge and were used by the Germans to great advantage. Three of the four 2nd Corps colonels were killed and as the second and third waves of troops advanced, in accordance with Mangin's strict timetable, they became an easier target for the German gunners. The 15th Colonial Division on the left were charged with taking Cerny but like the 10th on their right they could only get as far as the road and a little beyond. In this area is a memorial which is in memory of 2nd Lieutenant Louis Astoul of the 70ème Sénégalais who fell on the field of honour at the age of 24 during the course of the assault on 16 April 1917. This is a private memorial erected by Astoul's parents. He had been reported missing near the village of Paissy before even reaching the ridge. Whenever there are ceremonies at Cerny the Guard of Honour is often the 1er Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine - The 1st Marine Artillery Regiment. The Marines had been created to guard France's colonial interests in 1622 by Cardinal Richelieu and as overseas troops they would fight in the African Army (The 19th Corps during the war). Known as the 1st Colonial Artillery Regiment, the "Bigors" as their gunners were called fought with intense bravery winning their 9th Battle Honour at the Somme in 1916. Although disbanded in 1940 following the armistice, the soldiers rallied to de Gaulle in 1941 and fought in Africa gaining an 11th Battle Honour at El-Alamein in 1942. [52] |
The Fort at La Malmaison and the Battle of Malmaison
The Fort at La Malmaison and the Battle of Malmaison |
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The Fort at Malmaison had been abandoned as a fort by the French in 1914 because of its poor condition but the Germans found it quite useful and it soon became integrated into their defensive system.
The Battle of Malmaison was fought on 23 October 1917 and after the failure of the Nivelle offensive, Pétain, who had replaced Nivelle, focused on restoring his soldiers morale. He knew that they needed a small scale victory that would give them faith in themselves and more importantly - restore their faith in their commanders. Malmaison was chosen to be the location for this battle. It needed to be well organised with all the tanks, aircraft and shells needed, casualties were to be kept to a minimum and this time the casualty services would be up to the task. General Maistre had taken over the 6th Army from Mangin and it was his sector that was allotted the battle. With just three Corps - the 11th, 21st and 14th, they would take the western end of the Chemin des Dames and with it the Fort at Malmaison. On 17 October 1917, the artillery bombardment of the fort began and it was soon reduced to a crumpled mess. At 05:15 hours on the 23rd, following a final crescendo from the guns, the troops "went over the top". They advanced as they had not done for months, things were going to plan and objectives were being taken even if after a hard struggle. The 11th Corps who were charged with taking the Fort took the majority of the casualties but 554 soldiers from the 4th Regiment of Zouaves charged the fort and by 06:00 hours it was theirs. As the French paused to prepare their second attack, the Germans thinking they had the French beaten launched a counter-attack but ran headlong into the second French barrage. On the 25th Pétain called a halt to his operation as he felt he had achieved all that he had set out to do. He had lost about 2,000 dead and 14 000 wounded over the three days - mostly from the 11th Corps but many prisoners were taken and the Germans suffered at least twice the casualties as the French. More importantly, the loss of this position acted as a lever against the remainder of the German line on the Chemin des Dames and over the next week the Germans were forced to give up the ridge to the French. A well prepared and limited attack had therefore taken territory that Nivelle's full frontal assault had only dented. On 27 May 1918 during their Spring Offensive the Germans retook the fort (or at least what was left of it) and the remainder of the ridge within three hours. The whirlwind nature of the attack had been too much for the defenders to stand but at 1130 hours on 28 September 1918, the 25th Alpine Chasseurs retook the fort and the Germans were pushed out of the Aisne for good. [53] |
Memorial to the 36th French Infantry Division at the Fort de la Malmaison
Memorial to the 36th French Infantry Division at the Fort de la Malmaison |
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As one enters the site of the Fort of Malmaison there is a memorial which remembers the actions of the 36th Infantry on 23 October 1917 "Le 23 octobre 1917, la 38ème Division comprenant le 4ème Régiment Zouaves, le R.I.C.M. (Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale du Maroc), le 4ème Régiment mixte Zouaves-Tirailleurs, le 8ème Régiment Tirailleurs Tunisiens, le 32ème Régiment d'Artillerie de campagne, part à l'attaque. D'un seul élan, le 4ème Zouaves s'empare du Fort de la Malmaison et de tous ses objectifs, faisant les 23-24-25 octobre 600 prisonniers, capturant 17 canons et de nombreuses mitrailleuses, obtenant sa 6ème citation à l'ordre de l'Armée" |
Tank Memorial at Berry-Au-Bac
Tank Memorial at Berry-Au-Bac |
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The Tank Memorial (Mémorial des Chars d’Assaut) pays tribute to all those tank drivers who fell in the course of 1917–1918. It was erected following the efforts of a group of ex-infantrymen, and inaugurated on 2 July 1922 in the presence of both Marshal Foch and Pétain and Generals Mangin and Weygand, as well as General Estienne, the so-called “father of the tank”. The monument is situated at Choléra Farm from where a mass attack of French tanks was thrown in the direction of Juvincourt on 16 April 1917. A plaque to the rear of the memorial recalls that on 16 April 1917, the 151st Infantry Regiment continued to advance with the assistance of Bossut’s tanks right up to Béliers Wood. There are some tanks dating back to the 1950s on display near the memorial.[55]
Tank Memorial at Berry-Au-Bac. In front of this memorial is a further memorial dedicated to General Estienne |
The Calvary at Choléra
The Calvary at Choléra |
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The Calvary in front of the Tank Memorial at Berry-au-Bac indicates the spot where the first attack was made by French tanks and also remembers all who fell on the Chemin des Dames. There was a farm at this spot called the " La Ferme du Choléra".[56]
There is also a French Military Cemetery at Berry-au-Bac called the "Cemeterie militaire de Moscou" (there was a hamlet nearby called Moscou) which contains 3,933 bodies of which 1,958 lie in ossuaries. There are also 6 Russian graves and 1 Belgian. There is a small section which contains the bodies of 29 British soldiers of which 17 could not be identified. There is also a monument in the cemetery dedicated to the engineers of 19/3 Engineering Company, part of the 2nd Engineers.[57] |
Monument to the aviators Vernes and Peinaud
Monument to the aviators Vernes and Peinaud |
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This monument situated between Vailly-sur-Aisne and Ostel, was erected in 1921 by the Vernes family to remember Lieutenant-aviator Marcel Vernes and Sergeant-pilot Jean Reinaud who were killed in aerial combat on 24 March 1917.
There are quotations attached to the monument from the Old and New testaments. "Ils prennent le vol comme des aigles. Ils courent et ne se lassent point. (Isaïe) Ils marchent et ne se fatiguent point. Que chacun de vous mette au service des autres le don qu'il a reçu (PierreIV, 20)" which translates as "They fly like eagles. They run and never grow tired (Isaiah) They walk and don’t tire themselves out. Let each of you put at the others’ disposal the gift you have received (Peter IV, 20)." |
The Chapel at Cerny-en-Laonnois
The Chapel at Cerny-en-Laonnois |
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The chapel at Cerny-en-Laonnois has become the main memorial to those who died on the Chemin des Dames and inside are numerous plaques dedicated to units or individuals who had been killed in the area. It is intended as a place for reflexion and spiritual refuge for all who visit the battlefield area. On 8 July 1962, during a private visit to the German Cemetery, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was met by President Charles de Gaulle in what became a precursor to the Franco-German Treaty of 1963. In front of the chapel is a white lighthouse and behind, two cemeteries, one French the other German. In front of the Chapel is a plaque commemorating the deeds of the 38th Division.
![]() The Chapel at Cerny-en-Laonnois |
The Monument des Crapouillots
The Monument des Crapouillots | |
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![]() Monument des Crapouillots |
At the "Moulin de Laffaux" is a monument dedicated to the trench mortar operators who fell in the region in the 1914–1918 war.
The monument is shaped like the bomb fired by the trench mortar and pays tribute to the 12,000 trench mortar operators who fell in the war. A plaque by the monument informs us that it was damaged in June 1940 during fighting nearby and repaired - "Ce monument érigé en 1933 pour honorer la mémoire des 12 000 crapouillots artilleurs de tranchée tombés de 1914 à 1918 sur les fronts de France et d’Orient, mutilé par le feu de la batille de juin 1940, a été reconstruit afin de perpétuer le souvenir de ceux qui sont morts pour le salut de la France. 22 juin 1958" The trench mortar was called a “Crapouillot” because the projectile fired from the mortar seemed to hop from the trench from which it was fired to its target, reminding the soldiers of a toad (Crapaud in French). The monument bears the inscription “Aux Morts de l’Artillerie de Tranchee- Les Crapouillots” ![]() French soldiers handling trench mortar bombs |
Miscellaneous
The monument to the 11th Company of the 72nd Infantry Regiment
The monument to the 11th Company of the 72nd Infantry Regiment |
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This monument is located at La Buisson. It carries a quotation from Victor Hugo "Ceux qui pieusement sont morts pour la patrie ont droit qu'à leur cercueil la foule vienne et prie"
La Buisson is located to the east of Vitry-le-François. The inscription refers to the fighting which took place on 6 September 1914.[61] |
Bridge to the 28th Infantry Division (United States)
28th Infantry Division |
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This monument is located at Fismes. It carries a quotation "This bridge has been erected by the state of Pennsylvania as a tribute to the heroic service and notable achievement of the 28 th division american expeditionary forces 1927" . Fismes is located to the west of Rheims on the Vesle river . Reaffirming the friendship between Fismes and Meadville .
from the north . |
Italian Cemetery at Bligny and the Italian volunteers who fought in France 1914–1915
The Italian Cemetery at Soupir |
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Early in the war and before Italy's entry into the conflict, many Italians living in France joined the French army as volunteers and on 5 November 1914, part of the Foreign Legion took the name " Régiment des Garibaldian" in memory of Garibaldi who had fought alongside the French in 1870. Six of Garibaldi's grandsons had served with this unit which was dissolved in 1915 when Italy officially joined the war. Many of the volunteers then joined Italian units fighting against the Austro-Hungarian armies. Two of Garbaldi's grandsons, Bruno et Constante, were killed fighting in the Argonne. In 1918 the Italians sent 41,000 soldiers to fight in Champagne and the Chemin des Dames.
From April to November 1918 the Italians,led by Alberico Albricci, lost more than 9,000 men. Many were buried in the Bligny cemetery or moved there from other areas. Opposite the Bligny cemetery a "Roman Way" has been established, lined with cypress trees and leading to a symbolic broken column. [62] |
Memorial to the 1st Loyal North Lancs at Vendresse, Troyon
The Italian Cemetery at Soupir |
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The 1st Battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment were part of 2nd Brigade, 1st Division. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel G.C.Knight and crossed from Southampton on 12 August 1914 aboard the SS "Agapenor".
The battalion's first action was alongside the 2nd Royal Sussex of the same Brigade, at Priez on 10 September 1914, when Lieutenant Colonel Knight was mortally wounded. Following the charge of 4th Dragoon Guards, the battalion crossed the Aisne at Bourg on 13 September and advanced towards the Chemin des Dames, halting at Vendresse. From here the battalion attacked Troyon on 14 September 1914 and now under the command of Major (Acting Lieutenant Colonel) W.R.LLoyd. In this action the unit suffered heavy casualties with nine officers being killed, five wounded and 500 other ranks killed or wounded. Among the dead was Lt-Col Lloyd; the second commanding officer to be killed since arrival in France. The survivors dug in on the slopes of the Chemin des Dames and held these positions until relieved by 1st East Yorks on 19 September 1914. The 1st Loyals remained on the Aisne until mid-October when they were moved north to take part in the fighting in Flanders. It was here they lost their third commanding officer, Major A.J.Carter DSO, who was killed at Ypres in November 1914. On the crest of the ridge at Troyon the regiment erected a memorial to their read. The inscription on it reads "In memory of the Officers, Warrant and non-commissioned Officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment who laid down their lives on active service 1914–1919” Files held at the National Archives in Kew covers the years 1919 to 1923 and gives us further background information on this memorial. We read that C.T.Atkinson’s who served on the committee whose approval was needed for memorials to be erected and to approve where they were to be located, wrote "The 1st Loyal North Lancashire formed part in September 1914 of the 2nd Brigade, First Division commanded by Brigadier General Bulfin which acted as the advance-guard of Sir Douglas Haig’s First Corps in the battle of September 14th 1914. The battalion, together with the whole of the 2nd Brigade, distinguished itself greatly by its attack on the portion of the Chemin des Dames, north of Vendress, Troyon and the services of the Brigade were warmly acknowledged both in the Divisional reports and in the published dispatches. There would be ample justification of the erection of a monument by the 1st Loyal North Lancashires at this spot….." |
Cemeteries in Soupir
Cemeteries in Soupir | |
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![]() French Cemetery at Soupir |
Located south of the Chemin des Dames, the village of Soupir was largely destroyed during the Second Battle of the Aisne in World War I. Today, five national cemeteries are located in Soupir: two French, one German, one British and one Italian. The two French cemeteries are Soupir French Military Cemetery No 1 and Soupir French Military Cemetery No 2 and the German cemetery joins onto Soupir French Military Cemetery No.2. There are 11, 089 German soldiers buried there. 5,134 have their own graves (19 of them unknown soldiers – “unbekannt” ) whilst a further 5 995 are buried in the mass grave in the centre of the cemetery.
![]() Soupir in 1917- Total devastation |
The Italian Cemetery at Soupir
The Italian Cemetery at Soupir |
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This cemetery sits on the western outskirts of Soupir village on the D 925 between Vailly-sur-Aisne and Bourg-et-Comin.
This area is known as Mont Sapin and was the subject of fierce fighting throughout the war. The 2nd Italian Army Corps arrived in France on 25 April 1918, as a sign of mutual aid from the Italian Government. Under the command of General Albricci, the Corps consisted of the 3rd and 8th Italian Divisions. They were initially positioned alongside French Divisions near Verdun in order to acclimatise themselves to conditions on the Western Front. Four months later on 15 July 1918 the Germans attacked when the 2nd Battle of the Marne opened. The Germans struck either side of Reims, in what was to be their last offensive of the war. The attack on the eastern side of Reims against General Gouraud's First Army came to a grinding halt on its first day. The western prong against Degoutte's Sixth Army made better progress and established some semblance of a breakthrough. Reinforcements from the French Ninth Army plus British, American and the two Italian Divisions were all used to shore up the front. The German offensive was brought to a halt and then pushed back. On 20 July 1918 the Germans ordered a retreat and by 3 August 1918 they were back on their starting lines. Following their participation in this success, the 2nd Italian Corps was positioned on the river Aisne just south of Soupir below the Chemin des Dames on 22 September 1918. On 1 October they took Soupir and spent the remainder of the month fighting along the Chemin des Dames as the Germans were slowly pushed north. During the course of the war the 2nd Italian Corps lost 4,375 killed and 10,000 wounded. The cemetery at Soupir contains the bodies of 593 Italian soldiers, the majority of whom fell in fighting along the Chemin des Dames. From April to November 1918 the 2nd Italian Army Corps, made up of the 3rd and 8th Divisions (The Brescia and Alpi Infantry Brigades) fought in the Reims sector between Vrigny and Jaulgonne, in the Ardennes sector and in the Aisne to the east of Soissons fighting under the 5th, 10th and the 3rd French Armies. The Italian forces commanded by General Alberico Albricci suffered more than 9,000 soldiers killed during its victorious campaigns. 592 of them rest in this Military Cemetery created and maintained by the Italian Ministry of Defence. The entrance to the cemetery at Soupir in shown here. [65] The Italian Cemetery at Soupir |
The Guards’ Grave at Villers-Cotterêts
The Guards’ Grave at Villers-Cotterêts |
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To the north and north-east of Villers-Cotterêts is the great Retz forest through which the British Army I Corps were to march on 1 September 1914 and where three rearguard actions were fought. In one of these actions the 4th (Guards) Brigade were covering the rear of the I Corps' 2nd Division and ran up against the German III Corps. They held the Germans for 4 hours and fought to the last man. The group included two platoons of Grenadiers. This action took place in an area known as the "Rond de la Reine", a clearing on the main road. This encounter, in which the Guards were to suffer many casualties, is now marked by the Guards' Memorial and the graves of those who lost their lives are to be found neaby. The Guards' Grave was made originally by the people of Villers-Cotterêts and was moved slightly to its present location by the Irish Guards in November 1914. It is a mass grave and contains the bodies of 98 guardsmen. A stone set in the ground states "Here lie ninety-eight British soldiers"
![]() Guards Grave at Villers-Cotterêts |
The Monument to the United States First Division at Buzancy
The Monument to the United States First Division at Buzancy |
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This memorial commemorates the part played by the United States 1st Division in the battle for Soissons at the end of the 2nd Battle of the Marne in 1918. The obelisk is surmounted by an American eagle whose wings protectively envelope the 1st Division’s crest. A bronze plaque recounts how the 1st Division advanced 11 kilometres into the German lines taking the village of Berzy-le-Sec and arriving just in front of Buzancy. In fact at the site of the memorial the Division lost 2,213 men killed and 6,347 men wounded in the four days of fighting from 18 to 21 July 1918, before being relieved by the 15th (Scottish) Division on 22 July. The memorial to the Scots can be found in the nearby Buzancy Military Cemetery.
![]() Memorial at Buzancy |
Monuments in and around Château-Thierry
Château-Thierry American Monument
Château-Thierry American Monument | |
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Château-Thierry is a commune in northern France about 56 miles (90 km) east-northeast of Paris. It is a sub-prefecture of the Aisne department in Picardy. | As part of the Second Battle of the Marne, the Battle of Château-Thierry was fought here and the huge Château-Thierry American Monument remembers the joint action of French and United States forces in that battle and in other fighting in the area.
The battle opened on 18 July 1918 and was one of the first actions of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) under General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing. Much of the fighting was to secure Hill 204, 2 miles (3 km.) west of Château-Thierry. The monument was designed by the architect Paul Phillippe Cret of Philadelphia and was constructed by the American Battle Monuments Commission to "commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of American and French fighting men in the region, and the friendship and cooperation of French and American forces during World War I." The monument comprises a double colonnade which stands on a long terrace and on the west face of the monument are two enormous sculptures of figures representing France and the United States. These two figures were sculpted by Alfred-Alphonse Bottiau (1889–1951) who often worked with Cret and the American Battle Monuments Commission. The Château-Thierry monument is also known as the “Monument de la Côté 204” and was inaugurated in 1930. An enormous eagle and shield stand in front of the east face of the monument and although this has not been established to be the case this could also be the work of Bottiau as he worked with Cret in Philadelphia and was the sculptor of the eagle and allegorical reliefs on the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia building there. Bottiau had travelled to the United States of America in 1932 and worked on several commissions in that country. A photograph of Bottiau's two heroic figures is included in the gallery at the end of the article. The monument also includes a large map showing the battle area. [68] |
The US Third Infantry Division Memorial at Château Thierry
The US Third Infantry Division Memorial at Château Thierry |
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The 3rd Infantry Division was activated in November 1917 during World War I at Camp Greene, North Carolina. Eight months later it saw combat for the first time in France when it fought in the Second Battle of the Marne and earned itself the name the "Rock of the Marne". Casualties during the war were 3,177 killed in action with 12,940 wounded. This memorial stands next to the river Marne.[69]
![]() 3rd Division memorial at Château-Thierry |
The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery
The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery | |
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![]() The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial Chapel |
The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial is a 42-acre (17 ha) World War I cemetery in Belleau, Northern France. It is at the foot of the hill where the Battle of Belleau Wood was fought, with many American fatalities. The cemetery also contains burials from the Battle of Château-Thierry, later that summer.
The Memorial Chapel is in fact built over the site of front-line battle trenches dug in defense of Belleau Wood. Looking above the inside entrance door, one will see the following inscription "The names recorded on these walls are those of American soldiers who fought in this region and who sleep in unknown graves.” The names of 1,060 soldiers missing in action are inscribed on the Chapel's walls. The site is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, and its dedication ceremony was held on Memorial Day, 30 May 1937. During the 1914–1918 war this was a temporary cemetery established by the Army's Graves Registration Service and was known as American Expeditionary Forces' Cemetery No. 1764-Belleau Wood. In 1921, Congress authorized its retention as one of eight permanent WWI cemeteries on foreign soil and an agreement was negotiated with the Government of France granting its use in perpetuity, free of charge or taxation. Alfred-Alphonse Bottiau carried out sculptural work on the Chapel based on designs by William F.Ross and Company of East Cambridge in Massachusetts.[70] Bottiau’s work on the Memorial Chapel includes the relief on the tympanum above the chapel entrance. In the centre of Bottiau’s composition is a crusader in armour, the defender of "Right" and on either side of this crusader are the shields of the United States and France these being intertwined with branches of oak a symbol of the traditional unity of the two countries. Bottiau also carried out eleven carvings on the capitals of the belfry columns these representing the various units involved in the war. Bayonets represent the Infantry, Cannon the Artillery, Tanks represent the Tank Corps, Crossed Heavy Machine Guns the Machine Gun Units. We then have propellers representing Aviation units and artillery rounds for both the Artillery and Ordnance. The Engineers are represented by a plane-table, the Medics by a Greek Cross and Caduceus . Airplane engines represent Aviation repair units and a mule’s head over which is engraved “8 Chev” the Transport units, the “Chev 8” being the French railway boxcar used to transport 40 men or 8 horses. Finally oak leaves represent the Judge Advocate General Corps. These carvings appear again in groups of seven on each side of the chapel. On the north face is a mule’s head, bayonets, a plane-table, crossed machine guns, Greek cross and caduceus, airplane engines and cannon, on the south face the grouping is a plane table, crossed machine guns, oak leaves, Greek cross and caduceus, cannon, propellers and tanks. On the west face the grouping is artillery rounds, bayonets, plane-table, airplane engines, cannon, propellers and tanks and on the east face the grouping covers artillery rounds, mule’s head, bayonets, oak leaves, Greek cross and caduceus, cannon, propellers and tanks. The arches of the belfry openings carry carvings of small arms ammunition, the front view of a machine gun and projectile, field packs with entrenching tools attached and selected officer and enlisted insignia. Engraved on the sills are orientation arrows with distances to points of historic interest. Finally below the belfry openings are sculptured heads representing some of the men and women who served in the Allied armed forces. We have a French soldier, a French nurse, an American aviator, a Scottish soldier, a Russian soldier, a Portuguese soldier, a Canadian aviator, and a British Women’s Army Corps driver. The same heads appear on each side of the chapel but in a different order. On the capitals of the three columns on either side of the entrance to this Memorial Chapel are carvings by Bottiau which depict scenes from the trenches. On the right hand side are a group of soldiers preparing for a bayonet charge, some riflemen with automatic rifles and a further group of riflemen with non-automatic weapons. On the left hand side we have some artillery observers, a machine gun crew and soldiers launching grenades. The memorial chapel is a striking example of French Romanesque architecture. Its exterior steps, walls, and tartar are of native St. Maximin, Savonnieres and Massangis limestone. The archittects of the memorial features were Cram and Ferguson of Boston, Massachusetts.[71] |
Belleau Wood and the Belleau Wood Memorial
Belleau Wood and the Belleau Wood Memorial |
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The battle fought in Belleau Wood in June 1918 saw the US Marines in action in their first major encounter of the 1914–1918 war. The Battle of Belleau Wood was part of the Second Battle of the Marne which signalled the end of the German "Spring Offensive" and the beginning of the Allies recovery and ultimate drive to victory. Belleau Wood was a strongly fortified German position and the task of clearing the Germans from it was given to the 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the US Army. Half of the 2nd Division was made up of units of the US Marines (the 4th Marine Brigade included the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments). To get to the woods, the Marines had to cross wheat fields and meadows but the Germans had placed their machine guns well and were able to sweep these fields with accurate and high intensity fire. The Marines had to launch a total of six attacks on German positions in the wood but the Germans were well dug in and the wood itself, with its closely packed trees, made any advance difficult in the extreme. Seeing the Americans either caught in the open fields or in the densely packed wood, French officers advised the Marines to turn back. This they refused to do and US Marine Captain Lloyd Williams is reported to have replied “Retreat? Hell, we just got here.” By 26 June the Marines were able to report that they had taken the entire wood but their success in clearing such a strategically important place came at a cost and out of the 9,777 US casualties, 1,811 were fatalities. No one is quite sure about German casualties because the end of the battle at Belleau Wood corresponded with a general German withdrawal along the whole front. Over 1,600 German prisoners were taken, so it is assumed that German casualties were high. To mark the battle a monument and a flagpole stand in the centre of the road leading through the woods and the relief on the monument depicting a marine was the work of Felix de Weldon the sculptor of that iconic work at Iwo Jima |
The area to the east of Reims
The area to the east of Reims | |
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![]() German salient between Tahure and the Butte du Mesnil. |
From September 1914 to September 1918, the region between Reims and the Forêt d'Argonne saw fierce fighting mostly between French and German forces but also involving Russians and Americans. Indeed in the area known as the "Red Zone", 7 villages were so badly damaged that they were never rebuilt and have for all intents and purposes disappeared. These villages were in an area now occupied by the French military camps of Moronvilliers and of Suippes.
What were the villages of Nauroy and Moronvilliers are in the area of the Moronvilliers camp and here there is a small commemorative chapel that remembers them, erected in 1920, and positioned where Nauroy would have stood. This chapel has been restored by "L'Amicale des Diables bleus d'Épernay" The village name of "Nauroy" is now attached to that of the nearby village of "Beine" thus we have "Nauroy-Beine". The site where Moronvilliers stood cannot be accessed as it is within the military camp. Its name has been added to that of nearby "Pontfaverger". The villages located with the camp at Suippes were Perthes-les-Hurlus, Hurlus, Le Mesnil-les-Hurlus, Ripont and Tahure. East then of Reims and before we reach the battlefields of the Argonne and St.Mihiel, we have a portion of the Western Front which runs from the Mont de Moronvillers, across the ridge at Navarin, through the hills of Souhain, the Tahure du Mesnil and to La Main de Massiges. There were trenches all along this area of the front line and frequent fighting between the French and Germans but the area is difficult to explore now as the French Army Camps at Moronvillers, Mourmelon and Suippes cut across the old Front Line, although the French Army do allow access in the September of every second year, organising bus tours and the like. This allows visits to the five ruined villages which lie in the camp area: it is known as “La Journée des Villages Détruits”- Perthes-les-Hurlus/Hurlus/Le Mesnil-les-Hurlus/Ripont and Tahure are the villages. At Souhain there is a Monument and ossuary dedicated to the French Foreign Legion. In the winter 1914–15 there were many smaller skirmishes and on 25 September 1915, a French offensive gained some ground. In April–May 1917 the Massif of Moronvillers was retaken from the Germans and on 15 July 1918 General Gouraud’s 4th Army were able to repulse the German attack which formed part of their Spring Offensive. Finally a successful Franco-American offensive on 26 September 1918 saw the liberation of Sommepy and ended with the taking of Sedan on 11 November 1918. The area measures 30 kilometres in length and 4 kilometres in depth and in this small area over the four years of war, 103 different French Divisions were engaged along with 4 American Divisions and 2 Russian Brigades, as well as Polish and Czechoslovakian units.[73] |
The monument aux morts at Sillery
The monument aux morts at Sillery |
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The monument aux morts at Sillery, inaugurated in 1925, features a sculpture by Édouard Sediey that seems to sum up the horrors of the 1914–1918 war and the sadness and despair that the enormous loss of life had caused. Sediey's composition would not be out of place in England, France or Germany or any of the parts of the world touched by the conflict.
In front of the cross is a young woman, totally distraught, who could be a mother, a sister or daughter and on the cross are inscribed the names of the dead and the words "Sillery à ses morts glorieux 1914–1918" Just by this memorial is another dedicated to the martyrs of the Resistance. It is a Cross of Lorraine upon which are carved the faces of three of those deported by the Germans and the names of 8 people who died while deported. It reminds us of miseries yet to come for the people of France.[74] ![]() Monument aux morts at Sillery |
French Military Cemetery at Aubérive
French Military Cemetery at Aubérive |
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In this cemetery are the remains of 6,424 French soldiers. 2,908 could not be properly identified and their remains were placed in three ossuaries.
Ossuary at Aubérive |
The Polish cemetery at Aubérive
The Polish cemetery at Aubérive |
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This cemetery is situated south east of Reims and is a part of the French cemetery at Le Bois du Puits.
The outbreak of the 1914–1918 war gave many Poles hope of a Polish renaissance as at that time so much of Poland had been absorbed into the empires of Germany, Russia and Austro-Hungary. There were numerous Poles working in the mines of Northern France as well as a good number of businessmen, traders and intellectuals living in Paris and many of these rallied to the Committee for Polish Volunteers' call in August 1914 and joined the Foreign Legion to fight against the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. Russia was another matter as Russia was now an ally of France so the Poles had to be pragmatic. These Poles were given military training in Bayonne and at the Reuilly barracks in Paris and then integrated into the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Regiments of the 1st Foreign Legion. In 1915 they joined the front line troops in Champagne, Picardy and Artois and Poland's red flag with white eagle was seen to fly in these areas. In June 1917 a Presidential Law was passed which created an official Polish army and in January 1918 the 1st Regiment "de chasseurs polonaise" was formed, its numbers swollen by Polish volunteers arriving from the United States of America and the enrolment of 1,500 German prisoners of war who were of Polish extraction. This unit was subsequently attached to the 163rd Infantry Regiment, part of Gouraud's IVth Army. Further volunteers joined the ranks and the 1st and 2nd Divisions of Polish Infantry were formed. They were to fight in Champagne, the Vosges and in Lorraine. On 11 November 1918, Poland was declared independent and Marshal Pilsudski asked for the Polish army in France to be repatriated. This Polish cemetery contains the bodies of Polish soldiers killed in both World Wars. There are 385 bodies buried in the cemetery and 129 of these were men killed in the 1914–1918 war. At the entrance to the cemetery there is a small memorial dedicated to these 129 men and in the middle of the cemetery there is a monument to the men of the 1st and 2nd Divisions. It comprises an obelisk surmounted by a cross. [76] The Polish monument in the Bois du Puits cemetery |
The German Cemetery at Aubérive
The German Cemetery at Aubérive |
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The German cemetery at Aubérive lies to the rear of the French Military Cemetery "Le Bois du Puits". 5,359 German soldiers were buried here, 3,124 could not be identified and their bodies were laid in an ossuary. Many of the soldiers were Thüringian.
![]() French and Germans fighting in an Aubérive trench. |
Monument to the 103rd French Infantry Regiment
This memorial was erected courtesy of the French veterans organisation "Souvenir français" and is located in the village of Aubérive.
The inscriptions include
"AUX HÉROS DU 103e RI qui sont tombés glorieusement POUR LA FRANCE en septembre-Octobre 1915"
and
"IN MEMORIAM Guerre 1914–1918 103ème Régiment d'infanterie 80 officiers 7 000 sous-officiers et soldats morts pour la France."
Memorial remembering the "Eugène" trench and the Monument to the 8th Army Corps
The memorial to the "Eugène" trench is a "Souvenir français" funded one and this and the 8th Army monument stand in the Val de Vesle which lies east of Reims and in the direction of Sainte-Ménehould. The memorial is dedicated to those soldiers who were killed in the area in the offensives of April 1917. Also near to the "Eugène" memorial are Vauthier Bornes "36" and "37".
The 8th Army monument is located where the D931, the Reims-Suippes road crosses the D34, the Beine-Nauroy road at Val de Vesle. Another Vauthier Borne, number "38" is nearby.
The inscription does not mince words
"Ici le 17 avril 1917 au trente-troisième mois d'une guerre impitoyable des soldats français sont tombés par milliers pour la reprise des Monts de Champagne. Eux aussi, ils aimaient la vie. Ils ont souffert et ils sont morts dans l'espoir que leur sacrifice assurerait la paix entre les hommes-PASSANT N'OUBLIE PAS"
We are entreated not to forget the dead. "They too loved life and gave their lives to ensure that there would be peace between all men! Passersby don't forget this!
The "Monts de Champagne" mentioned running from west to east were Le Mont Cornillet with a height of 209 mètres, Le Mont Blond with a height of 221 mètres, Le Mont Haut with a height of 257 mètres, Le Mont Pertois with a height of 200 mètres, Le Casque with a height of 242 mètres, Le Téton with a height of 232 mètres and a final hill that does not have a name and has a height of 220 mètres. [78]
The Fort de la Pompelle and the defence of Reims
The Fort de la Pompelle and the defence of Reims |
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The Fort of la Pompelle played a vital role in the defence of Reims throughout the war and early in 1918 the Germans attacked the fort in great strength in an effort to capture it. The German's failed, with the 6th Company of the 21st Colonial Infantry Regiment carrying out a successful defence. On 15 July 1918, Ludendorf launched the last German offensive along the Champagne front and the 7th Colonial Infantry Regiment, who at that time were defending the fort, fought off an attack which was to be the last against the fort. Nevertheless until 5 October 1918, when the Germans evacuated their positions in front of Reims, the fort was still subjected to frequent artillery bombardments.
The organisation "Souvenir Français" organised a memorial at the "Ferme d’Alger" inscribed "Aux héros de la Grande Guerre", 4 kilomètres from Reims on the Route Nationale 44, direction Châlons-sur-Marne, as this was where most of the fighting took place to defend the Fort de la Pompelle. The monument was restored in 1998 on the 80th anniversary of the 1918 armistice and carries the inscription "En mémoire des soldats tombés héroïquement pour la défense du secteur Septembre 1914-Octobre 1918" ![]() Photograph showing the damage done to the Fort de la Pompelle after constant bombardment Monument in memory of the soldiers who were killed defending the Fort de la Pompelle |
The Farm at Confrecourt
The Farm at Confrecourt |
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Just by the village of Confrecourt is the memorial known as "La croix brisée" or “broken cross.” It was commissioned and erected by the owner of the farm at Confrecourt in 1929 and bears his family crest. It was intended to symbolise the suffering of all Frenchmen who fought on the Confrecourt plateau in the 1914–1918 war and includes the words "La croix est tombée, le Christ est vivant". An information board by the memorial informs us that on 13 September 1914, after the victory on the Marne, the French Army crossed the Aisne and mounted an attack on the Soissonnais plateau but only after 10 days of intense and vicious fighting did they reach Confrecourt. Neither the French nor the Germans were able to secure a breakthrough and began to dig in. The war of the trenches was just beginning at this time and the farm and the many quarries and limestone caves in the area were to serve as living quarters for the French troops. The area saw frequent action in the following years and it was in June 1918 that a heroic defence of the plateau by the French was one of the actions which halted the German Offensive (the so-called “Spring Offensive”). On 20 August 1918, the area was finally liberated.
![]() La croix brisée |
Monument to the African Soldiers who died 1914–1918
Monument to the African Soldiers who died 1914–1918 |
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This monument stands at the junction of the Boulevard Giroud and the Rue Vasquier on the eastern side of Reims. The original monument was erected in July 1924 with the legend " Aux héros de l'Armée noire". It was a copy of the monument aux morts erected in Bamako. When the Germans occupied France in 1940 the monument was dismantled.
It was in 1921 that a committee was set up in Paris to look at the contribution to the war effort made by black soldiers and how this could be marked. General Archinard was the chairman assisted by General Marchand. The committee were charged with arranging for monuments to be erected in Africa and France which celebrated the memory of the indigenous soldiers who had given their lives in the service of France and they proposed two locations, one in Reims and the other in Bamako the capital of what was then the French Sudan and is now Mali. On 29 October 1922 the first stone was laid by the Minister for War, André Maginot. The location was at the place where the Boulevard Henry Vasnier crossed the avenue du Général Giraud and where one would leave Reims if travelling to Chalons. In his speech Maginot recalled the bravery of Sergeant Amadou Di'ale of the 34th Bataillon of tirailleurs sénégalais who had singlehandedly taken 130 Germans as prisoners and fought on for two days despite being wounded. Then in June 1924 shortly before the inauguration, the Marquis Melchior de Polignac of Pommery et Greno - Louise Pommery Fils et Compagnie had informed the mayor of Reims that this prestigious maker of champagne would cede to the town ownership of the ground upon which the monument stood. The inauguration took place on 13 July 1924 with Édouard Daladier, Minister for the Colonies, officiating along with various other dignitaries. In his speech General Archinard who attended alongside Daladier mentioned in particular the contribution made by the 1st Corps of the Colonial Army in holding the Fort de la Pompelle and thus saving Reims from German occupation. The monument itself was the work of two Parisiens, the sculptor Paul Moreau-Vauthier and the architect Auguste Bluysen. It comprised a pedestal of 4 metres in height upon which were carved the names of the principal battles in which African troops participated and on top of the pedestal Moreau-Vauthier sculpted a 3 metres high bronze depicting a group of four soldiers of the colonial armies gathered around a white officer who carries the French National flag. As stated earlier the Germans pulled the monument down and it left Reims in a railway wagon perhaps for the bronze to be melted down to make armaments. At the beginning of the 1960s and with the end of the Algerian war, thoughts turned to building a replacement and a committee was formed in 1961 to consider this in detail and a competition was organised to choose a design. Progress was slow but on 6 October 1963, the new monument was unveiled by the Minister of War Pierre Messmer. It is modern in design and two columns in Euville stone represent the union of African and French soldiers and the block upon which these columns stand was intended to represent Reims' resistance in the 1914–1918 war. ![]() The old Reims memorial to Black Soldiers ![]() The new memorial in Reims to African soldiers who fought for France in 1914–1918 |
The Blanc Mont American Memorial at Sommepy Tahure
The Blanc Mont American Memorial at Sommepy Tahure |
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The Sommepy Monument stands on the crest of Blanc Mont ridge to the north of Sommepy and celebrates the 70,000 US soldiers who fought alongside the French in the Champagne region and it bears the insignia of the 4 divisions involved and where they fought. These were the 93rd, 36th, 2nd and 42nd Divisions. The inscription reads "Erected by the United States of America to commemorate the achievements of her soldiers and those of France who fought in this region during World War I” It was in July 1918 that United States troops entered the line near Souhain with the 13th and 170th French Divisions and successfully repulsed what was to be the last great German offensive. The monument is in the form of a tower and inside the tower and visible through the grill in the door is a brief summary of the American operations in this area. It is possible to climb to the top of the tower to an observation platform when the tower is open to visitors. This monument was dedicated in 1937, the year of the 20th anniversary of the United States’ entry into the war [81] ![]() American Memorial at Sommepy Tahure |
French Military Cemetery at Sommepy-Tahure
French Military Cemetery at Sommepy-Tahure |
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The French Military cemetery of Sommepy-Tahure contains the remains of 2,201 French soldiers of whom 704 lie in an ossuary shown here. The cemetery was created in 1920 for bodies exhumed in the area east of Reims.
![]() Ossuary at Sommepy-Tahure French Military Cemetery |
Monument to the 60th French Infantry Regiment at Ville-en-Tardenois
Monument to the 60th French Infantry Regiment at Ville-en-Tardenois |
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This monument stands on the RD 980 as one leaves Ville-en-Tardenois in the direction of Dormans and south-west of Reims.
The inscription reminds us that many men of the 60th French Infantry Regiment fell fighting in the woods of Courmont, Bonval and Cohette and the area around Ville-en-Tardenois in the attacks against the Germans from 26 July to 2 August 1918. |
Monument to the 103rd French Infantry Regiment and "Borne no.77 "
Monument to the 103rd French Infantry Regiment and "Borne no.77 " |
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This monument stands in Aubérive and is dedicated to the soldiers of the 103rd who laid down their lives in the area. The inscription reminds us of the actions of the regiment from September to October 1915 which saw 80 officers and 7,000 soldiers die.
The Borne is one of the series created by Paul Moreau-Vauthier to mark the furthest points along the Western Front that the German army advanced to. Those bornes in France were made from pink granite from Andlau in Alsace. This borne bears the inscription "Ici fut repoussé l’envahisseur Juillet 1918 which would correspond with the date of the liberation of Château-Thierry.[83] |
Monument to the 5th and 6th American Marines at Sommepy-Tahure
Monument to the 5th and 6th American Marines at Sommepy-Tahure |
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This monument to two regiments of the United States 2nd Division was erected at the foot of the hill on which the Church of Sommepy-Tahure stands. The inscription reminds us that the 5th and 6th Regiments led by General J.Lejeune conquered the territory north of Sommepy and Blanc-Mont on 3 and 4 October 1918, as part of the Allied advance that was to end the war. |
The German Military Cemetery at Souain-Perthes-les-Hurlus
The German Military Cemetery at Souain-Perthes-les-Hurlus |
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This cemetery lies in the area around Souain and Sommepy-Tahure and is near the French Military Cemetery at "La Crouée". The cemetery holds the remains of 13,786 soldiers. 11,322 bodies could not be identified and were placed in an ossuary. |
The Ferme de Navarin Monument
The Ferme de Navarin Monument |
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Situated 45 kilometres east of Reims, the "Le Monument aux morts des Armées de Champagne" was inaugurated in 1924 by General Gouraud, the Military Governor of Paris who commanded the IVth French army in Champagne in 1916 and again from June 1917 until the final victory of November 1918. The monument is not run and maintained by the State but by the organisation "Monument aux morts des Armées de Champagne et Ossuaire de Navarin".
Near to the village of Souhain is a Celtic Cross marking the memorial to the French 28th Infantry Brigade and also the imposing monument of the “Ferme de Navarin". The monument is a pyramid like structure with a sculpture of three soldiers at the top. It is a combined monument and ossuary within which lie the remains of 10,000 soldiers who fell on the plains of Champagne. The monument is situated in what had been a farm in 1916, the farm of Navarin. The story was that the farmer, when approached by soldiers for provisions, had replied in the local patois “Anhue n’ava rin”- “Aujourd’hui il n’y a rien”- “Today I have nothing.” This became "Navarin" to the French soldiers. Navarin is a port where French, British and Russians had destroyed the Turkish fleet in 1827 during the War for Greek Independence. The middle figure of the three soldiers at the summit of the structure, the work of the sculptor Maxime Real del Sarte, is meant to portray Gouraud himself, the soldier on the right Quentin Roosevelt, a nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt who was killed in the Cambrai area on 14 July 1918 and the figure on the left represents del Sarte’s brother who was killed in the Champagne area. At the base of the monument are listed the numerous divisions who fought in Champagne- 93 French Infantry Divisions, 8 Cavalry Divisions, a general artillery reserve, an aerial division, 4 American Divisions- including the 42nd Division one of whose officers was the future General MacArthur, the 1st Polish Regiment, 2 Russian Brigades and a Czech Brigade. In the crypt are the remains of 10,000 soldiers, including the four sons of Paul Doumer a President of France in the 1930s and when General Gouraud died in 1946 he had asked to be buried with his men in the “Ferme de Navarin” and his tomb has pride of place in the crypt.[84] ![]() Ferme de Navarin War Memorial ![]() Ferme de Navarin |
Russian Chapel and Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand
Russian Chapel and Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand |
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The cemetery is located in an area known as " L'Espérance” which is located near to the French military camp at Mourmelon and was erected in memory of those Russian soldiers killed on the battlefields of Champagne fighting alongside the French and British armies.
Whilst the seeds of cooperation between France and Russia were sown during the visits to Champagne of NIcholas II back in 1896 and 1901, it was in December 1915 that the Russians signed an agreement with the French under which they were to be supplied with arms and munitions and in return they would send four infantry brigades comprising some 50,000 officers and soldiers to fight alongside the French and British forces. The 2nd and 4th Brigades would be sent to fight in Salonica in the Balkans, under General Sarrail, and the 1st and 3rd Brigades would fight alongside the French on the front-line in Champagne. In April 1916, Russian soldiers of the 1st Brigade, fully equipped and armed and wearing French issue helmets disembarked at Marseille and were sent to the military camp at Mailly and subsequently deployed in the sectors at Suippes and Aubérive from where they were replaced by the 3rd Brigade in October 1916. The 1st Brigade, comprised the 1st and 2nd Regiments made up by men from Moscow and Samara whilst the 3rd, formed by the 3rd and 6th Regiments and raised in Ekaterinenbourg and Tcheliabinsk, were commanded by General Palitzine. From early 1917 the two brigades fighting in France occupied the Fort de la Pompelle near to Reims and took part in the Nivelle offensive in which they participated in the attack on Mont Spin and sustained heavy losses. When the Russian Revolution broke out in October 1917, the brigades were disbanded and withdrawn from the front. The officers, with some volunteers from the ranks, formed a “Légion russe d’honneur” and continued to fight until the end of the war whilst other soldiers asked to be sent back home. Those who stayed wore French uniforms and were absorbed into the Moroccan Regiment. Between 1916 and 1918 some 4,000 men were killed and some of these are buried in the Russian Cemetery. After the war and in honour of these Russian soldiers the survivors formed an association and through their efforts this cemetery was opened and at a later stage a 15th-century style chapel was added to it, built in the Russian Orthodox style. The cemetery contains the bodies of 915 Russian soldiers either buried in ossuaries or individual graves and included in the gallery at the end of this article is a photograph of a typical headstone and the marker for one of the ossuaries in the cemetery. [85] ![]() Plaque in the Russian Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand acknowledging the efforts of the Russian Expeditionary Force ![]() Chapel in Russian Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand |
The Cemetery at "Wacques Farm" and the 28th Brigade Memorial
The Cemetery at "Wacques Farm" and the 28th Brigade Memorial |
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This small French Military Cemetery is located near to Châlons-en-Champagne and not far from Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand and the monument to the 28th Brigade stands on a hill in the cemetery facing the Wacques Farm. 147 French soldiers are buried in the cemetery.
The memorial consists of a large cross or calvary, which carries the inscription "Aux morts de la XXVIIIe Brigade" and is surrounded in a circle by many smaller crosses. It was from 25 to 30 September 1915, that the 28th Brigade, comprising the 35th and 42nd Infantry from Belfort, fought in this area and lost 1,133 men including 39 officers. Another 1,362 men were injured including 48 officers. It was after the war that the chaplain of the 28th Brigade and several volunteers from the 35th and 42nd Infantry returned to the battlefield to locate and bury the rest of their colleagues killed in 1915, assisted by some Austrian prisoners and some labourers from Indochina stationed at Suippes. A committee was duly set up to arrange to raise funds to finance the erection of a calvary at Wacques and the monument and cemetery was inaugurated on 25 September 1919. In 1922 when the large cemetery at Souain called "La Crouée" was established it was agreed that the small cemetery at Wacques be left on its own rather than be absorbed into "La Crouée". This smaller cemetery is officially named the "Nécropole nationale de Souain - 28e Brigade" There is a smaller memorial next to the "Wacques Cross" and this is dedicated to the men of the 44th Infantry and carries the inscription "Aux camarades tombés pendant les journées du 25-26-27-28-29 Septembre 1915.Etat-Major" and nearby another memorial dedicated to the 60th Infantry, this inscribed "Aux morts du 60e RI Attaques des 25 au 29 - 09 - 1915" |
The monument to the four corporals shot at Souain in 1915
The monument to the four corporals shot at Souain in 1915 |
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In March 1915 four corporals of the 21st Company of the 336th Regiment of Infantry, Louis Girard, Lucien Lechat, Louis Lefoulon et Théophile Maupas were tried for mutiny and shot. In his last letter to his wife, Maupas wrote "Je n'ai rien à me reprocher, je n'ai ni volé, ni tué, je n'ai sali ni la réputation ni l'honneur de personne. Je puis marcher la tête haute". The four soldiers had been selected randomly to be made examples of, when there had been a general refusal to obey an order to leave the trenches and attack the enemy.
For many years Maupas' wife Blanche Maupas and others fought to have the men pardoned and in 1923 Blanche succeeded in having her husband's remains taken from its grave in Suippes and moved to the communal cemetery of Sartilly in La Manche and in 1925 a monument was erected over Maupas' grave at Sartilly commemorating the four corporals of Souhain. Paul Moreau-Vauthier carried out the sculptural work on the monument. Finally in 1934 the four corporals were given a formal pardon by a special tribunal which came to the conclusion that the order given to the 21st Company of the 336th Infantry Regiment on the evening of 10 March was "irrealisable" (unreasonable) The affair of the four corporals was considered most controversial in France and although Stanley Kubrick made the film "Paths of Glory" based on the events at Souhain in 1957, the film was banned in France until 1975 and was not shown on TV until 1982. In 1962 Blanche Maupas died and was buried alongside her husband. There is a monument at Suippes which honours the four corporals following a decision by the local council in Suippes in 2004 to erect it given that the sentence by the military tribunal to execute the four men had been given in Suippes. The monument was inaugurated on 1 December 2007 and faces Suippes' town hall where the tribunal had sat on 16 March 1915. The inscription reads "À la mémoire des caporaux de Souain Theophile MAUPAS, Louis GIRARD, Lucien LECHAT et Louis LEFOULON Fusillés pour l'exemple, à SUIPPES, le 17 mars 1915" ![]() Memorial to 4 corporals shot at Suippes |
The Memorial at Montagne de Bligny
The Memorial at Montagne de Bligny |
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Although most of the memorials and cemeteries in the Champagne region are French or German, there is a memorial to commemorate the actions of the 19th Division of the British Army and file WO 32/5885, held at The National Archives, covers the memorial at Montagne de Bligny near Reims. In the file is a photograph of the memorial, which takes the form of a simple cross, taken just after its erection. This memorial remembers the 19th Division’s actions in ho{| class="wikitable sortable" |
German Cemetery at Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes
German Cemetery at Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes |
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Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes has a large German Military Cemetery which contains 12,541 bodies and a rare surviving German monument which is shown here. The inscription “GOTT MIT UNS” reminds us that the German soldier also thought that God was on his side. In the same cemetery an ossuary contains the remains of unidentified German soldiers and quotes from 2 Corinthians Chapter 6 verse 9"..the unknown men whom all men know; dying we still live on" ![]() Plaque over ossuary in Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes gives quotation from 2 Corinthians Chapter 6 verse 9 ![]() |
Gallery
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Memorial at Confrecourt
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Part of the La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial
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Foch depicted at Dormans on plaque which includes a description of the Second Battle of the Marne
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Landowski's sculpture on the memorial to the Second Battle of the Marne at the Butte de Chalmont
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Kennington's sculpture at Soisson's "Memorial to the Missing".
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French Cartoon of Reims Cathedral bombarded by the German Army during World War I
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Poster showing Reims Cathedral asks French Canadians to enrol
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German graves at Aubérive
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Russian soldiers in France
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Sculpture on Ferme de Navarin monument
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Plaque remembering the 4 sons of the French President at the Ferme de Navarin.
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Ossuary in the Russian Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand. This ossuary contains the remains of 373 unidentified Russians
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Russian headstone in the cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand. The grave of Serguey Popoff just one of the many Russian graves in the cemetery. Note the words "Mort pour La France".
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Relief of Jean-Baptiste Estienne at the Tank Memorial Berry-Au-Bac.
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Joffre depicted at Dormans
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Part of monument at the Butte de Chalmont
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Inscription on Soissons Memorial to the Missing.
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Part Eric Kennington's sculptural work on the Soissons Memorial to the Missing.
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Royal Engineers Memorial at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre.
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The Chateau Thierry Monument
See also
- List of World War 1 Memorials and Cemeteries in Lorraine
- List of World Wat 1 Memorials and Cemeteries in Verdun
- List of World War 1 Memorials and Cemeteries in Alsace
- List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in the area of the St Mihiel salient
- List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in the Somme
- List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in Artois
- List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in Flanders
References
- ↑ Memorial to the First Battle of the Marne at Mondemont Association Mondement 1914. Comprehensive website on Mondement (in French but Google translation facility can be used).Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ↑ Dormans Memorial Le Mémorial des batailles de la Marne. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ↑ Butte de Chalmont WW1 Memorials. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ http://www.la-ferte-sous-jouarre.fr/commune/htm/histoire2.htm
- ↑ La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 January 2013
- ↑ La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ Memorial to the Missing at Soissons Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ↑ Monument aux Morts Reims www.memorial-genweb.org. Retrieved 21 January 2013
- ↑ Monument hommage aux infirmières Reims Les mémoriaux, mausolées,monuments, stèles et plaques commémoratives de la 1ère guerre mondiale dans la Marne. Retrieved 21 January 2013
- ↑ Monument to the 132nd French Infantry Regiment CNDP Reims. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Monuments to the 24th, 28th, 133rd and 363th French Infantry Regiments CRDP Reims. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ The German Cemetery at Loivre CRDP Reims. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ 119th Infantry CNDP Reims. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Chemin des Dames www.memorial-chemindesdames.fr. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ Berry-au-Bac French Cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Braine French Cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Cerny-en-Laonnois French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Crouy French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Craonnelle French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Oeuilly French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Pontavert French National cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Soupir n°1 French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Soupir n°2 French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Vailly-sur-Aisne French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Vauxaillon French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Vauxbuin French national cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Cerny-en-Laonnois German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Laon-Bousson German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Montaigu n°1 German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Montaigu n°2 German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Mons-en-Laonnois German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Soupir German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Sisonne German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Veslud German cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Vauxbuin German Cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Grand-Seraucourt British cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ La Ville-aux-Bois-les-Pontavert British cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Montcornet Cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Sissonne British Cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Soupir British cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Vendresse British cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Vailly-sur-Aisne British Cemetery Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Cemeteries on the Chemin des Dames Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ Le Calvaire de l'Ange Gardien Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ Monument on California Plateau Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ Monument to the Moroccan Infantry Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ Joost van Vollenhoven www.webmatters.net. Retrieved 28 January 2013
- ↑ Constellation de la Douleur Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ Monument to the 31st French Infantry Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ The Basque Memorial www.racines-en-sevignac.fr. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ↑ Basque Monument Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ Memorial to the 2nd Colonial Corps www.webmatters.net. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ caverne-du-dragon Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ caverne-du-dragon Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ Tank Memorial at Berry-Au-Bac Picardie 14–18. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ Calvary at Choléra Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ Calvary Cholera Picardie 1418. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ Monument to the aviators Vernes and Peinaud Chemin des Dames. Retrieved 26 January 2013
- ↑ The Chapel at Cerny-en-Laonnois www.webmatters.net. Retrieved 25 January 2013
- ↑ The Monument des Crapouillots www.memorial-chemindesdames.fr. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ Monument to the 72nd Infantry CRDP Reims. Retrieved 27 January 2013
- ↑ www.champagne-ardenne-tourism.co.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2013
- ↑ Memorial to the 1st Loyal North Lancs at Vendresse, Troyon Battlefields 1418. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ↑ Memorial to the 1st Loyal North Lancs at Vendresse, Troyon Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 January 2013
- ↑ Italian Cemetery at Soupir www.webmatters.net/france. Retrieved 20 January 2013
- ↑ The Guards’ Grave at Villers-Cotterêts WW1 Cemeteries. Retrieved 19 January 2013
- ↑ The Monument to the United States First Division at Buzancy www.webmatters.net. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ Château-Thierry American Monument American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved 18 January 2013
- ↑ Memorial to 3rd Division WW1 Memorials. Retrieved 18 January 2013
- ↑ http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/am_base.pdf
- ↑ The Aisne-Marne American Cemetery WW1 Memorials. Retrieved 18 January 2013
- ↑ Belleau Wood www.historylearningsite.co.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2013
- ↑ The destroyed villages of the region east of Reims CRDP de Champagne-Ardenne. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ The monument aux morts at Sillery CRDP Reims. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ French Military Cemetery at Aubérive crdp-reims. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ Polish Cemetery at Aubérive www.polishwargraves.nl. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ Le Monument aux morts du 103e Régiment d'infanterie Les mémoriaux, mausolées,monuments, stèles et plaques commémoratives de la 1ère guerre mondiale dans la Marne. Retrieved 21 January 2013
- ↑ Memorial remembering the "Eugene" trench and the Monument to the 8th Army Corps CXRDP de Champagne-Ardenne. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ Fort de la Pompelle CRDP de Champagne-Ardenne. Retrieved 24 January 2013
- ↑ The Farm at Confrecourt Picardie 1418. Retrieved 25 January 2013
- ↑ The Sommepy Tahure American Monument CRDP Reims. Retrieved 25 January 2013
- ↑ French Military Cemetery at Sommepy-Tahure CRDP de Champagne-Ardenne. Retrieved 22 January 2013
- ↑ Monument to the 103rd French Infantry Regiment and "Borne no.77. Retrieved 23 January
- ↑ Ferme de Navarin CRDP Reims. Retrieved 11 February 2013
- ↑ Russian Chapel and Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand CRDP de Champagne-Ardenne. Retrieved 21 January 2013
- ↑ The Cemetery at "Wacques Farm" and the 28th Brigade Memorial CRDP Reims. Retrieved 25 January 2013
- ↑ The monument to the four corporals shot at Souain in 1915 Hellfire-Corner. Retrieved 25 January 2013