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 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
The park was placed in a state of defence and the Germans made a
tenacious resistance there.
The tourist will now take the road in front of the cemetery which
skirts the castle railings. Then turning to the left he will follow the
zig-zag road which climbs the Étavigny Plateau.

ACY SEEN FROM THE HEIGHTS OF ÉTAVIGNY

The above panorama was taken from the last turn of the climbing
path and gives a good view of the valley in which Acy is built.
Here we can follow the course of the battle: the French held the
Nogeon Plateau, the Germans the valley and the heights where the
tourist stands. Troops belonging to the Seventh Corps descended on
Acy from Nogeon and came up in front of the village, others slipped
along the Gergogne and made a flank attack.
 ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH
After furious fighting in the streets, in the castle grounds and in the
little woods on the hillsides, the Germans were flung back from Acy
to the heights of Étavigny. They returned to the charge, and in their
turn drove the French back to the Nogeon Plateau.
The village thus changed hands several times, and this terrible
beating backwards and forwards caused great losses on both sides.
Continuing his road to Étavigny, the tourist will go over the position
that the Germans established on the plateau.
The infantry and the machine-guns were entrenched along the road
itself; the light and heavy artillery were in the hollow on the right.
They showered shells on the French positions at Nogeon, and in
return received the fire of the batteries placed, as before mentioned,
between Fosse-Martin and Bouillancy.
Arriving at Étavigny (18 km.) our attention is at once drawn to the
church, which suffered terribly.

ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH

É
The part played in the battle by the church of Étavigny was very
different from the passive one assigned to the church of Acy. Its
dominating position afforded priceless views of the French lines to
the observer installed in its steeple. It was therefore by shells from
the 75's that the church was damaged (see pp. 100 and 101).
Étavigny was taken and retaken in the course of the Battle of the
Ourcq. The struggle was hard, the Germans making a desperate
resistance, as a serious French advance in this locality would have
meant the outflanking of their whole line. They succeeded in forcing
the troops of the Seventh Corps off the plateau.

Taking the road to the right, beside the church, and continuing about
200 yards we come to the cemetery, which is in a state of upheaval
from the bombardment. The photograph below was taken through
one of the gaps.
The windmill pump, on the left of the view, was riddled with bullets.
From Étavigny the tourist can either return to Acy by the same road,
or follow the itinerary that we now give, which forms a loop around
the northern part of the battlefield. In the first case, the distance to
Acy is 3½ km., in the second 14 km.
Starting again from the church along the road which crosses the
village, continue straight on towards Boullare. Here keep turning to
the left and take the road to Betz. In the hollow on the left were
placed the German batteries which joined in action with those of
Étavigny.
 ÉTAVIGNY CHURCH SEEN FROM THE CEMETERY
The road descends into a rather picturesque valley. Through it runs a
small river, the Grivelle, which we must cross, then go through
Antilly, turning to the right on entering, and to the left at the fork in
the road just after leaving the village.
We arrive at Betz (26 km.). Turn to the left near the church.
Betz did not suffer much from the guns, but some of its houses were
burnt by the Germans, notably the Hôtel du Cheval Blanc (see p.
102), which can still be recognised by its signboard.
 HÔTEL DU CHEVAL BLANC AFTER THE FIRE
The castle was occupied by a German headquarters-staff, who left it
in a deplorable state.
During the pursuit the French officers had to abandon the idea of
lodging there: one of them records in his notebook: "The German
officers have left disgusting traces of their passage; we see slices of
melon, bearing the marks of their teeth, in the wash-hand-basins,
and enormous heaps of empty and broken wine bottles."

The tourist will cross Betz by the main street, which is seen in the
above illustration, and at the further end of the village he will go
straight on under the railway, leaving the road to Nanteuil-le-Haudouin
on the right.

This last-named town has not been included in the itinerary,

although it played an important part in the ultimate manœuvre
attempted by Von Kluck—that of outflanking the French left wing.
The paved road which leads to it is bad, and the other roads by
which one could rejoin the planned route are extremely rough.
Below we give a view of a corner of this battlefield. It gives some
idea of the great plain which extends from Betz to Nanteuil, where
the 7th and 61st French Divisions resisted with desperate energy the
furious attacks of the Fourth German Corps. The dead horses seen in
the photograph belonged to a French battery. The 75's, fully
exposed, supported the foot-soldiers in their efforts until they came
almost into actual contact with the enemy.

After passing under the railway the road rises to the plateau and
soon brings us near a commemorative monument, on the right (view
on following page).
Thence it passes through the Woods of Montrolles, where the 61st
Division particularly distinguished itself on the evening of September
8. Worn out with fatigue, its reserve supplies exhausted two days
before, it yet, by a supreme effort, succeeded in driving back the
Germans.
 THE PLAIN OF NANTEUIL-LE-HAUDOUIN

MONUMENT AT BETZ
Having passed through the Woods of Montrolles, we soon come to a
fork. Here take the road on the left.
To the right are the Heights of Bouillancy, where the French artillery
was placed; on the left the Plateau of Étavigny on which were the
German batteries.
A hollow, where runs a river, separates the two positions, between
which the artillery duel was intense, preparing and accompanying
infantry assaults which succeeded one another from September 6 to
9, with alternate advances and retirements.
The road then returns to Acy, skirting the wall of the Castle park. We
again pass the church and, on leaving the village, cross the
Gergogne. Immediately after the bridge turn to the left towards
Vincy (35½ km.). The photograph below shows that this village also
suffered from incendiarism and bombardment.
After passing through Vincy, bear to the left in order to pass in front
of the Manœuvre distillery, leaving the hamlet of that name on the
left. Étrépilly (41 km.) will be reached by the middle road of the
crossways, which are about 1 km. further on past the distillery.
This Vincy-Étrépilly line formed part of the defensive front
established by the Germans west of the Ourcq, marked out further
north by the localities of Betz, Étavigny, and Acy, which have just
been visited, and more to the south, by the position seen on
panorama B (pp. 90-91). The Germans had made trenches and
machine-gun shelters over the whole plateau, which stretches on the
right of the road towards the farms of Poligny and Champfleury. On
the right slope of the road one can still see the dug-outs where the
snipers sheltered themselves.
The position was attacked from September 6 to 9 by the 63rd
Division of the Seventh Corps and the 56th of the Lamaze Group
which carried the advance positions constituted by the farms of
Nogeon, Poligny, and Champfleury. They were stopped, however, on
the line itself until the general withdrawal of the German troops.
 BURNT FARM AT VINCY
To reach the spot where the view below was taken, follow the track
which branches off the road from Vincy to Étrépilly, between the
memorial and the burnt hangar. This is the road we see across the
middle of the panorama. The tourist finds himself at the southern
extremity of the Vincy-Étrépilly position, on the site of a German
battery which was severely treated by the French 75's.

C. PANORAMA OF TROCY, ÉTRÉPILLY, LA THÉROUANNE.

Road from Vincy to Étrépilly

Trocy
Memorial
Burnt Shed
Church of Étrépilly
Valley of the Thérouanne
Heights of Penchard

In the background is seen the Trocy Plateau, separated from the

road by a hollow, in which flows a tributary of the Thérouanne. On
the Trocy Plateau, where this itinerary will in due course lead the
reader, the Germans had established their powerful artillery,
composed of heavy and light batteries, which swept the whole
battlefield from Nogeon Farm to Barcy, taking in Puisieux and
Marcilly. Beyond the valley of the Thérouanne, south of Étrépilly,
stretches the position of which the details appear in panorama B
(pp. 90-91). The view extends to the wooded Heights of Penchard,
which are outlined against the horizon.
On the brow of the hill where stands the observer, fierce battles
were fought at the time of the attacks on Étrépilly. The 350th
Infantry did once, on the morning of the 7th, make their way into
the village, following the valley of the Thérouanne, but violent
counter-attacks forced them back. They returned to the charge at
night and climbed from the river's edge to the plateau. They were
greeted by the fire of a machine-gun section upon which two
companies flung themselves with fixed bayonets. Two field-pieces
were taken. The French troops maintained their position until ten
o'clock in the evening, but finally, as the German reinforcements
poured in, were obliged to descend the slope and cross back to the
right bank of the Thérouanne.
Returning to the Étrépilly road we pass in front of the memorial
raised by the engineers in front of the cemetery, at the place where
the battles of Étrépilly reached their climax. A military grave has
been made behind the memorial.

MEMORIAL AT ÉTRÉPILLY
The Germans had entrenched themselves in the cemetery, where
they succeeded in checking the night attack of the Zouaves on
September 7. The Second Regiment, coming from Barcy, reached the
village and carried it at the point of the bayonet.
Without stopping, the Zouaves began to climb the height at the foot
of which Étavigny is built.
Their rush carried them as far as the cemetery, and here, met by a
terrific fire from the machine-guns, they tried to keep the position,
but German reinforcements having come up, they were forced to
abandon the plateau, evacuate the village, and return to their
trenches at Barcy. Lieutenant-Colonel Dubujadoux, commanding the
regiment, was killed; three-fourths of the officers and half the
effective force fell in the course of this heroic charge.
In front of the memorial the twisted metal framework of a burnt
shed is to be seen. According to certain accounts, the Germans,
before evacuating the position on September 9, used this shed to
burn the bodies of those of their soldiers who fell in the battles of
Étrépilly. Some of the inhabitants say that to these were added the
badly wounded, whose hurts were such that they could not be
removed.

BURNT SHED
We believe, as a matter of fact, that a large pyre of corpses was set
alight here by the Germans, who generally burn their dead when
they cannot carry them away. But the hangar was destroyed by the
French artillery which fired repeatedly on that side of the plateau at
the battery of 77's installed there, at the cemetery, and at the
German trenches.
In the cemetery lie the heroes who were killed in attempting to
regain it.
From the cemetery the road descends towards Étrépilly.
Turn to the right at the foot of the slope into Étrépilly and on leaving
the village take the road on the left; cross the river, turn again to the
left and follow the track which climbs the plateau. After a few
hundred yards the right slope disappears. It was at this point that
panorama D was taken, showing, from the German side, the same
battlefield seen from the French side in panorama B (pp. 90-91).

D. PANORAMA OF THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE FRENCH

RIGHT

Heights of Penchard
Montheon
Barcy
Heights of Cuisy
Factory at Marcilly
Road from Marcilly to Étrépilly
Farm of Nongloire
Farm of Champfleury

The road on which the tourist now stands goes on to the heights of
Varreddes. Bordered with trenches and machine guns, it constituted
the principal line of the German defence south of Étrépilly, the
advance lines resting thus: the first on Penchard—Monthyon—
Heights of Cuisy; the second on Chambry—Barcy—Marcilly. In this
theatre of operations fought, south of the Marcilly-en-Étrépilly road,
the 55th (Reserve) Division, the 45th Division and the Moroccan
Brigade; at Marcilly and on the plateau north of Étrépilly, which is
outlined on the extreme right of the panorama and crowned by the
Champfleury Farm the 56th (Reserve) Division.

A CORNER OF THE BATTLEFIELD

Leaving the trenches hastily dug on the Chambry—Barcy—factory of
Marcilly line, the troops of the Lamaze group, before getting up to
the German trenches, had to cross two kilometres of uncovered
ground, under terrible fire. It was in one of these attacks, starting
from Barcy, that Major d'Urbal (brother of the general) fell at the
head of his Zouaves as, waving his cane, he drew them along. He
was brought back to the French lines, thanks to the devotion of one
of the few officers who survived the attack, helped by two Chasseurs
d'Afrique. Because of his great height the commander's body could
not be carried back, and they were obliged to place it on a horse.
The group returned thus to Barcy under a hailstorm of bullets,
where a shell-hole in the cemetery served for a grave.
 A CORNER OF THE BATTLEFIELD
In the counter-attacks, the Germans as they left their trenches also
suffered serious losses, as one can judge from the preceding
photograph, which was taken in front of the position.
The tourist will return to Étrépilly by the road he came, leaving the
church (the roof of which was hit by several shells) on the right, and
taking the Trocy Road on the left.

ÉTRÉPILLY TO MEAUX

(19 km.)
via Trocy, Gué-à-Tresmes, Varreddes.
 FARM THAT WAS SHELLED
The beautiful shady road that leads from, Étrépilly to Trocy first
crosses a hollow, then winds up the hillside to the plateau on which
Trocy is built (3 km.). On arriving, turn to the left and so enter the
heart of the village.
Trocy did not actually suffer from the German attacks, but it was
bombarded by the French artillery. In front of the horse-pond, on the
left of the little church, stands a farm (view opposite) which in 1917
still showed traces of the "75" shell which damaged its roof. Other
houses were completely destroyed.
The Germans had concentrated their chief artillery forces on the
Trocy Plateau. Heavy and light batteries were in position north and
south of the village, the greater part being north, between
Manœuvre, Plessy-Placy, and Trocy.
The intense cannonade poured from this dominating platform very
much hampered the progress of the French centre.
The position was evacuated by the Germans on the 9th, not without
serious losses of light artillery, as shown by the photograph below
and that at the top of the following page.

GERMAN GUN DESTROYED ON TROCY PLATEAU

 GERMAN GUNS DESTROYED ON TROCY PLATEAU
The limber (shown below), abandoned at the side of the road, is an
infantry limber which contained rifle and machine-gun cartridges.
The French artillery which swept the plateau hit it in the course of
the retreat.
GERMAN LIMBER ON TROCY PLATEAU
 GATE OF TROCY
Rounding the horse-pond, we take the road which runs under the
monumental gateway, a view of which is given above.
This gate is one of the chief remains of the fortifications which
guarded Trocy in the Middle Ages.
It will be seen that the strategic importance of the position has at all
times been appreciated at its full value.
Having passed through the gate, we take, 100 yards further on to
the left, the road that dips into a hollow, on the opposite slope of
which stands out the fine farm of Beauvoir.
We reach this farm by a zig-zag ascent which comes out on the
Route Nationale (N. 36). We then turn to the right and go down
towards Gué-à-Tresmes.
This little place played the part, in relation to the extreme German
left, that Trocy played in the centre. It was a heavy artillery position
supporting the advanced line of defence.

THE BILLIARD-TABLE OF THE CHÂTEAU

At the entrance to the village, on the left side of the road, is a large
residence surrounded by a park. It was occupied by the Germans
and converted into a field hospital. In order to make room rapidly,
the furniture was flung outside. It was thus that the billiard-table
was found in the park. A soldier who was evidently a lover of fresh
air used it as a shelter. On the opposite photograph can be seen a
fish-kettle which did duty as a basin: frequent washing being
indispensable during those hot September days.
The façade shown in the view is the one which faces the road.
 PERSONAL BELONGINGS LEFT AT GUÉ-À-TRESMES BY THE
GERMANS
A certain number of German wounded died in the hospital and were
buried in the garden; their belongings were left behind at the time of
the retreat, as shown in the opposite photograph.
This retreat must have taken the occupants unawares, for a meal
was on the officers' table when the French troops entered the
château.
At the cross-roads, about 300 yards beyond the château, go to the
left along the Thérouanne. 200 yards further along this road is seen
(on the right) the place where a group of German artillery was
hidden. Well-screened in the hollow shown in the view below,
several heavy batteries, for a long time out of reach of the 75's,
made extremely difficult the advance of the French right on the
Plateau of Chambry-Barcy. They also hampered the left, of the
British army and the 8th French Division on the left bank of the
Marne. In the course of this tour, we have already seen several
examples of the German battery positions. Wherever the ground
allowed of it, the guns were placed in a hollow, visible only to aerial
observers. Telephones linked them up with the posts established on
the ridges whence the firing was directed.
Returning to the Route Nationale, turn to the left towards Varreddes.
On both sides of the road, which was their main way of retreat, the
Germans had made lines of defence: trenches were dug and
furnished with machine-guns, and light batteries were established as
supports.
The whole, which joined up with the defence works of Trocy,
constituted a position of withdrawal for the Étrépilly-Varreddes line,
seen in panorama B (pp. 90-91). This was the first stage of the
retreat on September 9.

HOLLOW WHERE THE GERMAN ARTILLERY WAS PLACED.

This panorama was taken at the intersection of the Meaux-Soissons
road (N 36) and a track which leads to Étrépilly, in the field
bordering the road and where German machine-guns were
established in order to sweep with their fire the Route Nationale and
the bottom of the hollow.

E. PANORAMA OF THE VARREDDES HOLLOW

Varreddes
Road from Meaux to Soissons
The Ourcq Canal
Road to Étrépilly

It is easy to understand why the Germans attached so much

importance to the Varreddes position.
The slopes west of the hollow (they form the background on the left
of the panorama) were protected from the blows of the French
artillery, and by availing themselves of this protection the Germans
could easily bring up supplies or relieve the defenders on the crests,
facing Chambry-Barcy. This ensured their resistance until the
moment when the general trend of the action forced them to fall
back.
After having examined panorama E, continue the descent towards
Varreddes (12 km.). Before crossing the canal one can see, on the
right, a '75' shell which has remained fixed in the wall of an inn, of
which the sign has now become: "A l'obus."
We now enter the High Street of Varreddes.
At the entrance of the village is a certain number of houses that
were damaged by the bombardment.
 GERMAN WOUNDED IN FRONT OF VARREDDES TOWN-
HALL
The German wounded, forsaken during the hasty retreat of
September 9, were sheltered and nursed at the town-hall. They are
seen in the opposite view. When leaving the village the Germans
took twenty hostages with them, all very old, among them being the
vicar. Three succeeded in escaping, but, for the others, the retreat
proved (as will be seen) a veritable torture. Seven of them were
murdered.
On the first day they were forced to march seventeen miles. M.
Jourdain, aged 77, and M. Milliardet, aged 78, taken away with only
slippers on their feet, were the first to fail from exhaustion: they
were shot point-blank. Soon after, M. Vapaillé suffered the same
fate.
The next day M. Terré, an invalid, fell, and was killed with revolver-
shots; M. Croix and M. Llévin stumbled in their turn and were also
shot.

TREE PIERCED BY A 75 SHELL

All three were from 58 to 64 years of age. Finally, M. Mesnil, aged
67, utterly exhausted, gave in: his skull was smashed in with blows
from the butt end of a rifle.
The other hostages, better able to endure, held on as far as Chauny
and were sent to Germany by rail. They were repatriated five
months later.
After having traversed Varreddes and before re-crossing the canal, a
tree will be noticed on the left of the road (the 38th on the way out)
which has been pierced by a '75' shell as if by a punching-press.

F. PANORAMA OF THE VARREDDES HOLLOW

Varreddes
Road from Meaux to Soissons
The Ourcq Canal
Road to Étrépilly

40 yards beyond the canal, on the right, are seen several tracks
which scale the heights. We climb the one on the right up to the
summit, where the above panorama was taken. This gives a view of
the Varreddes hollow in the opposite direction to that of panorama E
(pp. 112-113).
Germigny, seen on the right of the photograph, is known through
having been Bossuet's summer residence. The Germans had a heavy
battery there, which bombarded Meaux in the early days of
September. On the 8th they re-crossed the Marne, blowing up the
bridge behind them.
The appearance of a French reconnoitring party composed of a
sergeant-major and nine men had sufficed to cause the evacuation
of the position, which, with the river behind it, seemed a dangerous
one. These ten heroes were killed in the course of the battle and
buried at Germigny. On the 9th, the Marne was crossed on a
pontoon bridge built by British engineers, under fire, whose heroic
tenacity triumphed after seventeen fruitless attempts.
The Germans, attacked besides on the heights where the tourist now
stands, were obliged to retire rapidly from the hollow by the
Soissons Road, under fire from the French batteries.
On the crest of the hill a track crosses the ascending one, near two
isolated walnut-trees. On the right this road goes to Étrépilly; it
constituted the German line of defence which is the subject of
panorama B (pp. 90-91).
The tourist will go to the left between the two walnut-trees and
explore the crest which formed the redoubtable position occupying
the background of the view on p. 89. It was well provided with
trenches, machine-guns and light batteries, and all attacks against it
failed, until September 9.
Turning again to the left 1 km. further on, at the first fork in the
road, the reader will follow a little path which brings him back to the
Route Nationale at the point where he left it. The walk takes about
30 minutes. The two paths, by which the ascent and descent have
been made, served the Germans as channels for bringing up
supplies. Their rearguard, which disputed the ground foot by foot,
was routed there by a bayonet attack.
We now return towards Meaux. The retreating Germans followed
this road, but in a contrary direction and pursued by the French
shells.
At the highest point, on the right, is seen the trunk of a tree
decapitated by artillery fire, at the top of which the workmen of the
entrenched camp of Paris have fixed a branch to form a cross:
humble and touching tribute to the brave men killed in going up to
the attack.
Before arriving at Meaux we have a beautiful view of the town. We
pass under the railway; then, on the right, take the N. 3 or Rue du
Faubourg-Saint-Nicolas, which brings us back to the Cathedral (19
km.).
 II
THE MARSHES OF SAINT-GOND
COULOMMIERS-PROVINS-SEZANNE

FROM MEAUX TO COULOMMIERS

(44 km.)
(See map opposite)

FROM MEAUX TO CRÉCY-EN-BRIE

Leaving Meaux Cathedral by the Rue Saint-Étienne, which skirts it

and is continued by the Rue Saint-Nicolas, turn to the right 100
yards beyond the apse of the cathedral into the Rue du Grand-Cerf
in order to gain the "Pont du Marché." After crossing it, keep straight
on along the Rue du Marché, leaving on the right the market where
the famous Brie cheeses are sold wholesale. Take the Rue Cornillon
and the Rue du Faubourg-Cornillon, and at the top of the slope, look
back in order to have a general view of Meaux, dominated by its
cathedral. On leaving the town continue straight along N. 36 to
Couilly (9 km.) where we reach the valley of the Grand-Morin.
(The quickest road from Couilly to Crécy-en-Brie is N. 34, which
turns to the left into the paved street of Couilly before arriving at the
bridge, but the prettiest road is that indicated to the tourist, on the
opposite bank of the Morin.)
Make for Saint-Germain, traversing the bridge and the level-
crossing, and turn to the left immediately beyond the railway into
the Rue de la Gare. Turn to the left again into the Rue de Villiers,
which is bordered by telegraph poles. The road follows the railway
which is on the left.
On the other side of the valley are to be seen the red-tiled roofs of
the modern buildings of the "Home" for actors, built on the site of
the old Abbey of Pont-aux-Dames. This abbey, which was founded in
the thirteenth century, was destroyed during the Revolution. Louis
XIV. sent the abbess of Port-Royal-des-Champs to end her days
there, after the destruction of the famous abbey of the Jansenists.
Mme. du Barry, favourite of Louis XV., after an eventful life, became
acquainted with the calm and self-denial of Pont-aux-Dames, when
the king was no more.

BRIDGE OVER THE MORIN

The "Home" was founded in 1903 by the comedian Coquelin aîné,
who died there in 1909 while on one of his visits to it. He is buried in
the grounds, where is also his statue. Pont-aux-Dames has room for
eighty inmates. There is also an open-air theatre used for
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