The Battles of Champagne, 1914-18

The Franco-British counter-offensive on the Marne in September 1914 and the failed “Race to the Sea” signalled the end of the mobile war on the Western Front. To protect themselves from artillery fire, the belligerents dug in.

In the winter of 1915, General Joffre launched a series of attacks on the German trenches in Champagne, all of which failed. Intended to chip away at the German lines in the sectors of Souain, Perthes, Beauséjour and Massiges, these were particularly bloody operations. The front didn’t budge.

In the summer, to break the deadlock and provide support to the struggling Russians on the Eastern Front, Joffre, true to his doctrine, decided to launch a fresh offensive. Supported by another operation in Artois, the main operation took place on the vast, arid chalk plain of Champagne, on a front spanning 15 miles, from Auberive to Ville-sur-Tourbe. It was carried out by the 2nd and 4th Armies, against the Germans of the 3rd Army, who were dug into solid trenches. Further back, on the opposite slope, was a second position, hidden from aerial reconnaissance and out of range of the French guns.

After an artillery bombardment lasting three days, the attack was launched on 25 September. The French took the first lines easily, with the exception of the Butte du Mesnil. To the east of the formation, the Colonial Division took “Main de Massiges”, a key element in the German formation.

But the momentum was broken by the second position, which remained intact. The exhausted French troops had to go on fending off powerful counter-attacks, during which the two armies lost 138 000 men. By November, difficult weather conditions and the sheer scale of the losses forced Joffre to abandon the idea of carrying out further attacks. The front returned to relative calm.

The German offensive of July 1918 put this front once more at centre stage. Reims, under continuous fire from German artillery, came under threat once again. But General Foch, engaging all of his forces from the Meuse to the North Sea, and with growing support from the Americans, conducted a broad manoeuvre. In the Reims area, General Gouraud’s army successively took Navarin, Tahure, Le Mesnil and Sommepy, then advanced towards the Ardennes until November 1918. Today, the Suippes area preserves the memory of this bitter fighting, through the ruins of the villages of Perthes, Hurlus, Mesnil, Tahure and Ripont.

The Battles of Champagne, 1914-18

The Franco-British counter-offensive on the Marne in September 1914 and the failed “Race to the Sea” signalled the end of the mobile war on the Western Front. To protect themselves from artillery fire, the belligerents dug in.

In the winter of 1915, General Joffre launched a series of attacks on the German trenches in Champagne, all of which failed. Intended to chip away at the German lines in the sectors of Souain, Perthes, Beauséjour and Massiges, these were particularly bloody operations. They yielded no results, and the front didn’t budge.

In the summer, to break the deadlock and provide support to the struggling Russians on the Eastern Front, Joffre decided to conduct a fresh offensive. Supported by another operation in Artois, the main operation took place on the vast, arid chalk plain of Champagne, on a front spanning 15 miles, from Auberive to Ville-sur-Tourbe. It was carried out by the 2nd and 4th Armies, against the Germans of the 3rd Army, who were dug into solid trenches. Further back, on the opposite slope, was a second position, hidden from aerial reconnaissance and out of range of the French guns.

After an artillery bombardment lasting three days, the attack was launched on 25 September. The French took the first lines, with the exception of the Butte du Mesnil.

On the site of this cemetery, the 28th Brigade, comprised of the 35th and 42nd Infantry Regiments, entered the fray. The men, many of whom came from Belfort, must take the Plateau des Tantes, which lay to the west of the Ferme de Navarin. There, dug into a position covered with barbed wire and machine guns, the enemy put up violent resistance. Sustaining heavy losses, on 27 September the brigade succeeded in taking a 500 metre stretch of the Tranchée des Tantes.

The eagerly awaited breakthrough appeared to be successful. But a lack of resources meant it could not be exploited. Surrounded and subjected to violent shelling, the 28th Brigade was annihilated, together with the farm at the heart of the fighting, the Ferme des Wacques.

More broadly, the momentum of the offensive was broken by the second position, which remained intact. The exhausted French troops had to go on fending off powerful counter-attacks, during which the two armies lost 138 000 men. By November, difficult weather conditions and the sheer scale of the losses forced Joffre to abandon the idea of carrying out further attacks. The front returned to relative calm.

The German offensive of July 1918 put this front once more at centre stage. But in the autumn, engaging all his forces from the Meuse to the North Sea, and with growing support from the Americans, General Foch conducted a broad manoeuvre. In the Reims area, General Gouraud’s army successively took Navarin, Tahure and Sommepy. In the Minaucourt sector, the French took Mont-Têtu and Le Mesnil and crossed the Dormoise, advancing towards the Ardennes until November 1918.

Today, the Suippes area preserves the memory of this bitter fighting, through the ruins of the villages of Perthes, Hurlus, Mesnil, Tahure and Ripont, together with 18 cemeteries. In the commune of Souain alone, there are three more military cemeteries, as well as the iconic memorial and ossuary of La Ferme de Navarin, containing the bodies of 10 000 unidentified soldiers and preserving the memory of the French, American, Polish, Russian and Czechoslovakian soldiers involved in the fighting on the Champagne front.

In the cemetery are two regimental memorials to the 44th and 60th Infantry, which sustained particularly heavy losses in the fighting. The memorials, originally erected on the battlefield, were moved in 1985, following land consolidation.

Today, the site is associated with the memory of Corporal Blaise Cendrars (1887-1961) who, on 28 September 1915 in Navarin, was hit in his right hand by machine-gun fire. Seriously wounded, with his hand attached only by strip of flesh, he was treated in the ambulance centre here before being transferred to Châlons-sur-Marne, where he had his right arm amputated, above the elbow. Commended for bravery in army dispatches in November 1915, he was transferred to Bourg-la-Reine. Originally from Switzerland, Cendrars, who had enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, was granted French nationality on 16 January 1916.

Overcoming this ordeal, he trained himself to write with his left hand and, in his autobiographical work, La Main Coupée (The Severed Hand), gives a poignant and realist account of the First World War.

Located in the place known as "La Crouée", the "Souain-Perthes-Les-Hurlus" National Cemetery holds the remains of soldiers who died for France during the battles that took place in Champagne between 1914 and 1918 and during the Campaign for France in 1940. The cemetery holds nearly 30,500 bodies, including over 22,000 in eight ossuaries. It is one of the largest First World War national cemeteries. Two French soldiers who died for France during the Second World War are also buried here. There is a monument commemorating those who died in the 1915 offensives.

Souain La Crouée National Cemetery adjoins the German cemetery where nearly 14,000 German soldiers are buried, including nearly 10,000 in two ossuaries. The men buried here include the Expressionist painter, August Macke, killed at the age of 27 on 26 September 1914, in Perthes.

Despite the French push across the Marne in September 1914 and the efforts to outflank one another, the armies advanced little and the front stood still. The “Race to the Sea” was a failure. To protect themselves from artillery fire, the belligerents dug in. This was the start of the static war. A place marked by the military presence, the Mourmelon military camp then became a major centre of military activity in the Great War.

The battles of Champagne in 1915

In the winter of 1915, General Joffre launched a series of attacks in Champagne intended to chip away at the German lines. Located in the sectors of Souain, Perthes, Beauséjour and Massiges, these were very bloody operations. Yet despite these attacks, the front didn’t budge.

In the summer, to break the deadlock and provide support to the floundering Russians on the Eastern Front, Joffre decided to conduct a fresh offensive. Supported by another operation in Artois, it took place on the vast, arid chalk plain of Champagne, on a front spanning 15 miles, from Auberive to Ville-sur-Tourbe. It was carried out by the 2nd and 4th Armies, against the Germans of the 3rd Army, who were dug into solid trenches. Further back, on the opposite slope, was a second position, hidden from aerial reconnaissance and out of range of the artillery.

After an artillery bombardment lasting three days, the attack was launched on 25 September. The bombardment left the first lines in total disarray, making it easy for the French to take them. Despite a few points of resistance, namely at the Butte du Mesnil, progress was rapid. But the momentum was broken by the second position, which remained intact. The entire front became a bloodbath. The exhausted troops had to go on fending off powerful counter-attacks, during which the two armies lost 138 000 men. By November, disastrous weather conditions and the sheer scale of the losses forced Joffre to abandon the idea of carrying out further attacks. Aside from a handful of limited operations in 1916, the front saw a period of relative calm.

The Battle of the Hills of Champagne (17 April to 9 May 1917)

Launched to the northeast of Reims, between Prunay and Auberive, this operation supported the French offensive carried out on 16 April 1917 at Chemin des Dames. The aim was to take the chalk massif of Moronvilliers, which rose to a height of 260 metres above sea level. Since 1914, the Germans had occupied the massif, from where they were able to observe behind the French lines.

At dawn on 17 April, with slush under foot, the French attempted to take this stronghold. But the massif remained in German hands. With a great deal of effort, the French troops liberated the village of Auberive and took Mont Sans Nom, Mont Cornillet, Mont Blond, Mont Perthois and Mont Haut. Unfortunately, they failed to take two other strategic positions: Le Casque and Le Téton. By 20 May, the French had secured a partial victory with this offensive. This hard-won sector would be strategically evacuated on 15 July 1918.

The German offensive of July 1918 put this front once more at centre stage. Reims, under continuous fire from German artillery, came under threat once again. But General Foch, engaging all of his forces from the Meuse to the North Sea, conducted a broad manoeuvre to circumvent the Aisne front. In Champagne, supported by the Americans, General Gouraud’s 4th Army took many positions in the Navarin sector and at Sommepy. Pressing on towards Mézières and Sedan, the Franco-American forces made rapid progress to the Ardennes, where they broke through the enemy lines. On a front of 250 miles, Foch’s armies went in pursuit, hounding the enemy until 11 November 1918.

Today, the Suippes-Mourmelon area preserves the memory of this bitter fighting in the Marne, through the ruins of the villages of Perthes, Hurlus, Mesnil, Tahure, Ripont, Nauroy and Moronvilliers, along with 18 cemeteries.