Pics : The Chemin des Dames ( WW1)

Returning from the French Alps last weekend, my Wife had picked at random a hotel to break our journey at a place called Bourg-et-Comin, between Reims and Laon.

Such is my ignorance that I didn't realise that this was the place where the BEF crossed the River Aisne in 1914, and the Western Front solidified just a mile or two away at the 'Chemin des Dames'.

I'd read - many years ago - of the disastrous 'Nivelle Offensive' of April 1917 which led to the still-controversial French mutinies. This battle is little-known in the UK ( I'm ashamed to say ) and currently AFAIK no books are available in English about it.

Briefly, the French General Nivelle thought he could win the war by massing a huge amount of artillery, quickly followed up with infantry attacks. The Germans were ready - again - with large numbers of heavy machine guns. French casualties on Day 1 came to 40,000. By the end of the Offensive, casualties numbered 271,000 French, 163,000 German. Nivelle was sacked.

Anyway, driving away from our hotel on a drizzly Sunday morning, in just a few minutes we unwittingly came to Cerny-en-Laonnais, the very centre of the battlefield.

The memorial building on the left is constructed on the site of the 'Cerny Sugar Factory' which commanded the Aisne valley and was heavily fortified by the Germans. To the right is the French/German cemetery and the picture is taken on the Chemin des Dames itself....




The view the other way. This is the battlefield....a bleak prospect indeed. The road was named after the two daughters of Louis XV who used it to travel from Paris along the ridge between the Rivers Aisne and Ailette. In 1917, hell on Earth......




The German War Cemetery is tucked behind the huge French one, and makes a sombre sight....




A view through German graves to the French beyond ( you can make out the graves of Senegalese troops among the crosses ).....



We had to make a ferry, so there was no time to explore further. I've certainly resolved to find out more about what happened there, and next time I'm in the area.................

 

Great pictures, even the town looks pretty desolate. In some of the German markers it seems like the inscriptions have worn out.

 

Thanx for sharing the pics again, Martin! Good days for the reaper again there...

 

It was a rather desolate day - but all the small towns around that area are quite undistinctive : many of them were completely obliterated in WW1 and were rebuilt in the 1920s/30s.

 

Thanks for showing this Martin , 40.000 death the first day. Actually the mutineers have been reintegrated posthumously a few years ago and the executed ones may now have their names mentionned on monuments with the mention "dead for France" . If I had seen 40.000 of my comrades die in one single day , God knows what I would have done. For those who don't know the story one out of ten was picked out the ranks randomously and shot the others were sent back to the front, knowing they would probably be the most exposed to enemy fire, so no survivor could testimony after the war. Fortunately a few survived.

 

I know that the whole episode was dreadful - the first book to explore the mutinies in depth was, I believe, written by an American historian and called 'Dare Call It Treason'. The mutinies also formed the basis of the Kubrick movie 'Paths Of Glory' made in 1957 with Kirk Douglas.

Given the scope and importance of the Nivelle Offensive, I'm quite astonished at how hard it is to find any information about it in English. It just goes to show how much we in the UK focus on Passchendaele and the Somme.

 

The Nivelle offensive is now well documented in French , but only recently. There was a taboo when talking about the mutineers until some decades ago. Kubrik's film was a first step (I love it by the way) and when it came out it was actually censored .

 

Thanks for the post Martin, your post inspired me to do a little reading. It was interesting to learn that the Canadian actions at Vimy Ridge (which I visited in '09), Australian actions at Bullecourt and British actions at Arras (also visited in '09) were launched to support the Nivelle Offensive.

When you do make it back, there appears to be a Major and Mrs. Holt Battlefield guide for this this battle (Second Battle of the Aisne).

Skipper, where do you find the reference that 1 out of 10 were taken out of their units at random and shot? Due to the French Army's secrecy on the matter during the war, it seems an accurate number is difficult to come up with, but I don't find any reference to 1 in 10 being shot, though my research wasn't exhaustive. One researcher (G Pedroncini) reckoned it was as low as 57 and not all them were shot for treason but other crimes. Also, the 40,000 are casualties (dead, missing, wounded) the first day, not deaths. If the dead to casualty ratio were anything like the first day of the Somme (not saying it was), dead would have been in the 12,500-13,500 range, still a lot, but that's the story of The Great War.

Does anyone here know a forum similar to this one for WWI? I find it a very interesting war.

Drew

 

My mistake Drew, in fact the 10% plan was never executed and executtions were halted merely because the army could not afford to sacrifice so many men. Figures I found are estimates and reach about 600 men , but they are not only 1917.


One film I suggest is les mutineries de 1917 des Chemins des Dames by Raynal

http://www.premiere.fr/film/Les-Mutineries-De-1917-Au-Chemin-Des-Dames-644781

Here is a reference with executions figures.


Coimères 14-18: 1917 MUTINERIES ET FUSILLES POUR L'EXEMPLE

File:1917 - Execution à Verdun lors des mutineries.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Hi Skipper, thanks for the clarification. My French isn't very good, however, what I take away from the link you posted is that in 1917 there were fifty executions related to the mutinies of 1917 (which basically agrees with what I found), which represents 10% of total executions during the war. Also between 1914 and 1918 there were 600 executions, 2/3's of the executions were in 1914 & 15. The picture is of Nicolas Offenstadt, who was shot for being a spy.

 

For someone who claims you don't speak French you did a splendid job. Your translation is correct. I didn't know this was Offenstadt. I knew it was not related to 1917 because of the early war uniforms but the picture is often posted on mutineers threads , so it's quite confusing. What can be added is that seven men were shot in 1917 without even having been interrogated (whether they were part of the mutinies or not did apparently not matter for the poor soldiers)

 

I'm glad I piqued your interest, Drew.

I don't have personal experience of any decent WW1 Forums, although there are plenty around.

Two I've heard of are the Great War Forum on

Great War Forum

And the Forum of the Western Front Association at

The Western Front Association Front Forum: discussing The Great War 1914-18 • Index page

Best of luck !

 

I can highly recommend the Great War Forum !!

 

Thanks Martin and Paul, I shall check out the Great War Forum. I really only got interested in The Great War a couple of years ago preparing for a bicycle trip along the Western Front, but I do find it very, very interesting.

 

Much was expected from Robert Nivelle at the time. He boasted openly of 'having the formula' for victory. The event that really sank this offensive was the German retirement to the Hindenburg Position, which robbed Nivelle's offensive of surprise, and forced the French to rearrange their assault forces virtually on the eve of the great offensive, (which included having to haul forward and re-register most of their artillery, a major handicap.). Deprived of a plan at the 11th hour, Nivelle responded unimaginatively by throwing troops at the elaborate German defences 'the same old way'.

And they were beaten back in the 'same old way'.

French soldiers rotating out of this battle were heard to 'bleat like sheep' in disgust at their treatment and misuse. Nivelle's reputation never quite recovered, for he had opened his mouth far too early and too often. One is reminded of Lincoln censoring George MaClellan before Antietam....

"The hen is the wisest of all creatures, for it does not cackle until AFTER the egg is laid."