ALSACE-LORRAINE - The Gap of Charmes - La Trouée de Charmes

This trip we start at the Léomont near Vitrimont and we will with some exceptions concentrate on the Battle of Lorraine of August-September 1914 in the area, called, the “Trouée de Charmes”, the Gap of Charmes.

After the Léomont battlefield we continue our explorations to Friscati hill and its Nécropole Nationale. Next we pay a visit to the battlefield of la Tombe to go on to the Château de Lunéville. There we cross the Vezouze to move on southward to the Bayon Nécropole Nationale. At Bayon we cross the Moselle to pass Charmes for the panorama over the battlefield from the Haut du Mont. North-west of Charmes we will visit the British Military Cemetery containing 1918 war victims. From Charmes we go northward to the battlefield of the First French Victory of the Great War, the Battle of Rozelieures of 25 August 1914. North of Rozelieures we will visit the village of Gerbéviller. From there we make a jump northward to visit the ruins of Fort de Manonviller to finish with an interesting French Dressing Station bunker, west of Domjevin.

After we have parked our car, we are welcomed by this first view of the Léomont.

At the same location I am standing with my back to an uninteresting plot of wild vegetation, which conceals the ruins of the Farm of Léomont. A sign with a period photo tells us about the history of the Farm of Léomont.

As we walk up the hill, we get a closer look at this statue of a French Soldier.

The sculptures of Gaston Broquet 

Although this is a 1950 copy of Broquet's statue, the sculptor Gaston Broquet deserves some more attention. The sculptures of Gaston Broquet often show soldiers in a realistic battle situation. Gaston Broquet was a famous Lorraine sculptor, and also a war experienced Poilu, a member of the 94th R.I. See also on this website photos of other examples of Broquet's sculptures; of the wounded Sergeant Maginot near Fort de Souville, the horrified Poilu with gasmask of Samogneux, and the remarkable  "Raon-l'Etape Monument aux Morts".

The spot of Broquet's statue offers a wide panorama, fit for a first acquaintance with this battlefield.

During the last phase of the Battle of Lorraine Nancy formed the main target for Crown Prince Rupprecht von Bayern's 6. Armee.

This hill is one of the locations, which formed together the Trouée de Charmes, or the Gap of Charmes.

The Gap of Charmes

The “Trouée de Charmes”, or the Gap of Charmes, formed literally a gap in the French defensive lines north-east of the town of Charmes. As you can see on the map above, there were many fortresses around Toul and Epinal in the Vosges. But around Lunéville, in the rather open landscape of plains and hills, there was only one fortress, the Fort de Manonviller.

In this open country there are three natural obstacles, being the rivers Moselle, Vezouze and Meurthe. These last two rivers link together directly west of the city of Lunéville. 

Any German Army which could break through the Gap of Charmes, would have been awarded with the advantage of three options to facilitate the continuation of its campaign on more accessible terrain: 1. Go right and attack Nancy and Toul, or 2. Go left, and attack St. Dié and Epinal, or 3. Advance directly to the Champagne.

Another reason why this weak link in the French defensive line was called the Gap, was the fact that the French 2nd Army linked up here with the 1st Army. During the period of 20 -23 August the flanks of these armies almost lost contact. During the Battle of the Trouée des Charmes from 24 until 26 August 1914, it took the French 2nd Army much effort to withstand the German attacks. It even needed the assistance of the 8e Corps d’Armée of Dubail’s 1st Army. 

The Battle of Lorraine was fought during a period of mobile warfare with almost daily moving front lines.

Broquet's statue does not show us, alas, the colourful 1914 outfit of the French officers and soldiers.

This Poilu wears a field cover over his red cap. Light infantry men, Chasseurs à Pied, wear dark blue trousers and a dark blue cap.

The Battle of the Léomont was only one of the battles fought during the period of 14 August until 13 September in this region of the Gap of Charmes.
During the period of mobile warfare of the Battles of the Frontiers the German Armies advanced in Belgium according to the Schlieffen Plan to Brussels, Namur and Mons. In Alsace-Lorraine Joffre deployed three Armies to execute his Plan XVII, or Plan 17, to win back the territories France had lost to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.

Though the Alsace Army was at first rather successful in the Alsace Sundgau, the fighting in Alsace Lorraine and the Northern Vosges did not develop at all according to the French plans for the 1st Army and 2nd Army.

The French historians call this period of 14 August – 13 September 1914 in Lorraine the Battle of Lorraine. It was in fact a sequence of several battles in almost the same area during 4 weeks; the Battle of Morhange, the Battle of the Trouée de Charmes, including the Battle of Rozelieures, the Battle of the Mortagne, and the Battle of the Grand Couronné, east of Nancy. The Battle of Rozelieures resulted also in the first French victory of the Great War. 

South of the Trouée de Charmes the French 1e Armée of Général Dubail fought during these battles in the Alsace Vosges and Général Bonneau’s Army of Alsace in the Alsace Sundgau (later Général Pau) against the 7. Armee of General von Heeringen. In the Vosges the 1e Armée would fight another battle, the Battle of the Haute-Meurthe, which lasted from 24 August – 11 September. 

The Opponents in Lorraine 

The Bavarian opponents were less colourfully dressed than their French enemies, and used a more natural colour.

From the south the 1st Army attacked Saarburg. From Toul and Nancy Général de Castelnau’s 2nd Army attacked and reached Château-Salins, Morhange, and Dieuze. 

The Bavarians counterattacked and recaptured Château-Salins, Morhange and Dieuze.  

According to French sources the Bavarians counted on the 25th at least 2,500 men killed and 6,000 other casualties. The Battle of the Trouée de Charmes ended as a French victory. 

The next day, on the 26th, the Bavarians retreated over the Meurthe and the Mortagne.
On the location, where we stand now, on the Léomont near Vitrimont and Lunéville, the French Iron Division, the 11e D.I., and especially the unit of the 26e R.I., celebrated that day their own victory over the units of the Bavarian 2. Armeekorps. The 26e R.I. captured the Léomont and other units of the 11e D.I. captured that day also the nearby height of Friscati, and the villages of Deuxville, Maixe, and Drouville. 

The Capture of Fort de Manonviller

With his troops decimated at Morhange and Rozelieures and with a gap to secure for eventual next attacks, de Castelnau decided not to deploy a counter-offensive but to reinforce the lines around Nancy and the lines of the Trouée. Rupprecht von Bayern’s troops counted also heavy losses, especially on the flanks, and he decided to withdraw his Army for a short period of rest and for reorganization. 

4–13 September - The Battle of the Grand Couronné

On 4 September Crown Prince Rupprecht launched a new offensive to conquer Nancy. Rupprecht deployed some 350,000 men, while de Castelnau waited with some 225,000 men.
On the same day in the west the French Army was preparing for a more famous battle, which would start the next day: the Battle of the Marne.
During the battle all villages in the region were destroyed. On 9 and 10 September Nancy suffered an artillery bombardment of two days.  

The German Withdrawal

In the Vosges von Heeringen’s Haute-Meurthe Offensive did not reach its goal, the capture of St. Dié. From 10 September von Heeringen retreated from the Col de la Chapelotte on Saales.
For the 6th Army the Battle for the Grand Couronné was also not successful at all. Under pressure of General's Foch's 20th Army Corps Rupprecht was not able to capture Nancy. 

In France the Battle of the Trouée de Charmes is not only considered a great victory, but in combination with the Battle of the Meurthe-Mortagne all these consecutive Battles of Lorraine are also considered to be of great importance, having a decisive influence on the outcome of the other more famous battle: the German defeat in the Battle of the Marne.

After this intermezzo we return to 2011 and to the view of the statue of the Léomont.

View into the direction of a location, called la Tombe, which we will later visit and the Hill of Friscati.

At this memorial we leave the D 400, we go left, and we follow the D 97 up the hill. At the cemetery building near the junction we park our car.

We cross the D 97 and we enter the Vitrimont - Friscati Nécropole Nationale.

...this Arch of Triumph, covering a colourful Poilu statue in a 1915-1918 outfit.

This Poilu, guarding his 1914 comrades in arms, is equipped with the "Bleu Horizon" battle dress and the "Casque Adrian", the Adrian M 1915 helmet. From February 1915 this light blue outfit, meant as camouflage, was distributed gradually to the French troops.

The three large communal graves, from right to left: Ossuary Number 1, ...

The majority of the human remains, buried in these communal graves, belong to unknown soldiers.

The grave of a member with a German sounding name of the unit, the 26e R.I., which captured the Léomont.

... on the initiative of their former commander, Maréchal Lyautey, who was born in Nancy.

On our way to la Tombe we find in the verge of the road this individual memorial:

Outside the village of Deuxville we arrive at a junction at a location with the ominous name la Tombe (the Grave).

A memorial reminds us of some of the units, who fought in these fields of la Tombe.

After crossing the Vezouze we visit in the centre of Lunéville its impressive Château de Lunéville.

On the eve of the Great War, Lunéville became the "City of the Cavalry", being the garrison city of the 2nd Cavalry Division and its units, amongst others: the 17e et 18e Régiments de Chasseurs à Cheval, the 3e Bataillon de Dragons Portés (Dragoons), the 8e et 31e Régiments de Dragons, the horse batteries of the 8e et 39e Régiments d'Artillerie de Campagne (Field Artillery). To house these units Lunéville counted at least 8 barracks, including its Château.

In front of the Château stands this equestrian statue,  which has no relation to the Great War at all. But I thought it to be too beautiful to leave it out. The statue represents Général Lasalle.

Antoine Charles Louis Collinet, Comte de Lasalle (Metz, 10 May 1775, – Wagram, 6 July 1809) was a French cavalry general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars known as “The Hussar General.” On 5 and 6 July 1809 Lasalle fought at the massive clash of Wagram, Austria, commanding a Light Cavalry Division in the IV Corps of Marshal Masséna. On the night of the second day Lasalle’s men had still not been ordered to fight, so Lasalle went to Marshal Masséna to ask permission to pursue the enemy. Masséna ordered him to go in aid of General Macdonald. As he rode to General Macdonald’s support, Lasalle was temporarily separated from his division. He accidentally alerted a battalion of enemy infantry and he charged them with the 1st Cuirassier Regiment.
Lasalle was shot in the chest but continued to charge. The Austrian infantry broke and were routed as Lasalle and the 1st Cuirassier Regiment pursued the fleeing Austrian infantry. As he charged, Lasalle was shot between the eyes by an Austrian grenadier and was dead before his body hit the ground.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Charles_Louis_de_Lasalle .

We leave Lunéville, we cross the Meurthe, and we continue southward, passing Lamath to Bayon.

This ugly antenna tower is an important landmark to help you not to miss ...

... the Bayon Nécropole Nationale on the other side of the hill on the west side of the road.

At the nearby village of Bayon we cross the bridge over the Moselle.

We continue southward to Charmes, where we pass the centre  of the town, to go directly southward, to the Haut du Mont.

At the Haut du Mont (384 m.) stands this memorial, the "Monument de Lorraine".

A sign tells us some information about the inauguration of this memorial to commemorate the Battle of the Trouée de Charmes.

"The orientation table explains the panorama of the Battle of the Trouée de Charmes.”, says the sign.

We return to the town to cross there the Moselle, and we continue north-eastward along the D 9, to visit on our way to Rozelieures the British Charmes Military Cemetery.

For a while we step out of the period of 1914, to jump forward to the year 1918, the period, during which the majority of the men buried here, were killed.

The majority of the graves belongs to airmen, but also to men of many different nationalities.

Charmes Military Cemetery

Charmes Military Cemetery was used by the 8th Canadian and 42nd Stationary Hospitals and enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from BAZOILLES-SUR-MEUSE French Military Cemetery, BOSSERVILLE and CHARMES Communal Cemetery Extensions, GERARDMER Communal and French Military Cemeteries, ROUCEUX French Military Cemetery, SAVIGNY Churchyard and TOUL American Cemetery. The cemetery now contains 202 burials and commemorations of the First World War. Three of the burials are unidentified and there is a special memorial to one casualty buried in NEUFCHATEAU Communal Cemetery whose grave could not be found. The cemetery also contains 13 Second World War burials and three war graves of other nationalities.

Source as always: Commonwealth War Graves Commission - http://www.cwgc.org/ 

The records do not mention the presence of graves of members of the Indian Labour Corps and the Chinese Labour Corps. The registry of the cemetery itself tells us also about the initiative of the Royal Air Force:

The headstones of the British R.A.F. airmen are standing almost "shoulder to shoulder".

This crew of air mechanics was killed three days before Armistice, on 8 November 1918.

This Lance Corporal of the Royal Irish Fusiliers died after the Armistice. I presume he died after all of his wounds.

I presume that his fate has been shared by this Canadian Lance Corporal, who died on 6 December 1918.

Inscriptions in Hindi and Urdu on the graves of members of the Indian Labour Corps.

The Indian Labour Corps 

"The Indian Labour Corps 

The Indian Labour Corps was employed in Mesopotamia from 1916 onwards. When insufficient men volunteered the Indian Government recruited men serving sentences in prisons and created the Indian Jail Labour Corps. Indians continued to be employed in Mesopotamia until the early 1920s.  
Men were recruited in India to serve in the Indian Labour Corps in France with the first men arriving in June 1917.   Each Indian Princely State and Province recruited their own units, so, on arrival the British found there were varying restrictions on how they could be used. The length of their contracts also varied, some being for twelve months and some the duration of the war.  
There were also problems with officers who had little or no military experience and who had held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, which meant they were too senior to command a labour company.  
Almost 50,000 Indians served in France in the ILC although as labour units they were hampered by illness caused by the cold weather and confusion about their terms of their contract." 

Source: "Military Labour During The First World War" . http://www.labourcorps.co.uk/

In a small corner along the wall stand four headstones of members of the Chinese Labour Corps.

"The Chinese Labour Corps

Recruitment for the Chinese Labour Corps began in China in October 1916 with the first contingent reaching France in April 1917. Almost 100,000 Chinese were to work for the British in France.

Although the Officers and N.C.O.s were British their own Gangers gave instructions to the men and were responsible for supervising the work.

A number of skilled companies were formed and coolies could take trade tests, which entitled them to more pay. 51 and 69 Companies, CLC, for example, undertaking skilled work in the Tank Workshops and almost 2,000 Chinese were employed in skilled railway companies on Railway maintenance.

Following the Armistice the CLC was to undertake major roles as crane drivers at the docks and in battlefield clearance.

The Chinese were recruited on a three year contract and this enabled more continuity than other foreign labour who were often recruited for a year or less. In March 1918 the actions of Ganger Liu Dien Chen in rallying his men when they came under shellfire led to him being recommended for the award of a Military Medal. At the time the Chinese were not eligible for any awards but this was changed to allow them to be awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. As a result Liu Dien Chen and four other Chinese were awarded MSMs.

Chinese labourers were also recruited for service in Mesopotamia and Northern Russia."  

Source: "Military Labour During The First World War" . http://www.labourcorps.co.uk/

The two graves of the German Airmen, who also died a few weeks after the Armistice .

Via Damas-aux-Bois and the D 12, switching at St. Boingt to the D 22d, we continue to Rozelieures.

Along the D 12, between Damas-aux-Bois and St. Boingt, we spot on our right the Haut de la Côte (422 m.)

Because we are running late on our planned schedule, we have to skip a visit to the Rozelieures Nécropole Nationale. Of course I still made an overall photo of it.

Nécropole Nationale de Rozelieures

... I made a landscape photo of the battlefield, from the entrance of the Rozelieures Cemetery. Left the edge of the Bois de la l'Éau.  

From the cemetery we enter the village, in the village we turn left, and just outside the village we stop at a cluster of memorials.

Before we visit the memorials a concise, but still more detailed, reminder about the Battle of Rozelieures of 25 August 1914.

The Battle of Rozelieures - 25 August 1914 - France's First Victory

On 24 August units of the 21. Armeekorps reached Gerbévillers, Remenoville and Rozelieures. General de Castelnau’s units counterattacked in a pincer movement from the east and west the flanks of the 21. Armeekorps.

At St. Boingt the 8e Corps d’Armée repelled the attack of the units of the Bavarian 3. Infanterie Division, the B.I.R. 17, B.I.R. 22, and the Prussian I.R. 71. But the Bavarian units still succeeded in occupying the village of Rozelieures.

During the night of 24-25 August de Castelnau ordered to concentrate almost all artillery fire on the centre of the battle zone near the village of Rozelieures. 

In the morning of 25 August, at 7.00 AM, the 2e Bataillon des Chasseurs à Pied of the 6e Groupe de Chasseurs Cyclistes (light infantry on bicycles) and a half squadron of the 1e Régiment des Hussards (light cavalry) attacked from the northern outskirts of St. Boingt and the Bois de la l’Eau, south of the village of Rozelieures, entered it and almost captured it. 

From 8.00 AM the French units received fierce counter-attacks from support units of the 3. B.I.D., advancing from Remenoviller and the Bois de Réthimont, north of Rozelieures.

The Chasseurs were driven from the village southward to the Bois de la l’Eau.
The Bavarians took advantage of this success and continued to move southward, further into the Gap of Charmes. 

De Castelnau ordered immediately three regiments of the Cavalry Corps to advance from St. Boingt and to reinforce the troops fighting in the wood.
With the support of the newly arrived cavalry the 2e B.C.P. successfully regrouped. Around 16.00 hrs. they launched in the wood "with a magnificent elan" a fierce charge with bayonets at the Bavarians, chasing them out of the wood over the open battlefield, out of the village. Later on that day there followed fierce fighting in the Bois de Réthimont, south of Remenoviller and further northward, which caused the Bavarians to retreat on the 26th over the Meurthe and the Mortagne. 

In this battle, Lieutenant de Cazenove is distinguished for his bravery and energy. He fell mortally wounded by 4 bullets some 500 metres from this spot at the edge of the Bois de la l'Eau (old spelling: "Bois dela Lau"). He wrote in a letter, dated on 17 August: "Victory is certain and with it the recovery of France, our lives would mean nothing to offer for such a blessing. " 

According to French sources the Bavarians counted on the 25th at least 2,500 men killed and 6,000 other casualties.

The Battle of Rozelieures ended as a French victory and blocked definitely the advance through the Gap of Charmes.

From the Battle of Rozelieures memorial, a view south-eastward, over the battlefield to the Revers le Renard hill (301 m).

Some 20 m. futher on, on the northern side of the road, stands the Battle of Lorraine memorial.

The memorial shows a map of the battlefields of the large 4 battles, the Battle of Rozelieures, the Battle of the Mortagne, the Battle of the Grand Couronné, and the Battle of the Meurthe - Mortagne, here called the Battle of Baccarat - la Chipotte, and it mentions all the units of the 1e and the 2e Armée involved in these battles.

On the memorial we find three quotations, referring to the decisive influence of these battles on the results of the Battle of the Marne. We have read already two of these quotations at the Monument de Lorraine, Charmes. The third quotation is of the veterans, Isorni & Cadars: 

Before us we see a crucifix and the grave of the war hero, Lieutenant de Cazenove.

On the base of the crucifix is an inscription with an elaborate, but interesting text.

Let us have an extra and better look at the panorama, which this spot offers.

The Nécropole Nationale, along the D 22d, is located left of the top of the crucifix. The Bois de la l'Eau (Bois dela Lau) is located right at the horizon.

... northward via the D 144 to Gerbéviller. In the centre of the village we visit an important location:  the Bridge over the Mortagne river.

On the northern bank of the river stands near the bridge this memorial, dedicated to the inhabitants of Gerbéviller and the 2e Bataillon de Chasseurs à Pied.

This blockade frustrated the Bavarians so much, that their anger resulted in atrocities against the Gerbéviller citizens on 24 August; all kinds of violence took place, also against women and children. The Bavarians started to loot and to set fire to the few last buildings of the town, which were still standing after the bombardent. Later on that day they evacuated with force a part of the population. 

Afterwards, on 1 September, the French civilian aviator, Doctor Emile Reymond, flew over the ruins of Gerbéviller and observed that the ruins of Gerbévillers were still burning.

Of the 475 houses only 20 houses stayed intact. Some 100 civilians of Gerbéviller are still missing, another 50 persons were killed. At a location, called la Prêle, north-west of the town, the Bavarians executed 15 inhabitants. 

On the 25th the 8e Corps d'Armée liberated temporarily Gerbéviller until the next Bavarian occupation of 5 - 12 September 1914. 

From the bridge we continue through the village to the north-western outskirts of Gerbéviller.  For lack of time we have to skip our visit to the two Gerbéviller war cemeteries, east of the village. Instead we prefer to visit the location, where the execution of the 15 civilians took place, near the Monument de la Prêle.

The la Prêle Memorial commemorates the civilian victims of 24 August 1914 of the hamlet of Tanconville, west of Gerbéviller, and of Gerbéviller itself.

The four sides of the base of the obelisk wear the inscriptions of the names of these citizens.

The headstones are in the shape of a sword in blue horizon, decorated with a lion's head, the citizen's name and simply "1914". 

"Le Souvenir Français", "The French Remembrance", is an official French, and also a private, association, since 1887 responsible for creating and maintaining the majority of the war memorials in France.

On this spot, or nearby, General Clauss himself attended the execution of the 15 Gerbéviller citizens. 

About the execution near  the Monument de la Prêle the French official war historian of the period, Gabriël Hanotaux, records in a modest footnote a handwritten note of the eye-witness, Soeur Julie:

“During this execution General Clauss was sitting under an ash tree behind a table with a bottle of champagne, when he ordered to shoot at the moment that he raised his glass.”

(Source: Hanotaux: “L'Histoire Illustrée de la Guerre de 1914”)

We continue via Lunéville to Manonviller, where we pass the village to pay a short visit to the ruins of the Fort de Manonviller.

This view from the north is the best view, which I can offer you of the location of the ruins of the Fort de Manonviller, overgrown with vegetation.

Rocolle’s capitulation caused a public discussion in the French media about the question, whether he had surrendered too early or without fighting the Bavarian infantry units. 

Considering the later developments during the following month the Bavarian success here was not of any strategic importance, but for the time being it was still better news in the German media than the news of being beaten on the same day at the Battle of Rozelieures.

Unfortunately this memorial in front of the fort forms the only site of interest, which we are able to visit.

At the centre of the village we go westward along the C 7 into the direction of the village of Domjevin ...

Being not more than 2 km. away from the later consolidated front line of Laneuveville-aux-Bois, Vého and Reillon, it is possible that this bunker functioned as a dressing station, not only during 1914, but also afterwards, until 1918.

At first we detect in the copse only an open spot with the two eastern entrances of the bunker. The eastern main entrance of the bunker.

The extreme eastern entrance is almost hidden beneath the vegetation.

We enter a wide and high arched corridor, with wide door openings.

These corridors are not like the narrow and low shafts, used elsewhere on the front for underground mining activity.

A detail of the arched ceiling, where two large rooms come together with the two tunnels.

The outer concrete wall, that protects the eastern exit, forms not only the start but also the end of our exploration of this French dressing station near Domjevin.

For more explorations over the Lorraine battlefields, please, click on the link below for the next Photo Impression.  

 Continue to the next chapter on Lorraine: "Avricourt - Leintrey - Reillon - Domèvre - Parux"