Celle qui a le plus marqué la mémoire collective est celle qui s’y déroula entre le 16 avril et le 24 octobre 1917. [28] The attack began at 4:45 a.m. in cold rain alternating with snow showers. Positions necessary for the new method were defined in Principles of Field Position Construction (Allgemeines über Stellungsbau). Between 31 October and 1 November 1917 the Germans abandoned their positions on Chemin des Dame Ridge to fall back on a new line of defence north of the river Ailette. Nivelle believed the Germans had been exhausted by the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and could not resist a breakthrough offensive, which could be completed in 24–48 hours. The route was used during Stage 6 of the 2014 Tour de France as part of the race's tribute to the men killed in the 1914–18 War.[1]. Defending infantry would fight in areas, with the front divisions in an outpost zone up to 3,000 yd (2,700 m) deep behind listening posts, with the main line of resistance placed on a reverse slope, in front of artillery observation posts, which were kept far enough back to retain observation over the outpost zone. On the east-facing northern flank near Laffaux, I Colonial Corps was able to penetrate only a few hundred yards into the defences of the Condé-Riegel (Condé Switch trench) and failed to take Moisy Farm plateau. By April, the French advance had only progressed beyond Neuville-sur-Margival and Leuilly. [7] Instead of fighting the defensive battle in the front line or from shell-hole positions near it, the main fight was to take place behind the front line, out of view and out of range of enemy field artillery. Bois-des-Buttes, Ville-aux-Bois, Bois-des-Boches and the German first and second positions from there to the Aisne had also been captured. The Germans attacked in waves, at certain points advancing shoulder-to-shoulder, supported by flame-thrower detachments and gained some ground on the Vauclerc Plateau, until French counter-attacks recovered the ground. Le secteur de front choisi pour laffrontement est le Chemin des Dames, dans le départem… It received its name following its use by the two daughters of Louis XV in the eighteenth century. The British captured Messines Ridge on 7 June and spent the rest of the year on the offensive in the Third Battle of Ypres (31 July – 10 November) and the Battle of Cambrai (20 November – 8 December). L'échec de l'offensive est consommé en 24 heures malgré l'engagement des premiers chars d'assaut français (une quarantaine). Approximately only half of those who are buried at Chemin des Dames cemeteries could be identified. [33], At 8:30 p.m. on 23 May, a German assault on the Vauclerc Plateau was defeated and on 24 May, a renewed attack was driven back in confusion. On the morning of 1 June, after a heavy bombardment, German troops captured several trenches north of Laffaux Mill and lost them to counter-attacks in the afternoon. The Second Battle of the Aisne (French: Bataille du Chemin des Dames or French: Seconde bataille de l'Aisne, 16 April – mid-May 1917) was the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, a Franco-British attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the German armies in France. The advance had failed to reach objectives which were to have fallen by 9:30 a.m. but 7,000 German prisoners had been taken. Conduct of the Defensive Battle (Grundsätze für die Führung in der Abwehrschlacht) was published on 1 December 1916. The 25th Division was ordered by the army commander, General Humbert to attack again at 6:00 p.m. but the orders arrived too late and the attack did not take place. [2] Nivelle threatened to resign if the offensive did not go ahead and having not lost a battle, had the enthusiastic support of the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. From 16 April – 10 May the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Tenth armies took 28,500 prisoners and 187 guns. Laffaux was captured and then lost to a counter-attack before changing hands several times, until finally captured on 19 April. Gas bombardments in the Ailette valley became so dense that the carriage of ammunition and supplies to the front was made impossible. [3], The Second Battle of the Aisne involved c. 1.2 million troops and 7,000 guns on a front from Reims to Roye, with the main effort against the German positions along the Aisne river. The final count, when the offensive was over, was 271,000 French casualties and 163,000 Germans casualties. [1] The main attack on the Aisne would be preceded by a large diversionary attack by the British Third and First armies at Arras. [20], The British Fourth Army was unable to assist the French with an attack, due to a lack of divisions after transfers north to the British Third Army but was able to assist with artillery-fire from the north and kept a cavalry division in readiness to join a pursuit. However, as French infantry reached the plateau, the advance was slowed and then stopped by the intense fire of a very high number of the Germans' new MG08/15 machine guns. [c] On the left flank, V Corps was stopped at the Bois des Boches and the hamlet of la Ville aux Bois. On 13 April at 5:00 a.m., XIII Corps attacked with two divisions; the 26th Division on the right took the German first line and then defeated two German counter-attacks but the 25th Division on the left was repulsed almost immediately by uncut wire and machine-gun fire, despite French field artillery being advanced into no man's land at the last minute to cut the wire. Une photo rare, montrant les ennemis d'hier ensemble pour une photo. The German positions also dominated the southerly slope over which the French attackers were progressing. Le 90e anniversaire de l'année 1917, au Chemin des Dames … The right flank guard to the east of Suippes was established by the 24th Division and Aubérive on the east bank of the river and the 34th Division took Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond. Europe 1. On 1 April, a French attack along the line of the Ailette–Laon road reached the outskirts of Laffaux and Vauxaillon. Beyond Dallon French patrols entered the south-western suburb of St. Chaleur atroce. English: Media relating to the Second Battle of the Aisne, also known as the Third Battle of Champagne, Battle of Chemin des Dames and the Nivelle Offensive, France 16 April - 27 October 1917. By the spring of 1917, the German army in the west had a strategic reserve of 40 divisions. [26], On the second day, Nivelle ordered the Fifth Army to attack north-eastwards to reinforce success, believing that the Germans intended to hold the ground in front of the Sixth Army. By the time the offensive began in April 1917, the Germans had received intelligence of the Allied plan and strengthened their defences on the Aisne front. [15][a][b] Large reconnaissance forces were set towards the Dallon spur on 1 April, which were not able to gain footholds in the German front defences, although the British Fourth Army to the north captured the woods around Savy. Chemin des Dames, a road named after a king's daughters. [5] The German withdrawal forestalled the attacks of the British and Groupe d'armées du Nord (GAN) but also freed French divisions for the attack. The high French casualty count, in so few days and with such minimal gains, was perceived at headquarters and by the French public as a disaster. Uffindell called this politically convenient, since this excluded the Battle of La Malmaison in October, making it easier to blame Nivelle. With the gloom of winter still hanging over France, French soldiers were sure the Great War was about to end. The caverns originally were a tunnel system created from excavations of limestone for building purposes in the 17th century. The German artillery was outnumbered about 3:1 and on the front of the 14th Division 32 German batteries were bombarded by 125 French artillery batteries. The new manual laid down the organisation for the mobile defence of an area, rather than the rigid defence of a trench line. Le nouveau général en chef français, Nivelle, est certain de rompre le front ennemi au Chemin des Dames et sa confiance se transmet à toute l'armée. Le plan prévoit une concentration maximale de … De quoi nourrir vos convictions personnelles avec la référence Chemin Des Dames 1917 si la seconde main fait partie intégrante de vos habitudes d'achat. Loßberg considered that spontaneous withdrawals would disrupt the counter-attack reserves as they deployed and further deprive battalion and division commanders of the ability to conduct an organised defence, which the dispersal of infantry over a wider area had already made difficult. On the first day, French infantry and some colonial Senegalese troops progressed to the top of the ridge in spite of intense German artillery counterfire and poor weather conditions. [47], From 24–25 October the XXI and XIV corps advanced rapidly and the I Cavalry Corps was brought forward into the XIV Corps area, in case the Germans collapsed. This situation developed into a threat of complete disintegration. To the north east of the town of Soissons in the Aisne lies a high ridge running west to east and nicknamed the Chemin des Dames: The Ladies’ Road. The German retirement was carried out in a rush and many guns were left behind, along with "vast" stocks of munitions. The front trench system was the sentry line for the battle zone garrison, which was allowed to move away from concentrations of enemy fire and then counter-attack to recover the battle and outpost zones; such withdrawals were envisaged as occurring on small parts of the battlefield which had been made untenable by Allied artillery fire, as the prelude to Gegenstoß in der Stellung (immediate counter-attack within the position). Le Chemin des Dames aujourd’hui The French infantry had suffered many casualties and few of the leading divisions were capable of resuming the attack. An attack on Brimont on (4–5 May), the capture of which would have been of great tactical value, was postponed on the orders of the French government and never took place. The offensive began on 9 April, when the British began the Battle of Arras. It is some thirty kilometres long and runs along a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Aisne and Ailette. On 4 April German counter-attacks north of the Aisne were repulsed south of Vauxeny and Laffaux. [27] German attacks on 27 May had temporary success before French counter-attacks recaptured the ground around Mont Haut; lack of troops had forced the Germans into piecemeal attacks instead of a simultaneous attack along the whole front. The Entente strategy was to conduct offensives from north to south, beginning with an attack by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) then the main attack by two French army groups on the Aisne. All are named after the river which flows on the south side of the ridge. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}49°26′35″N 3°42′37″E / 49.44306°N 3.71028°E / 49.44306; 3.71028, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial, Panoramic views of The Dragon's Lair site, the visitors' centre, and the museum, Pictures of Chemin des Dames – Fort de Conde, Caverne du Dragon, Site covering Chemin des Dames in WW1 (in French), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chemin_des_Dames&oldid=1004046744, Articles needing additional references from August 2014, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles needing reorganization from November 2019, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2019, Articles needing additional references from June 2019, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. À l'époque, le front allemand présente une avancée dans la région de Noyon. [33] During the night the French took the wood south-east of Chevreux and almost annihilated two German battalions. Their names are as follows: During World War I, the caves were used by both French and German forces as field hospitals and command posts, sometimes simultaneously. In his analysis of the battle, Loßberg opposed the granting of discretion to front trench garrisons to retire, as he believed that manoeuvre did not allow the garrisons to evade Allied artillery-fire, which could blanket the forward area and invited enemy infantry to occupy vacated areas unopposed. Après l'attaque du Chemin des Dames, au c… Next day another advance was conducted north of the mill. Behind the main line of resistance was a Grosskampfzone (battle zone), a second defensive area 1,500–2,500 yd (1,400–2,300 m) deep, also placed as far as possible on ground hidden from enemy observation, while in view of German artillery observers. Plateau of the Chemin des Dames. On 2 April a bigger French attack on Dallon failed but on 3 April the Third Army attacked after a "terrific" bombardment, on a front of about 8 mi (13 km) north of a line from Castres to Essigny-le-Grand and Benay, between the Somme canal at Dallon, southwest of St Quentin and the Oise. This page was last edited on 31 January 2021, at 21:15. La bataille du Chemin des Dames (1917) HistoireMotion. The offensive goals were the German positions between Laon and Rethel, but the offensive was in particular directed at the German positions along the Chemin des Dames. The speed of attack and the depth of the French objectives meant that there was no time to establish artillery observation posts overlooking the Ailette valley, in the areas where French infantry had reached the ridge. The Entente strategy was to conduct offensives from north to south, beginning with an attack by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) then the main attack by two French army groups on the Aisne. To make the way easier, the count had the road surfaced, and it gained its new name. Such a decentralised battle by large numbers of small infantry detachments would present the attacker with unforeseen obstructions. The XX Corps attack from Vendresse to the Oise–Aisne Canal had more success, the 153rd Division on the right flank reached the Chemin des Dames south of Courtecon after a second attack, managing an advance of 1.25 mi (2.01 km). On 20 May, a counter-offensive to retake the French positions from Craonne to the east of Fort de la Malmaison, was mostly defeated by artillery-fire and where German infantry were able to advance through the French defensive barrages, French infantry easily forced them back; 1,000 unwounded prisoners were taken. Defensive procedures in the battle zone were similar but with greater numbers of men. The caves are some 20–40 metres below the surface. Chemin des Dames - Avril 1917. Ludendorff was sufficiently impressed by the Loßberg memorandum to add it to the new Manual of Infantry Training for War. [12], "Principles of Field Fortification" (Allgemeines über Stellungsbau) was published in January 1917 and by April an outpost zone (Vorpostenfeld) held by sentries, had been built along the Western Front. The German army took a defensive stand on the ridge in September 1914, stopping the advancing Allied armies after the Battle of the Marne. The "Monts" were held against a German counter-attack on 19 April by the 5th, 6th (Eingreif divisions) and the 23rd division and one regiment between Nauroy and Moronvilliers. The IX Corps and XVIII Corps took over between Craonne and Hurtebise and local operations were continued on the fronts of the Fourth and Fifth armies with little success. Casualties in the thirteen attacking battalions were severe. The D18 road runs from east-west on the Chemin des Dames, a plateau and ridge delineated by the Aislette Valley to the north and the Aisne Valley to the south. On 3 May, the French 2nd Division refused orders, similar refusals and mutiny spread through the armies; the Nivelle Offensive was abandoned in confusion on 9 May. To the north-east of the hill the advance reached a depth of 1.5 mi (2.4 km) and next day the advance was pressed beyond Mont Haut. [18], After another attack on 4 April, the villages of Dallon, Giffecourt, Cerizy and côtes (hills) 111, 108, and 121 south of Urvillers, were captured and the German position at the apex of the triangle from Ham to St Quentin and La Fère was made vulnerable to a further attack. Départ de Roches à sept heures trente. Le Chemin des Dames. [33] On 21 May, German surprise attacks on the Vauclerc Plateau failed and on the following evening, the French captured several of the remaining observation posts dominating the Ailette Valley and three German trench lines east of Chevreux. This he did without harsh collective punishments. German counter-attacks continued in constant attack and counter-attack in the Soissons sector. 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. Half of the tanks were knocked out in the German defences and then acted as pillboxes in advance of the French infantry, which helped to defeat a big German counter-attack. French attacks could only take place at night or during twilight and snow, rain, low clouds and fog made aircraft observation for the artillery impossible. The Chemin des Dames ridge had been quarried for stone for centuries, leaving a warren of caves and tunnels which were used as shelters by German troops to escape the French bombardment. The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line Operation Alberich (Unternehmen Alberich) left a belt of devastated ground up to 25 mi (40 km) deep in front of the French positions facing east from Soissons, northwards to St. Quentin. In six weeks all were lost and the Germans were left clinging to the eastern or northern edges of the ridges of the summits. General Philippe Pétain, who had opposed this offensive, was called in to take over from Nivelle and to re-establish order. [14], Groupe d'armées du Nord (GAN) on the northern flank of Groupe d'armées de Reserve (GAR) had been reduced to the Third Army with three corps in line, by the transfer of the First Army to the GAR. Mais, le 16 décembre 1916, Joffre, qui commande depuis août 1914 et ne semble pl… 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 took shelter from the French barrage. The Second Battle of the Aisne (French: Bataille du Chemin des Dames or French: Seconde bataille de l'Aisne, 16 April – mid-May 1917) was the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, a Franco-British attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the German armies in France. [18] East of the Oise and north of the Aisne, the Third Army took the southern and north-western outskirts of Laffaux and Vauxeny. Qui plus est, avant l'attaque, les Allemands ont abandonné leurs premières tranchées et construit un nouveau réseau enterré à l'arrière, plus court, de façon à faire l'économie d'un maximum de troupes : la ligne Hindenburg. [4] The original plan of December 1916 was plagued by delays and information leaks. A school was opened in January 1917 to teach infantry commanders the new methods. A German breakthrough was aided by orders of a French general to mass troops in the front line – a tactic by this date discredited. French losses amounted to 17,000 dead, 20,000 lost in action (including prisoners) and 65,000 wounded; German losses were estimated to be in the region of 35,000 killed, wounded and lost in action. The artillery bombardment of the area actually cracked some of the overlying cliffs, which can be seen today. Dimanche 6 mai 1917. Today it is an open-air museum, extending 40 km from east to west, with many monuments along its length.On the D2 secondary road between Soissons and Laon, Laffaux mill was a highly strategic position, fought over by both sides for many months in 1917. [25], The attack on the right flank of the Sixth Army, which faced north between Oulches and Missy, took place from Oulches to Soupir and had less success than the Fifth Army; the II Colonial Corps advanced for 0.5 mi (0.80 km) in the first thirty minutes and was then stopped. The British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, supported the concept of a decisive battle but insisted that if the first two phases of the Nivelle scheme were unsuccessful, the British effort would be moved north to Flanders. The front line then remained static until March 1917, during which time several thousand soldiers died in local attacks or coup de main operations. General Robert Nivelle planned the offensive in December 1916, after he replaced Joseph Joffre as Commander-in-Chief of the French Army. The German defenders suffered much less, but lost some 20,000 prisoners, 40 cannons, and 200 machine guns. General Franchet d'Espèrey called La Malmaison "the decisive phase of the Battle...that began on 16 April and ended on 2 November....". South of the river, the Fifth and Tenth armies on the plain near Loivre, had managed to advance west of the Brimont Heights. This, of course, provided ample warning that a major French attack was coming. East of Reims the Fourth Army had captured most of the Moronvilliers massif and Auberive, then advanced along the Suippe, which provided good jumping-off positions for a new offensive. The rear edge of the German battle zone along the ridge had been reinforced with machine-gun posts and the German divisional commanders decided to hold the front line, rather than giving ground elastically; few of the Eingreif Divisions were needed to intervene in the battle. En avril 1917, le "Chemin des Dames", qui aurait dû être le nom d'une victoire, devient celui d'un échec sanglant. [22], Tanks to accompany the French infantry to the third objective arrived late and the troops were too exhausted and reduced by casualties to follow them. Conversely, Pétain instituted positive changes, such as longer home leaves and better food and medical/surgical assistance for the troops. On 2 June a bigger German attack began, after an intensive bombardment of the French front, from the north of Laffaux to the east of Berry-au-Bac. On n'avance que de 500 mètres au lieu des 10 kilomètres prévus, et ce au prix de pertes énormes : 30 000 morts en dix jours. [34], In 2015, Uffindell wrote that retrospective naming and dating of events can affect the way in which the past is understood. 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 Ladies of France. Embarquement en auto à Vic, à neuf heures trente ; route par Soissons, Sermoise, Bazoches. La bataille du Chemin des Dames, aussi appelée seconde bataille de l'Aisne ou « offensive Nivelle » a lieu pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Towards the end of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, Colonel Fritz von Loßberg (Chief of Staff of the 1st Army) had been able to establish a line of relief divisions (Ablösungsdivisionen). The French made a conscious effort to do this for the Chemin Des Dames offensive. The offensive met massed German machine-gun and artillery fire, which inflicted many casualties and repulsed the French infantry at many points. [37] The politicians and public were stunned by the chain of events and on 16 May, Nivelle was sacked and moved to North Africa. He was replaced by the considerably more cautious Pétain with Foch as chief of the General Staff, who adopted a strategy of "healing and defence" to avoid casualties and to restore morale. Resistance from troops equipped with automatic weapons, supported by observed artillery fire, would increase the further the advance progressed. Pétain began a substantial programme re-equipment of the French Army, had 40–62 mutineers shot as scapegoats and provided better food, more pay and more leave, which led to a considerable improvement in morale. By late March, GAN had been reduced by eleven infantry, two cavalry divisions and 50 heavy guns, which went into the French strategic reserve. 55:02. Posted 21 April, 2020 (edited) I am trying to find out more about the dramatic events of 4 May 1917 on the heights of the Chemin des Dames- when a french attack on the RIR 110 caused the Winterberg tunnel to collapse entombing 250 men. [41], In 1939 Wynne wrote that the French lost 117,000 casualties including 32,000 killed in the first few days but that the effect on military and civilian morale was worse than the casualties.