VERDUN - Destroyed Villages: Bezonvaux - Ornes

  • by Pierre Grande Guerre
  • •
  • 20 Mar, 2019
  • •

Year of visit: 2009

A photo report of a visit on a rainy morning to the Destroyed Villages of Bezonvaux and Ornes, along the 1916 German jump-off line, some 12 km. north-east of Verdun.
In the pouring rain we depart from Vaux devant Damloup, and follow the D 24 northward.
We pass this after war demarcation stone on the east side of the road.
 "Les Villages Détruits"
Often the emphasis of my impressions is on the military events of the locations of the Western Front. The sites of "Les Villages Détruits", the Destroyed Villages, like Douaumont, Fleury and Vaux remind us of the fate of the civilians along the Western Front. The civilians were often forced to evacuate their houses, were lying under artillery bombardments, lost their houses, were wounded, killed, or executed, etc.
This map of Hanotaux above represents all regions in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France, which were affected by the Western Front. These regions were for the most part quite densely populated. Due to the combats, battles and destruction many civilians were forced to flee to another location.
The German progress from 21 until 25 February 1916
This trip we pay a visit to two destroyed villages, north-east of Verdun: Bezonvaux and Ornes.
Bezonvaux
After a sharp curve of the D 24 we arrive at the Bezonvaux Memorial.
"THE COMMUNITY OF BEZONVAUX - IN MEMORY OF THE DESTROYED VILLAGE - IT'S CHILDREN DIED AT THE FIELD OF HONOR AND IT'S HEROES FALLEN ON THEIR TERRITORY - SOLDIERS OF BEZONVAUX (4 names) - CIVILIAN VICTIMS (3 names) - SOLDIER GILLE Nicolas Auguste, DISAPPEARED NEAR MAUCOURT 9 NOVEMBER 1914"
A bronze relief on the memorial shows us an image of the former village of Bezonvaux.
Next to the memorial are some traces of shell holes and a post war demarcation stone.
"BEZONVAUX - From here the enemy was forced back"
At the corner of the road to the village stands an illustrated, comprehensive text on an information panel.
It tells us, that this was the location of the "Café / Bureau de Tabac", where Sergeant Maginot and his scouts of the 44th R.I.T. had their quarters during the autumn of 1914.
(Read more about André Maginot in my photo impression about  “Fort de Souville”.)
A first glance at the high street, the Grande Rue of Bezonvaux.
Before we continue our exploration of Bezonvaux, some concise information.
Bezonvaux is one of the nine destroyed villages around Verdun. It was a hamlet of some 150 inhabitants, which has been evacuated on 15 February 1916, just six days before the offensive would start. The village is mainly destroyed by French artillery fire of 1916, and has "died for France".
The fate of Bezonvaux is connected to the fate of Ornes. In September 1914 the front line in this region, Ornes, Vaux, Abaucourt, is held by the French 67th Division. At the end of the year 1914 and in 1915 the Germans occupy the heights near Ornes, and sporadically shell the village of Bezonvaux. This situation persists until the date of the offensive of 21 February 1916.
By early 1916 the population experiences the violence of modern combat. Their properties damaged, they are condemned to flee.  They have to abandon their homes “with the hope in their heart of returning one day to the country of their heritage and their roots”.
 
Until 24 February 1916 Ornes remains outside the battle, but from 7 o'clock in the morning, the village suffers incessant attacks. Being locked in from three sides the commander of the garrison evacuates at 18 hours Ornes and retreats to Bezonvaux, where  the 44th R.I. holds the recently restored line near Bezonvaux. Though the village is by now isolated and under a barrage of fire the German infantry advances on Bezonvaux and Douaumont. The improvised defences of the 44th R.I. fall one by one.
On 25 February 1916 the 4th B.C.P. and the 44th R.I. desperately try to resist in the village. At 17.00 hours the Germans redouble their efforts and break the lines, and the defence is for the 4th B.C.P. defending the village foot by foot. The encirclement of the Germans is gradually tightened and at dusk, when almost all defenders have fallen, the Germans occupy Bezonvaux. The same day, the Fort de Douaumont is taken.
On 10 December 1916 the French Army launches a tremendous introducing artillery bombardment on the German positions. On 15 December at ten o’clock  the French troops mount an assault on the German lines between Vacherauville and Eix. They are composed of four divisions, among these the best regiments of the 126th, 38th, 37th and 133rd R.I.. In particular three prestigious regiments, the 2nd and 3rd Zouaves and the 3rd Algerian Tirailleurs of  the 37th Infantry Division, make progress all day long.
 
The Battle of Three Days - 16-18 December 1916
At 16 December 1916 around 2.00  AM the French troops resume the attack. Their aim is to capture Bezonvaux. After taking the key positions of the Lübeck trench and of the Kaiserslautern trench the attackers take a lot of Germans prisoner. Next the Zouaves make their connection with the 102nd Bataillon Chasseurs â Pied (B.C.P.) belonging to the 133rd Infantry Division. The Zouaves and the Chasseurs are ordered to guard the edges of the village, but the number of defenders and the ruins block their advance. Finally at the 17th, despite an error by the French artillery and despite violent German bombardments, the French troops clear Bezonvaux completely of its previous occupants.

The attack did not exceed the original target, and in this sector the front would stabilize for the next two years. The front line near Bezonvaux, that the Germans would keep until the Armistice on 11 November 1918, is just outside village, symbolized by the demarcation stone near the north-east entrance to the former village.
We continue our walk along the Grande Rue. On the right runs the brook, or the "Ruisseau de Bezonvaux".
Between the ruins there are a lot of shell holes.
Silent witnesses of the village activities are preserved on concrete tiles.
"Ruined mechanical parts Iron hardware of window blinds"
"Hub of a machine to make hay."
"Pickaxe, wrenched by the shock of an artillery grenade. Garden tools."
The Mayor of Bezonvaux
During our visit Christine and I had a fortuitous meeting with Monsieur J.P. Laparra. Monsieur Laparra told me during our pleasant conversation, that he has been elected by the descendants of the former inhabitants of Bezonvaux to "Maire" (Mayor) of Bezonvaux. Monsieur Laparra is responsible for the exceptional well preserved ruins of the village and the artefacts on the concrete tiles. Monsieur Laparra is also the author of the many information panels with comprehensive, very interesting texts about the history of the village during the Great War.
A large part of my knowledge is based on the information signs of Monsieur Laparra in the village and his patient answers to my questions.
Without the careful guardianship of gentlemen like Monsieur Laparra these sites would be forgotten and would perhaps even be transformed into parking places. Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Laparra, thank you very much, for your work to preserve this site and it's history.
 
(Dutch readers, read my column about our meeting with Mr. Laparra and click on "Souvenir de Bezonvaux".)
We continue our walk through the ruins westward.
"Slab hit by a shrapnel grenade."
"Parts of a plough."
A milk container for farmers.
At the west end of the village lie the ruins of the Château of Bezonvaux, the largest house. 
South of this location stands the relic of an artillery carriage.
The carriage was meant to carry grenades and hay for the horses.
A view over the shelled ruins eastward.
Near this spot: the twisted relics of a mini 60cm. railway.
60 Cm. Gauge Track Railways
The German Railway Network
We cross the bridge of the Ruisseau de Bezonvaux.
We near the presbytery of the village priest.
Near the former location of the village church ...
... lies the broken barrel of an artillery gun.
At the former location of the village church stands the 1927 Memorial Chapel of Bezonvaux.
While the rain is pouring down again, we leave Bezonvaux, and continue northward to Ornes.
Just before the modern hamlet, at the east side of the road, is located the Ornes Memorial.
It honours Ornes' fallen soldiers, and nine civilians, those who died in captivity.
It is also a tribute to three executed civilians and two children, "killed by a grenade".

On 15 September, during an artillery bombardment on Ornes, the 15 year old Lucienne Collignon fled in a cellar, carrying her 3 months old baby brother, Edmond, in her arms.  Lucienne was hit in the head by a shell fragment. By the impact he girl dropped her brother. The girl died the same day. Her baby brother, severely wounded by his fall, died 13 days later, on 28 September 1914.
Before we walk on, some concise information about Ornes.

The Fate of Ornes
Ornes used to be a larger village than Bezonvaux. The population of Ornes in 1914 counted around 700 people. The inhabitants of villages like Vaux, Douaumont, Bezonvaux and Ornes lived of agriculture and craft. Ornes had more mills and workshops than other villages in the area. Ornes was also more prosperous than the other villages.
From 10 august 1914 the French army did set up a field hospital in the spinning factory of Ornes. From that day Ornes received the first wounded men, arriving from the Battle of Mangiennes (10-25 August 1914).
On 25 august the Commander of Verdun requested the inhabitants of Ornes to evacuate their village. Initially a large part of the population obeyed the request, but later, after the First Battle of the Marne, a large part of these refugees returned to the village. 
The Germans did set up a position east of Ornes at the "Jumelles d'Ornes", the double heights of hill 307 en 310. The village was not yet occupied by French troops nor by the Germans. Patrols of both parties entered the village of Ornes several times. These patrols caused artillery bombardments from both sides.
During this period the first buildings in the village were destroyed, and the first civilian inhabitants were wounded. As I remarked before, on 15 September, during an artillery bombardment, the children Collignon were killed by a bombardment.
In the meantime the circumstances in the village become more and more unbearable. On 9 October 1914 a troop of forty Germans entered the village and ordered the population to gather at the village fountain. A large part of the inhabitants disobeyed and succeeded to escape. Three civilians were executed. Their names are on the Ornes Memorial. The Germans still deported 74 persons, men, women and children to Longuyon. Their deportation ended on 18 October in Zwickau in Saxony. On 28 January 1915 all prisoners were transported back via Switzerland to France with exception of 9 prisoners, who died in captivity and whose names are also mentioned on the Ornes Memorial, and all men in the age between 17 and 60 years old.
For the German attackers the jump off lines of February 1916 near Azannes, Ornes and Bezonvaux formed also an important pivotal point in the front line.
After 18 December 1916 the front line in the east was running from Ornes roughly in a north-south direction. In the other direction the front line ran from Ornes roughly from east to south-west.
From the German occupation on 24 February of the Ornes area has been an often contested part of the battlefield and the area knew many combats. In contrary to Bezonvaux, Ornes stayed in German possession until October 1918. The Germans occupied the Jumelles d' Ornes until Armistice Day on 11 November 1918.
 
The Aftermath of the Destroyed Villages.
 
The prospect of the refugees of returning to the happiness of living again once in their old villages formed a valuable support in their misery. In 1918 however the reality was alas quite different from their hope. The aftermath of the battles had endangered the locations of the destroyed villages too much, and the risk of more explosions was too great to hope for a reconstruction. These piles of debris could no longer offer a safe haven or a home for it’s former inhabitants. The refugees were left with nothing but confusion to whom they would appeal for national recognition and survival of their community by legal means. The refugees exerted pressure on local officials, parliamentarians and ministers. They even contacted Raymond Poincaré, also an in habitant of the Département Meuse, and President of the Republic.
In 1919 a law endowed each destroyed village to a municipal commission and a president, whose powers and prerogatives are those of a mayor. Later on the president will officially be elected or appointed as mayor. In the twenties a chapel, serving also as a shelter, and a war memorial was constructed at all destroyed villages. Like on all other war memorials in still existing villages of France the names “of their children, who died for the fatherland” are inscripted on these war memorials.
 
(Main sources: J.P. Laparra and J.C. Broek Roelofs. Merci Messieurs!)

At the entrance of the village stands a modest memorial with a sign: "PLACE DE CEUX DE VERDUN" ("Square of Those of Verdun").
Opposite of it is the Ornes Memorial Chapel, ...
... which has been built in 1932.
Some 150 meters to the west: the ruins of the former village church.
A thin sunray is for a short moment introducing another, next shower.
We seek shelter in our car and continue later north-westward to Azannes.
On the next photo page this trip will continue to the German Cemeteries of Azannes, Romagne-sous-les-Cotes, Damvillers, the American Memorial at La Grande Montagne, and the German Cemetery of Consenvoye along the Meuse river.
 

AISNE - Chemin des Dames

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 29 Nov, 2019

De Vanceboro Bridge Bomaanslag

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 14 Nov, 2019

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

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

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 01 Oct, 2019

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.

LORRAINE - Avricourt - Leintrey - Reillon - Domèvre - Parux

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 18 Sept, 2019
Though we depart from Badonviller in the Northern Vosges , we make a jump northward to the east of Lunéville and Manonviller. We start at Avricourt on the border of Alsace and Lorraine. From the Avricourt Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof we explore the southern Lorraine battlefields ; the mine craters of Leintrey , the Franco- German war cemetery and Côte 303 at Reillon , and some German bunkers near Gondrexon , Montreux , and Parux.

LORRAINE - Montreux - German Front Walk 

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 13 Sept, 2019
We depart from Raon-l’Etape to drive northward via Badonviller to Montreux to visit the  "Circuit du Front Allemand 14-18", the  Montreux German Front Walk 14-18,  with its trenches , breastworks , and at least twenty bunkers.

LORRAINE - The Battle of Morhange - 1914

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 08 Sept, 2019
North-east of Nancy, east of Pont-à-Mousson, and south-east of Metz we visit the battlefields of the Battle of Morhange of 14 until 20 August 1914. We follow mainly topographically the route of the French advance eastward over the Franco-German border of 1871-1918.
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.

LORRAINE - Lanfroicourt – Nomeny - Monument du Grand Couronné 

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 05 Sept, 2019
South of Manhoué we start this trip at Lanfroicourt along the French side of the Franco-German 1871-1918 border, marked by the meandering Seille river. We visit some French bunkers  in Lanfroicourt, near Array-et-Han and in Moivrons. From there we go northward to the outskirts of Nomeny and the hamlet of Brionne to visit the ( second ) memorial, commemorating the events in Nomeny of 20 August 1914. We continue westward to finish at the Monument du Grand Couronné at the Côte de Géneviève, a former French artillery base, which offers several panoramic views over the battlefield.

LORRAINE - Bouxières-sous-Froidmont - Verny - Feste Wagner

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 28 Aug, 2019
North of Pont-à-Mousson and south of Metz, we explore the relics of German bunkers and fortifications along the Franco-German 1871-1918 border. We start at Bouxières-sous-Froidmont to visit the nearby height of the Froidmont on the front line. This time we will show only a part of the Froidmont, focusing on its military significance.  From the Froidmont we continue via Longeville-lès-Cheminot and Sillegny to the “Forêt Domaniale de Sillegny” to explore some artillery ammunition bunkers. Next we continue to Marieulles for its three interesting bunkers and to Vezon for its line of ammunition depot bunkers. From Vezon we continue to the “Deutscher Kriegsgräberstätte Fey – Buch”. From Fey we go eastward, passing 6 bunkers near Coin-lès-Cuvry to finish our trip at the top construction of the “Feste Wagner” or “Fort Verny”, north of Verny.

VOSGES - Mutzig - Fort de Mutzig - Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 25 Aug, 2019

From Badonviller or the Col du Donon we continue north-eastward for a visit to an extraordinarily well restored sample of German fortifications:  the Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II, or Fort de Mutzig,  lying on a height, some 8 km. away from the 1871-1918 Franco-German Border.

VOSGES - Ste. Marie-aux-Mines - Tête du Violu / Bernhardstein

by Pierre Grande Guerre • 23 Aug, 2019
We concentrate on the German side of the front around "Markirch", Sainte Marie-aux-Mines, the so-called "Leber" front sector . We first pay a visit to the Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof, and next to the southern side of the Col de Ste. Marie for the many interesting bunkers of the German positions at the Bernhardstein, at the north-eastern slopes of the Tête du Violu. On the next photo page about the Haut de Faîte we will continue with a visit to the northern side of the pass and the "Leber" sector.
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