Amiens, a city right behind the front

After receiving the first contingents of the British Expeditionary Force, on 30 August 1914 the city of Amiens was captured by the Germans, who abandoned it after the Marne victory of September 1914. During this short occupation, the local population was treated very severely and suffered heavy requisitioning. Following the German retreat, the city, in French then British hands, remained very exposed to German artillery fire and aerial bombardments for the remainder of the war. In March 1918, this strategic location was bitterly disputed. At a cost of major sacrifices from the British Army and the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the pressure from the Germans was finally lifted in August 1918.

The Battles of the Somme, 1914-18

The first engagements on the Somme took place during the “Race to the Sea”, a manoeuvre which saw each of the belligerents attempt to outflank the other to the north. It was a failure: the front became entrenched and the Germans dug themselves in solidly along the Bapaume to Péronne road. From then on, the war in the trenches raged from Beaumont-Hamel to Beuvraignes, heightened by tunnel warfare. In July 1915, the British forces took over control of this sector from the French, whose 10th Army was assigned to the defence of Chaulnes to the south, while its 6th Army occupied both banks of the Somme.

In August 1919, the city of Amiens received an army citation, stating that “for four years, it withstood the bombardments and threat of the enemy with unwavering courage and dignity”.

The biggest offensive, carried out primarily by the British, took place in 1916, when General Joffre decided to attack in a “quiet” sector, at the juncture of the French and British armies.

The original plan to batter the enemy was upset by operations in Verdun, which reduced by half the number of French troops assigned to the offensive. The high command therefore decided to conduct a Franco-British operation, supported by strong artillery. General Haig lined up a large number of infantry battalions, all of them inexperienced, with the aim of making a large-scale breakthrough. On 24 June 1916, the artillery preparation got underway, but poor weather conditions meant that the assault was put back to 1 July.

The first days saw heavy losses, and the offensive soon descended into a war of attrition, in which the British, failing to secure any major successes, paid a high price. However, the Germans were forced to withdraw artillery from the Verdun area, so that one of the objectives of the Franco-British operation was achieved.

The progress of the French force, comprised of more experienced units, was more tangible than that of the British and Commonwealth contingents. With fresh reinforcements, the French attempted to develop their actions north of the Somme, but progress fell short of expectations. For ten weeks, the Allied troops chipped away at the German positions, without making a decisive breakthrough. The commanders-in-chief of the Allied armies therefore decided to suspend the overall offensive, but to keep up the pressure on the enemy by launching partial attacks at regular intervals and bringing the first tanks into play. On 18 November 1916, the offensive finally came to an end.

From the map, the Allied troops may appear to have made a dramatic advance, but in fact they moved forward only three miles during the whole battle. The human cost was extremely high. By the end of the offensive, the Germans had lost 650 000 men, the French nearly 200 000. For the British, the Somme remains the biggest military disaster of the 20th century, with the sacrifice of 420 000 men.

Situated in Le Mont de Sucre, south of Neuville-Saint-Vaast, the national necropolis of Maroeuil, created in 1919, contains the remains of 585 French soldiers who died in the battles of Artois between 1914 and 1918. In the centre is a monument erected in 1919 to the memory of Major Georges Lilleman of the 156th infantry regiment, killed on 9th May 1915 in La Targette and interred in the necropolis. Financed by the officer’s parents, the monument honours, with its epitaph “Brave soldiers who shed your blood for your country – we salute you”, the memory of the dead of the 156th and 160th infantry regiments, particularly Father Grosjean, a stretcher-bearer assigned as chaplain to the 156th, whose citation is a witness to the commitment of these two units: “Kept pressing his commanding officer for permission to accompany the battle assault troops on 9th May 1915. Constantly showed himself in the most dangerous places on 9th and 10th May, exhorting and encouraging his fellows, dressing the wounds of the injured, ensuring that they were picked up speedily, in a word, being a constant example of courage, good humour and charity.” (Official Journal, 2nd August 1915).

Nearby is the Maroeuil British Cemetery created by the 51st (Highland) Division, today containing the remains of 531 British servicemen, thirty Canadians and eleven Germans.

The French soldiers include Henri Gaudier aka Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (grave 936), a painter and sculptor, precursor in France of the British artistic movement vorticism. A sergeant in the 129th infantry regiment, he died on 5th June 1915 at the age of 23 in Neuville-Saint-Vaast.

The remains from World War II include those of Paul Nizan (grave 8189) and Jeanne Bartet (grave 8352). The latter, an army nurse who belonged to the Union des Femmes de France de Bordeaux, was killed on 21st May 1940 near ambulance number 257 (Labroye). Paul Nizan, novelist, essayist, journalist and translator, was killed on 23rd May 1940 in Oudricq during the German attack on Dunkirk.

A monument has been erected to the memory of the soldiers of the 15th army corps who fell in August 1914.

Nearby are the Cabaret Rouge British cemetery and also the biggest German cemetery in Europe, Maison Blanche, which contains more than 44,000 graves. To the north of La Targette, towards Souchez, are two monuments, one placed at the entrance to the Czechoslovakian cemetery, honouring the memory of Polish and Czechoslovakian Foreign Legion volunteers.

Covering an area of 25 hectares, the cemetery holds over 40,000 bodies, half of which are in individual graves, and the other half are divided into seven ossuaries. It is France’s largest national cemetery.

Some foreign soldiers (Belgian, Romanian and Russian) are also buried there. French soldiers killed in WWII were also buried there.

Amongst the graves, you can find the grave of a father and his son who died on the battlefield in 1915 and 1918. Six other graves hold the bodies of a father killed in WWI and a son killed in WWII.

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In the town cemetery nearby are two military plots containing 119 Belgian and 141 British soldiers and six military workers – five Egyptians and one Malagasy – who died as a result of their wounds in the same hospitals.

From the outset of operations in 1914, the civilian and military hospitals of Dunkirk and the surrounding area took in a great many wounded from the Yser front. Very soon, they were overwhelmed. Schools, care homes, even the Zuydcoote sanatorium and the Malo and Malo-Terminus casinos, were requisitioned to receive growing numbers of wounded.

The Battles of the Yser, 1914-18

After abandoning Antwerp and retreating from Flanders, the Belgian, French and British armies established a new front on the Yser, between the North Sea coast and Dixmude. Ten miles long, this sector was bitterly contested. To hold back the repeated attacks from the Germans, the Belgians resisted valiantly, using all the means at their disposal. In autumn, the dykes burst, flooding no man’s land and the enemy trenches. From 16 October, the naval fusiliers of Rear Admiral Ronarc’h’s brigade defended Dixmude inch by inch, alongside the 4th Moroccan Battalion, the 1st Algerian Battalion and the Belgian Army. 

After 25 days of uninterrupted fighting, on 10 November the enemy took Dixmude. Further south, at Ypres, from 31 October to 2 November, the enemy launched furious assaults that broke on the Franco-British lines. Neither adversary gave way. The first Battle of Ypres ended with no real result. The town remained at centre stage throughout the war, particularly in the spring of 1915, when a new weapon was tested: poison gas.

Throughout the conflict, ever more bloody operations were carried out in this sector, especially in spring 1915 and in summer 1917, when 240 000 British soldiers were killed.

 Following the old First World War front line, the Musée Territoire 14-18 sheds light on a great many aspects of a conflict that left a lasting impression on the local landscape and population.

Here you can visit a number of museums (Musée de la Batellerie, Musée du Noyonnais); an interpretation centre (Espace Découverte in Rethondes), which will prepare you for your visit to the battleground by using modern technology to present the main stages of the conflict in the area; several quarries (Confrécourt, Montigny); a large number of cemeteries, monuments and remains (various French cemeteries; two German cemeteries, including the biggest in the Oise; a number of bunkers, including that of the Crown Prince of Bavaria, at Nampcel; the ruins of Plessier-de-Roye and Ourscamp abbey); follow our hiking trails, and immerse yourself in the everyday lives of civilians and soldiers a hundred years ago.

 In late August 1914, the German 1st Army invaded the Oise and the Soisson area. It passed Compiègne and Senlis, then went on down the eastern side of Paris to participate in surrounding the French troops. But the French, aided by the British, halted the invaders at the Battle of the Marne (5 to 10 September 1914). The Germans then retreated, stopping on the right bank of the Aisne. From 14 to 20 September 1914, the very violent fighting that took place across the Noyon and Soisson areas brought little change. While the belligerents tried to break the deadlock by attempting to outflank each other to the northwest of Noyon (the start of the ‘Race to the Sea’), the front became established in the area for 30 months, along a line that passed through Roye, Lassigny, Ribécourt, Autrêches and Soissons. The inhabitants of the towns and villages near the front line were evacuated, while the Germans occupied Noyon and the northeast of the department of the Oise. Following the German retreat over the Hindenburg Line in March 1917, the Oise was liberated a first time. But although life tended to return to normal with the return of the civilians, the German offensives of spring 1918 prolonged the fighting in the area until the end of August 1918. The various battles waged during this period transformed towns and villages, which up until then had been spared, into “flattened country”.

The clearing in Rethondes nevertheless became the symbol of peace regained, with the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918.

Sources : ©Musée Territoire 14-18

Now the property of the Communication and Audiovisual Production Company for the Department of Defence (E.C.P.A.D), the fort at Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), constructed between 1841 and 1845, was modified after the war of 1870 in order to defend Paris. It is part of the first line in Séré de Rivières' system.

Constructed between 1841 and 1845, the fort was equipped in 1870 with 94 artillery pieces and commanded by Sea Captain Krantz. It was defended by a marine battalion that had come from Brest. On the 29th and 30th November, the fort supported the attacks from the outposts of the 6th Prussian corps to the north of Choisy-le-Roi, Thiais and Chevilly-la-Rue. On the 30th these three villages received 5,500 shells in a single day. The besieging troops owe their salvation to the numerous trenches. The French abandoned the captured positions on the evening of the 30th. The fort was occupied by the 6th Prussian corps from the 29th January until the 20th March 1871. A battery of 21 cm mortars was brought into the gorge to fire on the central section and batteries of 15 cm cannons to bombard Paris in the event that fighting should start again. The townspeople occupied the fort after the departure of the Prussians, with Colonel Rogowski in command of the confederate garrison. Faced with the threat of an attack by troops from the 3rd Versailles corps, the Confederates evacuated the fort during the night of the 24th to 25th May, blowing up a munitions depot and destroying nine of the casemates between the 3rd and 4th sides.
The fort is a pentagon with 5 bastions. It is built on underground galleries; only one of the bastions is not entrenched in the foundation piers. The galleries (more than 2 km) were planned out between 1852 and 1860 to keep watch over these piers and serve as shelters from bombardments (the ceilings of these galleries are 6 m thick). During the works, 2 battalions from the 65th Line Regiment were used, housed in an army camp close to the fort. The dominant position of the fort is clearly visible from the crossroads to the north of the entrance. The entrance accommodates two guardhouses in five vaulted casemates. There are also three postern gates, of which 2 are next to the latrines, along the other sides. The ramparts and bastions are bridged by about fifty cross sections, including 28 with vaulted shelters. The rampart between bastions 3 and 4 protects 18 casemates; one of them had a bread oven. The flanks adjacent to the bastions have gun casements for the infantry. The four other ramparts have a scarp with protected walkway for the infantry. The parade ground is surrounded by a large barracks for the troops and two houses for officers. These buildings were rebuilt in 1872. The 2 gunpowder magazines have an internal surface area of 142 m2. The fort is served by 3 wells. The building is faced in millstone, with cut stone for the stays and window and door surrounds. The buildings have tiled or zinc roofs. The arches of the casemates and magazines are in stone. The ditches between bastions 1, 2, 3 and 4 are still preserved. To the west, a police barracks occupies the place of the ditches. On the glacis there are now gardens, a college, a school, some houses and other buildings. Access is still via a casemate guardhouse. The rampart has kept its cross sections and casemates, although the latter have been converted into offices. The three barracks rebuilt after 1872 have been redeveloped, along with the two gunpowder magazines dating from 1847.
The premises now house the Communication and Audiovisual Production Company for the Department of Defence (E.C.P.A.D). They store the audio-visual archives of the military history of France from 1900 to the modern day, through 16,800 films and videos and more than 3.5 million de photographs. The first world war collection collates all the pictures and films made by the Armed Forces Photographic and Cinematographic Division (SPCA) from 1915, the date it was established, to 1919 when it was suspended. This collection is made up of images directly linked to: fighting and its aftermath: the French front and the Eastern front, the lives of poilus (a slang term fro a French soldier), the army medical corps, prisoners and what remains of the battlefields; images of the economic effort of the country and its colonies; images of political and diplomatic life: official visits of heads of state or foreign delegations, the Treaty of Versailles etc. pictures and works of art, monuments and museums and photographs taken in anticipation of reconstruction. The second world war collection collates all the documents issued by the various forces represented: the phony war documents the life of the French armies in the countryside, from the North Sea to the Italian border, between the declaration of war and the start of the French campaign; Vichy is concerned with the actions of the government and the Armistice Army, mainly in the free zone in North Africa before the allied landings; The Liberating Army follows the main fighting that took place from North Africa to Europe, from Algiers in November 1942 until the liberation of the concentration camps in 1945.
The German collection is especially large, due to the great number of operational theatres illustrated along the eastern front and through the diversity in the subjects covered in the military field (scenes of fighting and training, the lives of units on the front, the repression of people in the east and the manufacture of weapons) and in everyday life. Managed by the Armed Forces Cinematographic Division (SCA) which was united after the war, the Indochina war collection groups together Tonkin, Annam, Cochinchina, Cambodia and Laos. Although military documentaries, most of which were about the land army, represent the main subject of this collection, there are also documents describing the way of life, habitat and special customs of the various ethnic groups. Many documents belonging to this collection illustrate French action in the colonies: keeping order, industrial and agricultural development, the construction of schools, housing and clinics and the establishment of administrative frameworks. They demonstrate approval of French presence in Indochina and Algeria. The external operations collection. Protecting France's fundamental interests can lead to the intervention of the armed forces outside their national territory. That is why we talk about external operations, carried out within the framework of international mandates, such as NATO and the UN. The main external operations covered by the ECPAD since 1945 are the Korean war (1952-1953), the Lebanon (1978-1984), Chad (1978-1987), Cambodia (1991-1993), the Gulf War (1991), Bosnia-Herzegovina (since 1992), Rwanda (1994), Kosovo and Macedonia (since 1998), the Ivory Coast and Afghanistan (since 2001).
Fort at Ivry-sur-Seine 2-8 route du Fort 94205 Ivry-sur-Seine Remembrance tourist information Mairie d'Ivry Esplanade Georges Marrane 94205 Ivry-sur-Seine cedex Tel.: 0149.60.25.08 Communication and Audiovisual Production Company for the Department of Defence (ECPAD) Tel: 01.49.60.52.00 Fax: 01.49.60.52.06 e-mail: ecpad@ecpad.fr or mediatheque@ecpad.fr

The museum officially opened in May 2008, with support from the Château-Thierry community of communes and Picardy Region. The project is the initiative of the mayor of Belleau, and the design and management of the collections is in the hands of the district authority of Château-Thierry, in conjunction with many collectors of First World War memorabilia, all of them true enthusiasts.

In a first area of the museum is a permanent exhibition on the American Cemetery and the Marine Corps.

In a second area, temporary exhibitions look at themes related to the First World War.

History of the Battle of Belleau Wood:

The Battle of Belleau Wood took place in June 1918, with the involvement of American soldiers of the 2^nd Division, notably Marines who had just arrived from eastern France. After one month of fierce combat, the American soldiers, including the Marines, won this battle which today is still considered as the first major engagement and the founding event of the Marines’ reputation. Each year they send a delegation to celebrate Memorial Day at the end of May.

The Marine Corps had 1,062 dead, 33 missing, 3,170 wounded and 445 victims of gassing during the fighting in the Belleau sector. That was more than half the Marine Brigade troops: more than all the losses recorded since the creation of the Marine Corps in 1775. But Paris was saved, the Americans had proved their valor in combat, and the French Army had regained morale and was able to count on its new allies. After Belleau, the Germans never again progressed toward Paris until the end of the War. This was the beginning of the road to Victory. The Marines earned their nickname of “Devil Dogs” at Belleau for their tenacity in combat.

A few days later, on 29 June 1918, General Degoutte, commander of the 6the French Army, proclaimed on the agenda: "Given the brilliant behavior of the 4^th Brigade of the 2^nd Infantry Division of the United States, which took Bouresches in hard-fought battle and the control point of Belleau Wood, fiercely defended by the numerous enemy, the Commanding General of the 6^th Army hereby declares that in all official documents, Belleau Wood shall forevermore be referred to as “Marine Brigade Wood”.

Sources : ©Musée de la Mémoire de Belleau 1914-1918