Rheims and the Battles for its Possession Part 23

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF BRIMONT VILLAGE _In the foreground, on the left: Road to Brimont Fort. On the right: Beginning of the road to the Chateau (entirely destroyed)._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF THE CHURCH OF BRIMONT]

On several occasions, since September, 1914, the Germans deported the inhabitants of Brimont and Coucy to the Ardennes. The village is now destroyed and its church a heap of ruins.

The church was built at the beginning of the 15th century.

The four last bays of the nave, which was partly Romanesque, were altered in the middle of the 16th century.

The sacristy occupied the lower storey of the square, pointed-arch tower.

Several ancient statues were placed at the entrance to the Choir: _St Remi_, with a woman in late 15th century dress kneeling at his feet; a _Virgin_ offering grapes to the Infant Jesus in her arms (late 15th century) and a large _Christ Crucified_, dated from the middle of the 16th century. A beautiful 18th century _lectern_ of carved wood, representing an eagle standing on a ma.s.sive three-sided pedestal of red and white marble, stood in front of the Choir.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRIMONT FORT]

_To visit the_ =Fort of Brimont=, _skirt the church on the side of the portal staircase, then take the road seen on the photograph on p. 152.

The Fort is about 400 yards further on._

=The Defences North of Rheims and the Fighting in that Sector=

The =Fort of Brimont=, completed by the =Battery of the Cran de Brimont= about a mile to the east, and on the west by the =Loivre Battery=, mentioned on page 151, sweeps the whole country north of Rheims as far as the banks of the Aisne, Suippe, Retourne and the Aisne-Marne ca.n.a.l, the Rheims-Neufchatel, Rheims-Vouziers, Rheims-Rethel and Rheims-Laon roads, and the Rheims-Laon and Rheims-Charleville railways. About five miles east of Brimont and four miles east of Rheims is the position of =Berru= (_see p. 165_), extending along a front of about six miles, _via_ the hills of Berru and Nogent l'Abbesse. Intended by those who planned it to guard the valley of the Suippe, the Rheims-Rethe and Rheims-Vouziers roads, as well as the Rheims-Charleville and Rheims-Chalons-sur-Marne railways, it comprises the =Fort of Witry= (about 150 feet in alt.i.tude), the batteries of =La Vigie de Berru= (870 feet), and the =fort and batteries of Nogent-l'Abbesse= (670 feet).

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The roads shown on the above map are those followed by the Third Itinerary (see p. 160)._]

Brimont and Berru are further covered and linked up by the =Fort of Fresne= (360 feet), situated four miles north-east of Rheims.

These defensive works, conceived and executed after the war of 1870, had, in consequence of the evolution of strategical and tactical doctrines, been abandoned or disarmed before the war of 1914. After evacuating Rheims on September 12, 1914, the Germans grasped the importance of these works, to which they clung tenaciously, after hurriedly organising them. It was against these naturally strong positions, further strengthened by trenches, that the French 5th Army, in pursuit of the enemy, found themselves brought to a standstill on the evening of September 12. From September 13 to 18, the French tried in vain to capture them. The 5th Division, under General Mangin, did succeed in capturing the =Chateau de Brimont=, in the plain, but were unable to hold it.

Later, the Germans converted these hills into one of the most formidable positions organised by them in France. Brimont, Berru, Fresne and Nogent l'Abbesse, whose guns slowly destroyed Rheims, were, so to speak, her jailers for four years.

In April, 1917, during the French offensive of the Aisne, one division, known as the "Division of aces" (because its four regiments have the fourragere decoration), penetrated into Bermericourt and advanced to the outskirts of Brimont, but was unable to hold its ground against the furious counter-attacks of the Germans. It was only in October, 1918, that the French 5th Army, in conjunction with the victorious attacks of the 4th Army in Champagne, after forcing the Germans back to the Aisne and the ca.n.a.l, and after crossing the Aisne ca.n.a.l on October 4 in front of Loivre and near Bermericourt, forced the enemy, whose communications were now threatened, to abandon one of the most valuable portions of his 1914 positions. On October 5, the French re-entered Brimont and Nogent l'Abbesse, progressed beyond Bourgogne, Cernay-les-Rheims, Beine, Caurel and Pomacle, and, in spite of desperate enemy resistance, drove back the Germans to the Suippe.

_After visiting the fort return to the village of Brimont._

From here the =Chateau de Brimont= may be visited, but this will have to be done on foot as the road has been destroyed, traces only of it being left in places (_the lower photograph on p. 152 shows the beginning of the road in the village_).

The =Chateau de l'Ermitage=, also known as the Chateau de Brimont, _is situated about 500 yards south of the village, at the entrance to a_ large park, completely devastated. It was the scene of desperate fighting (_see p. 152_).

_Return to Brimont, cross the village (skirting the church) and continue straight on to the_ =Cran de Brimont Redoubt= _on the road to Rheims._ Numerous German trenches, etc., are to be seen here.

_Turn to the right into G.C. 9, which dips down to the_ Plain of Rheims.

The region hereabouts bristle with barbed-wire entanglements and is crossed with numerous trenches. It was ranged to an incredible degree by the bombardments.

_At the bottom of the hill which starts at the Cran de Brimont, cross Soulains Wood, of which only_ a few torn tree-stumps remain.

_Several hundred yards after leaving the wood, take on foot the broken road to the_ "=Cavaliers de Courcy=," situated _on the right, about 500 yards further on._

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE AISNE Ca.n.a.l AT THE "CAVALIERS DE COURCY"]

=The "Cavaliers de Courcy"=

To the north of La Neuvillette, the Aisne-Marne Ca.n.a.l is flanked on both sides by enormous artificial embankments planted with fir-trees and known as the "=Cavaliers de Courcy=." After their retreat in September, 1914, the Germans entrenched themselves there and clung to the east bank until April, 1917.

On April 16, 1917, the French 410th Regiment of the Line attacked the enemy's formidable positions there. This Brittany regiment set out from positions to which they had given names taken from the history of their country (_Quimper Bastion_, _Auray_, _Redon Bastion_, etc.). On the first day they carried three successive lines of defences, and advanced about a mile. On the 17th and 18th they left their zone of action, to ensure the _liaison_ on their right, and to help a brigade in difficulties on their left. For eight days they held their positions against powerful enemy counter-attacks, after having progressed to a depth of two miles and captured more than 400 prisoners, 11 bomb-throwers, and an immense amount of stores.

These positions, like the neighbouring villages, were re-taken by the Germans in May and June, 1918, and finally by the Allies in October, 1918.

_Return to the road and follow it towards Rheims. Leave on the left_ the devastated =Aviation-ground of Champagne=--now in a state of complete upheaval, due to the terrific sh.e.l.ling it received--_then cross the_ =Plain of Betheny= (_photo, p. 157_).

The Plain of Betheny was the scene of two important historical events: in 1901 the Tsar Nicolas II. reviewed a part of the French Army there; in August, 1909, the Great Aviation Week was inaugurated there, in the presence of an immense crowd of spectators.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GERMAN FIRST-LINE POSITIONS BeTHENY PLAIN (_see sketch-map below_) _Photographed at 7,000 ft. from aeroplane, August 6, 1916, at 10 a.m._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GERMAN FIRST-LINE DEFENCES IN THE PLAIN OF BeTHENY _The tourist pa.s.ses through this region on returning to Rheims, shortly before coming to the bridge under the railway. The sketch map explains the photograph above._]

_Pa.s.s under the Rheims-Laon railway by a very sharp double turning._ =Pierquin Farm=, entirely destroyed, _stood on the right a short distance further on_. The only remaining trace is the torn shapeless carca.s.s of a large iron shed.

The railway embankment south of Pierquin Farm was fiercely disputed from September 18, 1914, onwards. Several enemy attacks against it broke down before the French 75's. During the offensive of May, 1918, the whole of this region was the scene of desperate fighting. La Neuvillette was taken on May 30, and Pierquin Farm on the 31st. On August 4, the French, after crossing the Aisne Ca.n.a.l, advanced to La Neuvillette, where the enemy made a desperate stand. At the beginning of October they advanced to the north of La Neuvillette, which the enemy was eventually compelled to abandon. The last inhabitants had left the locality on July 12, 1916.

_The tourist enters Rheims by the Rue de Neufchatel and the Avenue de Laon._

=La Neuvillette=

_On reaching the Avenue de Laon, the tourist, instead of entering Rheims, may turn to the right and go northwards as far as the_ village and cemetery of La Neuvillette.

The cemetery of La Neuvillette _is on the right of the road, between the last houses of Rheims and the village_. It was completely cut up by a network of first-line trenches (_photos, p. 159_).

The village of La Neuvillette, now in ruins, was the scene of desperate fighting during the German offensive of May, 1918.

Nothing remains of the 12th century church of John-the-Baptist.

The gla.s.s-works north-west of the village, by the side of the ca.n.a.l, are now a heap of ruins (_photo, p. 159_).

_Return to Rheims by the same road._

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ROAD TO RHEIMS AT NEUVILLETTE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GLa.s.s-WORKS AT NEUVILLETTE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: DRESSING-STATION AT NEUVILLETTE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CEMETERY AT NEUVILLETTE]