Chapter 6

BURNT HOUSES AT CHAUCONIN

The German grave is on the left, isolated. It is marked by a black cross on which is painted the letter A. In the background can be distinguished the wooded heights of Penchard, in the conquest of which fell the French and Moroccan soldiers here buried.

GRAVES AT NEUFMONTIERS

PROFFIT FARM BURNT BY THE GERMANS

In front of the graves is one of the entrances ofProffit Farm. The view opposite shows a part of the courtyard. This fine farmstead had been marked down and condemned in advance.

The Germans had themselves specially guided there from Chauconin. They looted the farmer's house: near the safe was found one of the skeleton keys with which they tried to force it.

They then fired the stables and barns, where nearly 20,000 bundles of straw made a gigantic blaze.

Skirting the walls of the farm, the road leads totheChurch, where the Germans installed an ambulance during their short occupation of September 5. The inhabitants who remained in the village were commandeered and had to carry in the German wounded, on ladders, from the surrounding neighbourhood.

On the morning of the 6th the French re-occupied Neufmontiers and captured the ambulance (view below).

GERMAN AMBULANCE IN THE CHURCH

Running between Proffit Farm and the church, the road slopes down to the brook le Rutel, which it crosses. At the fork of the road, turn to the right. A hundred yards further on is the spot from which thePanorama Aseen below(6½ km.) was taken, embracing the field of action of September 5.

A.PANORAMA OF MONTHYON PENCHARD. NEUFMONTIERSRoad to Villeroy IvernyHeights of CuisyLe RutelMonthyonRoad from Neufmontiers to Iverny Le RutelHeights of PenchardCastle ParkNeufmontiers

A.PANORAMA OF MONTHYON PENCHARD. NEUFMONTIERS

The advance guard of the Fourth German reserve corps had placed its artillery in the declivities of the heights of Monthyon and Penchard; the infantry troops and machine-guns had advanced into the plain, utilising le Rutel and the Neufmontiers to Iverny road as entrenchments. The first cannon shot of the battle of the Marne was fired on the 5th of September, at noon, from Monthyon at a French battery which was coming out of Iverny, and killed the captain. The fight was sanguinary all that day. The troops of the 55th division tried their hardest to push the Germans back beyond Monthyon but were stopped on the plain by the terrible fire of the machine-guns. At the same time the Moroccan brigade attacked the heights of Penchard and carried them with the bayonet, but it could not maintain its position there and was forced back behind Neufmontiers and Chauconin, which the Germans occupied. This occupation only lasted a few hours for, during the night, the German troops, threatened with being outflanked by the Seventh Corps further north, abandoned their formidable positions at Monthyon—Penchard and the outposts at Neufmontiers—Chauconin. The next morning the French took possession.

GREAT GRAVE OF VILLEROY

Continuing along the road to Villeroywe come, after about 2 km. to theGREAT GRAVEof which a view is given opposite. It contains the bodies of numerous officers and men who fell in the surrounding fields. At the extreme end of the grave on the right is buried the well-known writer, Charles Péguy, whose death seems to have been the one he desired when writing the following lines, now famous:

Heureux ceux qui sont morts dans les grandes bataillesCouchés dessus le sol à la face de Dieu....Heureux ceux qui sont morts pour leur âtre et leur feuEt les pauvres honneurs des maisons paternelles....Heureux ceux qui sont morts, car ils sont retournésDans la première argile et la première terre.Heureux ceux qui sont morts dans une juste guerre,Heureux les épis mûrs et les blés moissonnés.

At the fork of the road beyond the grave, go to the right towards Iverny.It is within 200 yards of these cross-roads, in the field on the left of the road, that Lieutenant Péguy was killed, shot through the head while standing amidst his soldiers of the 276th, whom he had ordered to lie down.On arriving at Iverny, turn to the right towards Monthyon.At the entrance to this village, near the farm de l'Hôpital, there is a little pond where the cases of shells abandoned by the Germans were emptied (view on following page).

These cases belonged to the three batteries of 77's which were established on the right of the road behind the farm buildings, in a depression of the ground. We have seen above that these batteries started the cannonade which began the battle of the Marne. Marked down by the French batteries they hastily abandoned the position.

POND WHERE THE GERMANS THREW THEIR SHELLS

Leaving the pond on the right we follow the road to the left which brings us to the picturesque village ofMonthyon(15 km.).

Despite the difference in spelling, it was the patrimonial fief of the celebrated philanthropist Baron de Montyon (1733-1820), founder of several prizes for good conduct and literature awarded yearly in solemn session by the "Institut de France."

We have seen that Monthyon, attacked without success on the 5th by the French, was on the 6th abandoned by the Germans. General de Lamaze established his headquarters there.

On arriving at the church turn to the right and descend towards the highway from Saint-Soupplets to Penchard.

Half-way down the slope will be seen on the left a villa which overlooks all the countryside, and where the French staff had a first-rate observatory during those hard days of September.

The view below, taken from the upper balcony, shows a corner of the vast panorama seen from there.

THE PLAIN AT THE FOOT OF MONTHYON

At the foot of the slope turn to the right towards Penchard and follow the railway lines on the road.

Two kilometres further, on the left, an avenue planted with trees leads to theVilla Automne, belonging to M. Charles Benoist, member of the "Institut" and deputy of Paris.

There the Germans installed an ambulance which received the wounded of the first battles with the Moroccans at Penchard.

Those who succumbed, among them several officers, were buried in the garden of the estate.

The Moroccans captured the ambulance when they re-took possession of Penchard.

The villa had been ransacked; the most highly appreciated trophy being the owner's peaceful academician's sword.

At the entrance toPenchard(19 km.), keep to the right as far as the town-hall square, where the motor can be left.

By the road which borders the town-hall on the right (about 150 yards from there and going past the church)we reach the edge of the Penchard woods where the view on the following page was taken. The tourist who enters these woods for a walk, or a rest, will find graves here and there, the last traces of the furious battles that were fought around.

Penchard was attacked the first time on September 5 by the Moroccan brigade, which came from the Chauconin-Neufmontiersline, over which the tourist has already travelled. The struggle was a desperate and particularly bloody one on the edge of the wood now before us, as also in the gardens of the neighbouring houses. The Moroccans had the advantage in this hand-to-hand fight and towards noon succeeded in taking the village, which they held for several hours under a violent bombardment.

THE PLAIN AT THE FOOT OF PENCHARD

But we know that during this time the 55th division's attack on Monthyon had failed, and the Moroccans, unsupported on their left, had to withdraw beyond Chauconin-Neufmontiers.

On the 6th the brigade, renewing its efforts, found Penchard evacuated and went on to the village of Chambry, towards which we will now direct our steps.

When leaving Penchard the Germans posted several spies in the woods, their mission being to signal the positions of the French troops and artillery to the aviators.

MONUMENT OF THE FOUR ROADS

One of them was caught and shot at the entrance to the wood in the evening of the 8th. He wore the red-cross armlet and on him were found pennons and rockets which he used for signalling.

We must retrace our steps as far as the fork of the road at the entrance to the village and take the road that runs to the right.

Immediately after this we come to the crossways of three roads; we follow the middle one which goes towards Chambry.

We arrive at theMonument des Quatre-routes, so called because it is placed at the crossing of the Barcyto Meaux road with that from Penchard to Chambry.

PATRIOTIC CEREMONY AT CHAMBRY (Photo from l'Illustration)

This monument was raised by the engineers, by order of General Gallieni, to the memory of the Army of Paris.

Every year, commemorative ceremonies take place at Meaux and on the neighbouring battlefields, particularly at the monument of the Quatre-Routes. The view opposite was taken in September 1916. The bishop of Arras Mgr. Lobbedey, who some hours earlier preached a touching sermon from Bossuet's pulpit in the Cathedral of Meaux, is here seen placing the tricolour flag at the foot of the monument.

At the crossing of the Quatre-Routes, the tourist coming from Penchard continues straight on to Chambry, which is seen a little further on in a hollow (see photograph below).

Chambry(22 km.) is one of the points of the French right where the fighting was fiercest. It was taken and retaken during the days of September 6, 7 and 8. Alternately bombarded by the French 75's (which at Penchard and Monthyon had taken the place of the German 77's, driven from their first line), and by the light and heavy artillery that the Germans had established on the heights of Vareddes and Gué-à-Tresmes, Chambry, as shown by the great number of new roofs, suffered heavily.

The Germans were thrown back from the western ridge of the hollow into the village, which they were forced to abandon after violent hand-to-hand fighting in the streets. They then entrenched themselves on the east flank and particularly in the cemetery, which is seen in the view below.

CemeteryCHAMBRY

CHAMBRY

TOMB AT CHAMBRY

Driven from the cemetery they fell back on their chief position, visible on the panorama B (pp.90-91), whence they made obstinate counter-attacks. The soldiers of the 45th and 55th divisions fought for the ground foot by foot, and finally remained masters of it at the cost of heavy losses. Zouaves, Algerian sharp-shooters, and foot-soldiers of the line vied with each other in heroism during these terrible days.

Having entered Chambry we cross the square, leaving the main street on the left, and go straight on.We thus turn round the village by the east—that is to say, on the front that had to withstand all the German onslaught.

The gardens which border the road contain several graves of soldiers who were killed in battle and buried where they fell. The upper photograph shows one of these graves. Some Algerian sharp-shooters fell there, as is indicated by the crescent drawn on the tombstone placed at the head of the grave. The tricolour cockade pinned below is that of "l'Œuvre du Souvenir."

On the slope of the road, to the right, the French troops had established a trench and some precarious shelters (see photograph below).

SHELTERS DURING THE BATTLE

This chance installation at the beginning of the war contrasts oddly with the scientific work that the struggle on fixed positions has now made common. It seems as though it could not have afforded anything more than moral protection against the German artillery, which for three days riddled the position with shells of 77, 105, and even 150 calibre.

The road followed by the tourist rejoins the main street which lay on his left as he entered the village.

400 yards from here, on the right, lies theCEMETERYof Chambry.Near the entrance, on the left, is a little chapel, whose doors were riddled with bullets. It served as a temporary infirmary but was very quickly filled up.

CHAMBRY CEMETERY

We have seen already the importance of the position held by the Germans in the cemetery.

Through embrasures pierced in the walls, rifles and machine-guns directed a fierce fire on the French troops as they advanced to attack from the direction of Chambry and Barcy. When the latter had taken the cemetery they, in turn, made use of its defences. The bombardment growing too violent, Zouaves and foot-soldiers took shelter in the trench outside the cemetery walls, visible in the photograph on the following page. A goodly number of these brave men remained there and took up the space that would have sufficed for the dead of that small parish for many long years.

The cemetery of Chambry has become a pilgrimage centre. Every year, in the month of September, numerous delegations come to cover the little graves with flowers. The photograph below was taken in 1915. In the middle of the crowd can be distinguished in the foreground, kneeling and leaning against the wire, Mgr. Chesnelong, Archbishop of Sens; behind him Mgr. Marbeau, Bishop of Meaux. The lieutenant seen on the left is the Abbé Dugoux, who had just celebrated mass in the Cathedral of Meaux.

PATRIOTIC CEREMONY AT CHAMBRY (Photo from l'Illustration)

CHAMBRY CEMETERY

On leaving the cemeteryone sees in front, on the slope of the road, the remains of the trenches dug by the French to protect themselves against counter-attacks from the heights of Varreddes.

Following the road, one soon sees the harrowing sight of thePlateauof Chambry-Barcy, covered with graves. To the right especially, in the fields which were crossed by the troops rushing to the attack from the hill visible in the photograph below, one can reconstruct the progression of the lines under fire by glancing along the succession of graves.

The principal line of the German defence during the days of September 7, 8 and 9 was established on a position leading from Étrépilly to Varreddes, plainly visible on panorama B (pp.90-91). The height shown in the photograph below formed its southern extremity and its most salient point. Trenches had been made there, supplied with machine-guns and supported by batteries of 77's.

One realises what energy the French troops needed to advance thus, over absolutely uncovered ground, under dropping fire. Several attacks were unavailing; one of them reached the trenches, but the Germans, who had every facility for bringing up their reserves, which were kept sheltered in the declivity on the other side of the hill, thrust the French back on Chambry.

At last, on September 9, the Germans having begun their retreating movement, Zouaves, Moroccans, and foot-soldiers hustled their rearguards and descended in pursuit of them into the hollow of Varreddes.

GRAVES ON THE CHAMBRY PLATEAU

Continuing along the same road the tourist comes to a fork. Here he turns to the left towards Barcy and soon comes to a group of poplars, whence the panoramaB(below) was taken.

ThisPANORAMAshows the objective of the French right during the days of September 7, 8, and 9. This was the little ridge which runs between Étrépilly and Varreddes, followed by a road bordered here and there with poplars. This road was filled with trenches and machine guns which easily swept the uncovered ground that had to be crossed before they could be reached.

The supporting artillery was in the middle distance, on the Trocy Plateau and the sides of the Varreddes hollow.

B.PANORAMA OF THE ÉTRÉPILLY-VARREDDES LINEPlateau north of ÉtrépillyRidge from Étrépilly to VarreddesTorcyRidge from Étrépilly to VarreddesVarreddes RoadHeights of Varreddes

B.PANORAMA OF THE ÉTRÉPILLY-VARREDDES LINE

The 55th (Reserve) Division, the 45th Algerian Division, and the Moroccan Brigade hurled themselves against this redoubtable position for three days, while the 56th (Reserve) Division attacked Étrépilly and the plateau which stretches to the north. The line fell on the 9th, but over the whole surface of this plain (which has been called "the Calvary of the Reserve Divisions") lay numbers of dead who were buried, some where they fell, others in common graves. These graves, with their flags waving in the wind, give a veritable grandeur to this landscape of gentle undulations.

In the view below, taken in front of one of these common graves on the plateau, appears the then English premier, Mr. Asquith, who was anxious to make the Ourcq pilgrimage during one of his visits to Paris. He is seen standing on the right of the road, near the spot from where panorama B was taken.

Arriving atBarcy(26 km.) the tourist will see the site of the great commemorative monument which is to be raised by subscription after the war.At the cross-roads near the entrance to the village, take the middle road which goes through Barcy and leads to the church.

It was in the little square, opening out in front of the belfry and the town-hall, that the second photograph (reproduced on the following page) was taken, showing Mr. Asquith interrogating a little village girl come to fetch water from the fountain.

MR. ASQUITH VISITING THE BATTLEFIELD

Behind the fountain stands Colonel Hankey, secretary of the Allies' War Council; beside him is the French officer who directed and expounded the visit; Mr. Asquith is in the middle; to the right his son-in-law, and on the extreme right Mr. O'Brien, Sir Edward Grey's colleague.

On September 4 Barcy was the headquarters of a German division. A few people, among them the brother of the Bishop of Meaux, had been arrested near Varreddes, in Mgr. Marbeau's car, and taken before the general. The latter, announcing that he meant to keep their car, told them to inform the inhabitants of Meaux that on the morrow, at the same hour, his troops would be before Paris. But on the morrow Maunoury's army had begun its flank attack, and on the morning of the following day Barcy was carried by the French troops arriving from Monthyon.

MR. ASQUITH QUESTIONING A LITTLE GIRL

BARCY CHURCH

Barcy served as starting point for the assaults on Chambry and on the line of defence of Étrépilly-Varreddes; very often also as a place for defensive withdrawals. The fighting was desperate; on September 6 the 246th had nearly twenty officers, including the colonel, out of action, whilst the 289th found it necessary to attack three times during the day.

BARCY CHURCH

For three days the bombardment was terrific: the batteries of Étrépilly, Varreddes, and Gué-à-Tresmes rained shells on the village and its approaches.

The church suffered heavily, as shown by the photographs on this page. In the upper one is seen the hole made by the heavy projectile which brought down the bell seen in the foreground of the second photograph. Many houses, like those in the church square, still bear traces of the cannonade.

Others, less heavily damaged, have been repaired. Indeed, to look at the farm sleeping in the sunshine (see following page), one would never dream that it had lived through such tragic days.

The new roofing of the building on the left is all there is to remind one that it was not spared by the shells.

FARM AT BARCY

Following the road by which we arrived at the church, we go towards Marcilly.

Before leaving Barcy, we pass the cemetery where lie buried many officers and men who fell in the neighbourhood of the village.

The Germans enteredMarcillyon the evening of September 4, and abandoned it on the 6th, fearing the outflanking movement of the Seventh Corps towards the north.

The village was the centre of operations for the 56th (Reserve) Division. The photograph below shows General de Dartein's temporary headquarters beside a haystack, not far from the village, whose church can be seen in the background.

The tourist will have an opportunity of seeing in detail the objectives of the division when passing through Champfleury, Poligny, and Étrépilly. The struggle was very fierce and the bombardment incessant for three days.

The road crosses Marcilly but we do not go beyond the church, which is a very curious one, with its squat tower and rustic porch (see following page). Beside it is the school where a light infantry sergeant, mortally wounded, still found strength enough to write on the blackboard: "The 23rd battalion Light Infantry, the 350th Infantry, and the 361st Infantry have beaten the Prussians here. Vive la France!"

The few inhabitants who remained in the village also remember one of the prisoners brought to the Pernet Farm, whose torn tunic gave glimpses of a woman's chemise, trimmed with lace and little blue ribbons.

From the church square we turn back about 100 yards and take, on the left, the road to Étrépilly.

At the end of the villageis aGRAVEwhere foot-soldiers, light infantry and artillerymen lie buried (see photograph overleaf).

GENERAL DE DARTEIN'S TEMPORARY HEADQUARTERS AT MARCILLY

GRAVES AT MARCILLY (1917)

MARCILLY CHURCH

We soon arrive at the top of the ridge which dominates Marcilly.

Turning round, the tourist will have a wide view of Barcy, Monthyon, and Penchard; passing to the other side of the ridge he will see, on the left, the prominent farms of Champfleury and Nongloire.

The view below was taken during the battles of September in a field on the right of the road. We see a whole section, which thought itself in safety behind a haystack, destroyed by the explosion of a shell.

SECTION DECIMATED BY A SHELL

(45 km.)viaPuisieux,Nogeon,Acy,Étavigny,Betz,Acy,Vincy

(45 km.)

viaPuisieux,Nogeon,Acy,Étavigny,Betz,Acy,Vincy

Étrépillyis 4 km. from Marcilly by the direct route, but we take the tourist round a loop of 45 km. before reaching Étrépilly, so that he may visit the front of the French left wing.

Arriving at a beetroot factory we come to a fork in the road and take the left branch.Around this factory desperate battles were fought between the troops of the 56th (Reserve) Division (who, having taken Marcilly, were trying to take Étrépilly) and the Germans, who defended this advance guard of their main position foot by foot.

The road crosses the Thérouanne; 50 yards further on, at the cross-roads, we take the road on the right which rises towards theFarm of Champfleury(5 km.). From this front, extending from the factory to the Champfleury farm, the 56th Division made many attacks on the strong line formed by Étrépilly and the plateau which spreads out north of the village, being also successful in shattering all the German counter-attacks.

CHAMPFLEURY FARM

Champfleury, very important by reason of its dominating position (as shown in the above photograph), was vigorously defended, but after two unsuccessful assaults it was finally carried by the French. There they were subjected for two days to a violent bombardment from Étrépilly, Vincy, and Trocy, which made all their attempts to debouch both difficult and costly.

The farm buildings suffered badly and the rooms of the farm-house were reduced to ruins by shell-fire.

The view below shows the façade; the officers seen in the photograph belonged to the staff of the 56th Division which took the farm. The owners had evacuated Champfleury at the beginning of September; when they returned they found in the billiard-room (which was smashed to pieces) a jeering inscription signed by a German officer, regretting that they (the owners) had not been there to take part in the cannoning performed on their table.

CHAMPFLEURY FARM

To enter the farm follow a little lane on the right for about 100 yards.Very likely it is still possible to see the various seats hidden in the trees in the garden, which were used by the look-out men.

From Champfleury the road descends towardsPuisieux. The view below shows the situation of this village, in a fold of the ground. In the background, at the summit of the plateau, is seen the farm of Nogeon, which will be visited in the course of the excursion.

On the tourist's left, and outside the limits of the photograph, is a depression beyond which, in a position similar to Champfleury (see panoramaD,pp.106-107), appears the farm of Nongloire.

From the plateau on which stands this farm the French artillery hammered Champfleury and the Étrépilly position.

PUISIEUX SEEN FROM CHAMPFLEURY

On the right, also outside the photograph, is thefarm of Poligny,towards which we go, turning to the right, in Puisieux, into the Rue de Poligny. The view below was taken from the Poligny road in September, 1914. In it are seen guns, cartridges, and machine-gun belts abandoned on the battlefield, and a French drum, which latter doubtless sounded the charge when the troops of the Seventh Corps, starting from Puisieux, and supported by the 56th Division coming down from Champfleury, went to attack the farm.

The struggle was desperate, for Poligny, like Champfleury, was an advanced position of the Vincy-Étrépilly line, and the Germans defended it to the utmost. Before leaving they set it on fire.

DÉBRIS OF THE BATTLE IN FRONT OF PUISIEUX

The view below shows to what a lamentable condition this large farm was reduced by bombardment and incendiarism.

Only a part of the courtyard can be seen here, but all the buildings belonging to the farm, including the beetroot factory, are in the same state.

From Poligny the Germans fell back on their positions on the Étrépilly Plateau, which is in the background of the photograph, and the farm became a valuable point of support for the Seventh French Corps.

POLIGNY FARM

The German battery defending Poligny could not withdraw in its entirety, the fire of the French 75's having destroyed at least one of the field-pieces, of which a photograph is given below.

After this visit the tourist will return to the Puisieux Road (8½ km.) following the road, he came by, and crossing the village by an S-shaped route, leave the church on the right.

On the French front Puisieux formed the connecting point between the right (group Lamaze) and the centre (Seventh Corps). It received many shells from the batteries of 77's established on the Vincy-Étrépilly line and from the heavy howitzers of the Trocy Plateau.

GERMAN FIELD-PIECE DESTROYED NEAR POLIGNY

Having passed the church, the tourist arrives at a little square, with severalroads opening into it. He takes the one on the right, which leads him to the plateau that dominates Puisieux on the north. On the left can be seen the distillery of Fosse-Martin; straight ahead is the Nogeon Farm with its beetroot factory.

West ofFosse-Martin, in a room in the Castle of Brégy, the flag of the 72nd Thuringian regiment was found, abandoned.

NOGEON FARM

The French artillery, installed between Fosse-Martin and Bovillancy, maintained a terrific fight against the German batteries at Étavigny, Vincy, and Trocy. Colonel Nivelle, future generalissimo, commanded the Fifth Artillery Regiment which had just done great deeds in Alsace, and whose daring and enthusiasm shone forth anew on the plateau of Multien.

CHURCH OF ACY

Nogeon Farmwas one of the principal centres of battle during the days of September 6 to 9. Taken by the French after a hand-to-hand fight, it was subjected to several counter-attacks which, supported by violent bombardments, completely destroyed it. But labour soon claims its rights, and the view above shows the rebuilding in progress.

From Nogeon, and the trenches around it, the troops of the Seventh Corps gained Acy and attempted to reach Vincy. The progression towards this last position, over open ground swept by an intense cannonade, was particularly difficult. Many actions took place at night. It was during one of these, in a bayonet charge on September 7, that the soldier Guillemard, having transfixed with his bayonet the officer standard-bearer, captured a flag belonging to the 36th Magdebourg Fusiliers, decorated with the Iron Cross in 1870. Guillemard received the Military Medal from the hands of General Gallieni.

The young fellow shook with emotion during the ceremony, and the general said good-humouredly: "Now then, embrace me and imagine I'm a pretty girl."

ACY CHURCH

From Nogeon the road descends toAcy-en-Multien(14½ km.) of which the slender steeple can be seen.

We cross the Gergogne and go through the village, following the High Streetup to the twelfth and thirteenth century church, which is classed as an historical monument. This church came practically unscathed through the struggle which drenched the village with blood.

SAFE DYNAMITED BY THE GERMANS

Acy's situation in the hollow of a valley robbed its steeple of all value as an observatory; it was therefore respected by the artillery on both sides.

After glancing around the interior of the old church, with its squat pillars, shown in the above view,we go on along the High Street, passing the town-hall.

Opposite is a photograph of the town-hall safe, which was blown up by the Germans during their occupation of the place.

A little further on is the cemetery, in front of which is a big military grave.

Acy's churchyard was much too small to hold all the heroes who fell on the territory belonging to that parish.

In front of the cemetery, on the other side of the road, stands the castle where the Germans quartered themselves.

The view opposite gives but a slight idea of the state in which it was found by its owners.

ROOM IN THE CASTLE WHERE THE GERMANS SLEPT

The park was placed in a state of defence and the Germans made a tenacious resistance there.

The tourist will now take the road in front of the cemetery which skirts the castle railings. Then turning to the left he will follow the zig-zag road which climbs the Étavigny Plateau.

ACY SEEN FROM THE HEIGHTS OF ÉTAVIGNY

The above panorama was taken from the last turn of the climbing path and gives a good view of the valley in which Acy is built.

Here we can follow the course of the battle: the French held the Nogeon Plateau, the Germans the valley and the heights where the tourist stands. Troops belonging to the Seventh Corps descended on Acy from Nogeon and came up in front of the village, others slipped along the Gergogne and made a flank attack.

ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH

After furious fighting in the streets, in the castle grounds and in the little woods on the hillsides, the Germans were flung back from Acy to the heights of Étavigny. They returned to the charge, and in their turn drove the French back to the Nogeon Plateau.

The village thus changed hands several times, and this terrible beating backwards and forwards caused great losses on both sides.

Continuing his road to Étavigny, the tourist will go over the position that the Germans established on the plateau.

The infantry and the machine-guns were entrenched along the road itself; the light and heavy artillery were in the hollow on the right. They showered shells on the French positions at Nogeon, and in return received the fire of the batteries placed, as before mentioned, between Fosse-Martin and Bouillancy.

Arriving atÉtavigny(18 km.) our attention is at once drawn to the church, which suffered terribly.

ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH

The part played in the battle by the church of Étavigny was very different from the passive one assigned to the church of Acy. Its dominating position afforded priceless views of the French lines to the observer installed in its steeple. It was therefore by shells from the 75's that the church was damaged (see pp.100and101).

Étavigny was taken and retaken in the course of the Battle of the Ourcq. The struggle was hard, the Germans making a desperate resistance, as a serious French advance in this locality would have meant the outflanking of their whole line. They succeeded in forcing the troops of the Seventh Corps off the plateau.

Taking the road to the right, beside the church, and continuing about 200 yards we come to thecemetery, which is in a state of upheaval from the bombardment. The photograph below was taken through one of the gaps.

The windmill pump, on the left of the view, was riddled with bullets.

From Étavigny the tourist can either return to Acy by the same road, or follow the itinerary that we now give, which forms a loop around the northern part of the battlefield. In the first case, the distance to Acy is 3½ km., in the second 14 km.

Starting again from the church along the road which crosses the village, continue straight on towardsBoullare. Here keep turning to the left and take the road to Betz.In the hollow on the left were placed the German batteries which joined in action with those of Étavigny.

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