Chapter 11

REUVES CHURCH AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT

We are following the last stage of the German advance. On the morning of September 9, the troops which had taken Oyes and Reuves, after having been reinforced during the night, assailed the Heights of Mondement and wrenched from the grasp of the few remaining Zouaves and sharp-shooters the castle, the church and the village.

The road passes before the castle(56 km.) whose fame since the war has become worldwide.

THE CASTLE, NORTH FRONT

On September 6, 1914, the owners, Mme. Jacob and one of her sons, were still at Mondement. The bombardment by the German big guns on the north of the marshes began on the morning of the 7th. The inhabitants of the castle, together with the "curé" of Reuves, who had come to join them, passed many anxious hours. The cellar, in which they had taken shelter, almost fell in on them. It was useless to think of seeking refuge in the neighbourhood of the castle, for the shells fell like hail. Their motor-car had been destroyed (as may be seen in the photograph at the foot of p.178) and the only horse in the stable had been killed.

A CORNER OF THE CASTLE PARK

There was nothing left for it but, at night, to set out on foot along the road to Broyes, in spite of the feeble state of M. Jacob, who was suffering from heart-disease.

They were picked up fortunately by a motor-car sent by GeneralHumbert, but M. Jacob died a few days afterwards, as a result of the shock and of the fatigues which he had experienced.

THE MARSHES SEEN FROM A WINDOW IN THE NORTH-EAST TOWER

On the 7th, General Humbert established his headquarters in the castle, which made a splendid observation post. He followed the course of the battle through his field-glasses from the foot of the towers.

NORTHWESTERN ANGLE OF THE CASTLE

When the shells fell too thickly on the castle, he gained the little church near at hand (from which the panorama on pp.182-183is taken), and came back to the castle when the Germans began to direct their fire on the church-tower. During these comings and goings, a shell fell among his escort and killed several horsemen. As the bombardment continued to increase in violence, the headquarters were transported to the "Castle des Pucelles" at Broyes, which we have already seen (p.159).

The road goes round the castle.The opposite photograph gives a side view of the façade. The tower at the end has been cleared of the ivy which covers it (in the photograph on p.174), and completely restored. The ruined roof has been removed, in order to give place to a new one. In the foreground is a tree which has been felled by a shell. Shells from the '105's' and '150's' laid low many others, sometimes killing at the same time the persons who had sought shelter under them.

THE CASTLE, WESTERN FRONT

PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE

Take the Broyes roadwhich passes before the principal entrance (photograph opposite). The two heraldic lions surmounting the pillars of the gateway are worthy of notice. The roofs of the buildings were destroyed by shells, and the main-building opposite the gate has a temporary zinc covering.

GRAVE AT MONDEMENT

In the field on the other side of the Broyes road is the grave where the Zouaves and other foot soldiers, who fell during the attack on the castle, were buried (photograph opposite). After the entrance gate come the out-buildings, and then the kitchen-garden, whose wall we skirt.

THE CASTLE AS IT APPEARED TO THE ATTACKING TROOPS

The above view shows the two sides on which the French attacked on the afternoon of September 9. The trees behind the kitchen-garden are those of the park. On the right of the horizon, and separated from Mondement by a hollow, are Allemant Woods.

The castle was taken by the Germans at daybreak on the 9th, and was immediately put into a state of defence. Loop-holes were made in the walls, and machine-guns placed on the towers and at prominent windows. The 77th line Regiment which was reforming at Saint-Loup (see pp.162-163) was directed in all haste to Mondement to counter-attack. Colonel Lestoquoi placed a battalion on either side of the Broyes Road in the woods which come to an end a few hundred yards from the south side of the kitchen-garden. The Zouaves and sharp-shooters of the Moroccan Division, also hidden among the trees, were to attack on the other side, by the principal entrance.

The artillery preparation was entrusted to the guns of the Moroccan Division, aided by the batteries of the 42nd Division, which had halted at Broyes before descending into the plain (see pp.162-163).

BREACH IN THE SOUTHERN WALL OF THE CASTLE

The attack began at 2.30 p.m. Major de Beaufort's battalion, composed of Bretons, to whom one of their comrades, a soldier-priest, had just given the absolution, left the woods, their bugles sounding the charge. A murderous fire met them from the castle, but could not stop them. A breach had beenmade in the wall by one of the French "75's," and towards this Major de Beaufort rushed, only to fall struck by a ball in the forehead. Officers and men succeeded him, but as soon as they appeared in the opening the fire of the machine-guns and rifles, hidden in the out-buildings (photograph above) was concentrated upon them, and they succumbed before even reaching the garden. A few, hoisting themselves on the shoulders of their fellows, gained the summit of the wall, but an entry in mass, which alone could have ensured success, was impossible.

THE CASTLE OUTBUILDINGS

On the other side, the attack of the Zouaves and sharp-shooters had met with equally great difficulties. Sheltering themselves behind the trees on the road and the pillars of the railings, they sniped at the occupants of the castle without being able to advance.

At the end of an hour of costly efforts, orders were given to fall back, and the troops retired into the woods from which they had set out.

DÉBRIS OF THE CASTLE MOTOR-CAR

Pieces of artillery were then dragged by the men to within three or four hundred yards of the castle. The breaches in the wall increased, the railing collapsed in parts, and the interior of the castle became untenable. When the French renewed the attack at nightfall, they no longer met with resistance, for the garrison had fallen back on the marshes. The retreat had become general on the front of Von Hausen's and Yon Bulow's armies.

The bombardments devastated the interior of the Castle. The views on this page show to what a statewere reduced the out-buildings from which came the terrible fire rendering the passage of the breach so difficult.

VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

On September 6, 1917, the third anniversary of the Battle of the Marne was celebrated at the castle of Mondement. The President of the Republic, accompanied by the President of the Council and several ministers, as well as by Field-Marshal Joffre, General Foch, and General Pétain, stopped at Mondement on his way from Fère to Sézanne, after having visited the Plateau of Rochelle near Fère-Champenoise (see p.188).

VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

GENERAL FOCH DESCRIBING THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE

In the photograph at the top of p.179we see the group leaving the castle by the principal entrance. The walls, under their temporary roof, still show traces of shot and shell. M. Poincaré may be seen between M. Ribot, President of the Council, and M. Painlevé, War Minister. Field-Marshal Joffre is behind.

The photograph at the foot of p.179was also taken during the official visit of September 6, 1917. The tower on the left is the one seen on p.174from the exterior. On comparing the two photographs, we realise that the signs of war are fast disappearing at this point. In the middle, near the wall, the group formed by M. Poincaré, M. Ribot, M. Bourgeois, Field-Marshal Joffre and Generals Foch and Pétain, may be distinguished.

MONDEMENT CEMETERY

Those who took part in this pilgrimage had the good fortune to hear an account of the events of September, 1914, from the lips of General Foch. The above photograph was taken whilst, in quiet but moving terms, he described the different phases of the desperate battle fought by the Ninth Army from September 6 to 10. This extempore military lecture took place at the foot of a walnut-tree which stands in the meadow before the castle. On pp.182-183may be seen the view of the marshes which appeared to the eyes of the audience.

MONDEMENT CHURCH

Opposite the turret seen in the photograph at the foot of p.175take a path leading to the church, which suffered much from the bombardments, but whose breaches have now been repaired.

In the little graveyard (photograph p.180) which surrounds it are buried the officers who fell at Mondement; among them Major de Beaufort, who commanded the attack, and Dr. Baur, killed by a shell which at the same time split the tree against which he was leaning.

General Humbert followed the march of events from the foot of the church, on the side facing the marshes (view above), when the castle became untenable. It is from this point that the panorama on pp.182-183was taken, and which will now be described.

In the foreground of panorama I (pp.182-183) may be seen the houses of Mondement, which village was carried by the Germans at the same time as the castle and church, at daybreak on September 9. The French on their victorious return the same evening, drove out the remaining occupants, firing on them as they hastened down the slopes to the Marshes.

On the right may be seen Reuves and the road connecting it with Mondement. Oyes is visible on panorama II. We can easily follow the course of the German attack. After having crossed the marshes, the Germans drove Blondlat's Brigade of the Moroccan Division from these villages on the 8th. The following day the handful of Zouaves and sharp-shooters remaining in the castle, church and village, were forced to retire into the woods near Broyes.

On panorama II, the hill-top from which the panorama on pp.170-171was taken may be distinguished, as also the "Crête du Poirier" which carries it to the left towards Botrait Woods. This advanced line was, as we have seen, fiercely disputed, the bombardment being terrible. In his fine work on the Marshes of Saint-Gond, in which he relates the memoirs of M. Roland, schoolmaster at Villevenard, M. Le Goffie tells us that the percentage of German shells as compared with the French, was five to one, and he cites a detail which illustrates the German character. "The great '150' shells made a noise like a siren, and drew shrieks of joy from those assembled. 'Oh, Germany,' bleated an old doctor, lifting his eyes to heaven each time that one of these steel monsters went bellowing forth."

I.PANORAMA OF THE MARSHES OF SAINT-GOND.Petit MorinToulon-la-MontagneReuvesPetit MorinThis portion of the panorama fits on to the right of panorama II (p.183).

I.PANORAMA OF THE MARSHES OF SAINT-GOND.

This portion of the panorama fits on to the right of panorama II (p.183).

I.PANORAMA OF THE MARSHES OF SAINT-GOND.Botrait WoodsSaint-Gond Woods"Crête du Poirier"Point from which was taken the panorama of Mondement (p.171)OyesThis portion of the panorama fits on to the left of panorama I (p.182).

I.PANORAMA OF THE MARSHES OF SAINT-GOND.

This portion of the panorama fits on to the left of panorama I (p.182).

When the Germans had taken "Le Poirier," they advanced on the Woods of Saint-Gond, in whose thickets violent combats took place. A final effort carried them on September 9 on to the plateau at Montgivroux (see p.184), a little to the west of Mondement, which fell likewise in its turn, under the direct attack from the marshes. This important success, however, came two days too late. The Tenth Corps was menacing Mondement on the flank, and the intervention of the 42nd Division (see p.14) destroyed the Germans' hope of taking the plateau on the Broyes-Allemant side. The counter-attack of the 77th (see p.177-178) precipitated their retreat. Driven from the castle, the Germans re-crossed in haste during the night of September 9-10 the great dike of Saint-Gond. They left baggage and numerous wounded along the causeways. The Germans of 1914 were more fortunate than the conscripts of 1814, for whom the marshes formed a grave. In the darkness they escaped the fire which the French batteries at Mondement and Allemant would have poured on them in daylight. When the Tenth Corps began its march eastwards on September 10, starting from the Champaubert-Saint-Prix front, it was able to sweep the north of the marshes and pick up the laggards and heavy beer-drinkers, to whom the champagne had rendered bad service.

MONDEMENT FARM

After having examined the panorama of the marshes, return to the road which leads to the church and continue it in the direction of the farm, seen in the photograph above. It suffered much from successive French and German bombardments. As may be observed, the work of reparation has begun.

The French, when driven from the farm, took shelter in the wood a few hundred yards away on the other side of the road. It was from the wood that they began the counter-attack which gave them back the farm, as well as the castle and the church.

We retrace our steps to the castle, leaving the road which continues to follow the edge of the plateau in the direction of Montgivroux, and rejoins No. 51, below Soizy.This part of the plateau was carried by the German attacks coming from the Poirier and the Woods of Saint-Gond (see p.170). The "tirailleurs" fought heavy engagements at this point.

On returning to the castle take the Broyes road(G. C. 45)which passes before the gates, then pass through the woodsin which the 77th and the troops of the Moroccan Division which took Mondement found shelter, andso on toBroyesand the Castle des Pucelles which we saw at the beginning of our excursion.

Turn to the right intoG. C. 39and cross the village. At the cross-roads beyond Broyes, turn to the left and return toSézanne, down a long slope which offer a fine view of the plain and of the heights surrounding it. At the crossing beyond the cemetery take the Rue de Broyes. In the middle, turn to the right and regain the hotel (65 km.) for lunch, by way of the Rue de la Halle and the Place de la République.

(106 km.)viaConnantre,Fère-Champenoise,Connantray,Sommesous,Haussimont,Vassimont,Lenharrée,Normée.

(106 km.)

viaConnantre,Fère-Champenoise,Connantray,Sommesous,Haussimont,Vassimont,Lenharrée,Normée.

Return to the Place de la République and descend towards the lower part of the town by the Rue des Lombards; without crossing the railway turn to the left along a road planted with trees. This is N. 34, which traverses the plain in a perfectly straight line, and which is to be seen in the panorama on pp.160-163.On the left, on the horizon the heights of Sézanne, Broyes, Allemant, and Mont-Chalmont are once more visible.

After a run of 10 km. we reach the villages ofLinthesandLinthelles, from which the counter-attack of the 42nd Division started on September 9.

At that time, in the plain stretching to the left of the road, the French troops, which had been driven from the edge of the marshes and even from Mont-Août, were falling back southwards. With them, too, were those who had been pushed back from the line of the Somme on to Fère-Champenoise, Connantre, and still further beyond. These troops, although worn out by four days' fighting, and exposed to violent artillery fire from the north, east, and south, would not give in, and took every opportunity for rearguard actions.

The coming into the line of the 42nd Division braced up their forces for the supreme effort asked by Foch.

We are following the axis of the French march during this counter offensive, the first result of which was the relief ofConnantre.This village may be seen from the road, on the right, before traversing the level crossing. 100 yards further on is the entrance to Connantre Castle, in which the Light Infantrymen took prisoner several hundred Guards.

GRAVES IN FÈRE STATION

RUINS OF THE ELECTRIC POWER STATION

The road goes straight towards Fère-Champenoise across the plain, which is dotted here and there with clumps of trees. AtFère-Champenoise(21 km.) turn to the left into the "Grand-Place" in order to reach the station, which is about 900 yards away. This was much damaged by bombardment.About 300 yards on the right, by following the railway lines, may be seenthe grave in the photograph below.

The fighting around the station was very violent.

We retrace our steps to the Grand-Place Square, turn to the left before the town-hall, and, passing it, take the first street on the right in the direction of Sommesous and Vitry-le-François.In this street, on the left, are the ruins of the electric power station (view above), and on the right a few burnt houses.

PLATEAU OF ROCHELLE SEEN FROM THE ROAD

Fère-Champenoise fell into the hands of the Germans on September 8 when the heroic defence of the Eleventh Corps had been broken on the line of the Somme, over which we are about to travel. The reserve of the guards pillaged as a matter of course, and celebrated noisily the German victory. Near the town-hall a piano was brought into the street to accompany the dance of the soldiers, attired in all sorts of headgear, taken from the window of a neighbouring hatter. Wine flowed, and the streets were strewn with empty bottles. It was in the midst of these rejoicings that the order to retreat arrived like a thunderbolt on September 9. On the 10th, General Foch made Fère his headquarters.

On leaving the town we come across fan-shapedcross-roads and take the road farthest to the left. 200 yards along this, take the lane on the right, following the edge of the hill which dominates the Vaure.

REVIEW ON THE PLATEAU OF ROCHELLE

After climbing 2½ km. the summit of the hill is reached.On the right of the road stretches the plateau of Rochelle, dotted with clumps of pine and covered with graves.Leave the car at the spot indicated in the photograph at foot of p.186and set out on foot towards the centre of the plateau.

The third anniversary of the victory of the Marne was celebrated on the plateau on September 7, 1917. In the photograph above may be seen (from right to left) the President of the Republic, General Pétain (half hidden by M. Poincaré); M. Ribot, President of the Council; M. Painlevé, War Minister; M. Chaumet, Marine; M. Bourgeois, Public Works. Field-Marshal Joffre is in the background.

The tourist who, during the tour of the Ourcq, visited the plateau of Barcy-Chambry, will experience with even greater intensity the impression of sadness which is evoked by the calm landscape and the numerous graves, signs of the fierceness and obstinacy of the battle.

VIEW OF THE PLATEAU OF ROCHELLE

A remnant of the Eleventh Corps, which had been driven on the 8th from the woods to the west of Normée (see p.194), made a gallant stand on thesummit and sides of the plateau in the pine thickets and in improvised trenches which still exist here and there.

One of the most moving incidents was the defence of the standard of the 32nd. Two hundred men belonging to the 66th and the 32nd Regiments were hemmed in a little wood near the Vaure, having with them the standard of the 32nd, whose bearer had been killed. All the officers were dead or missing, only a few adjutants and sergeants remained. These asked Sergeant-major Guerre of the 66th, a man of energy and resource, to take command. The handful of heroes then formed a square and succeeded in repulsing the attacks of the enemy, until the arrival of a field-piece rendered the position in the wood untenable. Guerre divided his remaining troops into small companies, then charged with the bayonet where the enemy was strongest. A machine-gun soon laid the brave fellow low. The other companies took advantage of this diversion to rejoin the French lines. Thirty men in all were able to do so. Private Malvau and his comrade Bourgoin brought back the standard. They lost themselves in the German lines, but were put on the right path by an officer of the guards, suffering from a bad wound which they dressed for him.

After visiting the Rochelle plateau we retrace our steps towards Fère and at the entrance to the village take, on the left, N. 34in the direction of Sommesous.

Pass straight throughConnantray(33½ km.)to arrive, after traversinga level-crossing, atSommesous(44½ km.).

The station is on the left of the level-crossing. It changed hands several times during the desperate encounters which took place here. Graves were dug in the little station garden on the left to receive the bodies of the soldiers of the 60th (reserve) Division who fell on this spot.

FollowN. 34for about 200 yards in Sommesous, then turn to the left intoN. 77. The combats were particularly violent at the junction of these two roads.Next, take the second street on the left, seen in the photograph below, in order to reach the centre of the village.Sommesous was entirely destroyed by bombardment and by fire, but is slowly rising again from its ashes.

RUINED HOUSE AT SOMMESOUS

THE CHURCH AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT

The church, of which the photographs on this page show the state after the bombardment, is on the right of the street, towards the end of the village. It is now being restored.

THE CHURCH AFTER THE BOMBARDMENT

In going from Sommesous to Écury-le-Repos we traverse the line of the Somme which the Eleventh Corps and the 60th (reserve) Division defended so energetically. This line was formed by the river, and by the railway which follows it at a little distance, along the plateau of the left bank. On September 6 and 7 this position was held by the French against furious attacks by Saxons and Guards supported by artillery. On the 8th the French troops, heavily outnumbered, were obliged to withdraw to Connantray and Fère-Champenoise.

September 9 witnessed Foch's counter-attack, which reached the Somme on the 10th and crossed it, on the 11th, in pursuit of the enemy.

VASSIMONT

Naturally at the bridge-heads of Sommesous, Haussimont, Vassimont, Lenharrée, Normée, and Ecury some of the most obstinate fighting took place; thus the ruins there are numerous.

On leaving Sommesous, the road crosses the railway on the level and goes towards Haussimont, skirting the Somme, the valley of which lies to the left. AtHaussimont, cross the Somme and turn to the right into G. C. 18 in order to enter and pass through the village.A few houses are still in ruins, but many have been rebuilt.

CASTLE OF CHAPELAINE

ROAD IN HOLLOW, LENHARRÉE

G. C. 18continues between the Somme and the railway towardsVassimont(where we cross the river again). Turn to the left in order to traverse this locality, which was much damaged, as may be seen in the view on p.190.

Leaving the village, take the first road on the left and cross the Somme. 500 yards further on is the hamlet ofChapelaine, with its castle of the same name (photograph p.190).The fighting was intense at this point.

Return toG. C. 18and turn to the left towardsLenharrée(54 km.).Arriving there, we have on the left (on the right in the view above) the road, which descends to the river. The many graves around indicate the fierce struggle for the possession of the ford.

GRAVE IN A FARM-YARD, LENHARRÉE

GRAVES NEAR THE SOMME

Lenharrée formed a bridgehead on the right bank. The French held it on September 6 and 7 under a heavy fire, but on the morning of the 8th the two companies of the 225th, who, by good shooting and frequent bayonet charges, had held at a respectable distance a much superior German force, were obliged to withdraw towards Connantray. The Saxons and the Guards, holding Normée, had managed to advance down the left bank and thus threatened to take the defenders of Lenharrée in the rear. Of this small force all the officers and non-commissioned officers were lying dead or wounded around Captain de Saint-Bon, who himself fell as he gave the order to retire. "Never mind me," he said to his soldiers, who wanted to carry him away with them, "Don't be killed trying to save me."

TRENCH NEAR THE SOMME

RUINS, NORMÉE

After their withdrawal on September 8 and 9 the French returned to the neighbourhood of Lenharrée. This they reached on the 10th and entered the next day. They found in a barn 450 wounded Germans and 150 French. The terrible struggle had drenched the village with blood and reddened the waters of the river. "There are heaps of German dead everywhere," wrote a witness, "in the streets, in the cellars, in the church, and in the cemetery. One walked on them without being aware of it. Behind a hedge ten yards in length I counted twenty-two; a hole in a rock five to six metres deep was a regular charnel-house."

Graves in the courtyards of the houses recall the hand-to-hand fighting. There is one in the large ruined farm seen in the photograph on p.191. This farm is on the right after the first group of houses at the entrance to the village, fifty yards beyond the cross-roads seen in the view at the top of p.191.

During the German occupation an old inhabitant, M. Félix, was killed by blows from the butt-end of the rifles of the German soldiers whom he tried to prevent from pillaging his house.

Going through the village, leave the church on the right. We come to the bridgearound which are the graves of the men who fell during the combats on this bitterly disputed spot (photograph p.192).

Cross the bridge and turn to the right; 50 yards further on, take, on the left, the road leading through a cutting toLenharréerailway station (800 yards).Numerous graves border the railway and the road, for the struggle, which began at the Somme, continued on the railway before spreading under German pressure to Fère-Champenoise, Connantray, and beyond.

LEVEL-CROSSING, NORMÉE

Return toG. C. 18,in which turn to the left. The road commands the Somme, and here the troops of the eleventh Corps established trenches along the river bank in order to obstruct the passage. Theview on p.192, takenabout 1 km. beyond Lenharrée, shows one of these trenches in which is a German grave.

On the left, the plateau of which G. C. 18 follows the edge, is dotted throughout with graves, the fighting being particularly desperate here on the 6th and 7th. Engagements also took place on theplateau on the opposite bank. The 91st line Regiment, coming up from Lenharrée, particularly distinguished itself during a night attack on the guards.

OLD TRENCH NEAR THE SOMME AT ÉCURY

We arrive atNormée(59 km.), which suffered much from bombardment (see p.193). Shells fell so thickly that the village was evacuated on the 6th, the troops retiring to the railway line and to the woods around.

In order to visit this portion of the battlefield, turn to the left immediately after leaving Normée, intoG. C. 5,which goes towards Fère-Champenoise. 2 km. further on is the level-crossing (view p.193)which became famous after the events of September 6-8.

Leaving the car at the gate, cross the line on foot.In a clearing on the left (view below) may be seen the old French trenches and the graves which were afterwards made near by. Other trenches are to be seen in the pine woods which line the road.

The Colonel commanding the 42nd Brigade was killed whilst defending this level-crossing.

The German attacks, violent enough on the 7th, redoubled in fury on the 8th; the line of defence was pierced and the 35th Brigade, stationed in the woods adjoining the plateau of Rochelle, previously visited (see p.187), had to fight under difficult conditions. Certain sections were surrounded, and only fought their way out with heavy loss, all the officers being killed. It was under these circumstances that the fine defence of the standard of the 32nd line Regiment, related on p.188, took place.

Return toG. C. 18and turn to the left in it towardsÉcury-le-Repos. 200 yards before arriving at the village, in a field on the right of the road overlooking the Somme, is an old trench which has been used as a grave (view above).

TRENCHES AND GRAVES NEAR THE LEVEL-CROSSING AT NORMÉE

HOUSES BEING REBUILT AT MORAINS

In Écury (67 km.) turn to the left beyond the church, then take the first street on the right towards Morains-le-Petit.A few trenches are to be seen here and there, and graves are still numerous.

Morains-le-Petit(70 km.) is rising from its ruins, as the photograph above shows.Turn to the right in the village, then to the left on leaving it, intoG. C. 9in the direction of Bergères-lès-Vertus.We are now in the theatre of operations of the 17th Division and of the 52nd (reserve) Division. The task of the troops forming the right wing of the Ninth Corps was to prevent the marshes from being outflanked on the east. They held on bravely, but were obliged to retire to Mont-Août on September 8, their right having been left exposed by the withdrawal of the Eleventh Corps.

At 100 yards from Morainsis the source of the Morin, which at this point is a tiny rivulet, often dry in the summer. The ditch in which it flows was used as a trench in the battles of 1914.

The view below, taken on the left of the wood, shows this ditch bordered by a few shrubs and surrounded by graves.

TRENCH AT THE SOURCE OF THE MORIN

The road continues towards Mont-Aimé, which we reach about 5 km. beyond Morains.This hill, 750 feet high, appears a veritable mountain as it rises solitary in the midst of the great Plain of Champagne.

Leave the car on the road and set out to climb the hill, an easy task. It is possible to climb direct, or to follow the zig-zag path which begins at the road.From the top there is a very fine view of the marshes and of the whole Plain of Champagne.The entire journey, up and down, takes about twenty-five minutes.

Return toG. C. 9and continue toBorgères-lès-Vertus(78 km.), where we meet withN. 53,where turn to the right towards Châlons-sur-Marne.

The Germans traversed this road in both directions within six days. They advanced in all the excitement of a victorious pursuit: they returned in the gloomy disappointment of defeat.

The journey toChâlons(106 km.) presents no difficulties, it being merely necessary to followN. 33,which passes through Chaintrix and Thibie. We enter Châlons by the Avenue de Paris, then take the Rue du Faubourg-de-la-Marne on the left. Cross the railway, then the Marne, and continue straight along the Rue de la Marne. Here cross the canal, leaving the cathedral on the right. Before arriving at the Place de Ville turn to the right into the Rue des Lombards, which leads to the Place de la République, where the hotels will be found.

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