the tour de France First World War Centenary The 7 stages along the Western Front 14-18

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1 the tour de France First World War Centenary The 7 stages along the Western Front 1

2 Contents 2014 The First World War Centenary and the Tour de France Stage 4 Tuesday 8 July 2014 LE TOUQUET-PARIS-PLAGE > VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ LILLE MÉTROPOLE Stage 5 Wednesday 9 July 2014 YPRES > ARENBERG PORTE DU HAINAUT p. 3 p. 4 p. 10 Stage 6 ARRAS > REIMS Stage 7 ÉPERNAY > NANCY Thursday 10 July 2014 Friday 11 July 2014 p. 14 p. 32 Stage 8 TOMBLAINE > GERARDMER Stage 9 GERARDMER > MULHOUSE Stage 10 Saturday 12 July 2014 Sunday 13 July 2014 Monday 14 July 2014 MULHOUSE > LA PLANCHE DES BELLES FILLES Understanding the Great War The First World War on the Western Front Battles on the Western Front Remembrance and reconstruction in the aftermath of the war Acknowledgements p. 43 p. 47 p. 52 p. 55 p. 59 2

3 2014 THE FIRST WORLD WAR CENTENARY AND THE TOUR DE FRANCE The year 2014 marks the opening of the First World War commemoration season. This fouryear event will involve the majority of French people and remind us just how important the memories of the Great War are in all our minds. From August 1914 to November 1918, France was the scene of the deadliest, most violent war ever seen in history. For five years, from the North Sea to the Swiss border, along a front line stretching almost 1,000 kilometres, millions of men from France, Germany, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Russia, India, Senegal and many other countries from all five continents, equipped with the most modern and most powerful weapons of the time, confronted each other on an almost daily basis. Their battles and their deaths have left an indelible mark on French soil and in our memories but have also fed our hopes for international peace in our time. A hundred years later, the commemoration of the war, implemented by the Mission du centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale, is a full cultural season with exhibitions, film productions, publications, educational activities and more: 2,000 events, all over France, have received the official centenary label and make up the official national programme of the centenary. A hundred years after the 1914 race, the Tour de France also has its role to play in the First World War centenary commemorations. Seven stages of the race this year will follow the front running from Flanders to the Vosges. This route is not just a geographic itinerary: each kilometre will spark the nation s memory, and in these particular stages along the front, the memories of people all over the world. It will focus on the regions of the front as they are today and show people in France and abroad the national and international heritage connected with the Great War. The violence of the fighting and the massive loss of human life it caused can still be seen in the landscapes of these regions. The northeast of France was particularly badly hit, cut in half by the front line stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss border. Nord-Pas de Calais, Picardie, particularly the departments of the Somme and the Aisne, Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine and the departments of the Meuse and the Vosges as well as Alsace, also paid a heavy price. Today, visitors can see the countless traces of the First World War and immerse themselves in memories of the war. 3

4 Tuesday 8 July 2014 LE TOUQUET-PARIS-PLAGE > VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ LILLE MÉTROPOLE E. Roose STAGE 4 Statue in the Australian memorial park in Fromelles NORD-PAS DE CALAIS I n August 1914, the region of Nord-Pas de Calais was thrust into the midst of the first battles, and remained so until November Here a large part of the troops from Great Britain and the British Empire came to fight the Germans. Of their presence and their confrontations, a rich yet little known heritage remains today: military cemeteries, memorials and vestiges bear a silent and touching witness. As we walk the paths of remembrance of the Great War and see the sites in the Nord-Pas de Calais we can better understand these significant pages of European and world history and pay tribute to the men and women who came here, sometimes from the other side of the world, and who are now laid to rest in the region. 4

5 STAGE 4 Distance : 163,5 km Tuesday 8 July 2014 LE TOUQUET-PARIS-PLAGE > VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ LILLE MÉTROPOLE 4 CASSEL 2 St Étienne-au-mont 1 étaples montreuil-sur-mer béthune bailleul 8 RICHEBOURG FROMELLES 7 FLEURBAIX armentières TO villeneuve-d ascq lille métropole 6,5km 5

6 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 4-0 km Le Touquet-Paris-Plage Étaples Military Cemetery Étaples-sur-mer 1 Étaples Military Cemetery With nearly 11,500 graves today, the Étaples Military cemetery (the biggest Commonwealth cemetery in France) during the Great War adjoined a large compound of some twenty hospitals providing a total of 20,000 beds intended to care for the wounded Tommies evacuated from the front. Étaples also became the largest training camp for new recruits arriving from all over the British Empire: forty barracks saw millions of men pass through on their way to the Front. 0-0 km Le Touquet-Paris-Plage Saint-Étienne-au-Mont- Saint-Étienneau-Mont Communal Cemetery 2 Saint-Étienne-au-Mont-Communal Cemetery In the village cemetery, a stele with a pagoda roof marks the entrance to the square in which 160 Chinese and a few South African workers are buried. Grouped into Labour units, these nonfighting men took care of logistics under military authority in the ports and depots of the British Army behind the front. Late in 1919, nearly 80,000 Chinese men were still helping to clear the combat zones and bury the bodies of the soldiers killed in action km Montreuil-sur-Mer Statue of Field Marshal Montreuil-sur-Mer Douglas Haig 3 Statue of Field Marshal Douglas Haig The statue of Field Marshal Haig on horseback is one of the rare confirmations of the British presence in the town during the Great War. And yet it was here that Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British forces established his general headquarters from 1916 to Montreuil became the head of a significant logistics operation stretching all along the coast, intended to support and supply men and equipment to the nearby Front, in Flanders, Artois or the Somme ,5 km Cassel Statue Cassel (entrance to the town) of Maréchal Foch 4 Statue of Maréchal Foch This monument is in the public park. The statue is by Georges Malissard, and Edgar Boutry made the pedestal, which bears the inscription: To Maréchal Foch, from the town of Cassel and Flanders with thanks. It was unveiled on 7 July 1928 in the presence of the Maréchal himself. Maréchal Ferdinand Foch ( ) installed his Headquarters in Cassel from October 1914 to April His mission was to coordinate the French, British and Belgian forces on the Belgian front, between Ypres and the area around the Yser. From his desk in a room in the old castle he directed the Battle of the Yser. In his own words, he spent in Cassel the most harrowing hours of my life. 91, km Bailleul City of Bailleul Bailleul 5 City of Bailleul Although spared from fighting since the beginning of the war, the city of Bailleul was devastated by artillery in the German offensive of spring To rebuild the city the councillors called on regionalist architects, including Louis-Marie Cordonnier, who they asked to apply modern town planning methods while reviving traditional Flemish architecture. Under these principles, the reconstruction of public and private buildings turned Bailleul into the epitome of a Flemish town. 121,5 6

7 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 4-133,5 km Armentières Béthune City Hall Béthune and Grand Place 6 Béthune City Hall and Grand Place During the Battle of the Lys in the spring of 1918, the German army failed to conquer Béthune and set fire to the city centre with firebombs. Sur la Grand Place, the 14th century belfry is one of the rare buildings to have withstood the bombs. After the battle, the houses around the square were rebuilt in a mixture of Art Deco, eclectic and neo-regionalist architecture. Overlooking it all is the city hall, designed by Jacques Alleman, housing the war decorations received by the city. 133,5-133,5 km Armentières Armentières City Hall Armentières and Belfry 7 Armentières City Hall and Belfry Commonwealth troops fighting in the Battles of Ypres were stationed here for a long period, immortalised in the French song Mademoiselle from Armentières. The town was almost completely destroyed in the Great War. The reconstruction of the town centre gave the architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier the opportunity to demonstrate his regionalist ideas. The City Hall and the belfry, and also the war memorial, the marketplace and the church of Saint-Vaast illustrate the town s Flemish renaissance ,5 km Armentières Le Trou Aid Post Fleurbaix Cemetery 8 Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery Surrounded by a moat and crowned by weeping willows, Le Trou Aid Post cemetery is certainly one of the finest Commonwealth cemeteries in the region. Located at a British first aid post, this cemetery groups the bodies of 356 soldiers who fell at the forgotten Front. Far from the major strategic zones, this sector, between Armentières and La Bassée was the scene of numerous small-scale but very deadly attacks: Le Maisnil in 1914, Aubers and Loos in 1915, and Fromelles in ,5 km Armentières Fromelles Australian Fromelles Memorial Park 9 Fromelles Australian Memorial Park The statue in the memorial park represents Sergeant Fraser rescuing one of his comrades begging for help in no man s land. The day after the battle launched by the British army near Fromelles as a diversion for their offensive on the River Somme, there were 5,533 Australian victims. For the young Australian nation, the date of 19 July 1916 is still remembered as the first operation by Australian soldiers on European soil but also as one of the most tragic episodes in the Great War ,5 km Armentières Pheasant Wood Cemetery Fromelles 10 Pheasant Wood Cemetery Pheasant Wood is not far from Fromelles. If you approach from the northwest along RD 22, Rue de la Basse Ville, the wood stretches just beyond the field before the first house in the village. Nowadays the view is tranquil, but in mid-2009 the meadow to the south of the wood was a hive of activity. In that year the remains of 250 Australian and British soldiers from the First World War were carefully exhumed from a common grave dug there by the Germans after the Battle of Fromelles in July The units in charge of making lists of the military graves in the after-war years did not find this site on the battlefields. 7

8 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 4-133,5 km Armentières Neuve-Chapelle Indian Richebourg Memorial 11 Neuve-Chapelle Indian Memorial In October 1914, the British Expeditionary Force received reinforcements from troops from the Indian colonies. Stationed in Flanders, the Indian corps fought in several battles between Ypres and La Bassée, including the attack on Neuve-Chapelle in March 1915 during which 4,000 Indian men were killed. With its column flanked by two tigers and topped by the star of Indian, the Neuve-Chapelle Memorial remains the only place along the Front to commemorate the participation of Indian soldiers in the Great War ,5 km Armentières Richebourg Portuguese Richebourg Military Cemetery 12 Richebourg Portuguese Military Cemetery In 1916, wishing to show its support for the allied forces, the young Portuguese republic formed its own expeditionary force. Under British command, these men were posted between Laventie and Festubert in French Flanders. On 9 April 1918, the Portuguese were wiped out by the offensive launched by the German army on the Plaine de la Lys. In Richebourg, in the only Portuguese cemetery along the front, lie the bodies of 1,831 of these soldiers killed in ,5 km Lille Monument to Léon Trulin Lille 13 Monument to Léon Trulin This young man whose statue now stands in the street that bears his name, near the Lille opera house, is known as the glorious teenager. Léon Trulin was 18 when he started to serve the British army. In June 1915, the young man, with a group of friends the youngest was 15 and the oldest no more than 18 began to collect information about the German occupiers in Belgium and the north of France. Arrested near Antwerp, Trulin was executed on 8 November of the same year, in the ditch of the Lille citadel. 149,5-149,5 km Lille War memorial Lille for the people of Lille 14 War memorial for the people of Lille In 1924, in spite of protests from the veterans, the city council, on a proposal by the architect Jacques Alleman, elected to dedicate the monument to the people of Lille who died for Peace rather than for Country. Built in the Place Rihour on the ruins of the City Hall burnt down in 1916, the monument became the starting point for a memorial route dedicated to major figures of the Lille resistance in the Great War, such as Louise de Bettignies, Léon Trulin and members of the Jacquet group ,5 km Lille Monument Lille to the executed of Lille 15 Monument to the executed of Lille Four men standing with their backs to the wall: the monument to the executed people of Lille immortalises the leading members of the Jacquet group a few moments before they were shot in the ditches of the Lille Citadel. Just like Léon Trulin lying at their feet, Eugène Jacquet, Georges Maertens, Ernest Deceuninck and Sylvère Verhulst headed a network in occupied Lille to pass information about the German army to the allied forces. They were arrested, sentenced to death and then shot on 22 September

9 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 4-149,5 km Lille Monument to the victims Lille of the 18 Ponts munitions factory explosion 16 Monument to the victims of the 18 Ponts munitions factory explosion On 11 January 1916 an explosion destroyed the munitions depot on the Bastion des 18 Ponts. There were hundreds of casualties: 134 dead, including 104 civilians and nearly 400 injured, 21 factories and 738 houses were destroyed. Commemorated by a monument in the Rue de Maubeuge, this catastrophe marks the four anni horribiles of the occupation of Lille. The people of the city, under martial law, survived in extremely difficult conditions. The Germans even requisitioned the mattresses and deported 10,000 young people especially women to farms in the Aisne or the Ardennes ,5 km Lille Monument Lille to the homing pigeons 17 Monument to the homing pigeons At the entrance to Lille zoo is a monument dedicated to the 20,000 pigeons that died for France and the pigeon fanciers executed for owning carrier pigeons, reminding us of the important role played by these messenger birds during the Great War. One pigeon was even mentioned in the French national dispatches in Verdun. Since then, waves have replaced wings for transmitting information in times of war, but pigeon fancying is still greatly appreciated as a leisure activity in the north of France ,5 km Lille Monument Lille to Louise de Bettignies 18 Monument to Louise de Bettignies In 1915 Louise de Bettignies joined the British Secret Intelligence Service and formed the Alice network which collected information about the German occupiers. Initially limited to the city of Lille, the network spread with help from Marie-Léonie Vanhoutte as far as Saint-Quentin. Arrested on 21 October 1915, Louise de Bettignies died on 27 September 1918 while a prisoner of the Germans. The statue of the woman the English nicknamed the queen of spies still watches over the gates of Lille today. 9

10 WEDNESDAY 9 July 2014 YPRES > ARENBERG PORTE DU HAINAUT P. Morès stage 5 Fort de Seclin NORD-PAS DE CALAIS I n August 1914, the region of Nord-Pas de Calais was thrust into the midst of the first battles, and remained so until November Here a large part of the troops from Great Britain and the British Empire came to fight the Germans. Of their presence and their confrontations, a rich yet little known heritage remains today: military cemeteries, memorials and vestiges bear a silent and touching witness. As we walk the paths of remembrance of the Great War and see the sites in the Nord-Pas de Calais we can better understand these significant pages of European and world history and pay tribute to the men and women who came here, sometimes from the other side of the world, and who are now laid to rest in the region. 10

11 STAGE 5 Distance : 155,5 km WEDNESDAY 9 July 2014 YPRES > ARENBERG PORTE DU HAINAUT YPRES Tourcoing Roubaix 4 Lille 5 Seclin 6 ARENBERG PORTE DU HAINAUT 2,5km > 7 Le Quesnoy 11

12 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 5-0 km Ypres In Flanders Fields Ypres Museum 1 In Flanders Fields Museum In October 1914, the Front stopped a few kilometres from Ypres forming a salient in the German lines. The rich Flemish city then witnessed 5 successive battles just outside its gates, for which soldiers from all over the world were mobilised. Today, in the Halle aux Draps rebuilt as an exact replica, the In Flanders Fields museum shows visitors what life was like for a soldier or a civilian at that time, to gain greater insight into the history of this Great War. 0-0 km Ypres Menin Gate Ypres Memorial 2 Menin Gate Memorial The Menin Gate, in the city wall, opens on to the road that several hundred thousand allied soldiers followed on their way to the huge battlefields that formed the Ypres Salient. Since 1928, the Last Post has been played every evening at 8 o clock. At the foot of the signposts bearing the 55,000 names on the memorial, this salute to the dead rings out in memory of the soldiers of the British Empire killed in the Salient in the First World War km Tourcoing Tourcoing War Tourcoing Memorial 3 Tourcoing War Memorial On the square which today bears its name, Victory on her horse leads the heroes to glory and immortality. The war memorial is a magnificent tribute by Tourcoing to its 2,531 sons and daughters killed in action in 19. Next to the soldiers names are those of the 177 civilians who died during the occupation. The liberation of the city on 17 October 1918 put an end to the shortages, requisitions, forced labour, hostage taking and deportations the people of Tourcoing suffered during those four years ,5 km Roubaix Monument Roubaix to Eugène Motte 4 Monument to Eugène Motte Near the old post office is a monument paying tribute to the industrialist and politician from Roubaix, Eugène Motte. Heir to the Motte-Bossut textile dynasty, he received orders in 1915 from the German occupiers to produce fabric to make sandbags for the trenches. The monument quotes his refusal to Governor Hoffman: We cannot accept the role of collaborators with the enemy. You can requisition our property, you cannot requisition our people. 64,5 12

13 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 5-78 km Villeneuve d Ascq Monument Lille to the executed of Lille 5 Monument to the executed of Lille Four men standing with their backs to the wall: the monument to people of Lille executed immortalises the leading members of the Jacquet group a few moments before they were shot in the ditches of the Lille Citadel. Just like Léon Trulin lying at their feet, Eugène Jacquet, Georges Maertens, Ernest Deceuninck and Sylvère Verhulst headed a network in occupied Lille to pass information about the German army to the allied forces. They were arrested, sentenced to death and then shot on 22 September km Pont-Thibault Fort de Seclin Seclin 6 Fort de Seclin On 1 August 1914, Lille was declared an open city but was then occupied in October. The forts making up the defensive ring of the capital of Flanders were then taken over by the Germans and used as barracks, depots or hospitals. This was the case for Seclin Fort not far from the Front. In the Second World War, once again occupied, it was the scene of executions of those in the Resistance. Patiently restored by the Boniface family since 1996, the Fort now houses an Artillery Museum ,5 km Wallers Le Quesnoy New Zealand Le Quesnoy Memorial 7 Le Quesnoy New Zealand Memorial On 4 November 1918, the town of Le Quesnoy was liberated by New Zealand troops who managed to climb over the fortifications built by Vauban, using a wooden ladder. This scene features on the New Zealand Memorial that leans against the wall, at the foot of which grows a fern, emblem of New Zealand. 90 years after the armistice, the liberation of the town remains one of the great examples of New Zealand s intervention in the world war. 147,5 13

14 THURSDAY 10 July 2014 ARRAS > REIMS STAGE 6 NORD-PAS DE CALAIS In August 1914, the region of Nord-Pas de Calais was thrust into the midst of the first battles, and remained so until November Here a large part of the troops from Great Britain and the British Empire came to fight the Germans. Of their presence and their confrontations, a rich yet little known heritage remains today: military cemeteries, memorials and vestiges bear a silent and touching witness. As we walk the paths of remembrance of the Great War and see the sites in the Nord-Pas de Calais we can better understand these significant pages of European and world history and pay tribute to the men and women who came here, sometimes from the other side of the world, and who are now laid to rest in the region. AISNE From the area around Saint-Quentin to the Chemin des Dames, there are many memorial sites of the First World War in the Aisne department. From the first battles in 1914 to the German offensive in 1918, including the catastrophic offensive of the Chemin des Dames in 1917, tens of thousands of men from all over the world and all walks of life died here, hoping for a better world. The region keeps this painful, tragic past in her memory: monuments, cemeteries, tunnels, etc. and the vivid emotion one feels in these places where so many men died. Today, the Aisne tributes to them all. SOMME The Somme was badly affected by the fighting in the First World War: the invasion and the race to the sea from August to September 1914, the Battle of the Somme from July to November 1916 and the battles of Picardie from March to September In 1916, the Somme became one huge international battlefield, where some twenty different nationalities converged and where three million soldiers fought each other along a front 45 kilometres long. Today, the Souvenir tour, connecting symbolic towns from Péronne to Albert, takes you along the tracks of this global war, covering the vestiges of the fighting, the cemeteries and the memorials which honour the memory of all the soldiers in the First World War. MARNE The Marne gave its name to two decisive battles of the Great War. This area still shows memories of the bitter fighting that went on throughout the war. Symbolic monuments and a number of cemeteries are dotted along the trail of the former front. A multitude of nationalities are presented here and the Marne respectfully boasts the highest number of military graves of all the French departments with 164,145 soldiers buried there. 14

15 STAGE 6 Distance : 194 km THURSDAY 10 July 2014 ARRAS > REIMS 8 10 TO ARRAS to 28 1 ablain-saint- Nazaire 2 Vimy 3 Souchez 4-5 neuville-saint- Vaast 6 Mont-Saint-Éloi 7 Athies 8-10 Arras 11 saint-laurent- Blangy 12 Monchy-le-Preux 13 Haucourt 14 Bullecourt 15 courcelles-le- Comte 16 Ayette 17 Bapaume 18 doignies 19 Grévillers 20 Sailly-Saillisel Rancourt Bouchavesnes- Bergen Péronne 27 Péronne, Rancourt, Longueval, Pozières, Thiepval, Beaumont- Hamel, La Boisselle, Albert 28 Doingt 29 Ham 30 ham (et Péronne) Froissy, Frise, toute la vallée, Amiens, baie de Somme 31 Beaumont-en- Beine 32 Flavy-le-Martel 33 Moÿ-de-l Aisne 34 Tergnier 35 Chauny coucy-le- Château 38 Blérancourt 39 Crépy 40 Braye-en- Laonnois 41 Laffaux 42 n2 - Commune de Laffaux 43 Chivres-Val Chavignon 46 Filain Braye-en Laonnois cerny-en- Laonnois 51 Chermizy -Ailles oulches la- Vallée-Foulon Bouconville- Vauclair Craonnelle 63 la-ville-aux- Bois-les- Pontavert 64 Pontavert 65 Bois des Buttes - La-Ville- aux-bois-les- Pontavert Berry-au-Bac 68 Roucy 69 Reims to to km REIMS 69 15

16 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-0 km Arras Notre Dame de Lorette Ablainnational burial ground Saint-Nazaire 1 Notre Dame de Lorette national burial ground After the war, on the plateau of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, where bitter fighting went on in May and June 1915, France created what was to be the biggest national burial ground in the country. It holds 20,000 individual graves, and the bodies of 22,000 other soldiers who remain unknown are grouped in eight ossuaries, including the Lantern Tower. The memory of these soldiers who died for France is preserved here every day from March to November by the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette guard of honour. 0-0 km Arras Canadian National Vimy Vimy Memorial 2 Canadian National Vimy Memorial Symbolising the friendship between Canada and France, the two white towers of the memorial, built in the middle of a park overlooking the mines, remind us of the sacrifice of 11,285 Canadian soldiers missing in France in the Great War. They stand on the site where, following an attack launched on 9 April 1917, the Canadian troops, who were fighting for the first time in one single army unit, won Vimy Ridge, marking an important page in the history of Canada. - 0 km Arras Cabaret Rouge British Souchez Cemetery 3 Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery Before the war there was, at the entrance to Souchez, an establishment known as the Red Cabaret. It has since disappeared, but has left its name to the military cemetery which the Imperial War Graves commission built in 1917 to bring together the remains from 103 burial grounds in Nord-Pas de Calais. The cemetery, located between the French cemetery at Notre-Dame de Lorette and the German one at Maison Blanche, reflects the very British spirit that prevailed with the organisation of Commonwealth cemeteries. - 0 km Arras Maison Blanche German Neuville- Military Cemetery Saint-Vaast 4 Maison Blanche German Military Cemetery The Maison Blanche burial ground is the largest German military cemetery in France. Created by the French at the end of the war, it includes the remains of 44,833 soldiers killed in the Artois region. The VDK (the German war graves commission) renovated it in the 1970s. At the entrance is a cross bearing these words, written in French: Paix aux hommes de bonne volonté (Peace to men of good will). They remind us of one of the VDK s missions: Reconciliation above the graves. 16

17 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-0 km 5 Arras Memorial to the Polish volunteers and Czech cemetery Neuville-Saint- Vaast Memorial to the Polish volunteers and Czech cemetery To fight the domination of Germany and Austria-Hungary in their homelands, Polish and Czech immigrants from the Paris region signed up in the French army as early as 1914 and in May 1915 fought in the second Battle of Artois. Opposite the Nazdar Company monument marking the entrance to the Czech cemetery, the Polish memorial bears the words of its volunteers: Za nasza wolnosc i wasza, For our freedom and yours. - 0 km Arras Ruins of Mont Saint Eloi Mont-Saint-Éloi Abbey 6 Ruins of Mont Saint Eloi Abbey On the Mont Saint Eloi stand two mutilated towers, the ruins of the church of a powerful medieval abbey. In 1914, these towers were used by the French army to observe the German positions on the plateau of Notre-Dame de Lorette and Vimy Ridge. They were therefore the target of the enemy artillery. They became a listed monument in 1921 in their ruined state to remember the ravages of war, and are today the starting point of a huge gap in the landscape ending at the Canadian memorial in Vimy. - 0 km 7 Arras Memorial to the 9 th Scottish Division and Point-du-Jour Cemetery Athies Memorial to the 9 th Scottish Division and Point-du-Jour Cemetery Near the road from Arras to Douai, in a place known as Point du Jour, stands a memorial built like a cairn. As is the custom in Celtic tradition, this heap of stones was built in memory of those who died in the 9th Scottish Division which, on the first day of the Battle of Arras, freed the village of Athies. Men from the South African Brigade who fought in this division now rest in the nearby Point-du-Jour cemetery. Their graves are recognisable by their emblem: the springbok, the famous South African gazelle. - 0 km 8 Arras Faubourg d Amiens Cemetery and Arras Memorial Arras Faubourg d Amiens Cemetery and Arras Memorial After 1916, the British army was in Arras. Until the end of the war, the Faubourg d Amiens cemetery was home to the soldiers who died near the city. The Arras Memorial holds the names of 35,000 British, New Zealand and South African soldiers, many of whom were killed at the Battle of Arras in April During that bloody April, a third of the British air fleet was shot down. The names of those 991 soldiers from the sky killed in the Great War are engraved on the Arras Flying Services Memorial. - 0 km Arras Wellington Quarry Arras 9 Wellington Quarry To divert attention from a French offensive planned on the Chemin des Dames, the British army launched a huge surprise attack on 9 April 1917 just outside Arras. That morning, nearly 24,000 soldiers, gathered in former underground chalk quarries right up by the German lines, climbed above ground to attack. The Wellington quarry follows one of these underground networks, and visitors today can see where these men lived, and how the Battle of Arras was prepared and fought. 17

18 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-0 km Arras Arras City Hall, Arras Belfry and Squares 10 Arras City Hall, Belfry and Squares Bombarded from 1914 to 1917, Arras was in total ruins by the end of the war. This massive destruction earned the city the nickname martyred city. As with all listed monuments, the belfry, the city hall and the façades of the houses around the squares, which could not be restored, had to be rebuilt as exact replicas. Combining a reinforced concrete structure with a stone facing, the belfry regained its former appearance and become once again the jewel in the rich Arras heritage. - 0 km 11 Arras Saint Laurent Blangy German military burial ground Saint-Laurent- Blangy Saint Laurent Blangy German military burial ground Created in 1921 by the French to group the remains of the German soldiers killed in the southern sector of the Arras front, the Saint-Laurent-Blangy burial ground is now a cemetery where nature is allowed to take its course. In 1926, the German war graves commission planted the land and renovated it in 1966, replacing the wooden crosses with metal ones. Here lie 31,939 German soldiers from the Great War, including 24,870 in a huge ossuary. - 0 km Arras Monchy-le-Preux Monchy-le-Preux Newfoundland Memorial 12 Monchy-le-Preux Newfoundland Memorial Near the church in Monchy-le-Preux, a bronze caribou stands over the ruins of a fortified German position. On 11 April 1917, 2 days after the start of the Battle of Arras, the village was taken by the British army. On the 14th, after a deadly attack, a few survivors from the Newfoundland Regiment held off the German counter-offensive for over four hours. It is to the heroism of these men from Newfoundland that the caribou in Monchy-le-Preux pays tribute. - 0 km Arras Vis-en-Artois British Haucourt Cemetery and Memorial 13 Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery and Memorial On 8 August 1918, with newly arrived American troops as reinforcement, the allied forces, under sole command of General Foch, launched an offensive which succeeded in penetrating deep into the enemy lines, causing the Germans to request an end to the fighting. Written on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, under the protection of Saint George, are the names of 9,813 English, Irish and South African fighters missing in the Somme and the Artois during this March to Victory. - 5,5 km 14 Boyelles Bullecourt Australian Memorial Park Bullecourt Bullecourt Australian Memorial Park Nearly 10,000 men from the Australian Imperial Force were killed or wounded in the two Battles of Bullecourt in April and May 1917 intended to penetrate the Hindenburg Line. In 1993, in the Bullecourt Australian Memorial Park, the statue of an Australian soldier nicknamed the Digger was unveiled in tribute to these men and to remind us just how precarious the soldiers dugouts were. The statue is by Peter Corlett, who also made the Cobber in Fromelles, and it bears the symbols of the Australian forces: a slouch hat with the badge of the Rising Sun. 5,5 18

19 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-10,5 km 15 Ervillers Courcelles-le-Comte French national burial ground Courcelles-le-Comte French national burial ground The site of fierce fighting that took place in the race to the sea in Autumn Courcellesle-Comte 10,5-10,5 km Ervillers Ayette Indian Ayette and Chinese Cemetery 16 Ayette Indian and Chinese Cemetery Laid to rest in the Ayette Indian and Chinese Cemetery are 80 workers from the East who were killed on the Artois and Somme fronts. To make up the labour shortage, the British army recruited volunteer workers from Egypt, South Africa, India and China. These men took care of the logistics in the bases behind the coast and along the front. In the aftermath of the war, some also helped with reconstruction work. - 16,5 km Bapaume Bapaume City Hall Bapaume 17 Bapaume City Hall In February 1917, the German army made a strategic retreat to the heavily fortified Hindenburg line of defence. The abandoned sectors had first been set with mines and traps. On 25 March 1917, the Bapaume city hall was destroyed by a time bomb one week after the Australian troops entered the city. As in the other cities in the red zone, the new city hall could not be built until considerable minesweeping and earthwork had been undertaken. It was inaugurated in ,5-16,5 km Bapaume Louverval Military Cemetery Doignies and Cambrai Memorial 18 Louverval Military Cemetery and Cambrai Memorial On 20 November 1917, just outside Cambrai, the British army launched a huge offensive during which, for the first time, the infantry were backed by the combined advance of 476 Mark IV tanks. Although the Tommies managed to penetrate deep inside the Hindenburg line, they did not hold out against the German counter-attack which lost them some hard-won ground. Next to the Louverval military cemetery, the Cambrai Memorial pays tribute to 7,000 men from the Commonwealth who were killed in the Battle of Cambrai. - 16,5 km Bapaume Grévillers British Cemetery Grévillers and New Zealand Memorial 19 Grévillers British Cemetery and New Zealand Memorial The New Zealand Memorial at Grévillers célèbre la memory of 450 New Zealand soldiers killed The monument stands in a cemetery in which 2,106 men were laid to rest. Several were declared DoD (Died of Disease) some no doubt hit by the Spanish flu epidemic between early 1918 and summer This worldwide pandemic, fostered by movements of troops and populations, caused between 20 and 40 million deaths, two to three times as many as the War itself. 19

20 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-26,5 km Sailly-Saillisel Sailly-Saillisel Sailly-Saillisel British Cemetery 20 Sailly-Saillisel British Cemetery The village of Sailly-Saillisel was attacked by the French on the western front in September - October Captured by the German army on 18 October, the position remained in allied hands until the German advance on 24 March Not until 1 September 1918 was Sailly-Saillisel liberated by the 18th and 38th Welsh divisions. 471 of these British soldiers rest in the cemetery. 26,5-29,5 km Rancourt French memorial Rancourt chapel 21 French memorial chapel The French memorial chapel was a private initiative: the du Bos family, who originated in the region, wished to erect a monument in memory of their son and his soldier comrades killed on 25 September Since 1937 the French war graves commission has been maintaining the building and the memorial. 29,5-29,5 km Rancourt Rancourt French Rancourt burial ground 22 Rancourt French burial ground The Rancourt cemetery is the largest French burial ground in the Somme (8,566 soldiers, 28,000 m2). It shows the violence of the fighting in the last 3 months of the offensive (Sept-Nov. 1916). Rancourt today has the sad privilege of grouping 3 cemeteries on its soil: French, British and German. - 32,5 km Bouchavesnes-Bergen Façade of the Bouchavesnes Bouchavesnes- Town Hall Bergen 23 Façade of the Bouchavesnes Town Hall Bouchavesnes became a symbol after the war: Mr Wallem Haackon, wanting to show his friendship and admiration for this country and help a devastated town, asked Maréchal Foch what he thought had been the climax of the Battle of the Somme. The Maréchal immediately said Bouchavesnes. Thus it was that Bergen in Norway became the generous benefactor of the town which now bears the same name. The façade of the town hall is decorated with two medallions: the city of Bergen and the portrait of Mr Haackon. 32,5-32,5 km Bouchavesnes-Bergen Foch Statue Bouchavesnes- Bergen 24 Foch Statue Standing in the main road of the village, this bronze statue looks towards the German lines. 20

21 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-36,5 km Péronne (D1017) Mont Saint-Quentin Péronne 25 Mont Saint-Quentin The site of a strategic battle for the liberation of Péronne by Australian troops in September The Australian troops of the 2nd Division, commanded by General Sir John Monash, at last managed to enter Péronne via Mont-St-Quentin to free the city occupied by the Germans since the beginning of the war. Capturing Mont-St-Quentin and Péronne was always considered to be one of the greatest exploits of the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF). Significant remains of German trenches have been identified at Mont-St-Quentin. The Australian government immediately incorporated this historic site into the Australian remembrance trail, along the western front linking Villers-Bretonneux (Somme) with Fromelles (Nord), to promote the Australian memorial sites of the First World War and show them to the general public. 36,5-36,5 km Péronne Historial Great War Péronne Museum 26 Historial Great War Museum Built by the General Council in 1992, the Historial Great War Museum is part of the medieval castle: it forms a smooth transition between vestiges of the past and bold contemporary construction. The architect Henri Ciriani described it as: a symbolic route from war to peace. It gives us a comparative and objective look at the painful experiences of the three main fighting forces in the historical timeline. The rich collections (1,600 items on display) and the quality of the temporary exhibitions shed light on the historic and military dimensions of the First World War. The Historial Research Centre invites eminent university specialists from all over the world, all of whom were associated with the museum right from its creation. The centre promotes scientific research on First World War. - 36,5 km Péronne Memorial tour Péronne, Rancourt, (following the route Longueval, of the stage in a maximum Pozières, Thiepval, radius of 30km) Beaumont-Hamel, La Boisselle, Albert 27 Memorial tour In the Somme, the memorial tour is a route from Péronne to Albert on which you can see the main battlefields of the Somme. This tour is marked with signposts bearing poppies, a common flower in the Somme which became the symbol of British remembrance. Sites to be found in the east of the department include: museums: The Péronne Historial and the Somme 1916 museum in Albert (a tunnel 250m long showing in great detail the life of soldiers in the trenches). memorials: Longueval South African Memorial (built on the site of Delville wood where more than 3,000 South African soldiers died); Thiepval French and British Memorial (built in 1932 by Edwin Lutyens. This is the largest British war memorial in the world (45m high). It commemorates the 72,205 men in the British and South African armies killed or missing in the Somme in the Great War. You reach the Memorial by the reception and interpretive centre which offers visitors an educational exhibition on the battles in the Somme and digital terminals to access the database of missing soldiers from Thiepval); The Ulster Tower in Thiepval (erected in 1921, this Gothic troubadour style tower is a memorial to the soldiers of the Irish battalions who fought here particularly on 1 July 1916). battle scars: at the Newfoundland Memorial in Beaumont-Hamel (an amazingly well preserved network of trenches gives a moving and realistic view of the battles); at Lochnagar Crater, La Boisselle (a mine pit 100 metres in diameter and 30 metres deep these explosions intended to break the German lines marked the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916). 21

22 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-41,5 km Doingt Extension to the Doingt Doingt communal Cemetery 28 Extension to the Doingt communal Cemetery Doingt was completely destroyed by the fighting when the 5th Australian Division won back the village on 5 September The extension to the communal cemetery includes 417 graves of Commonwealth soldiers. 41,5-62,5 km Ham Ham Fortress Ham 29 Ham Fortress This fortress (whose primitive castle dates back to the 13th century, and where Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was imprisoned from 1840 to 1846) was blown up by the Germans on 19 March 1917 while they were retreating behind the Hindenburg line. Of the fine building today there remain only picturesque ruins overlooking the peaceful Somme Canal. 62,5-62,5 km (et 36,5) 30 Ham (and Péronne) River Somme and valley of the same name (on the stage route and beyond) Ham (and Péronne) Froissy, Frise, toute la vallée, Amiens, baie de Somme River Somme and valley of the same name The River Somme, which crosses the department of that name from east to west, saw much violent fighting in the Great War. It was used to bring supplies of food, munitions and equipment. Part of it was declared red zone after the armistice and required much work to remove shells and mines. It is still possible to climb on board the little train, on the banks of the Somme at Froissy, and visit the Haute Somme region along a narrow gauge railway built in 1916 to bring supplies for the battle. There are also many ways of travelling along the water and the towpaths: cycling along the 120 km of the Véloroute Vallée de Somme from Péronne to the Bay of Somme passing through Amiens; hikes to the valley s belvederes for example the Frise Belvedere where Blaise Cendrars fought and where interpretive tables teach you about the war; river navigation is made easier by the presence of lock keepers km Cugny Beaumont-en-Beine Beaumont-en-Beine Cannon 31 Beaumont-en-Beine Cannon When the German front advanced towards Paris in the attack of spring 1918, the huge cannon followed. On 1 May 1918 the cannon were withdrawn from Crépy after firing 185 shells and transferred to Beaumont-en-Beine in the Bois de Corbie, 109 km from Paris ,5 km Flavy-le-Martel Stele to the Pilot Flavy-le-Martel of the Lafayette squadron 32 Stele to the Pilot of the Lafayette squadron This monument pays tribute to Sergeant James R. McConnell shot down in flight, on 19 March 1917, while piloting his Nieuport 17 biplane, on a patrol mission around Flavy-le-Martel, in the Aisne department. 73,5 22

23 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-78 km 33 Frières-Faillouël Monument in memory of the charge of the 12 th British Lancers Moÿ-de-l Aisne Monument in memory of the charge of the 12 th British Lancers In August 1914 the town of Moÿ-de-l Aisne saw one of the last great cavalry charges of the modern era. On that 28 August 1914, the 12th Royal Lancers, the 20th Hussars and the Royal Scots Greys received the order to charge the 2nd cavalry regiment of the Prussian Guard to cover the retreat of the British expeditionary force between Guise and La Fère. This event was part of the inspiration for the cavalry charge in Steven Spielberg s film War Horse. The residents of Moÿ-de l Aisne erected a monument unveiled on 28 August 2014 in the presence of representatives of the British army km Tergnier Plenipotentiary Tergnier monument 34 Plenipotentiary monument At 8:30pm on 7 November 1918, German plenipotentiaries (high ranking dignitaries, the equivalent of the Foreign Affairs minister) arrived in Haudroy (near La Capelle) led by General Von Winterfendt; they were greeted by Capitaine Lhuillier, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 171st Infantry regiment, in turn commanded by Commandant de Bourbon Busset. The bugler master Corporal Sellier sounded the ceasefire. At around midnight, in the Presbytery in Homblières (near Saint-Quentin), these plenipotentiaries were brought before General Debeney and the headquarters of the First Army. In Tergnier, at 3.45am on 8 November 1918, the German delegation boarded the special train waiting to take them to Rethondes, near Compiègne where the peace treaty was to be signed ,5 km Chauny Chaunay German Chauny burial ground 35 Chaunay German burial ground This burial ground was built next to the communal cemetery by the Germans in the autumn of After the armistice, France grouped here the graves from 39 different places in the surrounding area. The vast majority of men buried here died before summer 1914, in the many German military hospitals in Chauny. Today, 1,703 bodies (stone crosses) are buried in this burial ground: 1,516 in individual graves (5 of which have not been identified) and 187 in the ossuary (only 16 of which have been identified). 89,5-104,5 km Coucy-Le-Château- Coucy cannon Coucy-Le-Château Auffrique 36 Coucy cannon In 1915, in the forest of Coucy, near the sorting centre, the German army secretly installed a longrange cannon, firing shells weighing 750 kg over a distance of 40 km. The targets were Compiègne, Villers-Cotterêts and Oulchy-le-Château, three towns supplying the French front line. This gun became operational in April On 14 June, shells exploded in the castle and grounds in Compiègne, causing great panic. The French headquarters ordered an air reconnaissance mission. Four days later, Georges Guynemer, one of France s most famous fighter pilots, located the site. 104,5 23

24 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-104,5 km ,5 km Coucy-Le-Château- Château de Blérancourt Blérancourt Auffrique Franco-American Museum Coucy-Le-Château- Auffrique Château des Sires de Coucy and its keep Coucy-Le-Château Château des Sires de Coucy and its keep The little town of Coucy-Le-Château is an ideal observation post: from the top of the keep, the view stretches 40 km all around, from Noyon to Chauny, from Chauny to Compiègne and Laon. The town was relatively safe, being slightly out of the line of fire from the Chemin des Dames front. In 1916, the German army changed tack and decided to consolidate its defence system on the Hindenburg line. While construction work was underway on the new position, it implemented a scorched earth policy, destroying or evacuating everything that might have been useful to the French army. Telephone lines and electric machines were dismantled and transported behind the new lines. The land around La Fère was flooded. Bridges, footbridges, locks, engineering structures and towns and villages were destroyed. The destruction of Coucy was planned: after evacuating the inhabitants, the town was destroyed and the keep was blown up on 20 March 1917 with 28 tonnes of dynamite. 38 Château de Blérancourt Franco-American Museum After the Germans retreated in March 1917, Anne Morgan and Anne Murray Dike, two wealthy Americans, turned the ruins of the Château de Blérancourt into the headquarters of the American Commission for Devastated France. The aim was to help the population regain their autonomy. In 1919, General Pétain awarded the two women the Legion of Honour in the castle. In 1938, the south pavilion was rebuilt to house the souvenirs of the American volunteers of the Great War. Today, the castle has become the national museum of Franco-American cooperation and its grounds are now known as the New World Gardens ,5 km Brancourt-en-Laonnois The Crépy Cannon Crépy 39 The Crépy Cannon Hidden in the forest of Saint-Gobain, near Crépy-en-Laonnois, northeast of Paris and 16 km behind the front line, two unlimbered steel monsters nine hundred metres apart began to bombard the city of Paris at 7:15am on 23 March A third cannon joined them a few days later. The cannon were aimed at the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité in the centre of Paris, firing over an incredible distance of 121 km. Mont de Joie in Crépy-en-Laonnois was not chosen at random. Close to the Laon- La Fère railway line, it was hidden from aerial observation by the trees. 115,5-119 km Pinon Froidmont Quarry Braye-en-Laonnois 40 Froidmont Quarry The Froidmont quarry is located in the village of Braye-en-Laonnois. The quarry has many traces from the First World War left by the French, Germans and Americans. It was also the set where the documentary Apocalypse was filmed

25 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-122,5 km 41 Vaudesson Monument des Crapouillots and the Moulin de Laffaux memorial garden Laffaux Monument des Crapouillots and the Moulin de Laffaux memorial garden The Laffaux monument, also known as the monument des crapouillots (a crapouillot being a small toad), was built in memory of the French artillerymen in the trenches killed in the First World War. It is in the Laffaux mill, near RN2. The monument is shaped like a torpedo, as fired by a crapouillot and which gives its name to the very particular curve it followed, somewhat resembling the leap of a toad. 122,5-122,5 km Vaudesson Moulin de Laffaux rest area N2 - Commune de Laffaux 42 Moulin de Laffaux rest area Located on the D2 between Soissons and Laon, the Laffaux mill is a very strategic site, which both armies fought over for many months in It is here that the Monument des Crapouillots was inaugurated for the third time on 14 June ,5 km Vaudesson Fort de Condé Chivres-Val 43 Fort de Condé The Condé fortress is a huge freestone military construction hidden under 3 metres of earth. Built between 1877 and 1882 on a hilltop near the Chemin des Dames, it is almost identical to the destroyed Fort de la Malmaison, made famous by the battle of the same name. The fort was taken over by the Germans in 1914 and used as a military hospital for three years ,5 km Vaudesson Monument to the 38 th Division Chavignon 44 Monument to the 38 th Division Located at the beginning of the path leading to the Fort de la Malmaison (near the German burial ground containing the bodies of soldiers killed in the Second World War), this monument also pays tribute to those who fought on 23 October The inscription reads: On 23 October 1917, the 38th Division comprising the 4th Zouave regiment, the Moroccan colonial Infantry regiment, the 4th combined Zouave-infantry regiment, the 8th Tunisian infantry regiment, the 32nd regiment of field artillery, set off to attack. In one fell swoop, the 4th Zouaves took the Fort de la Malmaison and all its targets, taking 600 prisoners, capturing 17 cannon and a number of machine guns and obtaining their sixth mention in dispatches on October ,5 km 45 Vaudesson Fort de la Malmaison Chavignon Fort de la Malmaison The Fort de la Malmaison was a former defence fortress in the Séré de Rivières system, which controlled the western access to the Chemin des Dames, and was at the centre of the French attack launched on 23 October Artillery preparation was massive and when the troops advanced the German defences had been weakened. The French won an outright victory: 8,000 Germans were killed, 30,000 wounded and 11,500 prisoners were taken. This victory does not outweigh the terrible defeat at the Chemin des Dames in spring, but it established a new strategy based on massive use of modern equipment (artillery and tanks) targeting one specific part of the front line. 25

26 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km La Royère Chapelle Sainte Berthe Filain 46 Chapelle Sainte Berthe The panorama at La Royère, on the site of an old farm, brings to mind the attack on La Malmaison in October 1917 and the mobilisation of colonial troops. From this viewpoint, you can see the Chapelle Sainte Berthe down below, in the town of Filain. A plaque there commemorates a battle launched nearby by soldiers of the 283rd Infantry Regiment on 23 October km Cerny-en-Laonnois 26 th Yankee Division Braye-en Laonnois Monument th Yankee Division Monument This monument was built in 2008 outside the entrance to the Froidmont Quarry, in memory of the presence of the 26th US Division (known as the Yankee Division ) from February to March It also commemorates the famous dog, Stubby, the division s mascot, and the most decorated animal of the First World War, the only one to have been promoted to Sergeant and received by the US president in person km km 49 Cerny-en-Laonnois 27 th Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins Monument Braye-en Laonnois 27 th Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins Monument Monument in memory of those who died in the two mountain infantry units, the 27 th and 67 th BCA. Cerny-en-Laonnois Cerny-en Laonnois Memorial Chapel and French and German cemeteries Cerny-en-Laonnois Cerny-en Laonnois Memorial Chapel and French and German cemeteries At the centre of the Chemin des Dames is the renovated village of Cerny-en-Laonnois. In 1914, there were nearly 200 inhabitants, some fifty buildings and a sugar factory. It is a very old village (supposedly the birthplace of Saint Rémi, bishop of Reims). Cerny was right in the middle of the first battles of the Chemin des Dames. Today it includes burial grounds (one French and one German), a memorial chapel, and a British monument in homage to the blokes from Lancashire. A Lantern of the Dead, whose flame burning in the night symbolises the battlefields of the Great War, can be seen from the cathedrals of Laon, Soissons and Reims km 50 Cerny-en-Laonnois Loyal North Lancashire Regiment Monument Cerny-en-Laonnois Loyal North Lancashire Regiment Monument Along the D967 towards Vendresse-Beaulne, near the intersection with the D18, stands a monumental column built in 1923 in honour of the British soldiers killed in the attack on the sugar factory in Cerny-en-Laonnois in September 1914, during the first Battle of the Aisne. These men belonged to the 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. An inscription underneath the Regiment s coat of arms reminds us of the sacrifices made by the British troops: In memory of the officers, warrant and non-commissioned officers and men of the 1st battalion Loyal North Lancashire regiment, who laid down their lives in active service

27 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-143,5 km Hurtebise Ici Fut Ailles Monument Chermizy -Ailles 51 Ici Fut Ailles Monument Monument commemorating the site of the destroyed village of Ailles. 143,5 52 Caverne du Dragon (the Dragon s Lair), Chemin des Dames museum The Chemin des Dames was the scene of major battles in 1914, 1917 and Its beautiful landscape today contrasts with the violence of the fighting in the last century. The Dragon s Lair museum is an important starting point to learn about the events that took place here. This quarry underneath the front line became an underground barracks during the war, and now visitors can see the many tunnels where the soldiers passed through. The chapel, aid posts and command posts and no man s land are a moving witness of the lives of these men, French and German, who lived, fought and sometimes cohabited in darkness here ,5 km 53 Hurtebise Constellation de la Douleur - 143,5 km Hurtebise Caverne du Dragon, Oulches la-valléethe Chemin des Dames museum Foulon Oulches la-vallée- Foulon Constellation de la douleur On one of the slopes near the Dragon s Lair museum, the Constellation de la Douleur, a series of nine statues in charred, untreated wood, by Christian Lapie, pays tribute to the courage of the African soldiers killed in ,5 km Hurtebise Hurtebise Farm Oulches la-vallée- Foulon 54 Hurtebise Farm Before the Great War, Hurtebise Farm was the old Cistercian farm in Vauclair Abbey. It was the scene of intense fighting in September 1914, and was taken and lost numerous times before finally being abandoned to the Germans, burnt and in ruins, by the French. Here, on 16 April 1917, the 10th Colonial Infantry division, comprising the 33rd, 52nd and 53rd Colonial Infantry regiments (the last two comprising Senegalese battalions) fought in what remained of the farm. The fighting continued until September. On one of the walls of the farm is a plaque which reads: To the glory of the 4th Zouave regiment victorious in battles in 1914 and 1917 against the German imperial guard at Hurtebise Farm ,5 km Hurtebise Monument des Marie-Louise Bouconville-Vauclair 55 Monument des Marie-Louise Erected in 1927 to the valiant French youth, the monument commemorates the young recruits of 1814 who bore the name of the Empress (Marie-Louise) and the Bleuets of the Great War (young soldiers of the 17th class). The bronze group, sculpted by Maxime Real del Sarte, represents a soldier from the Imperial Guard, wearing a shako, and a poilu, both holding up a crown of laurel leaves as a symbol of glory. This monument commemorates both the battle fought by Napoleon on the Craonne plateau in March 1814 and the battles in the Great War, a hundred years later, in the same place. 27

28 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 6-143,5 km Hurtebise Abbaye de Vauclair Bouconville-Vauclair 56 Abbaye de Vauclair This abbey was founded at the beginning of the 12th century by Cistercian monks. The monastery was severely damaged in the 16th century, during the wars of religion. However, an aerial photograph, taken by a French plane in March 1917 and stored in the Aisne departmental archives, shows that the lay buildings and the dormitory were still standing at this time. It was a few kilometres from the first front lines, and the German troops took up residence there, protected by the deep valley. However, a few days after this reconnaissance photo was taken, French heavy long-range artillery reduced the ancient building to ruins km Craonnelle Basque Monument Craonnelle 57 Basque Monument A little further on, the obelisk of the Basque Monument honours the soldiers from the southwest of France. The statue represents a peasant in traditional costume wearing a Basque beret. Turning his back on the old battlefield, the man looks for all eternity towards his native land km Craonnelle French Burial Ground Craonnelle in Craonnelle 58 French Burial Ground in Craonnelle Located on a hillside by the D18, between Craonnelle and Craonne, this burial ground of 10,897 m2, built in 1920, contains 3,910 bodies, 1,884 of which are in ossuaries. Here lie the men killed on the Chemin des Dames, between 1914 and There are also twenty-four graves of British soldiers, dotted here and there among the French graves, only seven of whom have been identified, and those of two Belgian soldiers km Craonnelle Ils n ont pas choisi leur sépulture (They did not choose to die here) (Plateau de Californie) Craonnelle 59 Ils n ont pas choisi leur sépulture (They did not choose to die here) (Plateau de Californie) On the Plateau de Californie, this bronze sculpture nearly four metres tall, by Haim Kern, was unveiled on 5 November 1998, by the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, together with the Culture and Communication Minister and the Secretary of State for War Veterans. The sculpture pays tribute to all the unknown soldiers on the battlefield, caught up in the tangled net of history. 28

29 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km Craonnelle Plateau de Californie Craonnelle 60 Plateau de Californie The Plateau de Californie in the Chemin des Dames is, like Verdun, symbolic of the First World War in France. This plateau is in the eastern part of the Chemin des Dames, overlooking the village of Craonne. It forms a natural fortress in the centre of the German defence system, and was a strategic target until 1918: the plateau was crisscrossed with tunnels leading to fortified caves (like the Dragon s Lair). But while Verdun quickly became a national symbol of victory, the Plateau de Californie and the Chemin des Dames were long associated with the disastrous failure of the Nivelle offensive in April 1917 and the ensuing Craonne mutinies. The name of the village of Craonne, in the centre of the battle of the Chemin des Dames, was made popular by the Chanson de Craonne about the mutinies of After the war, the plateau was listed as a red zone: farming was forbidden. Trees were planted and today it is still a national forest worked by the French forestry commission km Craonnelle Plateau de Californie Craonnelle observation tower 61 Plateau de Californie observation tower The Plateau de Californie in the Chemin des Dames is, like Verdun, symbolic of the First World War. In 2013, a wooden observation tower, 20 metres high, was opened to the public, with a magnificent panoramic view over the valley of the river Aisne. We can observe the landscape from a historic point of view and realise the importance of taking control of higher ground during the war. A blue lighthouse shines at night in memory of the soldiers killed in battle km Craonnelle Arboretum and old village Craonnelle 62 Arboretum and old village Craonne was occupied in 1914 and destroyed in 1917 by massive bombings. It was listed as a red zone, and new village was built lower down. The old village is now an arboretum and a short walking tour km Pontavert Memorial to the 2 nd Battalion La-Ville-aux-Boisles-Pontavert of the Devonshire Regiment 63 Memorial to the 2 nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment Erected in memory of the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion Devonshire regiment and of the 5th Gibraltar Battery and 45 t h Brigade Royal Field Artillery who defended the sector around the Bois des Buttes on 27 May After the war, these two units were the first in the history of the British army to have been awarded the French Croix de Guerre km Pontavert Pontavert French Pontavert burial ground 64 Pontavert French burial ground Just outside Pontavert, towards Beaurieux, this burial ground of 24,520 m 2, also known as Beaurepaire, contains 6,694 bodies including 1,364 in an ossuary. There are also the graves of 67 British soldiers (killed in October 1914 and from May to October 1918) and 53 Russians. Created in 1915, the cemetery was reassembled from 1919 to In the burial ground stands a monument in memory of the heroes of the 31 st Infantrymen killed in the attack on the Bois des Buttes and La Villeaux-Bois on 16 and 18 April 1917 (Nivelle offensive on the Chemin des Dames). 29

30 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km 65 Pontavert Monument to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire Bois des Buttes - La-Ville-aux-Boisles-Pontavert Monument to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire Near La Ville-aux-Bois-lès-Pontavert, in the Bois des Buttes, is a monument in memory of the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who received a serious head wound from a shell while fighting on the first front lines on 17 March km Pontavert Memorial Berry-au-Bac to the tank crews 66 Memorial to the tank crews This memorial, at the intersection of the N44 and the D925, just outside Berry-au-Bac, pays tribute to all the tank crews killed during the Great War. It is located at the place where the French tanks were massed on 16 April It was built by the group of veteran assault artillerymen and unveiled on 2 July 1922 in the presence of Maréchal Foch and Maréchal Pétain, General Mangin and General Weygand and General Estienne, father of the tank. Tanks from the 1950s are on display there today km Pontavert Hill 108 Berry-au-Bac 67 Hill 108 As early as September 1914, Hill 108 was at the front line of battle. Located where the Marne joins the Aisne, at the end of the Chemin des Dames, it was the scene of violent fighting km Roucy Ruins of the mill Roucy km 69 Ruins of the mill French parliamentarians set off from the Moulin de Roucy to see the 16 April 1917 offensive.. Reims The martyred city of Reims Reims The martyred city of Reims During First World War, 80% of the city of Reims was destroyed by German bombs. On 19 September 1914, the bombing set fire to the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral: the huge blaze melted the bells and the lead in the glass roof, and shattered the stone. Martyred by four years of war, the cathedral was restored with funding from generous donors, particularly from American foundations km 70 Reims Fort de la Pompelle Reims Fort de la Pompelle At the gates of Reims, the Fort de La Pompelle history museum is the largest museum in the region devoted to the war. It contains displays of numerous objects belonging to soldiers, collections of sabres, models dressed in the various French, German and allied army uniforms, particularly those of the Russian expeditionary forces. The museum has a rich collection of artillery, from the famous French 75 cannon to the crapouillots (small mortars fired from the trenches) as well as a room devoted to aircraft. But the highlight of the museum is its collection of 560 helmets of the German imperial army, known as the Friese collection, the largest and most varied in the world. 30

31 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km Reims Sillery French Sillery burial ground 71 Sillery French burial ground This cemetery was created in 1923 to receive the bodies of French soldiers from a number of nearby village or town cemeteries, and from temporary cemeteries used throughout the First World War, behind the front lines km 72 Reims Berru German military cemetery Reims Berru German military cemetery This cemetery contains the mortal remains of 17,000 German soldiers (4,500 of which are in an ossuary). In the woods nearby, you can still see the marks of shells and the beginnings of the network of trenches set in place by the German troops km 73 Reims Mont Sinai observatory Verzy Mont Sinai observatory On the top of the ridge, a casemate indicates the observatory created after the liberation of Reims in 1914, from where General Gouraud observed the German positions km Reims Chambrecy Italian Chambrecy Military Cemetery 74 Chambrecy Italian Military Cemetery The largest Italian cemetery located on the French front line. Buried here are Italian soldiers who fought in 1918, killed in the Argonne and on the front line in the Champagne region km Reims Russian chapel Saint-Hilaire le Grand 75 Russian chapel This memorial chapel is dedicated to the 6,100 Russian soldiers killed in France. Built in 1937, this amazing edifice, surrounded by a small Orthodox cemetery, has very white walls and gold and blue domes. In the adjoining military cemetery a thousand Russian soldiers are buried, belonging to the brigades who came to fight on the French front line in Behind the cemetery, on the edge of the woods, is an Orthodox monastery built of logs, hidden amongst the pines and birches. Every year at Whitsun, a pilgrimage is held in their memory. 31

32 FRIDAY 11 July 2014 ÉPERNAY > NANCY stage 7 MARNE The Marne gave its name to two decisive battles of the Great War. This area still shows memories of the bitter fighting that went on throughout the war. Symbolic monuments and a number of cemeteries are dotted along the trail of the former front. A multitude of nationalities are presented here and the Marne respectfully boasts the highest number of military graves of all the French departments with 164,145 soldiers buried there. MEUSE This area is part of Lorraine and shares a border with Germany and Belgium. It was a vital part of the strategy of the opposing armies. The front ran right through it and in 1916 it became the scene of the famous Battle of Verdun. Throughout the war it acquired huge strategic and symbolic importance. From the Argonne to the Saint- Mihiel Salient, from Vauquois to Les Eparges, the violent fighting between French, German and American soldiers left a deep scar. Landscapes transformed by the bombings, military engineering works, villages destroyed, etc. The battlefields of the Meuse have now become a living conservatory of the vestiges of the First World War. MEURTHE-ET-MOSELLE The department of Meurthe-et-Moselle is often forgotten in the history of the First World War. And yet as a frontier territory, there are plenty of sites of remembrance of the war. To the west, Bois-le-Prêtre and the Saint-Mihiel Salient, to the east, the Chapelotte pass are just a few of the areas still marked by the trench warfare. Less known still is the battle for the frontiers in 1914, which also left its mark in the areas around Lunéville and Nancy. 32

33 stage 7 Distance : 234,5 km FRIDAY 11 July 2014 ÉPERNAY > NANCY REIMS verdun to épernay châlonsen-champagne BAR-LE-DUC ST-DIZIER nancy km 1 Dormans 2 Mondement 3 Marfaux 4 Suippes 5 Souain-Perthes-les-Hurlus 6 and 7 Vienne-le-Château 8 Massiges 9 Minaucourt 10 several towns concerned, from Les Islettes to Varennes en Argonne 11 Lachalade 12 Vauquois 13 Romagne-sous-Montfaucon 14 Montfaucon d Argonne 15 Varennes-en-Argonne 16 Chattancourt 17 Cumières-le-Mort-Homme 18 several towns concerned, from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun 19 Beaumont-en-Verdunois, Bezonvaux, Cumières-le- Mort-Homme, Douaumont, Fleury-devant-Douaumont, Haumont-près-Samogneux, Louvemont-Côte-du-Poivre, Ornes, Vaux-devant-Damloup 20 Beaumont-en-Verdunois Douaumont 25 Vaux-devant-Damloup 26 Fleury-devant-Douaumont 27 Verdun 28 Azannes, Duzey, Loison 29 Dugny-sur-Meuse 30 les Eparges, Saint-Remy la Calonne 31 Saint-Remy la Calonne 32 numerous towns around Vigneulles, Saint-Mihiel, Apremont-la-Forêt, etc. 33 Montsec 34 and 35 Thiaucourt 36 Limey - Remenauville 37 Fey-en-Haye 38 Montauville 39 Flirey 40 Toul 41 Villey-le-Sec 42 Nancy 33

34 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 7-0 km Epernay Memorial to the Battles Dormans of the Marne 1 Memorial to the Battles of the Marne In the grounds of the Château de Dormans, this is the largest memorial to soldiers killed in the battles of the Marne. Built between 1921 and 1931 on the initiative of Maréchal Foch, it comprises a chapel, a crypt and an ossuary containing the remains of a thousand soldiers of all nationalities. The location was chosen by Maréchal Foch who saw in Dormans a fusion of the two battles of the Marne in September 1914 and July 1918, where the fate of France was played out. A fine museum displays objects and photos of the Great War and an impressive collection of craftwork from the trenches. 0-0 km Epernay Victory of the Marne Mondement monument and museum 2 Victory of the Marne monument and museum In the shape of a huge milestone 35.5 metres high, the monument commemorates the first Battle of the Marne, in September At the base of the monument is a sculpted bas-relief representing the Generals who commanded an army in the battle. Above, engraved in the stone, is the battle plan for 6 September 1914, signed by Joffre. Created in 1996 by the association Mondement 1914, the Mondement history museum, devoted to this first battle of the Marne, is installed in the old village school. - 0 km Epernay Marfaux Military Marfaux Cemetery 3 Marfaux Military Cemetery One of the largest Commonwealth cemeteries in the region. It has the mortal remains of 1,114 soldiers from the UK and 15 from New Zealand km Châlons-en-Champagne Centre d interprétation Suippes Marne 4 Centre d interprétation Marne Sur l ancien front de Champagne, Marne propose une présentation interactive originale et humaniste du conflit. Tout au long de la visite, vous suivrez le témoignage du personnage qui vous aura été attribué, une tranchée vous placera même au cœur d un terrible assaut... Émotions garanties. Sur 600 m 2, 7 espaces scénographiques présentent l Europe et la Champagne-Ardenne à la Belle Epoque, pendant le conflit, et lors de la reconstruction politique, économique et sociale du monde d après-guerre

35 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 7-23 km Châlons- Navarin Monument Souain-Perthesles-Hurlus en-champagne 5 Navarin Monument This monument is located in the main site of the Battle of Champagne and commemorates the fighting in October 1914 and September It was built in 1924, on the initiative of General Gouraud, commander of the 5th army, to honour the dead in the armies from Champagne. It affords a panoramic view of the old front line in Champagne, where the land still bears the marks of the fighting: trenches, tunnels and bomb craters. At the top is a sculpture representing three patrollers with the faces of General Gouraud, Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, son of the President, killed in 1918 in the Tardenois region and the sculptor s own brother, killed on the Chemin des Dames. - 66,5 km Sainte-Ménehould Vallée Moreau Camp Vienne-le-Château and Bois de la Gruerie 6 Vallée Moreau Camp and Bois de la Gruerie The Bois de la Gruerie contains numerous vestiges of the fighting in In addition to trenches, you can also see a German rest camp, known as the Vallée Moreau which has been restored (showers, bedrooms, etc.). The Maison du Pays d Argonne also organises guided hikes to the vestiges in this area. Also worth a visit: the chapel that the Poilus built near the tulip tree in the village, under which 60 French soldiers perished when a shell exploded nearby ,5 km Sainte-Ménehould La Harazée French Military Vienne-le-Château Cemetery 7 La Harazée French Military Cemetery Built into a hillside, hemmed in by the Bois de la Gruerie, where fighting went on in the trenches for four long years, this cemetery contains the mortal remains of 1,600 soldiers. - 66,5 km Sainte-Ménehould La Main de Massiges Massiges Trenches 8 La Main de Massiges Trenches When they withdrew in September 1914, the Germans entrenched themselves on this natural mound where the fronts of Champagne and Argonne joined. It is shaped rather like a hand, with each finger forming a bastion in the natural fortress. Countless tunnels were dug by the Germans and the French. When marching up to the front line, the Poilus passed the statue of the Virgin Mary in the village. As it stood in an exposed place, a bullet pierced her left breast and a swarm of bees nested there. The soldiers, impressed by this renaissance, nicknamed her the Virgin of the bees. The land around the Main de Massiges has remained unchanged, with its shell holes and craters and its trenches from the battles in restored by the association la Main de Massiges. - 66,5 km Sainte-Ménehould Minaucourt French Military Minaucourt Cemetery 9 Minaucourt French Military Cemetery Near the Main de Massiges, this huge cemetery stretches over more than 40,000 m2 and contains over 20,000 bodies. 35

36 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 7-77 km Les Islettes La Haute Chevauchée Several towns concerned, from Les Islettes to Varennes en Argonne 10 La Haute Chevauchée La Haute-chevauchée is a strategic location of communication lines between Châlons and Verdun towards Paris. After trying to break the front line in 1915, the Germans, held back by the French troops, set up a defence unit here; the battles of Argonne left 35,0000 dead or missing. At the end of September 1918, the Argonne was liberated by the First American Army commanded by General Pershing. Today you can see numerous craters from exploding underground mines. You can also see the Ossuary Monument, at Hill 285, containing the remains of some 10,000 unknown soldiers, and the Cross of Reconciliation, a pilgrim s shelter and the monument to General Gouraud ,5 km Passage à niveau n 56 Garibaldi Legion Lachalade Monument 11 Garibaldi Legion Monument A monument commemorating the 590 Italian volunteers who died in Argonne. Lazare Ponticelli ( ), the last French veteran of the Great War, fought in this Garibaldi legion. The monument is a replica of the one in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. 78,5-82,5 km Clermont-en-Argonne Butte de Vauquois Vauquois 12 Butte de Vauquois An incredible site riddled with huge craters from the mine warfare in Argonne. This is the finest example of tunnels used as living quarters. Excellent guided tours give visitors a detailed explanation of the fighting here. 82,5-85,5 km Vraincourt Romagne American Romagne- Military Cemetery sous-montfaucon 13 Romagne American Military Cemetery 14,246 Americans are buried here, making this the largest American cemetery of the First World War. The names of the 954 missing soldiers are engraved on the walls of the loggias surrounding the chapel. Its layout and architecture make it an important site for those who want to understand the American notion of Duty to Remember. 85,5-88,5 km Brabant-en-Argonne American Tower Montfaucon in Montfaucon d Argonne d Argonne 14 American Tower in Montfaucon d Argonne This monument was erected by the American war monuments commission, a US government department which also maintains the monuments. It is 60 metres high, with a statue symbolising freedom on the top. It faces the front line of the First American Army on the morning of 26 September 1918 when the attack began. Visitors can go to the observation platform (opening times are shown outside) which affords a magnificent view over almost the whole area conquered in this offensive the largest battle in American history at the time. 88,5 36

37 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 7-93 km Dombasle-en-Argonne Pennsylvania Varennes- Monument en-argonne 15 Pennsylvania Monument An American memorial to the soldiers from Pennsylvania km Sivry-La-Perche The Chattancourt Chattancourt Trench 16 The Chattancourt Trench The association Histoires de France has recreated a trench of the type dug in 1915 and a soldier s bivouac. These reconstructions were made from numerous photographic documents and according to the rules in force at the time. Open from 15 July km Fromereville- Monument du Mort- Cumières-le-Mortles-Vallon Homme and the destroyed Homme village of Cumières 17 Monument du Mort-Homme and the destroyed village of Cumières Statue of a dead soldier coming out of his shroud, victorious, to remind us of the sacrifice of the French soldiers who fought for the possession of this observation hillside on the left bank of the River Meuse ,5 km Carrefour D115-D38 Voie Sacrée (Holy Way) Plusieurs communes concernées, de Bar-le-Duc à Verdun 18 Voie Sacrée (Holy Way) The Voie Sacrée was the only road linking the Verdun front with the civilian zone (Bar-le-Duc). Day and night for ten months, it brought 2,400,000 men plus munitions to Verdun. The Voie Sacrée crossed the French front line and civilian zone and is powerfully symbolic, marking the efforts of an entire nation to win victory. It marks the passage between the civilian, logistics and combat zones. It is also a symbol of the stations of the cross taken by the Poilus on their journey to the hell of Verdun. It also marked the (temporary) return to the living world of those coming back from the battlefield. Maurice Barrès gave the Voie its name. The Voie Sacrée is now a national monument and is the only trunk road in France not to have a number. A milestone, topped by a Poilu s helmet and decorated with the palm leaf of martyrdom, has been installed at each kilometre along the Voie, from Bar-le- Duc to Verdun, passing through Souilly, headquarters of General Pétain and then of the American General Pershing. 106,5 37

38 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 7-109,5 km Charny-sur-Meuse The destroyed villages Beaumont-en- Verdunois, Bezonvaux, Cumières-le-Mort- Homme, Douaumont, Fleury-devant- Douaumont, Haumontprès-Samogneux, Louvemont-Côte-du- Poivre, Ornes, Vauxdevant-Damloup 19 The destroyed villages Nine villages in the red zone were completely wiped off the map in the Battle of Verdun, swept away in the torment of the battle: Beaumont-en-Verdunois, Bezonvaux, Cumières- le-mort-homme, Douaumont, Fleury-devant-Douaumont, Haumont-près-Samogneux, Louvemont-Côte-du-Poivre, Ornes and Vauxdevant-Damloup. Only some vestiges remain where houses and public buildings are symbolically marked out. They show us the trades and activities of these old village communities. These ghost towns, which died for their country, were never rebuilt but leave us a moving memory with their chapels and commemorative monuments erected after the war. Admission free. 109,5-111 km Bras-sur-Meuse Bois des Caures: Beaumont-en- Monument, Stele and Verdunois Driant command post 20 Bois des Caures: Monument, Stele and Driant command post An old command post with monuments in memory of Lieutenant Colonel Driant and his foot soldiers who defended the Bois des Caures on 21 February 1916, the start of the Battle of Verdun ,5 km Tranchée Tranchée des Baïonnettes des Baïonnettes 21 Douaumont Tranchée des Baïonnettes This monument, built by an American sponsor, is based on the legend of French soldiers buried alive, standing in the trench during violent bombings. It remains in our collective imaginations as a symbol of the battlefields of Verdun. 116,5-116,5 km Douaumont Fort de Douaumont Douaumont 22 Fort de Douaumont Clé de voûte du système fortifié de Verdun, Douaumont fut pris par l armée allemande dès le début de la bataille. Sa reconquête ne survint qu après huit mois de combats particulièrement âpres. Aujourd hui, les drapeaux français et allemand qui flottent côte à côte sur le fort rappellent la tragédie et la mort commune des soldats des deux armées en ce même lieu. 38

39 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km D913-D913C Verdun battlefield Douaumont and the intersection surrounding area 23 Verdun battlefield 300 days and 300 nights of non-stop fighting, more than 300,000 dead or missing, 400,000 wounded, both French and Germans. The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the deadliest battle in history clash at the front, between France and Germany. This total annihilation of men and defences, in an unprecedented artillery duel, symbolises and sums up industrial warfare. You have to go to Verdun to grasp the profound horror of the Great War and understand the sacrifice of a whole generation km Douaumont ossuary Douaumont ossuary Douaumont 24 Douaumont ossuary This monument symbolising the battlefield contains about 130,000 bodies of unidentified French and German soldiers. The tower affords a panoramic view of the whole battlefield. In front of the ossuary is the huge national burial ground with the bodies of over 16,000 French soldiers ,5 km Fleury-devant Fort de Vaux Vaux-devant- Douaumont Damloup 25 Fort de Vaux Besieged by the German army, the fort resisted heroically for seven days. Its defenders, exhausted and with no hope of being rescued, received military honours from the Germans when they surrendered on 7 June ,5-119 km Verdun Memorial Verdun Memorial Fleury-devant- Douaumont 26 Verdun Memorial Inaugurated on 17 September 1967, in the presence of its initiator, Maurice Genevoix, veteran and member of the French Academy, founding president of the national committee for the Commemoration of Verdun, the Verdun Memorial is in the middle of the Verdun battlefield on the site of destroyed railway station at Fleury-devant-Douaumont. It is one of the biggest European museums dedicated to the Great War. Currently closed for renovation. Reopening scheduled for November ,5 km City of Verdun City of Verdun Verdun 27 City of Verdun The city of Verdun boasts a thousand years of history and heritage. In 843, the treaty to share out the Carolingian Empire was signed in the cathedral city. The River Meuse helped to spread Mosan art of which Verdun an important centre. But Verdun is known throughout the world for its great battle in 1916 to take the city. Numerous monuments and sites including: Monument to Victory: a crypt displaying registers of the French and American soldiers who fought in the Meuse. Underground citadel: the logistics centre during the Battle of Verdun, it was here that the body of an Unknown Soldier was chosen to lie under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on 11 November 1920 to commemorate the sacrifice of all unidentified or missing French soldiers. You can ride through the citadel tunnels on little trucks. Animated films and reconstitutions describe the soldiers daily lives. World Peace and Human Rights Centre: in the Episcopal Palace in Verdun, an 18th century listed monument, the World Peace Centre offers an annual programme of exhibitions, conferences and colloquia on issues of the modern world. Currently there is a major exhibition Que reste-t-il de la Grande Guerre (What is left of the Great War?), open until ,5 39

40 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km Moulainville Behind the German lines Azannes, Duzey, Loison 28 Behind the German lines Just like for the French, the area behind the German front enabled them to transport men and equipment to the front lines. German presence to the north and northeast of Verdun has left a deep scar in the landscape of the Meuse, particularly with the Marguerre camp, the Duzey battery, a listed Monument, the Côte de Romagne camp in Azannes km Haudiomont La Falouse fortification Dugny-sur-Meuse 29 La Falouse fortification A concrete fortification built between 1906 and 1908, equipped with a 75-canon turret and a machine gun turret. Overlooking the Meuse, the structure fills in the gap between the forts of Dugny and Haudainville. It is in good condition as it was further back from the fighting zone, and can be visited today. It also has a permanent exhibition with reconstructed battle scenes ,5 km Fresnes-en-Woevre Crête des Eparges Les Eparges, Saint- Remy la Calonne 30 Crête des Eparges The ridge at Les Eparges, overlooking the Woëvre plain facing towards Metz, holds the memories of terrible battles, particularly in This sector, which includes the Calonne trench, saw the tragic fate of French writers called up for service in the Great War: Alain Fournier, Louis Pergaud, both killed in 1914, Jean Giono, Ernst Jünger and the Academy member Maurice Genevoix, author of the vast personal account: Ceux de 14. With its bomb craters, the ridge still bears the scars of mine warfare. There are numerous monuments in this significant region. 140,5-143 km Champlon Fosse d Alain Fournier (Saulx-les Champlon) et de ses camarades 31 Saint-Remy la Calonne Fosse d Alain Fournier et de ses camarades (Grave of Alain Fournier and his comrades) In the forest of Calonne is the Alain Fournier grave. This is a glass pyramid indicating the place where the French writer and his men were discovered after more than 70 years of mystery. They rest in the cemetery in Saint-Remy la Calonne ,5km Vigneulles-les- Saillant de Saint-Mihiel Hattonchatel (Saint Mihiel Salient) 32 Numerous towns around Vigneulles, Saint-Mihiel, Apremont-le-Forêt, etc. Saillant de Saint-Mihiel (Saint Mihiel Salient) The German advance of September 1914 to encircle the Verdun stronghold, held back by resistance from the Fort de Troyon, led to the taking of Saint-Mihiel. This 20km salient inside the French lines was attacked unsuccessfully by the French army in It was not liberated until the Franco- American offensive of This area which suffered deadly fighting is crisscrossed with trenches, some reinforced with concrete, that you can see from special platforms (Bavarian trenches, Bois Brûlé, tranchée de la Soif, etc.). The Fort de Troyon, a French resistance stronghold during the German attacks of 1914, the well-preserved Fort de Jouy and the Fort de Liouville, heavily bombed in September 1914, are part of the remarkable military heritage, illustrating the Séré de Rivières system. 156,5 40

41 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km (near) Lac de Madine American monument at Butte de Montsec 33 Montsec American monument at Butte de Montsec Visible from afar, this monument was erected by the United States at the top of a German observation hill. It commemorates the attack of the First US Army in September 1918 and the battles fought until November A monumental stairway leads to the memorial formed by columns supporting a rotunda. In the centre is a bronze relief map showing the different sectors of the offensive which eliminated the Saint-Mihiel salient. The site affords a magnificent panorama over the Lac de Madine and the hillsides of the Meuse ,5 km Pannes Thiaucourt German cemetery 34 Thiaucourt Thiaucourt German cemetery The German military cemetery in Thiaucourt is a World War I military cemetery in Thiaucourt- Regniéville in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, in Lorraine. Here lie the bodies of 11,685 German soldiers. A common grave holds 2,980 German soldiers and 2,645 unknown soldiers. Some of the graves are those of known and unknown French soldiers. A number of graves date back to the Prussian War in ,5-166,5 km Pannes Thiaucourt American cemetery 35 Thiaucourt Thiaucourt American cemetery The cemetery contains the bodies of soldiers who died in the war, mostly in the large offensive which led to the breaking of the Saint Mihiel salient. On the walls of the museum are inscribed the names of the 283 missing soldiers km 36 Flirey War site at Limey- Remenauville Limey - Remenauville War site at Limey-Remenauville The village boasted 138 inhabitants before the First World War, but in September 1914, it was occupied by the German army. The front line ran through it for the entire duration of the war. It was completely destroyed and was not liberated until September km Flirey Destroyed village of Fey-en-Haye and church of Saint Gorgon 37 Fey-en-Haye Destroyed village of Fey-en-Haye and church of Saint Gorgon At this site you can read personal accounts of the past, before the village was completely destroyed in km Flirey Bois-le-Prêtre Historical site 38 Montauville Bois-le-Prêtre Historical site To the northwest of Pont-à-Mousson, the Bois-le-Prêtre is one of the most important sites in the Saint-Mihiel salient. Extremely violent fighting took place here during the First World War. It was a strategic point, on a hilltop ridge. 41

42 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km Flirey Flirey National Burial Ground 39 Flirey Flirey National Burial Ground The Flirey National Burial Ground, created in June 1919, holds the bodies of 2,699 soldiers previously buried in the cemeteries of Bouconville, Flirey A, B and Côte 305, D, Fey-en-Haye, Limey A, B and D, Rambucourt (Meuse), Seicheprey, Vigneulles (Meuse) and Filey-Limey C ,5 km Toul Fortified city of Toul Toul 40 Fortified city of Toul The fortified city of Toul (by Vauban and Séré de Rivières) was not attacked in the Great War. 195,5-206,5 km Villey-le-Sec Fort de Villey-le-Sec Villey-le-Sec 41 Fort de Villey-le-Sec This fortification was part of the Séré de Rivières system, and was rebuilt after the French defeat of It was located just outside the front lines and therefore remains almost intact. 206,5-234,5 km Nancy Exhibition at the Musée Lorrain Summer 1914 (Nancy et la Lorraine en Guerre Nancy and La Lorraine at war) Nancy 234,5 42 Exhibition at the Musée Lorrain Summer 1914 (Nancy et la Lorraine en Guerre Nancy and La Lorraine at war) The battles in Lorraine in the summer of 1914 were a decisive but little known time in the First World War. August and September 1914 marked a crucial turning point: suddenly French society, hitherto deeply rooted in the memories of the 1870 war with Prussia and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, had to adapt to a new, more modern type of warfare. The exhibition offers personal accounts, works of art and period objects, illustrating how soldiers, civilians and artists perceived and experienced the beginning of the war. 42

43 Saturday 12 July 2014 TOMBLAINE > GERARDMER STAGE 8 MEURTHE-ET-MOSELLE T he department of Meurthe-et-Moselle is often forgotten in the history of the First World War. And yet as a border territory, it affords numerous places of remembrance for the war. To the west, Bois-le-Prêtre and the Saint-Mihiel salient, and to the east, the Chapelotte Pass are just some of the areas still marked by the trench warfare. Lesser known still, the border battles of 1914 also left their mark in the area around Lunéville and the Nancy area. THE VOSGES FRONT (HAUT-RHIN - VOSGES) I n the magnificent scenery of the Vosges mountains, Germans and French fought a mountain war, between 1914 and 1918, very different from that waged in the other regions on the western front. The closeness to the enemy lines, the trenches, the sap trenches and the shelters, were all conditioned by the weather and the topography. Today, the numerous vestiges can be seen in exciting hikes along the impressive concrete barrier stretching some hundred kilometres, from the Chapelotte pass to Le Sundgau. front-vosges-.eu 43

44 STAGE 8 Distance : 161 km Saturday 12 July 2014 TOMBLAINE > GÉRARDMER 1 Nancy TOMBLAINE 2 Vitrimont 5 3 Angomont 4 Grandfontaine Celles-Sur-Plaine 7 Senones 6 Saint Benoit La Chipotte 8 Ban-De-Sapt GÉRARDMER 3,5 km 44

45 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 8-0 km Nancy Exhibition at the Musée Lorrain Summer 1914 (Nancy et La Lorraine en Guerre Nancy and La Lorraine at War) Nancy 1 Exhibition at the Musée Lorrain Summer 1914 (Nancy et La Lorraine en Guerre Nancy and La Lorraine at War) The battles in Lorraine in the summer of 1914 were a decisive but little known time in the First World War. August and September 1914 marked a crucial turning point: suddenly French society, hitherto deeply rooted in the memories of the 1870 war with Prussia and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, had to adapt to a new, more modern type of warfare. The exhibition offers personal accounts, works of art and period objects, illustrating how soldiers, civilians and artists perceived and experienced the beginning of the war. 0-17,5 km Vitrimont Col du Léomont Vitrimont 2 Col du Léomont (Léomont Pass) France s first victory in August 1914 took place on the slopes of this hill. Today, at the top of Léomont hill, a monument commemorates the bitter fighting. An orientation table affords walkers a magnificent 360 panoramic view. A well-maintained path connects this site with the national burial ground in Frescati and the Chaubet museum. 17,5-51,5 km Badonviller La Chapelotte Badonviller 3 la Chapelotte It was here that the first Zeppelin was shot down in the Great War, on 22 August La Chapelotte is the last pass between the Vosges mountains and the plains of Lorraine. Its strategic position made it the scene of frequent mountain warfare. But the place is especially famous for the hitherto unparalleled depth of its underground warfare, on all the fronts, 120 metres below the surface. This mine warfare has left deep tunnels that can still be seen in the midst of the impressive traces of a perfectly preserved battlefield. In the hamlet of La Menelle, attached to Pierre-Percée, the interpretive and documentary centre (CID) houses a display of objects and stores archives about this forgotten front. 51,5-51,5 km Baccarat Les Deux Donon Grandfontaine (67) 4 LES DEUX DONON In the battles for the borders, the Grand and Petit Donon were the scene of violent fighting on 20 and 21 August Although no traces remain of the fighting, you can still see an impressive path of steles engraved in memory of the French and German soldiers reunited in death if you climb the slopes of the Petit Donon. This path adds a moving message of remembrance to the majestic site. 45

46 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 8-51,5 km Baccarat Le Coquin Celles-Sur-Plaine (88) 5 LE COQUIN This peak in the Vallée de la Plaine was in prime position when the front was established in October It became a major observation point facing the battlefield of La Chapelotte. The Germans prepared Le Coquin for battle by covering the rock face with a strong concrete shell. Today it is a perfect example of a fortified peak in mountain warfare and an impressive tourist site combining history with remembrance km Menil sur Belvitte Col Mémoire de La Chipotte 6 Saint Benoit La Chipotte (88) Col Mémoire de la Chipotte (La Chipotte Remembrance Pass) The Chipotte range forms the last foothills of the Vosges before the plains of southern Lorraine, and is a perfect natural fortress. Troops from several French and German army units fought there. For 17 days, foot soldiers and Alpine infantrymen, colonial troops, etc., withstood the German attempts to break through the hills. The pass and the surrounding wooded hills were taken and recaptured several times with considerable human loss. On 12 September, the biggest battlefield in the Vosges during the frontier battles is now, as in Ménil-sur-Belvitte, a burial ground km 7 Rambervillers La Roche Mère Henry Senones (88) LA ROCHE MÈRE HENRY This is a tabular plateau overlooking the Vallée du Rabodeau. The German army had an important observation point here, near where the front was established in the autumn of French, then American and German soldiers fought here on a narrow rocky ledge which was transformed into a battlefield resembling Roman tiles, in which the Germans accumulated a succession of impressive and impregnable lines of concrete fortifications, still visible today along a path of remembrance km 8 Rambervillers La Fontenelle Ban-De-Sapt (88) LA FONTENELLE An important observation point in the mountain war, La Fontenelle, a hamlet in the village of Ban-de- Sapt, was the symbolic battlefield of the Vosges department in the summer of 1915, during the war for position. Several thousand men, French and German, fought and died to conquer this hill, which, today, is covered by a burial ground and a beacon monument by the sculptor Emile-Just Bachelet. Traces of the battlefield, still visible round about, remind us that Ban-de-Sapt, like Verdun, had three of its hamlets designated as having died for France as they were never rebuilt. Their traces can still be seen today, joined by a path of remembrance. 46

47 Sunday 13 July 2014 GERARDMER > MULHOUSE STAGE 9 THE VOSGES FRONT (HAUT-RHIN - VOSGES) I n the magnificent scenery of the Vosges Mountains, Germans and French fought a mountain war, between 1914 and 1918, very different from that waged in the other regions on the western front. The closeness to the enemy lines, the trenches, the sap trenches and the shelters, were all conditioned by the weather and the topography. Today, the numerous vestiges can be seen in exciting hikes, along the impressive concrete barrier stretching some hundred kilometres, from the Chapelotte pass to Le Sundgau. front-vosges-.eu 47

48 STAGE 9 Distance : 170 km Sunday 13 July 2014 GERARDMER > MULHOUSE 1 Lapoutroie Orbey 2 to 5 GERARDMER 6 Soultzmatt 7 Markstein Grand Ballon Col Amic Cernay 8 Wattwiller Cernay 10 9 Uffholtz MULHOUSE 6,5km 48

49 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 9-24 km Lac Blanc resort La Tête des Faux Lapoutroie 1 La Tête des Faux La Tête des Faux has a small battlefield full of German military architecture. On 2 December 1914, the 28th and 30th BCA (mountain foot soldier battalions) and a battalion of the 215th Infantry Regiment, attacked La Tête des Faux, at an altitude of 1,220 metres, dislodging the Bavarian units. On Christmas night 1914 the summit was once again a battleground when the Germans launched a vigorous counterattack. The battle, fought in extreme conditions in deep snow, soon became a legend. The death toll was heavy: 600 men from both armies were annihilated in one single night. The Germans established camp just below and built impressive fortifications on the hillside, which put an end to the situation km Orbey Duchesne French military cemetery 2 Orbey Duchesne French military cemetery The Duchesne cemetery to the south and the one at the Etang du Devin to the north, both created in 1915, are among the most authentic in the region km Col du Wettstein Wettstein French National Burial Ground 3 Orbey Wettstein French National Burial Ground The Wettstein French National Burial Ground, also called the Foot soldiers cemetery or the Le Linge cemetery, was inaugurated on 13 August 1939 and was completely renovated in ,600 French soldiers are laid to rest here ,5 km Le Linge Le Linge Orbey 4 Le Linge In September 1914, the region of Munster was the scene of bloody fighting, on the Hohrodberg, Reichackerkopf and Metzeral, where the French were victorious in June A new large-scale offensive began on 20 July and lasted until October The battle cost 17,000 lives and neither side made any advance. Listed as a national monument in 1921, the battlefield of Le Linge attracted new interest in Since 1981, there has been a museum in the trenches where the two armies faced each other just a few metres apart. The museum highlights the very specific nature of the fighting in the region: mountain warfare. 43,5-43,5 km Le Linge Le Baerenstall German military cemetery 5 Orbey Le Baerenstall German military cemetery The German cemetery in Le Baerenstall, created in 1930 to group the graves of 2,438 German soldiers in the sector of Le Linge, was initially installed on the opposite hillside near the monumental pyramid built in

50 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE 9-98 km Gauchmatt Soultzmatt Romanian military cemetery 6 Soultzmatt Soultzmatt Romanian military cemetery The Soultzmatt military cemetery, inaugurated in 1924 by King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania, contains the largest Romanian burial ground in France. The 678 Romanian soldiers buried there were prisoners of the German army and forced to build roads and shelters, mainly between 1916 and In 1920 the village of Soultzmatt-Wintzfelden donated land to Romania to create the cemetery on the hills around La Gauchmatt, in the Val du Pâtre km Le Markstein Route des Crêtes Markstein Grand Ballon Col Amic Cernay 7 Route des Crêtes (Ridge Road) Built in 1915 by French troops from the various divisions fighting on the mountain tops, the Route des Crêtes was intended to ensure communications between the north and the south of the mountains and connect the various valleys in the Vosges. It forms a huge road network linking camps, resistance centres and artillery sites, forming a backbone of major importance for the war in the mountains. It is also linked to numerous technical systems like ferry bridges, country railways and even cable cars. Nearly 80 kilometres long, it now links Sainte-Marie to Cernay via the Grand-Ballon (1,424 m) with its monument to the Blue Devils (the nickname of the Alpine foot soldiers), inaugurated in 1927 by Raymond Poincaré ,5 km D 431/Col Amic Le Hartmannswillerkopf Battlefield and National Monument 8 Wattwiller Le Hartmannswillerkopf Battlefield and National Monument The mountains in Le Hartmannswillerkopf or Vieil Armand, dominating the south of the Alsace plain, occupied a strategic position between 26 December 1914 and 9 January During this time, the peak changed hands eight times. 250,000 shells were fired by the French artillerymen in just one day, 21 December 1915, and the forest was gradually transformed into a lunar landscape. Losses were estimated at 30,000 in both camps. The facilities, casemates, tunnels and underground shelters there are the most imposing in the Vosges. Of the 6,000 shelters built, half can still be seen, along a 90-kilometre line of trenches. The Hartmannswillerkopf national monument is one of the four national monuments of the Great War. Built by the architect Robert Danis and the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, it was inaugurated in 1932 by the French president, Albert Lebrun. 133,5-147,5 km D 431/Uffholtz Abri Mémoire (Memorial Shelter) 9 Uffholtz Abri Mémoire (Memorial Shelter) This German aid post was created in 1916 in the fortified cellar of the village inn, partially destroyed by the bombings. Like most towns and villages at the foot of the Hartmannswillerkopf, Cernay, Steinbach, Wattwiller and Uffholtz were also occupied. The Uffholtz memorial shelter was installed in its ancient walls in Intended to host temporary exhibitions and artistic events, it also has an educational and cultural resource centre. Its aim is to preserve the remembrance heritage for the Great War in Alsace and in the Vosges and to collect documents to be made available to the public and to researchers. 147,5 50

51 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km Cernay French and German military cemeteries in Cernay 10 Cernay French and German military cemeteries in Cernay The German military cemetery in Cernay, at the foot of Hartmannswillerkopf, restored between 1979 and 1983, contained most of the graves of the German prisoners on the various fronts imprisoned in French camps. 7,085 German victims of the First World War are laid to rest here

52 Monday 14 July 2014 MULHOUSE > LA PLANCHE DES BELLES FILLES B. Naegelen STAGE 10 Hartmannwillerkopf THE VOSGES FRONT (HAUT-RHIN - VOSGES) I n the magnificent scenery of the Vosges mountains, Germans and French fought a mountain war, between 1914 and 1918, very different from that waged in the other regions on the western front. The closeness to the enemy lines, the trenches, the sap trenches and the shelters, were all conditioned by the weather and the topography. Today, the numerous vestiges can be seen in exciting hikes, along the impressive concrete barrier stretching some hundred kilometres, from the Chapelotte pass to Le Sundgau. front-vosges-.eu 52

53 STAGE 10 Distance : 161,5 km Monday 14 July 2014 MULHOUSE > LA PLANCHE DES BELLES FILLES Mittlach Metzeral Soultzmatt la planche des belles filles 2 Luttenbach- Pres-Munster mulhouse 3 km 53

54 WITH MEMORIAL STAGE km Soultzmatt Soultzmatt Romanian Soultzmatt military cemetery 1 Soultzmatt Romanian military cemetery The Soultzmatt military cemetery, inaugurated in 1924 by King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Romania, contains the largest Romanian burial ground in France. The 678 Romanian soldiers buried there were prisoners of the German army and forced to build roads and shelters, mainly between 1916 and In 1920 the village of Soultzmatt-Wintzfelden donated land to Romania to create the cemetery on the hills around La Gauchmatt, in the Val du Pâtre ,5 km Petit Ballon Petit-Ballon Luttenbachor Kahler Vasen Pres-Munster 2 Petit-Ballon or Kahler Vasen Behind the front line at Hilsenfirst, the Petit Ballon, and the nearby Stein-Berg, are major German observation posts. At an altitude of 1,275 metres, it is linked to an important signalling post which ensured communications and was used to send orders along the front line between Metzeral to the north and Sengeren to the south. A few ruins, like the concrete shelters and remains of trenches, can still be seen in this sector. 54,5-64,5 km Sondernach Metzeral Metzeral 3 Metzeral In the Vosges in Alsace, 1915 was a year of major battles to take the mountaintops. War was also waged in some of the valleys, including the Vallée de la Fecht. Between 20 and 24 June 1915, the soldiers of the 47th French division, overwhelmingly composed of soldiers from mountain troops (including Alps and Vosges), attacked and freed the village of Metzeral after bloody fighting in the village which remained close to the front until the end of the War, and was eventually completely destroyed. 64,5-74,5 km Le Breitfirst - Metzeral Mittlach Alpine Mittlach Ambulance 4 Mittlach Alpine Ambulance Mittlach, recaptured from the Germans on 21 April 1915, is the only village in the Munster Valley that became French and remained so until the end of the war. On 8 August 1915, the French President, Raymond Poincaré, paid a visit to Mittlach travelling over the mountain paths. The Town Hall was transformed into a rescue post, after the walls of the cellar were reinforced. The Alpine ambulance 2/64 renamed Alpine ambulance 301 took care of the wounded on the Metzeral battlefield, a few kilometres away. It was used throughout the war, even though fighting dwindled in the region after The current cellar of the Mittlach Town Hall has several inscriptions mentioning the fighting at Reichackerkopf, hills 955 and 830 and Metzeral in June 1915, and the memorial to General Serret and Colonel Boussat, killed at Hartmannswillerkopf in December ,5 54

55 UNDERSTANDING THE GREAT WAR The First World War on the Western Front, The war begins On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo. This event provokes a diplomatic crisis throughout Europe, where tensions of national power still reign strongly. Within a few weeks, the continent plunges into war through military alliances, and by August 4, there are two sides : the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the members of the Entente, or Alliance (France, the United Kingdom, Russia and Serbia). After the first battles in autumn, two fronts are formed: in the East, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, and in the West, from the North Sea to Switzerland. The belligerents enter into attrition warfare. On the Western front, the armies bury themselves in trenches, with the enemy lines hundreds - sometimes only tens - of meters away. The French army occupies the Southern part of the front, from the Vosges to the Somme, and the British Empire s troops take over from the Somme to the North Sea. Violence on the battlefields The war quickly evolves into siege warfare, where artillery, machine guns and new weapons like poison gas play the leading role. The First World War marks a turning point in the history of battlefield violence; never before had firepower been so intense. In one day only, on February 21, 1916, the Germans fire a million shells on the French positions in Verdun. The soldiers are poorly protected and suffer great bodily harm; 70% of injuries are due to artillery bombardments. 55

56 Societies are disrupted The duration of the war requires industries, colonial troops and society as a whole to be mobilised. The war becomes total, and with the conflict s unexpected prolongation, the belligerents have to face new economic problems. There must be massive production of military equipment and the provision of supplies for the army and the population in order to maintain a constant war effort. The mobilisation of men requires finding replacements for their civilian activities, meaning that the women take over a large part of their economic output, in the fields and factories. The war also disrupts economic behaviour. Until 1914, the State intervened little, yet now it has to organise and finance a large part of industrial production. It becomes an economy of war. To deal with increasing expenses, the State increases its revenues by notably turning to loans. The war is over In 1917, two events mark a turning point : the United States of America join the war with the Entente Powers, and the Bolshevik revolution ends conflict between Russia and the Central Powers. In 1918, manoeuvre warfare starts again : the German army launches great offensives and pierces the front. But the counter-offensive of the Allies forces it to retreat, gaining a definite advantage. Beset by a revolution, Germany asks for an armistice : it is signed on November 11 in Rethondes. 56

57 Battles of the Western Front 1914: manoeuvre warfare gets bogged down In summer 1914, all of Europe is convinced that the war will be a short one. As it must fight on two fronts, the German army wants to quickly beat France in the West, before turning to Russia in the East. By the end of August on the Western Front, the French offensive in Lorraine has failed while the German offensive conducted through Belgium (Charleroi, Mons) succeeds. This Battle of Frontiers forces the French army to retreat. Paris is threatened, but in September, the Battle of the Marne allows Allied troops to push back the German advance. Each army then tries to outflank the other in direction of the North Sea, through the Battles of Aisne and Ypres. This Race for the Seaends without a victor in November. A continuous front is established along the North Sea to the Vosges, and the armies face one another, burying themselves into trenches. Manoeuvre warfare is over, and attrition warfare begins : A time for exceedingly deadly and futile offensives As of 1915, the Allied attempts to break the front, including the Champagne and Artois offensives, are extremely ineffective and casualty-filled. Throughout the same year, the Vosges front is also taken by intense fighting, without either side gaining any advantage. During the Battle of the Somme, which lasts from July to November 1916, the British lose 500,000 men for an advance of only a few kilometres. The German army, on its end, tries to wear out the French army by forcing it to resist fiercely in Verdun. This battle, which sees no victor, lasts all of 1916 and results in some 160,000 French and 140,000 Germans to fall in combat. Failure continues in During the Chemin des Dames (or the Nivelle) offensive in April, 40,000 French soldiers are killed in two weeks, and the British army loses some 250,000 men from July to November, in the Battle of Passchendaele. 1918: A return to the manoeuvre warfare and the final offensives After signing for peace with the new Russian Bolshevik power on March 3, 1917, the Germans no longer have to fight on the Eastern front. They thus decide to resume manoeuvre warfare in the west and launch several large offensives, notably in Picardy. The German army hopes to break through the front before the American troops have time to return the advantage to the Allies. They are close to succeeding yet the Allied forces, under the sole command of General Foch, resist and manage to counter-attack in the summer, in the second Battle of the Marne. Helped by the American army in Meuse and Argonne, they take the definite advantage. Their advance ends only with the signing of the armistice, on November

58 Post-war memory and reconstruction Post-war periods are marked by the willingness to commemorate the conflict and its victims. Places of battle quickly become places of memory, with the construction of cemeteries andcommemorative monuments. At the same time, unprecedented efforts are made to rebuild regions devastated by war. Commemorating: Cemeteries and memorials With nearly 10 million deaths, the First World War represents one of human history s major catastrophes, long-time mourned by societies. From the outset, armies took particular care, when conditions permitted, to bury the bodies of their fallen soldiers. Soon after the war, each nation made it its duty to honour the sacrifice of their lost ones and to keep their memories alive. To this aim, portions of French territory were thus «nationalized» in favour of countries that had fought on French soil. Today, French, Germans and Americans regroup their soldiers in large necropolises like the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in Romagne-sous-Montfaucon (Meuse), and in the French and German cemeteries in Cerny-en-Laonnois (Aisne). As for the British, they prefer to retain their cemeteries as closely as possible to the sites where their soldiers were killed. The Imperial War Graves Commission thus developed and maintains several hundred cemeteries, each bearing a «Cross of Sacrifice» and the «Stone of Remembrance,» on which is engraved a verse from the Bible : «Their name liveth for evermore.» Large national memorials have also been erected on the battlefields to collectively and individually honour fallen soldiers, and notably those missing, like at the Franco-British Memorial in Thiepval (Somme). South Africans have their memorial in Longueval (Somme), Canadians in Vimy (Pas- de-calais), Australians in Fromelles (North) and Villers-Bretonneux (Somme), and Americans in Montfaucon (Meuse), Bellicourt (Aisne) and Château-Thierry (Aisne). France also decided to have great national memorials erected along the front line : in Hartmannswillerkopf (Haut-Rhin), in Douaumont (Meuse), in Dormans (Marne) and in Notre- Dame-de-Lorette (Pas-de-Calais). Rebuilding There was considerable material damage in the frontline regions and many areas were entirely devastated. In France, several hundreds of thousands of homes and public buildings were annihilated, 2,5 million hectares of agricultural land were devastated, 62,000 km of roads, nearly 2,000 km of canals and 5,000 km of railroads were left unusable. The reconstruction efforts were on par with the damage, and at the beginning of the 1930s, traces of the war had nearly disappeared from urban and agricultural landscapes. It was necessary, in rural areas, to clear minefields and fill the trenches, whereas in cities, reconstruction underwent sometimes widely opposing architectural choices. The historical city centre of Arras (Pas-de-Calais), for one, was rebuilt exactly as it was originally. Reconstruction, however, also allowed for more modern architecture to take stand, as is the case with the Halles du Boulingrin in Reims (Marne), Saint-Quentin and Soissons (Aisne) and the Lens train station (Pas-de-Calais), symbols of Art Deco. 58

59 Acknowledgements THE MISSION DU CENTENAIRE DE LA PREMIERE GUERRE MONDIALE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING FOR THEIR KIND PARTICIPATION: atout France nord-pas de Calais Regional Tourist Board somme Tourisme agence de développement et de réservation touristiques de l Aisne (Aisne Tourist Bureau) champagne-ardenne Regional Tourist Board lorraine Regional Tourist Board la Meuse Regional Tourist Board Front des Vosges find out more