ALSACE VOSGES - Le Tanet - Bichtstein - Villa Sidi-Brahim
- by Pierre Grande Guerre
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- 12 Jun, 2019
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Year of visit: 2010
With a view north-eastward we walk on a track some 500 m. upward and eastward into the Forêt du Bichtstein.
In the autumn of 1914 the 12e Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins of Grenoble, being a component of the 115e Brigade, the “Brigade de la Schlucht”, were stationed at this position on the Bichtstein, a height of 877 m.
This bunker, scattered with rubble and debris, is a relic of the stronghold position of the Chasseurs Alpins on this height of 877 m.
The 12e B.C.A. in the Vosges - 1914-1916
Sources: Journal des marches et Opérations – Groupement des Vosges - Henri Charles-Lavauzelle: “Historique Résumé de 12e Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins”, 1920.
After this intermezzo we continue from the bunker some 50 m. to the west, ...
We return on the track and we descend some 250 m. westward to look for our original goal.
In between the trees we sometimes get a glimpse north-westward of the summit of le Tanet.
Some 100 m. south of the track we had some difficulty to locate this ruined house.
This the front of the former officers quarters of the Chasseurs Alpins, stationed here.
For the Chasseurs Alpins "Sidi-Brahim" forms a most significant name, which I explain concisely in the frame below.
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The battle cry "Sidi-Brahim!" at the Hilsenfirst |
During the Great War “Sidi-Brahim!” used to be the battle cry of the Chasseurs Alpins. Legend tells the battle cry was first used on 14 June 1915 at the Hilsenfirst by the 6th company of the 7e B.C.A.
The Battle of Sidi-Brahim - 1845
Sidi-Brahim at the Hilsenfirst - 1915
Back to the front of the Villa Sidi-Brahim. There is another interesting inscription to be found on the architrave.
These two inscriptions on the architrave confirm the presence of the Chasseurs Alpins on this spot.
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The hunting horn and the bugle; emblem and symbol of the Chasseurs Alpins |
The hunting horn on the front of this officers quarters forms the symbol or emblem of the Chasseurs Alpins, which they always, until nowadays, wear on their beret hat, their “Tarte”, or pie, as the Chasseurs call it themselves.
The hunting horn is also used on official occasions like musical parades, as we see on this realistic painting below of a festive event in 1917, probably at St. Amarin.
The Chasseurs knew also “Clairon” soldiers, who were playing the field version of the horn, the bugle. At the right of these details below you will find the bugle in the hand of the fanfare’s conductor. The “Clairons” blew the bugle with different tunes to signal and to command the troops like for instance to attack or to retreat. The bugle announced also important parts of the day, like the last post. Notice that some hunting horn blowers keep their bugle at hand under their left arm.
Dutch Readers, for more info about the historic background of the Chasseurs Alpins, please read my Dutch, illustrated lecture elsewhere on my website; "De Blauwe Duivels in de Vogezen - Chasseurs Alpins"
... and a lot of shards of orange roof tiles, which used to cover the house.
Another 50 m. to the east we find the ruin of another house, which is roughly similar to the Villa Sidi-Brahim.
I don't know which function this house had. Considering the limited size of the Villa Sidi-Brahim, I suppose, this house could probably have served as the annexe of the Villa, offering other officers their quarters.
to continue our route along the frontline southward along the Route des Crêtes.
Continue to the next chapter: "Route des Crêtes - Hohneck - Grand Ballon - Sudel"
Inleiding: Franz Von Papen & Werner Horn; schaker en pion
Onlangs stuitte ik in een oud boek (1) van 1919 op een opmerkelijk verhaal over een Duitse Luitenant, die in begin februari 1915 een half geslaagde bomaanslag pleegt op een spoorbrug over een grensrivier tussen de Verenigde Staten en Canada. Ook al staat de bekentenis van de dader, Werner Horn, deels in het boek te lezen, de naam van zijn opdrachtgever zal Horn blijven verzwijgen. Na wat verder zoeken vond ik ook de naam van Horn’s opdrachtgever, Franz von Papen, een van de aangeklaagden van het latere Neurenberg Proces in 1946.
In een Grote Oorlog als de Eerste Wereldoorlog is Horn’s aanslag op de brug uiteraard slechts een bescheiden wapenfeit. Toch vermoed ik dat dit relatief onbekende verhaal, dat de geschiedenis is ingegaan als de “ Vanceboro International Bridge Bombing ”, nog interessante kanten kent. Het is onder andere een spionageverhaal over hoe in een groter plan een sluwe schaker zijn naïeve pion offert.
Beknopte situatieschets Canada en de Verenigde Staten in 1915
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.
During this visit, we try to focus on the day that the momentum of the battle switched from the French side to the advantage of the Bavarian side: the day of 20 August 1914, when the Bavarians rapidly re-conquered the territory around Morhange , being also the day of the start of their rather successful “Schlacht in Lothringen”.
We will visit beautiful landscapes of the "Parc Naturel Régional de Lorraine", memorials, ossuaries, and cemeteries. Sometimes we will divert to other periods of the Great War, honouring Russian and Romanian soldiers, who died in this sector. We start our route at the border village of Manhoué, and via Frémery, Oron, Chicourt, Morhange, Riche, Conthil, Lidrezing, Dieuze, Vergaville, Bidestroff, Cutting, Bisping we will finish in Nomeny and Mailly-sur-Seille, where the Germans halted their advance on 20 August 1914, and where they constructed from 1915 some interesting bunkers.
