Attacking the Chemin Des Dames

Home , Ailette (river), Chavignon, Chemin des Dames, Laffaux, La Malmaison

Soissonnais < Aisne < Picardy < France Attacking the Chemin des Dames

On 23rd October 1917, seven months after the start of the Nivelle offensive on the Chemin des Dames, the new Commander-in-Chief, General Petain, ordered a new offensive limited to the Fort de Malmaison sector. Initially planned for July, the offensive aimed to remove the Germans from the western heights of the plateau. After a few days the operation was crowned with success.

Aizy-Jouy

• Est. time: 4hr 2 4 • Length: 12km 7

• Lowest point: 86m 5

• Highest point: 192m 1

• Level: Difficult 3

• Waymarking: Yellow & green

• Passing through: Aizy-Jouy, 2 Filain, Pargny-Filain 1 8 2

9 D

ON THE ROUTE NEARBY Fort de la Malmaison (19th century), disused before the war. 1 Cerny-en-Laonnois Memorial French Artillery Moulin de Laffaux La Malmaison German cemetery: created after battles of June 2 Caverne du Dragon: Chemin © Archives Départementales 1940. des Dames museum 1 Saint Berthe chapel: unit commemorative plaques. GPS Treasure Hunt. TOURIST INFO.: See www.geocaching.com Soissons Tourist Information Office 2 Aizy-Jouy: reconstructed church, cave dwellings. Tel. 03 23 53 17 37

CREATION AND UPKEEP OF ROUTE: D Depart Aizy Mairie car park. Go to Aizy church. Walk 6 Cross D15 road, carry straight on to church and turn Communauté de Communes up Rue du Guet on your left and leave the village. left. Continue straight on, along path leading up to du Val de l’Aisne Continue along the track. Fort de la Malmaison (view of valley and Laon on the right). At junction take road on left to go past the 1 At the Cinq Voies crossing, take first twisting path on the right which leads up onto the plateau. Pass German cemetery. Off route on right: Chemin des near the Rocher du Guet (view over valley). Straight Dames information point and remains of the Fort. on alongside the ”avens” (caves). Back onto country 7 At junction, go back across the D18 road (caution road and keep straight on. ). Carry straight on along country road leading down to Aizy-Jouy. Go past old mairie-school and Route card taken from 2 At junction with D15 road, take stoney path facing you then take first track on the left. Jouy church then turn left.

www.randonner.fr Turn right into Rue Ste-Blaise. After the last house, the Aisne walking/hiking 3 At junction with D18 road - Chemin des Dames, cross 8 carry on along green lane which turns left. website. road (caution : traffic ) and walk down D152 road. Off route: on the right, near one of the Chemin des 9 At cemetery, turn left into Rue des Arches. Walk Dames information boards (panoramic view) Walk beside communal lake (picnic area) then go back past St Berthe chapel and go down to village of Filain. to the Mairie. 4 At bottom of slope, before Filain, take the left-hand track leading to edge of a wood. Carry straight on to See all our good next junction. deals on 5 Bear right after 500m to stay at the base of the hill. www.facebook.com/ Continue as far as village of Pargny-Filain.

conception : www.grandnord.fr randonnee.aisne

1/2 Soissonnais < Aisne < Picardy < France Attacking the Chemin des Dames Episodes in History

ROAD TRIP A story of reconquest THE BATTLE OF OBSERVATION POSTS Diaries 14/18 9 km - Depart Caverne du Dragon From 16th April 1917, when General Nivelle’s ambitious plan failed, the Chemin des Dames became the scene of fierce fighting in which the smallest square metre was defended by German troops who had fortified their positions there since the start of the war. The French had

recaptured some of the plateau © Collection privée slopes but had not managed to capture the ridge. The reconquest, called the “Battle of Observation posts”, proved to be long and difficult. General Pétain, Commander-in- Chief since the month of May, decided to lead a short but very intense offensive on the west of Fort de la Malmaison - Observation post the plateau in order to capture the far end. For six days 1,850 guns of all calibres shelled the German positions and their fortifications (Fort de la Malmaison, bunkers and caves). In the space of a few days, French troops, supported by tanks, managed to flush out the Germans. It was a clear victory for the French and German losses were severe: 8,000 dead, 3,000 wounded and 11,500 taken prisoner. The Germans were forced to abandon the entire plateau and take shelter a little further north in the Ailette valley. Follow the adventures of Andrew Naylor, a British stret- cher-bearer, in the Aisne during World War 1 by downloading the Diaries 14-18 application! Visit major battle sites on the The story of an offensive 1ST DECISIVE VICTORY FOR FRENCH TANKS Chemin des Dames with the “Between heaven and earth on the Chemin des Dames” audio th tour. On 16 April 1917, on the west and on the east, Audio-guide tour suitable for fighting on the Chemin des Dames was accompanied children over 10. by the very first engagement of French tanks. th Application available on However, on 5 May, the first two attacks against App Store et Google Play Berry-au-Bac then in the Laffaux sector were only partly successful. Very slow, moving over exposed terrain and more often than not topped by petrol cans due to their heavy fuel requirements, the tanks rapidly became prime targets for Germany artillery. Nevertheless, General Estienne, in command of assault artillery since August 1916, managed to convince Pétain to engage tanks in a new operation. On 23rd October, at 05.15 hours, several groups of See details of WW1 Schneider and Saint-Chamond tanks, equipped centenary events on with wireless radios, crossed the first lines of www.aisne14-18.com German defence and accompanied assault troops

© Archives départementales 02 © Archives as far as their objectives. Despite this encouraging and in brochure available breakthrough the tanks again suffered heavy loses: for free in all Aisne Tourist six were totally destroyed and fifteen others broke Information offices down but the essential task of accompanying and Tank offensives supporting troops was nonetheless achieved.

On 25th October, Saint-Chamond tanks again accompanied troops of the 14th army corps in capturing the Pinon villages and helped the 1st Battalion of Chasseurs to reach Chavignon and Bruyères. For the first time in 1917, French tanks led a victorious assault. Find «Aisne-14-18» on

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