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fotos-art · 11 days

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French Zouave Captain holding a wounded German soldier at gunpoint at Mt. Cornillet during the Battle of the Hills, May 1917.

107 years ago, on April 17, 1917, the Battle of the Hills of Champagne began, also called the Third Battle of Champagne, a supporting offensive to the main French effort on the Chemin des Dames of the Nivelle Offensive.

The French planned an ambitious offensive to capture the many mountain peaks of the Moronvillers Hills in the Champagne region east of Reims, where the Germans enjoyed excellent observation over French positions.

13 French Divisions of their 4th Army were to be pitted against 17 German Divisions of their 4th Army, but the French had a huge advantage in artillery guns. The French Infantry were to capture one mountain peak at a time in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough, cutting German supply lines to the Chemin des Dames.

The Germans held magnificent defensive positions on the Moronvillers Hills, most notably the Mt. Cornillet, Mt. Blond, Le Golfe, Mt. Sans Nom, Le Casque, Le Téton, Mt. Perthois and the highest, 260m Mt. Haut. Elaborate trench networks, tunnels and machine-gun nests along the hills allowed for deadly enfilade fire, in the case of a French attack.

On April 10, the French commenced a week-long preliminary bombardment on the German positions on the hills, badly damaging many of the defenses on the mountains, but leaving others intact.

On April 17, 1917, a day after the French attack on the Chemin des Dames, the French 4th Army attacked the Moronvillers Hills along an 11 km front. Thick fog protected the French Infantry attacking uphill, but German machine-gun- and artillery fire put up heavy resistance.

On the right flank, the Mt. Sans Nom was captured and the Mt. Blond and Mt. Cornillet were both taken on the left flank, but the latter was lost to counter-attacks.

On April 18, the French continued the attack and captured the formidable Mont Haut, but now had to face waves of German counter-attacks, which eventually recaptured the summit on April 19.

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fotos-art · 11 days

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