Part 6

_East of the fort the monument erected in honour of the 3rd battalion of the 74th Infantry Regiment can be reached._

_On the other side, to the West, the tourist can go as far as the ruins of Douaumont village._

=Douaumont village.=

It was chiefly in front of this village that the surprise attack of February 21st was checked.

On the evening of February 25th, zouaves and the "tirailleurs" rescued it. From the 26th to the 28th, the 5th German Infantry Division made five furious attacks, but were unable to break down the resistance of the 95th Line Regiment and units of the 153rd Division which were defending the village. On March 2nd, after a preliminary bombardment which destroyed the village and isolated the battalion holding it, the 113th German Infantry Division attacked about 1.15 p.m., North and East. The Germans wore French helmets as they advanced. After a second bombardment the enemy again attacked, overwhelming the defenders, one company of whom resisted to the last man. The remains of the French battalion took their stand fifty metres South-East of the village and prevented the enemy from debouching. On the 3rd, two battalions of the 172nd and 174th Line Regiments retook the village at the point of the bayonet. During the night the Germans counter-attacked twice unsuccessfully with heavy loss, 800 dead being counted in front of one of the French trenches. On the 4th a third and more powerful counter-attack succeeded in driving the French from the village, but broke down against new positions 200 yards to the south.

_Return to the Thiaumont road._

_Continue to the left, towards the crest where the_ =temporary mortuary of Douaumont= _is situated._

A memorial fund to the Defenders of Verdun is being raised for the purpose of erecting a mortuary in the centre of the battlefield, on a lofty point giving a clear view of the whole area. (_See the yellow pages at the beginning of the Guide_). The memorial will include, besides the mortuary, a large Catholic chapel and a mausoleum of each religion.

The remains will not be all placed together, as is the case in most existing mortuaries, but will be collected according to the sectors where they were found and placed in a hundred separate tombs. By this arrangement those who mourn a lost hero can kneel before a particular tomb with the hope that his remains are there.

On August 22nd, 1920, Marshal Pétain, honorary President of the Committee, laid the foundation stone of the permanent mortuary. That of the Catholic chapel was laid with the co-operation of M. James A. Flaherty, supreme head of the Chevaliers of Colomb.

="Bayonet Trench".=

_From Douaumont mortuary, go down towards the monument of Bayonet Trench. The road passes through the ruins of Thiaumont farm, which once adjoined this road._

Near the bend in the road rises the monument of "Bayonet Trench", erected to the memory of the heroes of the 137th through the generosity of the American citizen, George F. Rand.

How were the foot soldiers of the 137th buried alive? Many stories centre round this tragic episode. The following version of the story is vouched for by one of the surviving officers, Lieutenant Foucher:

"Setting out from the citadelle of Verdun on June 9th 1916, the 1st battalion of the 137th reached the line on the night of the 10th-11th and relieved the 337th.

"Bayonet Trench" lay on the right of the 3rd company and on the left of the 4th company. On the morning of June 11th, a violent bombardment took place, lasting all that day and part of the night. During the course of the 11th under the bombardment of shells of 150, 210 and larger calibre, the trench assumed the appearance from which it gained its name. The men were awaiting the attack with fixed bayonets, but their rifles were propped against the parapet within reach, for they had in their hands bombs to be used as a first means of repelling the probable attack. Shells falling in front, behind and on the trench broke in the edges of the latter, burying our brave Vendéens and Bretons. Owing to the men not having their rifles in their hands, the bayonets stuck out after the collapse of the trenches. From that evening, June 11th 1916, the trench kept the appearance which it was found still to bear at the Armistice."

_Return to the car._

_The road merges into_ =Dame ravine.= Formerly, Nawé wood extended to the left, but now not even the stumps remain, so churned up is the ground. From the ridge to the bottom of the ravine the soil is pitted with shell-holes.

From June to October 1916, the first German lines ran over the ridge which stands out on the left. On October 24th 1916, the day of the victory of Douaumont, the Zouaves and the "tirailleurs" of the 36th Division cleared these slopes which were honeycombed with dug-outs. All who were cowering in these shelters gave up without a show of fight. An officer of high rank, was captured as he was getting out of bed and a quarter-master was made prisoner with all his mail.

During the following night, Sergeant Julien of the 4th Zouaves, returning from a ration party was captured by the Germans who were still occupying a dug-out. However, he took a high tone with them, telling them of the fall of Douaumont, and invited them to give themselves up in their turn, then and there. He so impressed them that they soon laid down their arms. He then collected them and brought back to the rear of the French lines his magnificent "bag", a company and six officers.

_At a turning in the road_ =Haudromont Quarries= are shortly visible. Their steep white walls show up against the clay of the hill. The enemy had cut galleries in the stone, proof against the heaviest shells.

These quarries were captured from the enemy at the time of the taking of Douaumont by the 11th Infantry Regiment, who on the left wing extended the general attacking front.

The infantrymen set out, singing: "We shall get in the quarries when the Boches are no longer there ...", and surrounded the quarries from the North. They encircled the defenders, firing on them from top to bottom, while the Germans who had taken up their refuge there protracted the resistance. The fight continued with bombs in the galleries until evening.

_From_ =Haudromont= _quarries a further 300 metres to the right is_ =Helly ravine.=

On the left is Couleuvre ravine, to which the battered slopes of Chauffour wood, captured during the offensive of December 1917, descend.

These slopes are crowned on the east by Douaumont fort which is plainly silhouetted against the sky.

_Next, return to the quarries and keep straight on to_ =Bras.=

_Before reaching Bras, a road goes off to the right to_ =Poivre Hill= _and_ =Louvemont.=

_The road which goes uphill to Louvemont was reconstructed after the village in May 1921._

=Poivre Hill.=

On the evening of February 25th, the 37th Infantry Division which had suffered severely and was afraid of being outflanked on the South-East, fell back on the ridge of Froideterre. Verdun was almost unguarded in the valley of the Meuse. The 39th Division of the 20th Corps promptly reoccupied Poivre Hill and barred the road to Bras.

The enemy endeavoured to break through this barrier, but they were enfiladed by salvoes of artillery which was in position on the left bank of the Meuse. During the entire battle of Verdun, the southern slopes of Poivre Hill and the woods which extend down the slopes on to the Meuse formed, along the edge of the Meuse, an unbroken pivot of the whole of the French line on the right bank of the Meuse.

In 1916 the Germans converted the opposite slope, north of Poivre Hill, into a regular fortress, with concrete galleries, redoubts and armed posts. On December 15th 1916, three columns of the 112th Line Regiment, supported and covered on the march by quick-firing guns, rushed this fortress, flanking the entire German line. It was a complete surprise and in half an hour Poivre Hill was in our hands. German officers were captured as they were getting out of their beds. During this same attack, but more to the east, Commander Nicolay, one of the victors of Douaumont, was killed in front of a fortified cavern.

_The tourist who wishes to see the monument of Caures wood, erected to the memory of Colonel Driant and his chasseurs will turn right at Bras, in the direction of Vacherauville, where he will turn right along G. C. 6a to Ville. The monument is situated about 4-1/2 miles from Vacherauville at the junction of the road followed with the road which branches off to Flabas (See plan p. 60)._

_Return to Vacherauville and turn left towards Verdun along R. N. 64: the road follows the Meuse, and twists round the foot of Froideterre Hill, then Belleville and Saint-Michel. Verdun is re-entered by the Porte Chaussée._

_2nd Itinerary:_

THE LEFT BANK OF THE MEUSE.

_Leave Verdun by the_ =Porte de France.= _Beyond the railway bridge, keep straight along the valley of the Meuse which is dominated on the right by Belleville Hill._

_Pass through_ =Thierville= _village._

_Opposite is seen_ =Marre fort.= _At the foot of the hill on which the fort stands, turn to the right._ _Leaving on the left the farm of Villers-les-Moines, the road then climbs a small eminence, Hill 243, below which is the_ =Charny redoubt.= _The road branching off to the right crosses the railway and leads to_ =Charny.=

It was at Charny that the Germans crossed the Meuse in 1870. Here they shot the retired notary, M. Violard, on the pretext that he had aided the francs-tireurs in a surprise attack.

_The road skirts the north slopes of the hills on which stand the modern forts of_ =Vacherauville=, =Marre= _and_ =Bois-Bourrus.=

=Marre= _will be found almost entirely destroyed. After passing the ruins of the church, take the right-hand road and keep straight on to_ =Cumières.= _Half-way the station is passed on the right and on the left is the road to_ =Chattancourt.=

Attacked on March 14th, and destroyed by shell fire on April 25th, =Cumières= was only captured by the enemy during the night of May 23rd-24th. On May 26th, in the evening, after a desperate struggle the French retook the eastern portion.

On May 29th and 30th, after two days of continuous bombardment, they were momentarily driven back by superior numbers towards Chattancourt, but a vigorous counter-attack brought the French again to the southern outskirts of the village. Caurettes wood, however, to the south-west of Cumières remained in the enemy's hands.

On August 20th 1917, Cumières village and wood were recaptured by a regiment of the Foreign Legion who attacked singing _La Madelon_.

_From_ =Cumières= _the road goes straight on to_ =Oie Hill.=

_From_ =Cumières,= _return to Chattancourt station and keep right along the road to_ =Chattancourt.= _About 800 metres further on the village of Chattancourt, completely levelled to the ground, is reached._

From Chattancourt the positions of =Mort-Homme= can be visited _by the road going to Bethincourt_. _Motor-cars can go as far as the top of Hill 295 or Mort-Homme, where it is necessary to turn the car round and return to Chattancourt, as the road is cut near Bethincourt by the Forges stream, which has entirely flooded the lower part of the village._

=Mort-Homme.=

Like Hill 304, Mort-Homme was one of the most fiercely disputed positions on the left bank. It consists of twin hills: No. 265 (of which the Bethincourt-Cumières road skirts the summit) and No. 295 (the Morte-Homme proper, round which the road winds on the N. E.), and formed an excellent observation post and artillery position in front of the real line of resistance.

On March 5th, 1916, the German offensive, which, until then, had been confined to the right bank of the river, developed with great violence on the left flank, progressing in six days to the slopes of Mort-Homme.

On the 14th, after a bombardment lasting five hours, sometimes at the rate of 120 shells to the minute, consisting of shells of all kinds, time-fuse, percussion, poison gas and tear gas, the enemy's infantry attack on Mort-Homme began.

The 25th Division (Debeney), under orders not to fall back, was half buried and asphyxiated. Four colonels, including Colonel Garçon commanding the brigade, and their staffs fell, rifles in hand.

Hill 265 was taken but the infantry and zouaves, by a magnificent defence, held their ground on Hill 295, the key to the entire position. A counter-attack by the 15th Regiment further drove back the attackers to the North-West counter-slopes.

On April 9th, the enemy crept up the ravine of Corbeaux wood and attacked the line between the summits of Hills 265 and 295. During a struggle of unprecedented fury lasting over four hours and foiled four times in succession, the enemy reorganised and made fresh attacks until evening. The 8th and 16th battalions of chasseurs and the 2nd battalion of the 151st Line Regiment repulsed the Germans in terrific hand-to-hand fighting. The 8th battalion of chasseurs, "the battalion of Sidi Brahim" was outflanked on the wings and fought with three fronts, determined to hold on till the last man fell.

On the 20th, the 32nd French Corps (Berthelot), in their turn, took the offensive. After a careful artillery preparation, three battalions of the 40th Infantry Division passed Hill 295 and established their line on the north slopes. The enemy counter-attacked with an effort to outflank Mort-Homme by Hayette ravine but suffered terrible losses.

On the summit of Mort-Homme, the 150th Infantry Regiment repulsed all the attacks of a determined enemy and held Hill 295.

In order to ensure a greater measure of security, orders were given to protect, by means of wire entanglements, the small defensive post at the top of the hill. As soon as night fell, a man volunteered to put the first entanglement in place and was immediately shot dead. A second man immediately took his dead comrade's place and carried on with the work. He too, was killed. The same fate befell a third man, who after seeing his two fellow-soldiers killed, volunteered to continue with the task. A fourth man brought in the three bodies of the men who had just been killed in trying to put the entanglements in position, and then volunteered to fix a fourth entanglement alongside the others. Eventually the small outpost was entirely protected, and thanks to the sacrifice of these four brave men of the 150th Regiment, the enemy's efforts failed to pierce the defences.

Finally on May 23rd, a fresh German Corps was hurled against the summit of Mort-Homme, and succeeded in gaining possession of it.

From June 9th to 24th, the enemy were unable to debouch from Mort-Homme owing to the firm stand taken up by the 15th Corps (Maud'huy).

On June 15th, more than a kilometre of trenches was actually recaptured from the enemy.

In 1917, the sector was often the scene of violent combats, the Germans ending by occupying Hills 265 and 295. In these they organised formidable defences, according to their usual practice, especially as regards deep shell-proof tunnels. During the offensive of August 20th 1917 the 31st Infantry Division recaptured Mort-Homme and its tunnels.

_Follow the clearly marked path which ascends the slopes of Mort-Homme as far as the monuments to the 40th and 69th Divisions. By following the trench a little beyond the monument to the 40th Infantry Division and to the right, one reaches the mouth of and steps down to the Bismarck tunnel. Continue along the ridge towards Corbeaux wood, from whence there is a panorama view of the valley of the Forges stream and the heights north of this valley (the old French line of March 1916). On the right can be seen Caurettes ravine with its denuded wood._

_About 200 yards in front of the edge of Corbeaux wood, a stairway with a hundred steps gives access to an enormous German tunnel, joining Forges ravine and Caurettes ravine._

This tunnel, called Corbeaux tunnel by the French and Gallwitz tunnel by the Germans was captured by the 7th tirailleurs of the famous Morocco division.

On August 20th 1917, this tunnel was passed over but the enemy still held out in it.

Zouaves and tirailleurs kept careful watch at all the exits and ventilating shafts of this immense underground cavern, and it was not until the following day that the garrison of eleven hundred men including a colonel, three battalion commanders, and all their staff gave themselves up.

_Continue as far as the northern edges of_ =Corbeaux wood.=

=Corbeaux Wood.=

The table-lands dominated by the two Mort-Homme hills are cut on the north by a ravine bounded at the bottom by Corbeaux wood. This was a favourable spot for the massing and launching of attacking troops to reach Hill 295. On March 6th, the French line was brought back to the northern edges of the wood. On the 7th, the enemy succeeded in getting a footing there, wild hand-to-hand fighting being accompanied with so much bloodshed that in many places the snow became red. On the 8th, the 92nd Infantry Regiment retook the wood in twenty minutes; on the 10th, at nightfall, the 92nd, deprived of its colonel and receiving no support from the French artillery who failed to see their rocket signals on account of the intervening wood, had to give ground inch by inch under the assault of an entire German division.

_Return to the car by the same path. From Mort-Homme go back to_ =Chattancourt= _and take the road on the right to_ =Esnes.= _This rather steep road climbs the northern slopes of Hill 275, bringing one to a pass from which Hill 304 may be seen opposite. Continue as far as the cross-roads where turn right to go into Esnes. After passing the ruins of Esnes church, keep straight on, taking the second turn on the right not the first which leads to Bethincourt._

_Do not take the left-hand road which ends in a very steep rough track in a bad state of repair (plan p. 118). The second road to the right twists and turns, leading to the Calvary of Esnes, from which there is a magnificent view of the battlefields on the left bank from Mort-Homme to Bois-Bourrus. At the Calvary, take the right-hand of the two roads._

This road passes between Hill 287 and the famous Hill 304.

=Hill 304.=

Hill 304, with Hills 287 and 310 South of Esnes, forms a line of natural fortresses which kept under their cross fire not only the roads of approach but also the bare glacis or the steep escarpments immediately bordering them.

The nearest sheltered approaches to Hill 304 are Avocourt and Malancourt woods. From these woods started the first attack conducted by the 11th Bavarian Division against the hill on March 20th 1916.

The Bavarians were checked, however, by the French cross fire, on the long barren slopes leading to the ridge. From March 20th to 22nd their three regiments lost, to no purpose, from fifty to sixty per cent of their effective strength. On April 9th, before Hill 287, the first German attacking wave succeeded in gaining the support trench, but the French survivors in the advance trench crawled out from among the dead and debris of their trench and annihilated the attackers.

On May 3rd, 80 German batteries concentrated their fire on Hill 304 and its approaches.