Verdun and St. Mihiel 2010

The price of toast !

Note Butter extra !

Lance, Gerry and Steve had visited Verdun some years earlier, since then Kevin and Stuart were subjected to "Ooo at Verdun this" and "Verdun that" - so it was proposed that we back the bags, and head back. Once Kevin had conned the others into taking a train and hiring a car at Lille, the preparations was easy. Gite. Check. Locations to visit check. Steve with a camping knife? Not a fecking chance after the last Eurostar situation.

So in Early October the NMBS stepped on an early train from Manchester (with obligatory cans of McEwan's tramp juice brought by Lance) and headed to that there London, for a connection to Lille via the Eurostar. A tip to the traveller at St. Pancreas Eurostar... DO NOT BUY THE TOAST. One round of Toast. I will say again ONE round of toast at £2. I also kid you not that the cheeky ******s charge 50p EXTRA for butter. (see proof above!) Steve and Gerry (being combined with Kevin as the NMBS's "Grumpy old men") talked about it and sighed heavily for hours after. But once aboard the Eurostar and into France it was soon forgotten as we were in the land where bread is so nice even 5 fat lads do not mind eating it with Jam, Butter and Marmite (the Official food product of the NMBS) for breakfast and I tell you now that A stick of nice French bread with none of those preservative things cost no where near £3. Take note Eurostar.

Once into Lille we were in the hire car and heading towards Verdun, which was around a 3 hour trip away. Verdun is a French and German battle, with no sites that are British. The American did fight in the Area, but this was at the Argonne and St. Mihiel (the town where we stayed) But Verdun is etched into French and German history as the Somme or Ypres is to the British.

We finally arrived at St. Mihiel early evening and was greeted by a really kindly, retired couple. The owner was called Madame Burger, yes there was sniggering, but they were really nice. The Gite where we stayed was rather grand and was historical. The name of it was Pavillon XVIII ème – and it looked like a very large manor house or villa. Mr & Mrs Burger lived in a manor next to the Gite and the Gite its self was part of the Manor – but separate buildings. I am guessing that a few years ago, around the time of the First World War it was a huge posh place and the Gite were the servants quarters. It was also obviously occupied by the Germans in WWI (there was German graffiti etched in the walls) and although we had no idea you certainly could see the Gestapo in WWII plumbing for the place as it was ideal for them to goosestep about thinking they were regal. Mr & Mrs Burger invited us into their huge home and sat us all down in the dining room.

Mr Burger went out and came back with a drinks trolley – full of Whisky, Gin, Vodka and lager, and offered us a welcome drink. This is the life. After a friendly chat and a tour around their house, they showed us to the Gite. Steve was gutted that the kitchen was tiny (he really is becoming the Gordon Ramsey of the NMBS – even to a point where he has his own sous chef in Kevin) but the place was grand. But the only niggles were, the place was grand but the furniture and fittings were very 1940s / 1950s. Steve and Kevin had the quarters which were downstairs, next to a barn – and you could see that this could have been the coach (horse and coach, not National Express) driver’s quarters. The beds were both single and Kevin being 6ft 5 and Steve 6ft 1, they were not long single beds. And the beds mattress was like ye olde thin, with best decribed as a “Chain mail” support – but it was a bed and a place to get your head down for the night. Stuart (first bags down again) Gerry and Lance were upstairs in the posher bit of the house, away from the riff raff of Steve and Kevin. The Gite had a nice balcony with room for a table, and 5 chairs – together with a BBQ – ideal place to have a few beers, and if someone wanted to, a “see who can piss the furthest” competition from the balcony could happen…..

The Gite had a stream running through it, and you could still see where the Horses in the barn/stables would have be brought to drink from the stream. The “Result” of the gite’s locality was that it was 100 metres from a Carrefour Supermarket. Ideal for stocking up on supplies and getting fresh bread each morning.

The Gite

The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was fought between September 12–15, 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Force and 48,000 French troops under the command of U.S. general John J. Pershing against German positions. The United States Army Air Service (which later became the United States Air Force) played a significant role in this action This battle marked the first use of the terms 'D-Day’ (ironic for the 2011 NMBS trip) and 'H-Hour' by the Americans.

The attack at the St. Mihiel Salient was part of a plan by Pershing in which he hoped that the United States would break through the German lines and capture the fortified city of Metz. It was one of the first U.S. solo offensives in World War I and the attack caught the Germans in the process of retreating. This meant that their artillery were out of place and the American attack proved more successful than expected. Their strong blow increased their stature in the eyes of the French and British forces, but again demonstrated the critical role of artillery during World War I and the difficulty of supplying the massive World War I armies while they were on the move. The U.S. attack faltered as artillery and food supplies were left behind on the muddy roads. The attack on Metz was not realized, as the Germans refortified their positions and the Americans then turned their efforts to the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

The whole around St. Mihiel was full of WWI stuff, there were miles of very well preserved trenches in the Apremont forest and Bois Brulée areas – Although for most of the war, this area was the centred around the battles between the Germans and French, toward the end of the war some of the most bloodiest fighting involved the American “Doughboys”

The German retreat began on 11 September. The next morning the Americans attacked. Pershing committed two corps (I and IV) to the attack. The attack was backed up by an artillery barrage from 2,900 guns (many French) as well as a force of French tanks and a French Colonial division.

The Germans were caught by surprise. Outnumbered and slightly out of position, the German position collapsed. In 36 hours the Americans took over 13,000 prisoners and captured 466 guns. The Germans lost 5,000 killed and wounded, while the Americans suffered 7,000 casualties.

What the American troops lacked in experience of the Western Front they made up for in enthusiasm and morale. The first American troops had arrived in France in the summer of 1917 and had been waiting to enter the fray ever since. In contrast the arrival of increasingly large numbers of American soldiers on the front line had a very damaging impact on German morale.

With the salient eliminated, Marshal Foch ended the American offensive. The Americans were moved to the Argonne Forest where they would make their main contribution to the vital fighting on the Western Front.

Following the 104th Infantry's valor at Apremont during WWI it received the croix de guerre from the Nation of France. Amazingly, again in WWII, the 104th Infantry Regiment again received the prestigious Croix de Guerre for its valor at war. In World War II, the 104th Infantry fought under General George Patton and in the Battle of the Bulge.

Trenches "Now and Then"

Apremont forest and Bois Brulée area

The Meuse-Argonne offensive, 26 September-11 November 1918, was the southern part of the great triple offensive that broke the German lines on the Western Front. It was also the biggest battle fought by the American Expeditionary Force during the war.

Ferdinand Foch’s plan called for three offensives aimed at forcing the Germans out of France and Belgium. In the north the Belgians, British and French would attack through Flanders. In the centre the British and Empire forces attacked the Hindenburg Line between Cambrai and St. Quentin. Finally to the south the French and Americans would attack between Reims and Verdun, along the Meuse and through the Argonne Forest.

The Meuse-Argonne offensive would be launched by the American First Army, under General John Pershing, and the French Fourth Army under General Henri Gourand. The Americans held the eastern part of the line, from Forges on the Meuse, north west of Verdun, to the centre of the Argonne Forest. The French Fourth Army then took over to Auberive to the Suippe, east of Reims. The Americans faced a very difficult task. The German lines were up to twelve miles deep, and had been under development since 1915. The second line was based on the hill of Montfaucon, the third line (the Hindenburg Line) on hills at Romagne. The entire area was hilly and wooded, cut by steep sided valleys, many running across the proposed line of advance.

The area was also badly supported by road and rail links. The Americans had only recently fought a battle at St Mihiel, (12-13 September 1918) east of Verdun, and Pershing had to transfer 600,000 men along three minor roads to reach his new front west of the city. The fighting at St. Mihiel had also inflicted heavy losses on some of Pershing’s best units, and so the attack in the Argonne had to be made with many fresh inexperienced troops.

The combined Franco-American attack began on the morning of 26 September. Over the first five days the French advanced nine miles, penetrating deeply into the German lines. The Americans did less well. Their attacks were enthusiastic, determined but not always well organised. Along the Meuse they were able to advance five miles, but in the Argonne forest they were only able to move two miles. By the start of October the divisions used in the initial assault were exhausted, and Pershing was forced to order a halt while new divisions replaced them in the line. During this period Foch came under great pressure from Clemenceau to replace Pershing, but Foch was well aware of the difficulties facing the Americans and stood his ground.

The second phase of the battle began on 4 October. The Americans launched a series of costly frontal assaults that finally began broke through the main German defences between 14-17 October. By the end of October the Americans had advanced ten miles and had finally cleared the Argonne Forest. On their left the French had advanced twenty miles, reaching the Aisne River.

The advance continued during the first eleven days of November. On 6 November the French Fourth Army and the US I corps were approaching Sedan, and the crucial Sedan-Metz railway line came under artillery fire, threatening a key German supply line. There was an element of confusion over which army would get the honour of capturing Sedan which saw the US 1st Division advance towards the city only to ordered to halt to allow the French to take the city, scene of a humiliating defeating during the Franco-Prussian War. The battle only ended with the final armistice, at 11.00 am on 11 November 1918.

The battle became known for the “lost battalion”. During the first phase of the battle, elements of two battalions from the 308th Infantry had become isolated in a steep sided gully between Bois d’Apremont and Charleveaux. The Germans held the ridgeline. From 2 October to 7 October the 650 men of the lost battalion held on against determined German attacks, suffering 450 casualties before they were finally relieved by the advancing 77th Division.

The battle was also noteworthy for the performance of three regiments from the American 93rd Division, manned by black soldiers. These regiments were operating with the French 161st Division, wore French uniforms and used French equipment. The US Army barely used its black regiments, having seemingly forgotten the lessons of the American Civil War where black soldiers had performed very well. In contrast the French had been using African troops throughout the war, and saw the 93rd Division as no different from other American troops. By 28 September all three regiments were heavily engaged in the fighting, taking part in the advance and capturing a series of villages. By the time they were relieved, the three regiments had suffered 2,246 casualties.

MEUSE-ARGONNE AMERICAN CEMETERY AND MEMORIAL

Romagne-sous-Montfaucon

The Meuse-Argonne offensive cost the Americans 117,000 casualties, the French 70,000 and the Germans 100,000. The American casualties represented 40% of their total battlefield losses during the war. Amongst those losses were 48,909 dead. In a dreadful irony, the Spanish Influenza would eventually kill 53,000 American soldiers before the end of the war.

Two Cemeteries in the area show the scale of the American involvement (The German and French Cemeteries are mentioned later) The Muese-Argonne American Cemetery is huge. The cemetery, 130 ½ acres in extent, was established 14 October 1918 by the American Graves Registration Service on terrain captured by the 32nd Infantry Division. The use of the land on which it rests has been granted by the French government free of charge or taxation in perpetuity, as an expression of its gratitude to the United States (the French do this with the CWGC sites and Cemeteries) .

It is located east of the village of Romagne-sous-Montfaucon in Meuse. The cemetery contains the largest number of American military dead in Europe (14,246), The cemetery is generally rectangular in shape with three-quarters of its area devoted to the grave plots and memorial chapel. The memorial chapel is located on the high ground to the south. A grassy east-west entrance mall 600 yards long runs through the small valley across which the cemetery is located separating the graves and memorial area from the Visitors’ Building and service area. There is an impressive entrance portal to the cemetery at each end of the east-west mall and a circular pool with a fountain at the centre. This pool with its goldfish and flowering lilies very tranquil.

A road bordered by a double avenue of beech trees runs from each portal and encircles the mall. A perimeter road encircles the graves area and the service area. Four rectangular grave plots are located on each side of the mall leading from the pool to the memorial chapel. The grave plots are framed by square trimmed linden trees. These trees are especiallybeautiful in the fall when their leaves are changing colour. Over 65 varieties of evergreen shrubs and trees plus many varieties of flowers complete the tranquil beauty of this cemetery. A stone wall more than 1 ½ miles long encircles the cemetery.

The memorial, a fine example of Romanesque architecture, faces north on the crest of a gently sloping hillside overlooking the graves area. It consists of a memorial chapel and two flanking loggias, on whose walls are engraved the names of those servicemen and women missing in the area and also those missing in northern Russia.

The graves area lies on the southern slope of the valley and is divided into eightrectangular plots lettered from A to H. Each plot is surrounded by square-trimmed linden trees.. The carefully clipped grass of the mall and graves area gives the impression of a vast green velvet carpet. 14,246 War Dead are interred within the cemetery, 486 of whom are Unknowns.

The cemetery contains no multiple burials. Each of the Dead has his own headstone ofwhite marble, a Star of David for those of the Jewish faith and a Latin cross for all others. The immense array of headstones is arranged in long parallel rows beginning at the east west mall and extends row-on-row to the chapel crowning the ridge overlooking the graves area.

Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery (colour)

St Mihiel (B&W)

The American Cemetery at St. Mihiel is equally as beautiful and as poignant. The cemetery, 40 ½ acres in extent, is located almost at the centre of the salient where the majority of the 4,153 military Dead buried there gave their lives. The cemetery was first established as a temporary cemetery by the American Graves Registration Service following the offensive in 1918. After the war, the other temporary cemeteries in the area were discontinued and the military Dead of the region whose next-of-kin requested burial overseas were moved to the St. Mihiel cemetery for permanent interment. It is the third largest of the eight permanent World War I American military cemetery memorials in Europe.

The graves area consists of four burial plots, lettered from A to D, separated by thecentral mall and the transverse axes. The 4,153 headstones are arranged in parallel rows across the green lawns, which carpet the grave area. One hundred and seventeen of these headstones mark the graves of “Unknowns”

Steve once tried to explain to a friend what the differences between American, CWGC, French and German Cemeteries are. The Best way that he could say was that American were immaculate, the lawns trimmed like bowling greens or the 18^th at Augusta. The British almost like English Gardens, Like at Chatsworth or Leeds Castle – nice sculptures and “English Country Garden” Flowers. The French, not too dissimilar to the CWGC site, but less memorials and the German are very sombre and stoic – To some harsh and bleak, but to be fair, war is harsh and bleak.

St Mihiel American cemetery

The Door knobs on the Chapel at St Mihiel

"The Doughboys"

On a hill around 10 miles from the St. Mihiel Cemetery stands the Montsec Monument. It commemorates the capture of the St. Mihiel salient bythe American First Army, the operations of the American Second Army in November 1918, and other combat services of American divisions both in this region andin Alsace and Lorraine – and can be seen for miles around on the hill.

The monument consists of a large circular colonnade, at the centre of which, on araised platform, is a bronze relief map of the St. Mihiel salient. Luckily for the NMBS you can drive upto it (seeing the NMBS have figures similar to their American cousins, this is good) On the right side of a flight of steps leading to the monument is engraved:

This monument has been erected by the United States of America to commemorate the capture of the St. Mihiel salient by the troops of her first army and to record the services of the American expeditionary forces on the battlefront in this region and elsewhere in Lorraine and in Alsace. it stands as a lasting symbol of the friendship and cooperation between the French and American armies.

The same inscription is repeated in French on the left side of the flight of steps. Near the top of the monument on the outside lintel are engraved the names of villages and towns where battles were fought in this region:

Thiaucourt – Vigneulles – Fresnes – Vievile – St. Benoit – Norroy– Beney – Jaulny – Frapelle – Haumont – St. Hilaire – Xammes.

This majestic monument, commemorating the achievements of the American soldiers who fought in this region in 1917 and 1918, dominates the landscape for miles around. It consists of a classic circular colonnade with a broad approach stairway. Within its center is a bronze relief map of the St. Mihiel salient, illustrating the military operations that took place there. The monument was slightly damaged during World War II, but has been repaired. From this vantage point the trenches used during the fighting can be seen.

The World War I Montsec American Monument

Note the Views !!

There are a few American Memorials in the Meuse-Argonne area. A spectacular one is Montfaucon American Monument. The monument is made of a large Doric-style granite column, on top of which lies a statue symbolizing liberty ruins of the ancient village. It commemorates the American victory during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of 26 September 1918 to 11 November 1918. during which the United States army forced the enemy to retreat. On the walls of the foyer is an account of the battle and pays homage to the troops who served there. The observation platform of the memorial can be reached by ascending two hundred thirty four stairs, and offers a view of the battlefield.

The NMBS being fit and dynamic powered walked up the stairs, well maybe four of the two hundred thirty four stairs, the other two hundred and thirty we may have weeped and wimpered, but finally at the top the views were worth while, and as a bonus it burnt off the Mega Chilli and beers that Steve had made the night before. A big thank you goes to The American Battle Monuments Commission, Who’s caretaker for Montfaucon (we are sorry, we forgot his name) came and opened up the monument at 9.30am on a Sunday, so we could visit and lose a few stones in weight climbing the stairs.

MONTFAUCON AMERICAN MONUMENT

Note the stairs!!

Nearby are the Pennsylvania Memorial at Varennes en Argonne and the Missouri Memorial at Cheppy. It is quite impossible to miss the Pennsylvania Memorial which dominates the town.The memorial was erected by the State of Pennsylvania in 1927 to honour her sons who gave their lives in France. It was constructed in the Greek style and has splendid views of the Aire Valley. Sadly, its easy to miss the Missouri one, and the NMBS did – even though we drove around Cheppy, Indeed we “Get down Cheppy” as John Noakes of ‘Blue Peter’ fame might have said if he was in the NMBS.

Pennsylvania Memorial, Varennes Nr Verdun, France