The 11th Regiment advance began at 4:45 a.m., accompanied by a battery of light field guns. [4], The French Fourth Army comprised the XII, XVII, VIII corps and tank Groupement III (Captain H. Lefebvre), with two Schneider CA1 groups, Artillerie Spéciale 1 (AS 1) and AS 10 of eight tanks each, reinforced by some Saint-Chamond tanks. We made some prisoners, including an officer. [11] On the right flank of the XVII Corps, one division was to capture Le Casque, its wood and Le Téton; on the left flank the divisional objectives were the summits of Mont Haut, Mont Perthois and the trenches linking Mont Haut to Le Casque. [22] On 18 April, the 45th Division on the right, completed the capture of the Konstanzlager and dug-outs nearby, the 34th Division consolidated and the 83rd Regiment was relieved by the 88th Regiment. On 17 April 1917, the order of battle of the German 3rd Army opposite the French Fourth Army (from west to east), was Group Prosnes under the command of XIV Corps, with the 14th Reserve, 29th, 214th and 58th divisions in line and the 32nd Division in reserve as an Eingreif division, then Group Py commanded by XII Corps, with the 30th, 239th, 54th Reserve divisions in line and the 23rd Division in reserve as the Eingreif division. More German dead were found in the tunnels, having been killed by the special gas shells fired by the French artillery. The trench ran below and Côte 181 and Mont Sans Nom. Sie trennen die Ebene von Chalons vom Moronvilliers-Massiv ab. The 29th and 58th divisions were considered to be of high quality but the 214th Division was new and its troops had had little opportunity for training; the 30th Division was considered to have one good and two indifferent regiments. At 2:30 p.m., the German garrison and reinforcements from the tunnel under the hill, broke into the French position on Mont Cornillet. A fifth reserve position, the Suippesstellung lay further back. Some companies were sent to outflank the Konstanzlager from the west. On 16th May 1917, a 400 pound shell fell on a ventilation shaft and blocked one of the principal galleries. B. Dumas) west of the Suippes, had three divisions and some additional troops. creusé dans les flancs du Mont Cornillet, piton occidental de l'alignement des Monts de Champagne. Most of the German defences on the southern slopes of Mont Cornillet, Mont Blond, Mont Haut and Mont Perthois had been badly damaged but many intermediate strong points, machine-gun nests remained. The new commander was unwilling to risk his men being bottled up in the French order of battle: XII Corps (Général Nourrisseau): 25th Division (Général Lévi), 60th Division (Général Patey), 23rd Division (Général Bonfait). Counter-attacks by the German 4th Army on 27 May had temporary success, before the French recaptured ground around Mont Haut; lack of troops had forced the Germans into piecemeal attacks, instead of a simultaneous attack all along the front. Waves of German reinforcements climbed the northern slopes to dislodge the French. Le tunnel du mont Cornillet. 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. m. L'entrée du tunnel après la guerre. Possession of the crest was a substantial tactical advantage for the French, which denied the Germans observation to the south. Generalleutnant (Lieutenant-General) Georg von Gersdorf, the 58th Division commander, disagreed with Beaulieu and eventually resigned. Jean-François indique 7 postes sur son profil. Ludendorff called the loss of the heights a "severe blow" and sixteen counter-attacks were made against the French positions along the heights in the next ten days, with little success. Les bouteilles graduées de penois notamment dans le tunnel du Mont Cornillet concentré de vinaigre apparaissent en 1875 et le type avec (Marne) qui abritait plus de 600 soldats allemands. The tunnel entrances were invisible to air observation and a French advance across the top of Mont Cornillet could be attacked from behind from them. It was still dark when the Fourth Army, on the left of Groupe d'armées de Centre (GAC, Central Army Group) attacked at 4.45 a.m., from Aubérive east of Reims, with the XII, XVII and VIII corps, on an 11 km (6.8 mi) front. Mais c’est plus particulièrement en Picardie, dans le secteur d’Arras, où l’analyse spatiale, en n . The village of Moronvilliers lay in a dip below the north crest of the main ridge. 206 likes. Sources in English about the French operations of the Nivelle Offensive are rare and most were written soon after the war or lack detail. [19], On the right flank of the Moroccan Division, the Régiment de marche de la Légion étrangère (RMLE, March Regiment of the Foreign Legion) attacked at 4:45 a.m., between Bois en T and Bois de la Sapinière towards Le Golfe, from where the RMLE was to turn east and seize the road from Aubérive to Vaudesincourt and Dontrien. Findbuch M 472 Kriegsstammrolle Band 19 Bild 149 16.04.1917 zur MGK versetzt 20.05.1917 vermisst bei den Kämpfen am Cornilett Infolge Gasvergiftung gestorben Totenkartei Beerdigt: Oktober 1917 Tunnel du Mont Cornillet Stanzer / ledig Johannes Sohn As the French infantry encountered the German reverse-slope defences, fatigue, losses and the relatively undamaged state of the German positions, stopped the French advance. DATE:Sept 1917. [20] The 45th Division attacked Mont Blond, by advancing between the Prosnes–Nauroy track, Bois de la Mitrailleuse and Bois Marteau, to the south-east of Mont Perthois but was held up in the evening of 17 April, at the Konstanzlager, which lay on the road from Prosnes, at the junction with the Nauroy–Moronvilliers road, midway between Mont Blond and Mont Haut. [14] The Leopoldshöhe Trench was continued to the east, below the summits of Mont Cornillet, Mont Blond, Mont Haut and Mont Perthois, by Erfurt Trench. An attack from the east on the hills was blocked by the entrenchments from Mont Sans Nom to the Suippes, which ran south-east around Aubérive-sur-Suippes on the left bank of the river. On April 18 and 19, and May 4 and 5, the fighting was spasmodic and finally ceased. [19] On 25 April, the 34th Division was relieved by the 19th Division. [23] German infantry massed in the woods between Monronvilliers and Nauroy, opposite the VIII Corps front and after a preliminary bombardment, attacked Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. [28], The French Fourth Army had casualties of 21,697 men. Der nördlich gelegene Ort Nauroy wurde im Ersten Weltkrieg vollständig zerstört und gehört zu den "villages disparus". On the right, the French had reached the summit of Le Téton and were just below the crest of Le Casque. On 16th May 1917, a 400 pound shell fell on a ventilation shaft and blocked one of the principal galleries. Site du Mémorial pour le Souvenir Français des Pyrénées Orientales The French light field guns engaged the machine-guns and put them out of action, then fired at the entrances, while heavy artillery bombarded the slopes and tops of Le Casque and Le Téton, with high explosive shells; the 34th Division, on the right of VIII Corps, consolidated. EVENING. [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. The railway from Bazancourt to Warmeriville, Somme-Py and Apremont, the main German supply line south of the Aisne, would be cut. [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. 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. The summit was captured and the French began to descend the northern slopes, some moving beyond the final objective towards Nauroy. The capture of Mont Sans Nom and the Moronvilliers Ridge would threaten the German hold on the Beine basin and the Nogent l'Abbesse massif; the loss of these would make the German positions on the Fresne and Brimont heights untenable. 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. This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage. 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. Alamy and its logo are trademarks of Alamy Ltd. and are registered in certain countries. After a gas bombardment on Mont Blond and the French lines north-west of Aubérive, German infantry attacked again at 2:00 a.m. on 31 May, at Mont Haut, Le Casque and Le Téton. Tunnels driven through the chalk connected the foremost German positions with the rear. South of Mont Haut, the Konstanzlager and the row of dugouts up the south slope of Mont Perthois, had not been seriously damaged. A successful French offensive would deprive the Germans of observation and block the route to the Plain of Châlons. The adjacent Group Prosnes of the 3rd and Group Reims of the 7th Army further west, were later put under the command of the 1st Army headquarters, which moved down from the Somme front. [19] In the XVII Corps zone, the 45th Division attacked, after a "devastating" howitzer bombardment at 7:00 a.m. on the Konstanzlager and the dug-outs nearby and after thirty minutes, the garrisons surrendered. The German equivalents for the first five peaks from west to east were Cornillet. The hills on the edge of the Châlons plain could be outflanked from west to east, only after the German defences on either side of the Thuizy–Nauroy road and between Mont Sans Nom and the Suippes had been captured. ), which is a place in Champagne (approximatively 20 kms in the east of Reims) where german pioniers have dug a tunnel. The attack on Fosse Froide Trench was held up just short, which left the Germans with a foothold on Mont Haut. Two tunnels, capable of accommodating several battalions of infantry, had been dug under the north slope of Mont Cornillet and the north-east side of Mont Perthois. German reinforcements were assembled in echelon from Mont Haut westwards to Nauroy and attacked all day, until a final effort failed at 4:00 p.m.[24], In the XVII Corps area, the French captured Bois Noir. SOURCE:The Sphere. North-east of Mont Haut, the advance reached a depth of 2.4 km (1.5 mi) and next day the advance was pressed further. [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. In the west, from Bois de la Grille to Tranchée du Bois du Chien, the bombardment was less effective and the German defences in Bois de la Grille and Leopoldshöhe Trench behind it and Erfurt Trench to the east, were not destroyed. Jul 25, 2019 - Various Rail Mounted Artillery and Anti-Aircraft Guns. [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. [19] In the XVII Corps area, part of Fosse Froide Trench was captured by the 45th Division, which endangered the communications of the German garrison on Mont Perthois. There was considerable artillery activity north of St Quentin, on the left bank of the Meuse, towards Hill 304, as well as in Champagne, in the Mont Cornillet and Mont Teton sectors. Your Cart is Empty ... Sign in; 0; Home; Collections; Catalog; Back Room; FAQ 0 Quote The ridge dominated the plain of Châlons and there was a parallel, lower ridge about 130 m (430 ft) high, which met the main ridge at the village of Beine; the two ridges declined steeply to the south. The advance towards Bois-en-Escalier in the centre began well and several field-gun batteries stood by to follow the advance, after a short delay at the German first line in Bois-en-Escalier, where the Germans were outflanked from the north and killed or captured. The three tunnels were up to 30 m (98 ft) underground and could contain up to 3 battalions which could be used for German counterattacks. German losses in dead and wounded were considerable; in the Cornillet tunnel, more than 600 corpses were found. The German attack was defeated by small-arms fire and another German counter-attack on 20 April, was repulsed but a resumption of the French advance was cancelled. [10], At dawn on 18 April, the German counter-attack in the XII Corps area, reached Constantinople Trench, only for the infantry to be surrounded and taken prisoner. North of Aubérive on the left bank was the fortified village of Vaudesincourt on the St Martin-l'Heureux road. To the west, the French 34th Division took Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond and the 16th Division was repulsed at Bois de la Grille. Seuls 14 d'entre eux ont rejoint l'Allemagne à la demande de leurs descendants, 57 ans après l'explosion du tunnel du Mont Cornillet. On 23 May, an assault on Mont Haut was stopped by artillery-fire and on 25 May, the French took more ground on both sides of Mont Cornillet and took 120 prisoners. The Battle of the Hills (French: Bataille des Monts) also known as the Battle of the Hills of Champagne and the Third Battle of Champagne, was a battle of the First World War that was fought from April–May 1917. Lage. [2], The capture of the German defences on the edge of the Châlons Plain above Aubérive, was necessary for an advance around Beine and an attack from the east of the Nogent l'Abbesse massif. Since Monday the Armies of France have been attacking the enemy in a battle that is set on a vast scale. 2018-04-12 - The original photographs were colourised over a number of months by Royston Leonard, 55, from Cardiff, and bring to life the stark reality of life in the trenches of the First World War. On 30 September, a raid was repulsed east of Aubérive, as the French were penetrating the German lines west of Mt Cornillet. Should Mont Cornillet, Mont Blond, Mont Haut, Mont Perthois, Le Casque, Le Téton and Mont Sans Nom be captured, the German defences from the Suippes to the Argonne would be outflanked from the west. After a lull, the French attacked again on 30 April and ended the offensive on 20 May. The French Fourth Army offensive against the German 4th Army was to support the Groupe d'armées du Nord (GAN, Northern Army Group) along the Chemin des Dames, in the Second Battle of the Aisne. [13] The third position was on the north slope of the second ridge and the fourth position lay along the foot of the reverse slope. galeries du tunnel et que le gouvernement ouest-allemand, en accord avec les autorités françaises, A survivor was rescued and the tunnel cleared and occupied until a German shell started a fire and the new garrison retired. In 1918, the number of German prisoners taken since 17 April, was given as 6,120, with 52 guns, 42 mortars and 103 machine-guns. By 3 June, Army Group German Crown Prince had recovered hardly any ground lost from 16 April to 20 May on the Aisne front and on the Moronvilliers Heights. A French reserve battalion was committed and soon French units dissolved into a mass of individuals, who fought on their own initiative. The entrance of the tunnel was discovered in 1933. Mont Sans Nom lay about 2.4 km (1.5 mi) to the south-east of Le Téton, at the same height as Mont Blond, with Côte 181 at the south end. [18] The 24th Division with ​4.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px;white-space:nowrap} 1⁄2 battalions, attacked on a line from the salient at Bois des Abatis, west to the Suippes, north of Bois des Sapins. Terms and conditions  ~   Im making research on Mont Cornillet (the term mont could make you smile as it is only 200 meters in height ! German counter-attacks forced the 20th Regiment to halt below the summit and during lulls German artillery bombarded the summit from the west, north and south. In early 1917, German divisions had three regiments, with three infantry battalions of about, Régiment de marche de la Légion étrangère, "Historiques des Regiments 14/18 et ses 5000 Photos: Les Offensives d'avril 1917", La bataille des Monts de Champagne (in French), Second Battle of Aisne/Battle of the Mountains (in French), Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Hills&oldid=961118513, Battles of the Western Front (World War I), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 June 2020, at 18:05. Certains tron- “Mont Cornillet” à proximité de Reims escalier d’accès menant au chemin çons non effondrés ont fait l’objet d’un (Marne) mérite d’être évoqué. [29] Among the German casualties, 6,120 prisoners were taken. Les Amis de Nauroy et de l'église de Beine, Beine-Nauroy, Champagne-Ardenne, France. Towards nightfall, French troops on a 0.80 km (0.5 mi) front, astride the Souain–Somme-Py road, entered the German lines and destroyed gas-tanks, blew up dugouts, rescued several French prisoners and returned safely with forty prisoners, four machine-guns and a trench mortar. Special shells, used for this purpose, continued the destruction. [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. The French alleged that German troops had feigned surrender, while hiding hand grenades in their raised hands, after which the Germans were all killed. 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. [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. The front line at various stages in the battle, with the Battle of the Hills on the right of the image. )[18] The 16th Division on the left of VIII Corps, consolidated during 18 April. Toute la collection des 670 vidéos Histoires 14-18. German counter-attacks had mostly been costly failures and from 16 April to2 June, the Franco-British had taken c. 52,000 prisoners, 440 heavy and field guns, many trench mortars and more than 1,000 machine-guns. An attack from the south on Mont Blond and Mont Haut, could be subjected to enfilade fire by the Germans on Mont Cornillet and Mont Perthois. 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. The French division now here (the 169th) was in the first attack at Mont Cornillet. [38], A surprise attack on 3 September, west of the St Hilaire–St Souplet road, caused considerable damage and several German prisoners were taken. The German defence was based on zones 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi) deep; the first position lay at the foot of the forward slope with three trench lines K1, K2 and K3; the Zwischen-Stellung (Intermediate Position, also Riegel I Stellung) had been built on the reverse slopes connected by tunnels. Copyright complaints  ~   X Corps (Général Vandenberg): 19th Division (Général Trouchaud), 20th Division (Général Hennocque), 131st Division (Général Broulard), (relieved the 45th Division on 22 April) and the 15th Division (Général Arbanère), 74th Division (Général de Lardemelle), 55th Division (Général Mangin) and the 132nd Division (Général Huguenot). In the Mont Cornillet Tunnel, France: the formidable subterranean network that became a grave for its German garrison. The west slopes of Mont Cornillet were attacked at 5:30 p.m. and a small advance was made. On the left of the Fourth Army, the VIII Corps (General Hely d'Oissel) had two divisions and one regiment. At 2:30 p.m., the German garrison and reinforcements from the tunnel under the hill, broke into the French position on Mont Cornillet 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 the survivors were captured after another failed attack. The French spent 18 April consolidating and the 45th Division pushed up to the southern edge of Mont Haut. The German 5th and 6th divisions from Alsace, were moved into the line between the south of Mont Blond and Le Téton and from there, recaptured the summit of Mont Haut. On 8 September, trench raiders to the east of the St Hilaire–St Souplet road, blew in dugouts and took twenty 20 prisoners. [16], Heavy rain fell and snowstorms continued throughout the night of 16 to 17 April. [7], German possession of Mont Perthois and Mont Sans Nom meant that a French attack on Le Casque and Le Téton could be engaged by crossfire. During WWI, military tunnels were dug by the German army, such as the tunnels of Mont Cornillet (N1), Mont Perthois (N2) and Mont sans Nom (N3) . On 20 April, French troops got onto the summit of Le Casque and on 22 April, the eastern and lower summit of Mont Haut was secured by the 45th Division. 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. The 20th Regiment attacked Le Casque, under machine-gun fire from the woods, on the western slopes of Mont Perthois. On the left flank of the division, Aubérive east of the river was rapidly captured. Field artillery from the 128th Division was galloped up the slopes of Mont Cornillet, despite German return fire and the 34th Division was subjected to a heavy German bombardment and counter-attacks against both flanks. On the left flank of the division, Bethmann-Hollweg Trench to the north-east of Mont Sans Nom, was captured along with six guns, which secured Mont Sans Nom from an attack against the eastern slope. 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. South of Le Casque and Le Téton, it became graben du Bois du Chien, Landtag Trench and then Landsturm Trench, to the positions on the east slope of the hills. French artillery replied with heavy bombardments on the peak and on Moronvilliers village, in the hollow beneath. More lines had been added to the railways behind the French front, extensions and a network of light railways had been built in the Moronvilliers sector and roads had been repaired and enlarged for motor vehicles, behind the Fourth Army front. [21], The capture of the Konstanzlager was vital to the possession of Mont Blond and the final objectives along the twin summits of Mont Haut, the north-west trench of Le Casque and Mont Perthois to the south, between Mont Haut and Le Casque. At 6:00 p.m., the French attacked the two summits of Mont Haut and Fosse Froide Trench, which ran from Mont Haut, across the northern slopes of Mont Perthois. tunnel de liaison, C ... (Mont Cornillet, Mont Sans Nom ; Guillaume, 1918). The German positions on the hills overlooked the Plain of Châlons, giving an uninterrupted view of French movements between Reims and the Argonne. On 30 October, at the northern edge of the Moronvilliers heights, French troops raided east of Le Téton and repulsed two German counter-attacks but the third counter-attack recaptured the area.[39]. 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. 600 corpses were found, most of them had been asphyxiated. [34], The French attack between Mont Cornillet and the north of Le Téton on 20 May, failed on the north slope of Mont Blond and the north-west slopes of Mont Haut but succeeded to the north-east, north of Le Casque and Le Téton, where 985 prisoners were taken. Paroles d'un étudiant Allemand: J'ai compris que l'expression de la catastrophe "La der des Der" Défilé sur les 2 Km 800 entre Nauroy et le mont Cornillet et son tristement célèbre tunnel . On 28 September, German raids were repulsed west of Navarin Farm, north-west of Tahure and at the Four-de-Paris in the Argonne. [7] The Fourth Army held an 18 km (11 mi) front, just north of the Reims, St Hilaire le Grand, St Ménéhould to Verdun road, between Massiges and Ferme Marquises, about 120 m (400 ft) below the peak of Mont Haut. 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. [9] An attack from the west, was still obstructed by Bois de la Grille and Leopoldshöhe Trench and an attack on the eastern flank would be confronted by Le Golfe, a position which extended the German line east to Aubérive. [3], On the right flank, the XII Corps contributed the 24th Division to the attack and the XVII Corps (General J. The centre and right regiments attacked again and took Wahn Trench but German counter-attacks prevented a further advance. The preparatory artillery strikes targeted the forts of Brimont, Witry-lès-Reims, and Berru, as well as tunnels and shelters under Mount Cornillet and Mont-sans-nom. It has previously been bought for a multiple re-use license which is still valid. French troops took over the fortifications, which were then bombarded by German artillery. The troops near the redoubt dug in but the troops on the right flank, advanced close to the summit of the ridge. The German artillery was reinforced from 150 four-gun batteries on 1 April, to 200 to 250 batteries. A German counter-attack from the tunnel repulsed the attack except on the right, where the French captured an artillery battery and penetrated some way down the northern slope of Mont Blond. The 5th and 6th divisions were further back, under the authority of Army Group German Crown Prince. - 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. The attack had been costly, despite fog protecting the French infantry from the fire of some German machine-guns. The German defences on the northern slope, were bombarded under the direction of French artillery-observation aircraft observers. [8] To reach the summit, the French infantry would have to advance about 3.2 km (2 mi) up a series of steep rises. In front of Nauroy was another trench, which linked the defences on top of Mont Cornillet. Besides this poste (Saint-Thomas) our only other one is at La Narazée, in one of the ravines to the right of here. Technische Bauleitung Bauleiter Karl Debus. [e] Just in front of Mont Haut was Mont Perthois, at about the same height as Mont Cornillet. [37] At dawn on 2 May, German attacks began at Le Téton and the French positions further east and gained temporary footholds in the French positions, before counter-attacks forced the German infantry back. Three fresh French divisions made preparations to resume the offensive on 20 May. The French veered to the right, away from the machine-gun fire and attacked Rendsburg and Göttingen trenches. To the west, the German counter-barrage was fired late and Mont Sans Nom was captured by 5:00 a.m. More than 500 prisoners, six guns and several machine-guns were captured. Every move by the French, was under observation from the German positions but the ridge from Mont Cornillet to Le Téton and the woods to the west and east, hid German movements from ground observation and could only be detected by French aviators, who were frequently grounded by bad weather in the winter and spring of 1916–1917. Ce vaste opposé à la ligne de front. [9] The fortified village of Vaudesincourt to the north, on the banks of the Suippes and the maze of trenches on the right bank, had been badly damaged but much of the wire was uncut and blockhouses and pill-boxes had not been destroyed. Even knowledge of the arrival of more guns was not conclusive, because the quantity of guns and munitions held by the Allies had become so enormous, that even the presence of a thousand guns and the expenditure of millions of shells could be a feint. Near the Suippes, a network of trenches followed the ridge above the river to St Martin-l'Heureux. Special shells, used for this purpose, continued the destruction. The troops on the left were exposed by the repulse of the troops to the west, beyond the Thuizy–Nauroy road. The "Monts" were held against a German counter-attack on 19 April, between Nauroy and Moronvilliers, by the 5th Division and 6th Division, which had been trained as Eingreifdivisionen (specialist counter-attack divisions), supported by the 23rd Division plus one regiment. Sitemap. 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.