{ keyword }

During the afternoon and evening, companies on the left flank made some progress westwards. [24] The 2nd Battalion of the 83rd Regiment, held on to the north end of the trench until 5:30 p.m., when it ran out of ammunition and withdrew behind the crest, where the survivors repulsed a German attack at midnight. [23], The difficulties of the VIII Corps divisions continued and the 16th Division was attacked by the German Infantry Regiment 145 which had just arrived, after an extensive artillery bombardment, to force the French 95th Regiment from the western fringe of the wood. During Easter, General Martin Chales de Beaulieu, the XIV Corps commander and the general commanding the 214th Division at Moronvilliers, briefed his subordinates that only artillery demonstrations were likely, between Reims and Aubérive. The French spent 18 April consolidating and the 45th Division pushed up to the southern edge of Mont Haut. [18], At 4:00 p.m., two German battalions attacked the summit, which was recaptured and lost twice. French troops took over the fortifications, which were then bombarded by German artillery. [39], On 1 October, the French raided north of Ville-sur-Tourbe and on 3 October, attacked west of Navarin Farm and at Le Casque. [36], After the defeats of 20 May, the Germans counter-attacked the next day and were repulsed. Albert, in 1917 a young Pionier in the Württemberg Pionier Kompanie 376, was one of the few survivors of the tunnel tragedy at Mont Cornillet on May 20, 1917. West of the Thuizy–Nauroy road, the French artillery bombardment failed to destroy many of the German fortifications and some of the trees in Bois de la Grille were still standing. On the right flank, the French were only able to enter the German front trench and Baden-Baden Trench further to the north but surprised the German defenders nearer the river and advanced much further along the riverbank. German infantry could fire until the last moment then retire through them to the northern slopes. [21] Field artillery moved forward and engaged the Konstanzlager from near Bois-en-Escalier but the reinforced concrete structure was so resilient, that the attack on the redoubt and dug-outs was postponed, until a bombardment by heavy howitzers could be arranged next day. - Year: 16th May 1917, 234,422,021 stock photos, vectors and videos, https://www.alamy.com/licenses-and-pricing/?v=1, https://www.alamy.com/in-the-cornillet-tunnel-image66097615.html. [24], The 16th Division (General Le Gallais), attacked on the extreme left flank, west of the Thuizy–Nauroy road against Bois de la Grille and Leopoldshöhe Trench. Waves of German reinforcements climbed the northern slopes to dislodge the French. The German attacks continued all day and were eventually defeated in hand-to-hand fighting; some advanced posts north-east of Mont Haut were captured, until French counter-attacks managed to push the Germans back. Later in the morning, the reserve battalions of the 34th Division captured part of the south end of the Düsseldorf communication trench and all of Offenburg Trench but were repulsed from Hönig Trench. The Main Boyau was entered, which made the redoubt south of Vaudesincourt untenable, which was captured with the 75th Territorial Regiment and part of the 185th Territorial Brigade on 22 April. Plusieurs galeries de 150 mètres chacune à plus de … [26] The 34th Division on the right of VIII Corps, failed to take a small wooded height on the left, south-east of Mont Cornillet and on the night of 20/21 April, detachments of the 169th Division entered two trenches west of the Cornillet redoubt and reached an observation post, from where they were repulsed by German counter-attacks but managed to prevent an attempt to outflank Mont Cornillet from the west. On 30 September, a raid was repulsed east of Aubérive, as the French were penetrating the German lines west of Mt Cornillet. The tunnel under Mont Perthois was less elaborate but had many machine-gun posts and exits, from which a French attack on Le Casque and Le Téton, could be engaged and used as a jumping-off points for counter-attacks. [3], On the right flank, the XII Corps contributed the 24th Division to the attack and the XVII Corps (General J. German losses in dead and wounded were considerable; in the Cornillet tunnel, more than 600 corpses were found. [27], In the attack of 17 April, the Fourth Army had swiftly reached the crest of the Moronvilliers massif but German observation over the battlefield had enabled accurate German artillery-fire against the French infantry. [f] With reinforcements, there were four divisions on the flanks and the Moronvilliers massif in between and four divisions in close reserve. East of the Suippes, on the right flank of the XVII Corps, four and a half battalions were to attack Aubérive and the trenches beyond, up to those at the western fringe of Bois des Abatis. The west slopes of Mont Cornillet were attacked at 5:30 p.m. and a small advance was made. Three fresh French divisions made preparations to resume the offensive on 20 May. A second line higher up the ridge, was joined to the first by the Leopoldshöhe Trench, a fortified approach from the north of Bois de la Grille to the Thuizy–Nauroy road. Next day, the French 33rd Division captured Le Téton and the capture of Aubérive was completed by the 24th Division and the Territorial battalions. The 20th Regiment captured redoubts around Bois du Chien, after fighting all day and then began preparing a dawn attack Le Casque. [18] On 21 and 22 April, fighting for the redoubt and the observation posts continued and on 21 April, the Legionnaires, on the right flank of the Moroccan Division, stormed the German defences in front of the Main Boyau. [30], After divisional reliefs to replace the assault divisions, which were exhausted and had suffered many casualties, a new French attack began on 4 May. Special shells, used for this purpose, continued the destruction. XVII Corps (Général Dumas) [24th Division (Général Mordacq), attached to the XVII Corps], Division Marocaine (Général Degoutte), 33rd Division (Général Eon), 45th Division (Général Naulin), VIII Corps (Général Hely d'Oissel): 34th Division (Général Lobit), 16th Division (Général Le Gallais), 128th Division (Général Riberpray), 169th Division. By 6.45 a.m., part of Erfurt Trench and the communication trenches leading towards it, had been captured but the Germans retained a foothold, at the west end of the trench. The Cornillet tunnel had three galleries with Décauville (light) railways along two of the galleries, with a transverse connecting tunnel and air shafts dug up to the top of the hill. [24], Aubérive redoubt fell at dawn, to attacks by the XII Corps divisions and at 3:30 p.m., Aubérive was found abandoned and swiftly occupied by detachments of the 24th Division, which had crossed from the right bank of the Suippes and by Territorials of the 75th Regiment; the Germans had withdrawn to a redoubt south of Vaudesincourt. [15], By the beginning of April, the German Higher Command expected a French offensive from the Ailette to Reims but the quiescence of the French artillery east of Reims, led to no serious operation against Nogent l'Abbesse or Moronvilliers being anticipated. To relieve the pressure, the 20th Regiment of the 33rd Division resumed the attack on Le Casque; Rendsburg and Göttingen trenches were captured and the French entered the wood on the hill, before reaching the summit of Le Casque at 6:00 p.m. and then being forced to retire by German counter-attacks. If Le Téton had not been captured, the troops in the French centre, were to drive the Germans from Bois de Côte 144 and attack the hill from the east. [33] An Engineer company followed close behind the infantry, ready to block the tunnel entrances but found them difficult to find, because the bombardment had covered them up. Sturmtruppen companies were posted further back to reinforce counter-attacks. German machine-guns to the east, in the Hexenkessel strong points and Bois en V, on the west slope of Mont Sans Nom, fired into the flank of the French attack and the rest of the day was spent capturing the German defences in these areas. After a lull, the French attacked again on 30 April and ended the offensive on 20 May. [38], A surprise attack on 3 September, west of the St Hilaire–St Souplet road, caused considerable damage and several German prisoners were taken. More fighting took place on 5 September, at Le Teton and Le Casque. [14], The first German line in the south of this defensive zone, comprised several parallel trenches connected by communication trenches, with numerous dug-outs, concrete blockhouses and pill-boxes. [30] In 1940, Cyril Falls, the British official historian, wrote that the Fourth Army attacks took 3,550 prisoners and 27 guns on the first day. Mont Cornillet 206 m (676 ft), Mont-Blond 211 m (692 ft), Mont-Haut 257 m (843 ft), Mont Perthois 232 m (761 ft), Mont Casque 246 m (807 ft), Mont Téton 237 m (778 ft), Mont-Sans-Nom 210 m (690 ft) and Côte 181 to the east. [32], On 19 May, as the French prepared to attack, news was received from a deserter that the garrison in the tunnel had been asphyxiated and an hour later, thirty Germans who had surrendered said the same but did not know if the tunnels had been reoccupied. German defences in the Plain of Bétheny, 1916, French territorial gains in Champagne, April–May 1917, Operations at Mont Cornilllet and Mont Blond, 21 June 1917. On 12 September, east of the St Hilaire–St Souplet road and north-east of Aubérive, more skirmishing took place. [24], The Germans in the west end of Erfurt Trench repulsed the attack and the left flank regiment of the 45th Division to the right, was held up at the Konstanzlager. Enter your log in email address and we'll send you a link to reset your password. The rest of the regiment occupied the pill-boxes and blockhouses on the summit and the north slope. (On 20 April, the 11th Regiment was relieved but the rest of the 33rd Division remained until 1 May. B. Dumas) west of the Suippes, had three divisions and some additional troops. Postcard representing the southern entrance of the Mont Cornillet (Marne), occupied by the Germans until the French offensive in August 1917. The observation posts on the heights were highly vulnerable to German bombardment and surprise attacks, against which the French had to keep large numbers of infantry close to the front, ready to intervene but vulnerable to German artillery-fire. On the left of XII Corps to the east of the Suippes, the 24th Division established a flank guard by attacking through Bois des Abattis towards Germains and Baden-Baden trenches. 206 likes. The left flank of the 59th Regiment was stopped by the Germans at Flensburg Trench, which connected the German defences of Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, losing touch with the 83rd Regiment. Im making research on Mont Cornillet (the term mont could make you smile as it is only 200 meters in height ! 600 corpses were found, most of them had been asphyxiated. At 5:45 a.m., the French took the east end of Erfurt Trench, despite delays as some redoubts held out, reached the edge of Bois de Mont Perthois by noon and then repulsed four German counter-attacks before nightfall. Plusieurs décennies furent nécessaires pour qu'on se rappelle les 400 cadavres murés dans l'une des trois. The 11th Regiment advanced quickly up Le Téton in the dawn sun and the German defenders fought hand-to-hand on the narrow summit. [23] At 1:00 a.m. on 18/19 April, another counter-attack was repulsed on the right of the VIII Corps area by the 34th Division. The crests of the hills had been fortified on the south and north sides; on the northern slope of Mont Cornillet and the north-east side of Mont Perthois, were the defensive tunnels. Some companies were sent to outflank the Konstanzlager from the west. The French gained the crest after a costly advance and broke up into groups, which bombed and bayonetted their way through the German shell-hole positions and pillboxes, against enfilade fire from machine-guns in Flensburg Trench and the west slopes of Mont Blond. [29] Among the German casualties, 6,120 prisoners were taken. Vaudesincourt was then to be captured and the right flank was to link with the centre, which was to take Côte 181 and Mont Sans Nom. In the centre, Posnanie and Beyrouth trenches and the Labyrinth redoubt were still occupied by German troops, in front of the Main Boyau trench, the last defensive position running down from the Moronvilliers Hills to the Suippes south of Vaudesincourt.

Lumni Maternelle Conte Africain, Dls Kits 2019/20, Philosophie Politique Cours, Cis Securesuite Membership Cost, Jeux Gratuit Ps4 Juillet 2020, Entremet Framboise Chocolat Blanc, Discussion à Visée Philosophique Eduscol, Soutien-gorge La Nouvelle, Prix Du Diesel Au Luxembourg, Les Aventures De Tom Sawyer Résumé Chapitre 1,